BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“People who are meant to be together find their way back. They may take a few detours, but they are never lost.” – The Good Vibe – Inspirational Picture Quotes
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? Very rarely do I begin a review with this subsection first, but this individual IS this series. For without him, you would literally not have much of a story or a series. I am, of course, talking about Book Plookphol as Cher (Laem). He brings such life to a character that I have not seen in a long time. Everything from the way he calls his boss ‘Boss’ as it is spoken in a tone like a term of endearment used exclusively as a form of affection for him only, to the way he thumbs his nose as an affectation that he is proud of what he has accomplished. His personality is infectious, and bubbly, and he draws you into his world. Book brought human warmth, understanding, compassion and joy to a role that is rarely seen. When he smiles, you just melt. He is one of the most charismatic BL actors to come along in a very long time. Cher’s gorgeous personality brings people along with him. There is no question that Book carried this series not just with his intense presence but with his comedic timing and his ability to read the mood and swing of the people he was with. One other beautiful aspect of his character’s personality was his compete honesty and integrity. He never used anyone nor misled anyone. His honesty was his hallmark. And Book portrayed all these characteristics with such forceful realism that I began to think Cher was a real person.
The story itself is a rather mundane one with versions of its basic theme done 10 zillion times before. Rich CEO falls in love with someone of less stature than him with everyone around him knowing that but trying to pretend that they are unaware. The CEO’s family is not happy and try and thwart the relationship, but we all know that at the end, that will fail. But honestly, it is a fun ride. Book (Cher) makes this trip such a pleasant journey that I did not want it to end even though I know I was watching a fist full of trite to get there.
Almost instantly, CEO Gun (Force Srisang) becomes enamored with his gregarious intern after having been burned in his previous relationship. Gun is a rather aloof individual keeping mostly to himself and has a hard time breaking away from his normal routines. In comes this young man who gets him to see, feel and experience life again. I do wish the story would have been solely focused on them developing their relationship. When the two of them are together, it is magical. The rest of the story, unfortunately, is non-descriptive and frankly hard to follow its logic.
Instead, it weakened itself by going off into tangential areas that frankly I did not understand. The whole relationship with Cher’s ‘girlfriend’ and her troubled brother were distractions and did not enhance the story. We inherently knew of Cher’s positive qualities; it was unnecessary to show that to this extent. All of that seemed superfluous.
I realized this is an obviously superficial and shallow story, full of logical holes. I know they wanted to make a ‘good’ story. I wish they would have made a ‘great’ story. Take out the fluff and develop a true love story of a boss and an intern. Face Gun’s family; he is an adult and this is his company. You had such a dynamic character in Cher and a rather reserved one in ‘Boss; that at times got lost and seemed out of place. It would have been nice to have seen him develop a stronger personality and shown that more to the world and frankly to his mother. It would be nice just once to show some character strength and growth and change not just because the story unfolds that way but because of circumstances forces the protagonists to make hard choices to move in those directions.
This is what drives these stores off the proverbial logical cliff. While we all want happy endings, the stories are not well thought out, actions taken make no sense, and you are giving us what you think we want. But it just ain’t so. This frustrates the viewer and diminishes the experiences and takes away from the message if there is one. And in this case, I am not sure there is one except that Cher is a joy to watch.
The end of this series is really more of an afterthought than an ending. Why does Cher have to prove his ‘worth’ especially in a relationship? And why leave so suddenly knowing full well the consequences that would do to Gun? Cher was not exactly on the other side of the moon! Why act like you do not know where or what he is doing? Gun had to have struggled during the time that Cher was gone for the year. Is that not worthy of a story also? What if Gun had actually found someone during that time? Rather than superfluous storytelling, why not have it to into one of these directions?
Let us also talk about the ‘elephant in the room’ also. Book and Force are for me one of the hottest BL couples on the planet. Why? Because they have a natural chemistry together. They are sensual and are not afraid to be comfortable in their own skin when kissing. And most importantly, they gave the impression that when they were alone together, their world consisted of only them and nothing else mattered. Their world was each other. I found that to be quite sensual and so erotic. They made it feel – real and passionate. That is rare to see that kind of intensity in a BL series and make it is powerful.
If you want to do a rom com, make it simple. About a couple. No theatrics. We are only interested in them. Stay away from silly cringey tiles like ‘babe’ and keep to what it is “The Boss and An Intern”. We want to escape and to do so we want to see Cher and Gun all alone in the world, just enjoying themselves in the most sensuous, sensual, and erotic manner possible.
Is that not what entertainment is all about?
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