BLISS RATING: ★★
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is the pain of discipline weighs ounces while regret weight tons.” – Jim Rohm
This is like watching a Yule log in the fireplace burn. It is a slow, crackling, source of heat, warming the front side of you while the back side of you is frigid. In this case, the back side of you is euphemistically your brain. While it does at times give you a warm feeling of comfort and entertainment, it also dulls and numbs your brain with its slowness, cheesiness, and emotional torture. I could never figure out why anyone loves to watch series where the major focus is on one protagonist playing ‘hard-to-get’ to the point it is almost emotional abuse. I just do not get it. While I understand the ‘hurt’ is the reason behind it, I do not get why the level of immaturity is dragged on for insufferably long periods of time when the clear reality is so far from that notion.
Venus (Cheque Wacharawee) was deeply in love with Sky (Tod Panapong) while they were in college. And it did not seem to be unrequited as Sky seemingly reciprocated his attention to Venus as well. But when it came time to actually saying the words to solidify the feeling, Sky could not, and merely wanted to remain ‘friends’ with Venus. Having been rejected and obviously feeling hurt, Venus breaks off contact with Sky and remains out of touch with him for over 3 years.
Venus decides that the current work environment is not conducive to what he wants and thus he quits and moves back to his hometown to live with his brother. While Venus is close to his best friend, Baitong (Boss Wasupol) and is saddened to leave his friend and work companion, he knows that he will be up to visit him frequently as Baitong’s boyfriend, Tonkla (Max Detter) is a doctor in Venus’ hometown and comes up to visit him often.
When Venus returns home, he finds that his brother Janus (Tontae Tinnakorn) is in a committed relationship with an old friend of his named Bomb (Aungpao Chananyu). Since Venus is now unemployed, he helps his brother and Bomb in working and managing the 7-11 Store that Janus has purchased. As luck would have it, Sky, who is now a doctor, works in the hospital next to this 7-11 convenience store. And thus, the quest by Sky begins to try and win back Venus’ affection again.
This cat-and-mouse charade goes on ad nauseum and honestly becomes almost emotionally abusive on the part of Venus. Sky tries and tries endlessly to explain what he said when he was in college is not what he really meant. He really loves Venus, but he was not ready at that time but because Venus cut him off, he was unable to explain how he really felt. There was not a day how he put what he said three years ago that he had not regretted. And all his actions since then have been to try and have Venus see him in a different light and under a new perspective, now. This bantering takes up a lot of time and I wish I could say it was fun to watch but, it was not. It was so tropey and whiny and immature that I literally forced myself to slog through this mess with a lot of it being fast forwarded. I honestly found Venus’ behavior astonishingly childish and infantile. Even his brother thought his behavior needed to be re-worked.
The secondary couples were engaging but never fully fleshed out with any real intensity. The relationship between Dr. Tonkla and Baitong was interesting for two reasons. First, it explored the difficulties of trying to maintain a long-distance relationship. It did present those issues with some degree of understanding of how difficult it is to maintain relationships when there is physical distance between partners. And secondly, it explored the reality when the two partners are on two very different career paths with different work schedules and different priorities and sets of commitments. Communications break down or do not exist at all and before long there is a sense of distance between them. Before long, major decisions are made without the input from the other, thus making it feel as if the relationship is over or just about ready to be over. This was handled with some degree of thought and sensitivity. However, I never could get into the Tonkla/Baitong relationship. I found their chemistry really woeful. There was no genuine depth to their relationship and the whole approach to their romance was a bit too Pollyanna.
The other power couple had a very intricate and complicated relationship and frankly started out with a ‘bang’ as soon as Venus arrived. His brother tries to shield everyone from problems and wants to carry the full load of responsibilities on his shoulders, thus shutting out everyone else from his world. This of course makes Bomb feel unimportant and not part of Janus’s nucleus. I found Bomb’s efforts to try and ingratiate himself with Janus as his equal was outstanding and a real sign of maturity and internalized what a deep commitment is and how to make this relationship work. He did not want to be put up on a pedestal but wanted to be an equal partner.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? For the most part, the acting in this series is sufficient. I found Cheque’s quirky almost constant smile a bit overdone at times with his facial expression hardly ever changing. Tod as Sky is simply adorable, and his effervescence is contagious but that can carry a series only so far. For me, the only one who stood out here was Aungpao Chananyu as Bomb. He brought depth, a complete commitment, and a sense of passion and willingness to a relationship as an equal, not just romantically but as a business partner as well. He was willing to give up his family to commit to his relationship with Janus and do so without reservation because that is who is new family is. It was written all over him. Aungpao’s acting is so solid and he gave it such a sense of devotion that I felt a real connection to who he was representing as an individual. He played an adult, which is refreshing for a change. He is a person that comes along so infrequently in life – a person who is willing to stand and be with his partner not just in the good times but in the bad times as well. Not just in financially secure situations but also to committing his financial resources to his partner’s business goals as well. He showed, displayed, and was Janus’ equal in every sense of the word and it was a beautiful illustration of a solid gay relationship. Kudos to making a relationship feel more equal and not just leaning towards showing only the ‘romance’ in a side couple; that indeed, these couples are also solid and significant. Sometimes, they even overshadow the ‘main’ couple. That honestly is some solid acting.
For me, this series was a big disappointment. While it had very good messages to deliver, i.e., not ready for commitment yet still in love, difficulty in long distance relationships, and trying to shield your partner from the burden of financial hardships, it bogged down with the mundane. And had no real sense of where it wanted to go. Comedy? Romance? Drama? So, it stuck to formulaic trite dialogue, light-hearted scenes, with some occasionally spicy kissing scenes. The chemistry between the main leads was passible but overblown at times. The relationship between Janus and Bomb is very good and I would like a whole series just on those two. They have some real earthy chemistry together.
One scene in this series that I felt was outstanding and is the reason I am giving it a bit of a higher rating than I originally was going to. There is a scene towards the end where Sky sits down with Janus and Bomb (by default as a couple) and asks for permission from Janus to assume the responsibility of taking care of and having Venus live with him. I found that to be quite charming and found it akin to asking the father for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Sometimes old customs and traditions are a nice way to show honor and respect to family and I found myself tearing up at this wonderful exchange. What an extraordinary way to transition into another life changing stage for all of them. I found myself wiping away the tears and smiling at the same time.
I wish these series would ‘think out of the box’ more and give us more ethos and persona.
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