BLISS RATING: ★★★
“Don’t value those who don’t value us.” – Quote from Between Us
This series is replete with stunningly beautiful sentiments like the quote above. Its heart is in the right place for sure. It seems to me that recently Thai BLs are getting obvious in the messaging for equality, gay marriage, and acceptability for gay relationships. Indeed, they present gay relationships as if it is normal and the straight relationships as unique. And for that, they, and in particular this series, deserve kudos. Well done for your messaging.
But the story itself is a romp frankly through boredom. Disappointingly so as it is an adjunct story to one of the relationships from one of my all-time favorite BLs, UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. While it begins with some references to that series, it quickly devolves into a separate story about Win [Hia], (Boun Gutachai) and Team (Prem Chawalitrujiwong). While this relationship was developed in UNTIL We MEET AGAIN, this series expands on it and develops in intensity.
Somewhat in parallel to the original story of Dean (Ohm Ritprasert) and Pharm (Fluke Siripongthon), these two now play only minor roles with frankly little reference, after a small hint, to UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. While that is not necessarily a criticism, if you are expecting the magic and beauty from UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, it is not here. It literally is a separate story and can be understood without watching the other one. But there are a few references to UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN that are poignant and perhaps understood in depth if you have watched it, i.e., the red thread.
The story between Win and Team takes a l-o-n-g time to develop and mature. It is marred by the fact that there is, as in most Thai BLs unfortunately, a lack of communication and honestly. And that theme gets so old fast. There are so many different directions this story could have taken but instead it went down the lame road of not really seeing what is honestly in front of them. It became very frustrating to watch.
There are some very poignant moments along the way, especially for Team’s journey of guilt he faced. It really was beautifully acted and felt so sincere and honest, and Prem made Team’s inner struggles painfully relatable. And we could understand his need to keep that all to himself until he could find a person trustworthy enough to share that very painful memory with. That was stunning to watch.
I also liked the way their relationship developed. It started out sexually and then grew into love. That was so honest, real, and happens so often in relationships. We understood where they were coming from because they had already been intimate with each other. Where do you go from there? Finding out about each other and perhaps developing a relationship. Their amorous scenes were steamy, hot, and very sensual and erotic. I thoroughly enjoyed the adult-like approach to their relationship, There was an honesty to their journey.
The story of Pharm and Dean rather quickly become superficial and honestly outside of the original references, probably did not need to be here. It became more a distraction than an influencer.
There were three other relationship developments. Two were unnecessary and one I wanted to see more of. The two non-essential ones were between one of Team’s friend, Bee (Tae Toemmaneerat) and Prince (Benz Vongjorn). Prince is a budding actor with therefore all his actions monitored and controlled. So, these two must maintain a rather discreet relationship. For this to happen then, there must be something that tells the audience that these two have substance to their relationship. That did not happen outside of contrived and lame dialogues of wanting to be with each other. Even when they ‘could’ be together, there was nothing there that screamed any type of depth or intensity to it.
An even lamer relationship was the one between a friend of Win, Tul (Sood Permpoonsavat) and Win’s older brother, Wan (O Sangwan). This relationship was wholly contrived and there was simply not enough fervor to even want to care about if they became a couple. Nothing about this budding relationship felt right or even heartfelt.
However, the relationship that should have had more attention is the one between Manow (Samantha Melanie Coats) and Pruk (Bosston Wilairat). After being the ‘Sad Sack’ of the series, she finally gets her chance to be in a relationship and have fun doing it. Just as goofy as Manow is, that is how goofy the relationship will be. And she found someone she can have fun with. I wanted to see more.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? Honestly, this is a well-acted series. Did anyone give a stellar performance? No, in my opinion. I thought Fluke and Ohm were window dressing and only used to tie into the current series. Boun as Win plays his part seriously. Perhaps a bit too serious as the character at times got inordinately stiff and stilted and it was hard to read what was going on with him. While there is nothing wrong with that portrayal, he played the part so close to his chest as the saying goes it was hard to see him with warmth and empathy. And I understood why Team felt like he did towards him. He treated all people in pretty much the same way he treated him. How did he know he was different? And Prem as Team is exceptional. He played the role consistently. With the scenes where he is pretending to be wounded or hurt, he did so convincingly. And his hiding his guilt for thinking he killed his friend was exceptional, but I do wish it had gone deeper. This is something that is unlikely to simply be a sporadic experience, but one that almost becomes consuming. I wish he had played that with a bit more of a consuming nature. It was traumatizing and will profoundly affect the remainder of your life. Admittedly, the scene with his aunt and him asking for forgiveness was profoundly moving and deeply affected me. I wept at how deeply it seemed to have felt to them, after all these years. It was captivating. But who really stole this series was Samatha as Manow. She had the most consistent characterization and was truly ‘Menow’ both here and UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. While I know she perhaps was there for comical relief and not the heavy, she still tends to lift this series to a more human level. While still comical and at times just a bit-over-the-top, she brought a certain affinity that otherwise would not have been there. It was not humor – well perhaps it was – but she did so because she knows the other person needed it. She is the strength of character and a rock that her friends relied upon to help them put things into perspective. And her boyfriend, Pruim recognized that skill in her and realized he needed to be her rock. Samathia brought such warmth, humor, and integrity to Manow that she is the most lovable character in this series. Kudos to her for making her fun and very relatable.
The major issue I had with this series is that it took so long to get somewhere intensely with Win and Team while the other relationships appeared rushed. And it did not seem to have a clear focus on how it would, or could, or should tie into with UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. It tended to get off on tangents that were annoying and unnecessary, e.g., the whole family dynamics of Win’s family.
Ironically, I found as much time as they spent on intensifying the relationship between Win and Team from the first episode, I expected deeper connections, more depth of the feelings shown, and an almost unbreakable bond between them. Yet, even up the end, Team is still acting like he is embarrassed to be with the person he loves. God, knows I grew up with cultural expectations as well, but when you are with friends or in places where no one is going to care, those barriers ought not to be reinforced and should be broken down and become irrelevant. I do wish that had been the case here.
It would be nice if Thai BLS would begin to show a deeper connection between two lovers than mere superficial gestures.
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