BLISS RATING: ★★★+
“When I turn off the light in my room, a light slowly shines through my window. I see you every night before I fall sleep.” – Quote from When Oranges Fall
Simply put, this is a series that is hard to dislike. It is sweet, genteel, a wonderfully relatable coming-of-age as well as coming-out saga. And frankly one of the few series that I literally ‘binged-watched’. Once one begins to watch this story, it is simply hard to let go of it, as it is so hypnotically entertaining and enticing. And its biggest asset is the protagonists who were all mostly around the age of the characters, which gave the personas a certain gravitas of vulnerability, depth, and realism that they otherwise would not have. Where this series fell, and frankly miserably, was the ending. It was awful, awkward, and artificial. Plus, completely unrealistic and incomplete.
The story is complete fantasy, which gives it an extra kick of amusement. Boss Ko Neung (Progress Passawish) is a ‘leader’ of a small group of ruffians who make a lot of noise but are more irritating than menacing. He does have a natural ability to lead because of his magnetic personality as he seems to draw people to him. Superficial by nature, he marginally is making it through school, relying on others to help him.
A new neighbor moves in next door who happens to have the same nickname as him So, Ko names him Ko Song (Almond Poomsuwan). Initially, Ko does not get along with this new neighbor until the oranges start to fall from his tree. For some strange reason, Ko finds the oranges from that particular tree to be the best and sweetest ones he ever had.
Slowly but inevitably, the two begin to form a bond that becomes inseparable. They have rough patches, of course, but they always seem to find their way back to each other. Their relationship is intimate without ever becoming physical, as if they were always meant to be together.
The other members of this motley group are August (Justin Angus Moir) who sits next to a young man that is a complete opposite to him. Tyl (Keaton Sitthithat) is a smart, bookish intelligent young man who secretly has a crush on August. The other is Achi (Paul Tanan) who is very good at basketball and is trying to eventually get a scholarship to a college. He befriends and takes under his wing a wealthy and perhaps a bit overprotected young man named Augar (Ken Kanthee) who is so enamored of Achi. Eventually, these two form a bond, stormy that it is, but one that is based on solid love and trust and unique to them.
I am not sure how the writers viewed the characters they were writing about or how the director even saw them, but they all missed the winsomeness and purity of them being teenage boys. What was overlooked was an opportunity for them to be awkward, goofy, prone to making mistakes, and being bad at connecting with another person, romantically. While we saw some of that, it was not in the traditional teenage experience. We also saw none of them struggle with being ‘gay’ which is still surprising to me. Everyone is just so open to having boyfriends. No awkwardness in any of that, no one was shocked, the parents did not suspect anything. Teen lives are generally full of angst and drama and tribulations – both real and imagined. Honestly, they all looked like mini-adults and certainly talked like that. That ironically diminished their innocence.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? There can be no other than Nui Sujira as Ko Neung’s mother. She is the epitome of motherhood for the 21st century. Involved but not in a meddlesome manner. She knows that Ko is incorrigible and goes along with it rather than trying to change him. She knows that if she did that, he would rebel and become even more obstinate. Instead, when she can, she sprinkles in motherly advice that he usually takes to heart. They have a warm, wonderful and close relationship. It is nice to see that a mother and son can get along as well as they did in a natural and comfortable manner. She is congenial by calling him Boss Ko like his friends – half joking but with the voice that says I am still your mother. What she provides is a warm, accepting home for him and all his friends and, in particular, Ko Song. While it is not clear, I do believe she understands and accepts her son’s relationship with Ko Song, more so later when they are off in college. I do think the production, however, missed a gold opportunity to show the world what a truly accepting mother she would have been by full embracing their relationship as they went on into college. It is hard to believe she did not know. Nonetheless, she is the one constant in this series that provides for all the young boys and now men the stable and accepting mother figure in their lives and a place they can truly call home.
At the same time this series was entertaining, it got stuck in its own story. I KNOW it is a cute sappy rom-com and a coming-of-age saga, but it touched on so much more than that. I loved the scene when they first ‘kissed’. It was everything I expected two young men who are simply not sure of who they are yet and have not figured out their own feelings to boot. Their reaction and subsequent resolution to how each felt were the best scenes in this whole series and proved that both performers can act. However, I do think Progress Passawish dug deeper into the persona of who Ko Neung was and showed us a greater range of emotions. Almond Poomsuwan tended to remain with a flat-affect personality throughout which is unfortunate as his persona of Ko Song was complex. He had stronger feelings – anger towards his parents, loneliness, sexual tension, drive and commitment, anger, and many others – that were glossed over unemotionally. He should have shown us more, particularly when he got accepted into med school and Ko Neung was being childish and immature. He should have taken control and made the relationship equal and given us a feeling that maybe these two could be a viable couple, as they both have personalities that are willing to stand up for their individual beliefs. That was not shown and therefore the ending merely became a trite, cliché driven performance like so many others of this type of Pollyanna series. I wish it had matured and we would have seen a real desire to want to be an adult couple.
The other criticism I had about this series is that it never went anywhere. At one point, the two Ko’s said they were boyfriends and were ‘dating’, yet they did nothing to indicate that they were indeed boyfriends or in a serious relationship. I know one was ‘young’, but I am not talking about developing a sexual relationship but one where they showed us and the rest of the world that they were indeed ‘dating’. None of that occurred. Is that not what you do in high school? None of those trappings or experiences were even hinted. So, it merely became a ‘cute’ story not meant to be taken seriously then. Literally, for years, they play-acted.
The relationship between Achi and Augar was one of those stories that flowed as ”slow as molasses in January”. Sure, it is cute but so pre-pubescent and unrealistic with a few good tug-at-your-heartstring-moments. Their first kiss was adorable to be sure but then that was it. No discussion. No feelings. No follow-up. It was as if it never happened. Suddenly, in the end, these two are a couple but constantly fighting but loving each other. It never fully matured into something we could believe actually happened.
And then the teased connection between August and Tyl simply disappeared. No explanation. Tyl literally disappeared from the series and never returned about midway or so. He is gone. Was part of the group for a while and then nothing. A gross injustice and a glaring gap in story development, pretending like the audience would not notice. I did. One should never leave the audience hanging, especially centering around what happened to potentially a major character and a possible relationship. Their story became incomplete and is honestly a reflection of the poor screenplay and plot development.
As I mentioned in the beginning, the ending was a complete disappointment. No one seemed to know what or how to end this series. So, it droned on into college years with them looking like they had not aged one day. The five characters are nearing graduating from college and most STILL act like they are in high school and/or prepubescent characters. In theory, they are NOW adults and the whole issue of having an ADULT relationship was not even remotely considered. I understand that this is a prickly issue as chronically they are so young, but it still could have been and should have been addressed rather than making the whole story a pablum filled treatise that was unfulfilling.
Certainly, if you did not want to tackle those issues, then end the series at the high school graduation. Most relationships from high school are mere infatuations (although they do seem and feel so intensely real) and are not meant to be usually considered life-long commitments even though they talk like it is. Remember, they are still children and at the fork roads in their lives. It would have been honest, real, and genuine if all five went off separately. Then maybe have a Season 2, perhaps 5 years later. You do not always have to have a nice, neat package at the end of a series because it does not always reflect real life.
This series was certainly cute, enjoyable, fabulously entertaining, but not realistic and thus came across as feckless. It might have made us ‘feel good’ but is that really all these characters were supposed to do? It seemed to me that each had an indubitable story to tell and it was way deeper than to simply making me feel good.
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