BLISS RATING: ★★
“There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.” – Francois Rabelais
This was indeed a very involved story of crime, corruption, and mayhem. I am assuming it was trying to mirror or channel, at least a little bit of “KinnPorsche.” A very mafia-type flair was established early on with the projection that some protagonists may not quite as bad as others. Of course, it is simply based on what you are more willing to turn a blind eye to compared to other options. I could not relate to any of it in the sense of being able to find anything ‘good’ with any of its characters. The protagonists were ALL bad.
I am fascinated with how one can take immoral and nefarious characters and marry them with illegal actions/activities and somehow try and make the story feel like they are do-gooders. Or somehow worthy of some respect. They are not. They are criminals and are doing criminal activities even though at times it might seem for the right reasons. If I am going to be truthful here, I honestly paid little attention to the story. It was just too abusive and criminal for me to even remotely value.
The head of the Korean Mafia, who is trying to finagle into the Thai market, is astonishingly cruel to his three sons, two of whom are adopted and only one is his biological son. Not only is he horrifyingly abusive, but he also treats them like chattel and has created, over years of abuse, degradation, and humiliation, clones of himself. Ruthless sociopaths except for his own son who manages somehow to maintain a sliver of humanity in his soul. He has and clings on to a sprinkle of kindness and compassion – here and there.
His name is Peace (Cho Si Hyeon). To some extent, his name is both befitting yet incongruous with him. Of all the protagonists in this series, and there are many, he fascinates me the most. Handsome, pensive, and trying desperately to feel good about himself. He is deeply troubled by his fate in life but is powerless to do anything about it, except to end it. Peace is reduced to fatalism. He did try but was thwarted by none other than Sun (Tape Worrachai) whose name is also incongruous with who he is. Yet another character that has Yin and Yang qualities about himself – bright and dark – none of which can take away from or add to the litany of his crimes. For sure, he, like Peace, wishes to do good; but forces and circumstances thwart each from ever doing so.
They are surrounded by a gaggle of knavish individuals who seem to be adroit but do bad acts in the name of righteousness. They must always look over their shoulders to see who or what next will try and destroy them. None of them can ever look ahead. All aspects of their lives, including those of the family members, are regarded as fait accompli.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? The three who portrayed evil with monomania. These individuals did so with complete gusto and conviction. This is one of the few times I shall name 3 individuals for this distinction. The top of this list is Ton Siridhanai Panthrap as Joe, the leader of the Korean mafia and father to Peace who in his own right is a very distinguished-looking man with one of the most sociopathic personalities I have ever seen in any series. He gives new meaning to the word evil. Ton plays this part with such conviction that he quite literally scared me. I would not want to be in the same room with him. That cold calculating stare of his is just breathtaking. You can feel your own death coming. Not far from him is one of his other adopted sons who maybe surpasses his father in evilness and detachment. Phee Phiangphor as Ji Hoon is the sum total of this series. If there is one who goes beyond the definition of a sociopath, then Ji Hoon most assuredly is that individual. Cold, calculating, ruthless, without mercy are just a few ways he could be described. Handsome in a boyish way with outward appearances of charm and a scary smile, he essentially fools no one. He is so ruthless that he is quite capable of ending the life of an individual closest to him. Life is meaningless to him, as he has been effectively taught. Phee plays this role with such precision and fanaticism that he is beyond scary. His eyes are so lifeless and empty that he indeed portrays an individual who is soulless and depraved. We can discern what little tether he had to humanity leave him as the series progresses along, because Ji Hoon’s only pleasure becomes the usurping and control of others through pain and torture. And the third character is soulless from the beginning and further deteriorates from the mental torment and abuse suffered from others as well as his insatiable hunger and thirst for revenge against them. Aon Akadech Jaroonsot) as Aim while alluringly handsome, and narcissistic, has lost complete touch with any sense of reality. He quite literally is not human and lacks a conscience and is unsalvageable. His bug-eyed look and crass approach to others is what makes him even more frightening. These three are some of the most despicable creatures I have ever seen in a series. Kudos to all three actors for putting genuine fear into roles that are not only believable but convincingly so. They make this series quite dark and depraved, which in an oxymoronic way, gave it life.
I wish I could say that this was true for the ‘good’ guys. They just never convinced me that they were trying to do anything worthy of redemption. I do think Cho Si Hyeon as Peace is quite good, as he never shed his aura of being withdrawn, despondent, and fatalistic. He projects an individual who realizes that happiness will always elude him. Thus, his connection to Sun, while passionate at times, is only transient and in the moment. He gives the impression that lasting love will never be. I never could believe that they were ‘in love’. Lust to be sure, but love, no. Additionally, Sun is way too self-absorbed to love anyone and deep down never quite got over the tragic loss of the love of his life, Kong (Ball Peeratad).
Although this series started out strong, it went down-hill fast. Surprisingly, this series affected me very little. Outside of the stunning portrayals of evilness and Cho Si Hyeon’s forlorn portrayal of Peace; there is little to grab onto. The GL relationship never quite develops enough to make it interesting. The uncle and owner of the coffee shop (whom I guessed early on was someone of some significance) was weirdly integrated into the story in a way that for me just did not make him credible. It was just too little, too late. It was too disjointed to make any sense. The plot was all over the map. I gave up trying to figure out the plot. In other words, the story had way, way too many holes in it to make any logical sense to it. As mentioned, I never bought the love connected between Sun and Peace as their love relationship never got deep or strong enough to be believed, although I sure liked their names. Admittedly, the few love scenes with them were hot. The rest of the characters were all loathsome individuals, despite the idea of trying to sanitize them, or sugar-coat their despicable deeds, or throw in a few family-like scenes for sympathy. The physical fight scenes were laughable, and I fast-forwarded through much if not all of that. Way too many of them as well and after a certain point, I just did not care because you knew what the ultimate outcome was going to be anyway.
Honestly, I really finished this series for the bad guys. Otherwise, I just was not sure what was the point to this story or what it was trying to get to. It was obvious that they were trying to set up a storyline for future seasons. I could care less if they do.
This was just not my cup of tea. My Bathos List would have had another entry except I honestly loved the evilness of the ‘bad’ characters and the persona of Peace.
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