BLISS Rating: ★★★★★
“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all we that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” – Helen Keller
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. It literally took 4 years to conclude this story – to translate in English, that is. For whatever reason back in 2021, only about half of the episodes were converted into English and then only sporadically since. Now, finally, the last concluding episodes have been made reworded into English for the rest of us to enjoy. It has been years (too long). To refresh myself, I rewatched Season 3 from the beginning, and I am so glad I did. I felt I had reconnected with old friends again.
Watching the final installments of this trilogy, though, was like going back to your high school reunion. Filled with fond memories worn with age, and maudlin, all at the same time. It was also like finding out that your best friend from back when, had passed away. As with all things that end, there is sadness in the journey to revisiting this story. While it floods you with vivid memories and allows you to fondly remember the highlights, it was also traveling towards a conclusion to an inevitable finality. Hence, it permits you to properly languish and prepare for what is going to happen.
Much like in Seasons 1 and 2, it continues the saga of Zik (Patrick Pan) and Radar (Ar Jun) but of course it created an atmosphere where many more characters could be brought into their lives. The interactions of these new characters are just as funny and creative as ever. Yet, we knew, somehow, that all of it would be transient. Being the finality in the trilogy ordained them to resurrect characters from the past to essentially grant them an opportunity to say good-bye. Some of those goodbyes were funny while others were quite sad, and in a few cases, there were ones of complete closure. The final ones will leave you without doubt in tears. As an example, Zik’s father passes away, and a period of deep reflection occurs. Not so much mourning but a sadness about what could have been. Sometimes, the could-haves turn into a fantasy of would-haves or might-have-beens or should-haves. It happens in losses.
The appeal of this series is that it is a saga about individuals who are misfits, struggling to find not only their place in society but more importantly also trying to find themselves and who they are. All are astonishingly lonely for a variety of reasons, mostly centering around being gay. Or being different. Painfully hard especially in a society that craves conformity. No doubt, anyone who watches this series will find at least one character that they can identify with and follow their path as the one closest to their own. This series, actually the whole trilogy, has a way of making all these characters quirky but so, so human and thus vulnerable. We understand them all from the beginning. We get to see, perceive, discern, and sense each even if only a number of them are with us briefly. No one here is different from us. No one. They are us.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? There is a plethora of both old and new characters who make this final chapter just so entertaining. To say they are idiosyncratic is to put it mildly; but they indeed are. All of them are also the real stars in this series and should take a bow as they made this series what it is. They each created a persona into a valuable and fundamental individual that was unique and integrative. Some made you laugh while others made you cry. Some were shallow while others were deeply complex. All made you feel. There is not one of them that will not touch your soul.
I did not want to see this series end as it has been like a friend almost since I started to watch BLs. It is so much more than a ‘BL’; it is a life chronicle. It is a longitudinal history of a gay guy and his best friend who is straight. They are madly in love with one another but not as lovers but as soulmates. From the moment they met as children, they were destined to be together. Ultimately, both individuals recognized that separation was necessary to pursue personal growth and establish their capacity for independence. Bidding farewell to one another, as they did with all the rest of their friends. In their own unique way, each moved on.
This is such a beautiful story of life, love, friendship, family, companionship, and finding out in essence who you are as an individual. Along the way, it is a roller coaster ride of emotions. Mostly humorous, but sometimes taking sharp turns plunging to great sorrow, and occasionally curving down deep dips into finding sinewy points about yourself and who you really are that make your stomach churn.
It has been a long journey, Zik and Radar. I shall deeply and with heartfelt sadness miss you. This is an exceptional and remarkable series and overall, a one-of-a-kind trilogy. It gave us a down-to-earth adventure. Unique. Special. Honest. And above all, genuine. So genuine.
While it might seem ‘old’, it still holds up and is just as relevant today as it was when it first came out. However, to gain the true essence of this trilogy, watch it from the beginning. You will not regret it. I promise.
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