BLISS RATING: ★★★
“With you, I never have to force myself. It feels like I’ve prepared everything just to love you.” – Quote from Duang With You
My review of this series will certainly not fit into the vast and I do mean vast majority of viewers of this series. For me, I simply did not get its appeal, outside of the obvious. However, how far can gorgeous, and I do mean stunningly handsome, young men take this story? I hate to make the contrast but if this series was composed of not so stunningly Adonizes, would there be such a mad flow to rate this series so high? Or perhaps even if one of them had even been marginally defective in some capacity. I think not, for if you honestly assessed it, the story itself is rather mundane and primarily relied on the God-given obvious assets inherent in the actors’ physical appearances. So, I want to take a step back from the apparent and appraise this series on how it emended me. And to be quite honest, I found this series to be woefully limited. Allow me to explain what I mean by that:
W – willfully wry. It turns out Qin (Por Suppakarn) had been, at the very least, admiring Duang (Tee Tee Wanpichit) for a very long time, so he was well aware of who he was. Therefore, it was no stretch for him to create a false illusion in Duang to fall for him when they first met. He knew well in advance that he had strong feelings for Duang. So, who was courting whom? Thus, the story itself was based all along on a false premise. In essence, what we are seeing is a story where both were willing participants in and neither had to be honestly ‘convinced’. That is an example of a weak script. How about this for a novelty: Qin says to Duang at the beginning, “Sure. I have been observing you too and find you fascinating too. Let’s see where this goes!” Now that would be on equal-footing and the adult thing to do and present new challenges to a tired old story that we have seen endlessly before.
O – Obsessive and over-the-top stalking. I know that seems counterintuitive especially for a Thai BL, but the fixation that Duang had for Qin bordered on fanaticism and creepiness. THAT is unhealthy. Can someone say, ‘limits, please!’
E – excessively expressionless and epigonous personalities which never advances our protagonists. Qin never changes his personality. Frankly, it is about time he learns to ‘grow-up’. The hard truth is that one can only ‘blame’ your parents for what you became so as long as you are a child; after a while, the rest is yours. Start taking responsibility for your own actions as an adult, as Duang did try and suggest/recommend that to him. On the other hand, Qin (and Duang’s friends) needed to hit much much harder for Duang to start acting like an adult. Both these young men have personality issues that are, while not necessarily debilitating to their functioning in society, do thwart their ability to mature. I do not see how these two could have a serious connection without ever ‘growing up’.
F – fest of fecklessness. The story overall tries so hard to be cute; it literally becomes a saturnalia of silliness. So much so that it honestly became unlikeable. It became a romp of Pollyanna troupes and cliches that are simply not real. Sure, it may make viewers ‘feel good’ but its presentation is too sanguine and utopian.
U – unhealthy unifications to one another. They were not just examples of the typical “head-over-heal” in love silliness we ALL have when we initially fall in love. They almost begin to not see the world except through the eyes of the other; they begin to not see themselves as individuals but only serving the needs of the other. This is just so wrong. You cannot lose your own individuality or identity.
L – lots and lots of ludicrosity on the part of Duang displaying his overall immaturity. His level of silliness, childishness, and pre-pubescent behaviors towards Qin, while cute initially, is NOT healthy or endearing, nor shows signs of stability for a healthy relationship. I could not tell if Duang really was honestly just pretending to be a dog or that he genuinely thought of himself as a dog to Qin, which was frightening in either case.
L – light, lazy, and lightweight are apt ways to describe this series. Little substance to it except that it presents and looks well. However, the screenplay is lethargic and full of cliché and tropey setups and tear-jerky moments that we know how will end. The whole set-up with Qin’s parents and their miraculous new-found understanding of their son was presented so superficially and honestly unrealistically. That would have required a lot more time to process and heal.
Y – Your youthful, yolkless Thai BL, yielding little more than theatrics rather than telling a genuine story of love. None of this is real or even comes close to a sense of reality and again it is passed off as a love story. It is not even romance but chasing after a crush in college for which neither protagonist is emotionally or psychologically ready for a long-term commitment. While they profess to be, they are living in a make-believe world. For example, in what REAL world would a struggling young couple trying to find themselves spend well over $2200 for a dog when Qin already set up a (smart) condition in their (early) relationship to not go overboard in spending. I wanted to scream when I saw this irrational and utterly stupid decision on the part of Qin when he set the rules earlier for no excessive spending on one another without talking to the other first. This is yet another example of a poor script. And another example of a breakdown in communication skills between the two. Should Duang have not been as equally upset with Qin as he was with him over the watch? This was not a SMALL issue. This is significant. Instead, Duang passively accepts the decision. WRONG!
While their love making scenes were genuinely better than most Thai BLs as of late, and it was interesting and a bit unorthodox as who ended up the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’, not much else was creative or stood out for me. Surprisingly, there are some deeply reflective moments between Qin and Duang that are exceptionally well done; so, we know that the writers could distinguish that they had adults in the room. In those moments, both the script and acting rose to the occasion but here again it all seems too few and frankly out of place and out of character. Other than that, for me, this was a completely forgettable series. Nothing special about it.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? What I did like about this series and frankly what I felt carried the series with a sense of genuineness and honesty was the relationship between Jamie, played by North Chatchapon and Marvis played by Otto Sorranan. If I am being honest here, I found their ‘relationship’ way more credible and real. It starts out as a ‘one night stand’ but something happened between the two in which neither can get the other out of his mind. It then progresses to a ‘friends with benefits’, but both know it is way more than that. Yet, it casually drifts into something more serious and meaningful – all still so seemingly superficial. We never really know if their relationship fully develops as the series does not show more than glimpses. What a disappointment too. I just loved their screen chemistry together. The way they looked at each other with their alluring eyes and lustful desires. We knew exactly and precisely what they yearned for and wanted. What I enjoyed about their progress is that we can actually see their various stages of advancement. While they were ‘silly’ with each other, it was so appropriate and we could distinguish their silliness as being a part of their mating ritual as opposed to personality traits. They are an absolutely endearing couple who do things with their eyes and body language to convey their sexual desires with complete accuracy. I believed in their movements every time they were together; much more than I believed in Qin and Duang. For me, Otto as Mavis and North as Jamie displayed a much more honest and real establishment of a gay relationship than the contrived and artificial one between Qin and Duang. Jamie and Marvis were initially interested in and motivated by the sex but then something happened between them that showed they were indeed falling in love with one another. And for me that seemed more sincere than the one between Qin and Duang. Their display of love making, which is not very frequent, I found to be much more erotic and licentious than anything Qin and Duang showed as that had the appearance of being well rehearsed. Jamie and Marvis looked – palpable.
What I simply cannot stand is the overriding theme of prepubescent behaviors of one or more of the protagonists in a series, particularly Duang. I find that diminishes a relationship, not enhance it, if this was real life. To counterbalance that, then the other protagonist needs to be just the opposite which makes the personality of the other, Qin in this case, flat, calculating, and often appearing detached. And that is what he was throughout most of the series. In the last few episodes, or perhaps I simply was not aware of it before, Tee Tee Wanpichit looked to have changed who Duang was. The color of his hair seemed different as well as the style. With those subtle changes, I noticed that his facial features became so much more enhanced and pronounced and I was surprised by his overwhelming handsomeness. He seemed now not so much this sort of adolescent kid but an exotic mesmerizing radiant young man with astonishing beauty. I am not sure why there was this need to convey or hide that or downplay it from the beginning.
While I know I am probably not in the typical demographics of those watching this particular type of BL, as my perspective of this series is going to be vastly skewed. Plus, I also know the vast majority of viewers are quite positive about this series. I simply cannot agree with that assessment. What I am disturbed about and find most disconcerting is the image that somehow this is representative of gay relationships, which all BLs are. In their world, nearly everyone is gay and everyone seemingly accepts gay unions as ‘normal’. That is NOT the case and Qin and Duang should have been made to, at the very least, have some obstacles to their relationship so that others who think ‘it is a walk in the park’ for us, realize it is not. I would also like to see some sense of maturity also develop in these BL relationships especially Thai ones, so that there is not this emphasis on Pollyanna endings and development of sugar-coated connections so that all one has to do is flitter one’s eyelids, act like a dog, and prostrate yourself before someone and pledge your devotion entirely to your loved one and you will then live in nirvana for the rest of your life. That is just not the case.
Unquestionably, this is an entertaining BL; just not for me, however. I could not overcome the story’s flaws but found the portrayal of Marvis and Jamie so much more real and erotic than the connection between Duang and Qin. There are a few surprises but for me not enough to carry me over the finish line into thinking this was a great or even good series.
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