BLISS RATING: ★★+
“To every love and every equal heart under one sky.” – Quote from The Next Prince
There is an adage that you cannot judge a book by its cover. That is so true for this series as well. You cannot judge this series by its presentation alone as it does render together spectacularly well. Yet, in all honestly, it is one of the biggest BL disappointments for this year. What literally saves this series is only the way it is displayed. It is a cinematographic triumph. The costumes, the settings, the fantasy theme all come together so breathtakingly impressively. There has not been a portraiture this flawless in a long time. But its cosmetics are simply not enough to save or salvage the story itself.
Quite honestly, it did not make any sense; at all. It is convoluted. Contrived. With much of it displaying grandiosity and concentrated wealth to the privileged few, while people are protesting issues of poor working conditions and dying under those condition at the same time, there is also a deep-seated acceptance and tolerance for gender inequality. In the meantime, people are forced to bow and bend-the-knee as a form of subjugation with intense injustices going on within the various subkingdoms. All of this is in plain sight but accepted as inevitable and in fact, romanticized as ‘good’ for the people.
To accept this story, one must believe in a storybook almost mythological land of kings and legends of fidelities and realms. All of that of course appeals to the inner core of anyone who has ever experienced love and has dreamt of folkloric romances. If you have also read fairy tales, then this story is for you. Their problem came in trying to translate a modern fairytale realm of moonbeams and unicorns into the realities of today’s world of pain and suffering. No amount of wishing will make it proverbial. Reality will always set in.
The saga wants us to believe that Khamin (NuNew Chawarin) had been whisked away to England as a child (unbeknownst to him, of course) to be raised to be a son of another man and thus be kept ‘safe’. However, in reality he is secretly the rightful Prince of Emmaly, a kingdom located somewhere between Thailand and well Thailand. His sedate life is uprooted one day, and he is forced by Charan (Zee Pruk), the special guard to the King of Emmaly to now be brought back to Emmaly. Not because he wanted him back; he needed him back. As the grandson to the King, he needed to become the useful tool for the house of Assavadevathin. However, before they come back to Emmaly, Khamin and Charan inadvertently share a kiss, which binds their fate for life. For it is believed that an Emmalian kiss is a seal to a bond of love, lasting until death do them part. This was such a romantic notion and so intriguing and fascinating that I became excited as to how the story was going to unfold from here on out. To be honest, I found the development of their relationship a snooze-fest.
Yes, after the first few episodes, it all began to go south for me. I just could not get into this story. It became implausible. Here you have a kid suddenly ripped away from his foundation of familiarities, told he is a ‘prince’, completely unfamiliar with the ways and customs of “Emmaly’ let alone royalty, and he becomes acclimated to its culture and mores like a duck to water. With only a few instances for which his background of being raised in a Western culture shining through every once in a while. The incongruity of this mixture was just too much.
The palace intrigue alone is enough to make your head spin. With a king who is out of touch and nefarious, pretending to be ‘good’. I just did not buy that premise at all. I could not even determine clearly and unequivocally if he did not have something to do with trying to get his own grandson killed? It sure looked that way. With the real ‘father’ of Khamin a bit of a milquetoast, I found the whole story too discreditable. With all the bowing and scraping to people of royalty and/or titles, no wonder no one dared be democratic in thought or ideals.
The whole story got lost under the weight of its own telling. Too complex. Too intricate. Too involved. The series got way too Byzantine for its own good and frankly got lost in its own story. The weight of the story brought it down and killed what message it was trying to deliver. It starts out interestingly which is why I began the series. Yet, it never seems to really get to a point until the end of the series. Then, it exploded with details and explanations coming from every corner. All the palace intrigue and clandestine infighting between fiefdoms seemed superfluous and ended up aimless, tossed aside to be resolved for another day.
I also never believed the so-called ‘love’ between Khamin and Charan. For me, they only became fairytale characters that I could not believe in. Their love felt contrived and never really got deep or on a level that felt like commitment, until as usual, the end. Was Charan really in love with Khaman or simply because of the folktale of the magical kiss of an Emmalian and believes he had no choice? Besides, he was just a subject, sworn to the house of Assavadevathin. So, was it his duty? His whole persona was one merely of a projection of blind acceptance of his fate. The issue I had with this series was the lack of real passion and even personalities that neither honestly displayed. Sure, I know that that their status in life determined how they were to ‘act’. But that should not have been how we should have seen them – privately or even how they each projected themselves together. They were not individuals but playing parts. As stuffy and staid as they were publicly, they were the same way privately. I disliked the artificiality of their characters being a prince and his guard even when they were not. It took away from them being human.
There is a second coupling that is, without doubt, weirdly projected. I found the relationship between Prince Ramil (Jimmy Karn) and his male servant/lover, Paitai (Ohm Thanakrit) incredulous. It sickened me initially as I saw a portrayal of gay love that seemed abusive and tyrannical yet at the same time it was utterly the most fascinating relationship in this entire series. I could write a whole essay about the relationship between Ramil and Paitai. Their relationship was so much more intrinsic and intense and worthy of exploration than the nonsensical Pollyanna fairytale fluff between Khamin and Charan. For theirs was honest, real, brutal, raw, and palpable and at times, ugly. These two WERE in love and we saw it, felt it, and connected with them on a fundamental level. It took a long while to recognize the depth of it as it was hidden or guised in an almost ‘master-servant’ mindset. It took a while to decipher why they had to do that and then when one realized why the need for them to have projected that ‘image’, we then understood the dynamics of their relationship with intensity. And sadness. Profound sadness. When Ramil betrayed their relationship by treating Paitai contemptuously, I genuinely understood Paitai’s emotional pain. If you have ever been betrayed by someone you love and meant to feel humiliated and less than, that pain cuts deep into your soul.
There is a third pairing of sorts that is never really developed that had great potential. It was between the visiting prince of Bhujar to Emmal named Calvin (Net Siraphop) and a commoner named Jay (JJ Radchapon). Having met at school serendipitously, this could have been a dynamic connection, but unfortunately the story never fully evolved it beyond a tease. That was unfortunate because these two not only had a good comfortable connection with each other and one could see a spark of affection evolving between them, the actors themselves had very good screen chemistry together. There was a genuine feeling of sincerity and a link between the two that was based upon a physical and emotional attraction to one another because of who they were. I found even these two also more enjoyable to watch, despite their relationship only being alluded to, more interesting than even Khamin and Charan.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? A whole host of supporting characters did. This series belonged to the ones who provided the backup for the main protagonists. One of those was Chakri (Ballchon Tanawat). Chakri was the personal butler and servant as well as instructor for Khamin. Traditionally, this role would have been one of a court jester, but not in this case. He was an integral and rather important player and a model for Khamin. Chakri and therefore Ballchon portrayed class and dignity and did not cheapen the role. It was a nice change. Fiercely loyal to Khamin, he did so out of a likeability factor and not merely one completely based on duty. This required sophisticated acting to not come across as inconsequential and yet not ceremoniously overshadow anyone. Ballchon projected the most believable role in this series. Princess Ava (Kris Charintip) is also a dynamic figure and represents the House of Rungthanakiat. She wants to compete not only in the tournament along with the men but also must fight her own father for equality. This is a strong and powerful role and one that elevated the role of women but reluctantly in the end, she is relegated back into the background. When Kris is onscreen, her presence is quite demanding, and it is hard to take your eyes off her. However, the one who far outshines in presence in this entire series is none other than Jimmy Karn as Prince Ramil. Although not a particularly large role, he is one of the most complicated and complex individuals in any BL I have ever seen. Dark, brooding, trying to straddle the demands of his evil father with the inner tension of his own sense of what is right and wrong, he is a torn and troubled young man. Astonishingly, almost hauntingly handsome with a strong sense of self-importance, he knows internally he is weak and under the thumb of his father and thus resorts to almost kinky forms of sexual expressions to fulfill his own sense of importance. But eventually even that fails when his father begins to humiliate the one thing in his life that gives it any kind of meaning. That is his love for Paitai. When he loses Paitai because his father forces him to diminish and belittle him, Ramil finally grows up. Jimmy’s acting is simply superb in his role. His sense of internal torture, pain, anguish and love are all shown with great depth. I was mesmerized by his performance. I do not understand how his talents have been overlooked for so long as an actor. And his pangs of suffering asking for forgiveness from Paitai at the end were some of the finest acting I have ever seen in a BL. He had me in tears because I completely believed in his sincerity and the depth of pain he felt in having to do the terrible things he did to Paitai. His act of contrition was real and was so palpable. This scene is worth the wait and watch to get through this otherwise forgettable series. I wanted and was so disappointed that there was not a greater resolution for these two. They deserved so much more than they got. Jimmy and Ohm projected real genuine emotional ties to their characters, and we could sense that coming through. I wish the series had been about them as opposed to the artificiality seen between Khamin and Charan.
This series is beautifully filmed and executed. That is their strength. But its screenplay left massive holes in the story that made no logical sense. I had no idea what the theme was supposed to be. Was this a ‘love story? If it was, it failed. Because it got too wrapped up in the trapping of the characters rather than the individuals they represented. The two peripheral love stories were ironically so much more interesting, but unfortunately, they abruptly fell off. Was this a political story? I am not sure. There certainly were a lot of political statements made. Some were exceptionally valid in today’s world. Was it a cry for gender equality? It sure seemed that way at times, which pleased me considerably. However, then at the end, sadly, subservience wins out. Was it a cry for social changes in society? A case could be made for that as well. There were a number of social injustices that were touched upon that are also quite relevant and need to be addressed globally. But then again, all of that became ‘matters for another time’. How sad.
We never got to see or know the real Khamin or Charan. Khamin became nobility overnight and took to that effortlessly. He then sits around and pines for Charan and throws an occasional hissy-fit about an injustice without really wanting to make any serious changes to a system that is obviously skewed for the privileged few. On the other hand, Charan, a man of few words, and fewer expressions, seems powerless over his own fate. He seems to ‘go along to get along’. The expressions of love for him, while poetic, were rote and delivered unemotionally and with insincerity. He could not utter words of endearment until he broke his yoke of shackles that attached him to his JOB. That smacks of no sincerity at all.
I found no depth between these two and could not believe in any type of connection except one that was rehearsed for them. I am sorry but this is not expressions of love. Both actors showed up for work, but the commitment seemed rather scattered and at times insincere. It just did not work for me whereas others obviously poured their heart and soul into their roles.
Overall, I did not like this series. It is ‘pretty’ and presents well, but the story is unfocused, disjointed, and little depth to it. Watch this series for the supporting cast, in particular the connection between Jimmy Karn as Prince Ramil and Ohm Thanakrit as Paitai. They are the REAL stars of this series along with all the supporting characters.
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