BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“To the world, you may be one person. To one person, YOU may be the world.” – etsy.com
While it may not be necessary to watch 2 before 1, it might make more sense since Season 2 is the prequel to Season 1. However, I watched 1 before the second series and for me, it was not necessarily the smoothest of transitions. Season 2 sets up how the two became a couple.
The story is simple and basic conveying a sense of life as it really exists. One comes to terms with who he is and the other does not. There are only two characters in these 2 series and so the whole narrative is shouldered on the strength and conviction of these two young men.
It is a ‘love’ story of Bank (Mon Wongsrisai) and Jack (Oak Runapnain). Perhaps love in the broadest sense of the word. Yet, its foundation is there. Season 1 is a full story while Season 2 delves more into when they developed their relationship and what it finally meant to them. Jack is certainly the more aggressive of the two but also hides and covers up what he truly feels about Bank. Bank, on the other hand, initially enjoys their sexual encounters, becoming more drawn to Jack than he perhaps realizes or wants to admit to. He also is a ‘player’, both seeking and wanting sexual attention from others. Yet, always comes back to Jack for comfort, security, and fulfillment.
It is a sad story on so many levels. Two young men caught up at the age when raging hormones rules one’s life. One knows what he is while the other wants to explore all sides yet takes comfort in the other. Bank can compartmentalize his lust while Jack cannot. He has been and always will be in love with Bank.
When Jack returns after some absence, he unveils his true feelings and his true self. Bank emphatically and soundly, after seeing Jack as a girl, spurns him completely and wants nothing more to do with him. He demands him to leave immediately and never see him again. After all, HE is not gay. Such an ironic statement since he was literally waiting to have sex with Jack, like before. Faced with such a shocking confrontation of reality, Bank is unable to accept Jack and therefore quite literally unable to accept himself. Bank never does see Jack alive again.
This is such a tragic story still plays out so frequently in real life. Perhaps not as dramatic as this story but still emblematic of what gay life is like for ordinary individuals. This story represents them in all their reality.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? This is obviously a low-budget production with short episodes with editing perhaps not the best.
I have stated this on several other occasions, Mon and Oak are the BL couple that best represents the vast majority of gay men everywhere in the world. They are not splashy, nor overly dramatic, but present real people in real-life situations. They are, for me, the powerhouse couple as they do so with small budget productions and obviously not a lot of glitz and glamour. They bring realism to their acting and give each of their characters a sense of worth, value, yet do so with all the inherent personality flaws and foibles that we all have. The stories, while not deep, are full of humanity with characters that are quintessential and archetypical. Kudos for exemplary acting where we get to feel these two souls and watch them try and manage life in these two series.
This is a coming-of-age story filled with a sense of unhappiness from the beginning. Jack is lonely, full of anxiety, and feeling horribly out of place. Bank is exploring himself but slowly deepens his friendship for Jack along the way but always with an ominous sense about their relationship. We do not really get to know these two very well except on the surface. It would be nice to give these two actors some more time to explore who they are in detail with a more nurturing relationship. But wishing will not make it so. This one, however, ends sadly and tragically.
If you want to watch what so many gay relationships look like, then this is the series to watch. It is genuine, honest, sad, bitter, and so real especially for individuals who have little to no reference points to go by to guide them on their journeys to self-discoveries of who they are. Lamentably, this is based on a true life account. There are more stories like this than your typical BL series.
Sometimes, that is all that there is to life.
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