BLISS RATING: ★★★
“Love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters?” – James Baldwin from Giovanni’s Room
This is another in a long-line of time travel BLs that gets on a treadmill and simply does not know how to get off it. From the very beginning, one always wonders how will the modern individual return to his present time and how will his love (which is inevitable) follow him? The unfolding must fill that all in and make logical sense but unfortunately, this story does not. It does venture off into so many tangents that one wonders why there was not a ‘butterfly effect’, since the present-day person does seem to know so much about the time and people, he transported back to. And he definitely introduced change.
Great (Leng Thanaphon) is a hospital surgeon who is involved in a car accident. Somehow, he is transported back in time to the Ayutthaya period and by circumstances likely created by a ritual that was being performed is transferred into the body of Gaew, whom I am guessing was an ancestor of his, because he looked exactly like him. Gaew was adopted by Okya Horathibodi (Jaturong Mokjok) and his wife Jampi (Pom Kwantip) at an early age and made to be a part of their family along with their sons Dech (August Vachiravit) and Sriprach (Ice Panuwat). However, Gaew over the years became resentful and mutated into an angry and resentful troublemaker. The basic flaw here was why. It was never fully fleshed out as to the reason or reasons he became this way. He had a life of privilege and wealth, and I just could not figure out why he would have become the ‘black-sheep’ of the family. And into this body, Great enters. Great is the antithesis of him. Kind, gentle, thoughtful, and smart. Plus, he has much knowledge of the past several hundred years retained in his head as well as current medical practices. He also has good cooking skills taught to him by his grandmother as well as knowledge of combat skills from military training. Thus, he would without doubt obviously ‘stick out like a sore thumb’ as he would now be displaying characteristics quite the opposite of the old Gaew, even though he calls himself Gaew. He also can converse and articulate with precision and comfort around all kinds of people. In addition, when the new Gaew is able to speak in a foreign language (English) rather fluently, the courtiers are more than astonished and shocked.
While Dech is initially mistrustful of him, he slowly becomes enamored with Gaew’s charm, wit, and change in personality. They become closer and more intimate. Yet, the story takes an insufferably long time to develop and establish a relationship between the two. And honestly, it never felt very strong to me, as Great was always looking forward to leaving, inasmuch as he knew that he belonged in the future. Dech seemed more vested in the relationship and eventually realized that Gaew was not the Gaew from the past.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? There are a lot of characters in this series, and I do mean a LOT. However, who really stole my heart are the two servants who continue to be by the sides of the individuals they are serving. Essentially for comic relief, they soon become much more than that. They are the keepers of secrets and the arrangers of affairs. Although their discretion is assumed, they also do so not just because of expectation but also because they know it is what is pleasing the two that are involved. It does not take long for Pin played by Thun Thunyatorn and Yam played by Fay Chintub to begin to see what is happening between Gaew and Dech is special and unique and perhaps they too can also enjoy the company of each other as well. Both, while constantly fighting or competing with one another, almost seem like they themselves have had a sexual tension between them for a long time. Fiercely protective of the individuals they each serve; they are also mindful of their own ongoing relationship and the need to protect that as well. The series just sort of teases their relationship but honestly, these two had chemistry together that is undefined but one can still feel it. Comically exhibited but seriously concluded, I just wish we saw more of them as a couple. Maybe it would be nice to have a BL not of VIP’s but of the people who did the heavy lifting and the grunge work of everyday living. We need to see that their lives were also filled, hopefully, with some pleasures as well.
For me, this story, and thus, series, was directionless. I say this because they continuously used what I call side stories as fillers. For unfathomable reasons, these side stories become so tangential that I lost interest in them. They were banal and mundane because they never concluded or are only cryptically outlined. And there are so, so many of them. Just to name a few – here goes. While the Falcon (Luke Ishikawa) was certainly an intriguing character and without a doubt, he is breathtakingly handsome, it went nowhere and I just did not care. Frankly, I lost interest in what he was trying to do and skipped over his involvement because it was a non sequitur and a red herring. Furthermore, his interest in Maria Guinmar (Anna Sueangam-iam) seemed a bit too contrived and convenient (you will get the connection). She appears a few times and then sort of disappears. Additionally, I honestly never got into the very, very slow-burn relationship between the security chief Rueng (Na Naphat) and quasi-healer Wad (Vin Tanapon) who was constantly pinning after Dech. When he then realized that Dech did not see him in any light other than that of a brother, he, bitterly, leans into Rueng. All that seems again to be so forced and contrived. To be truthful, they also did not click as a couple as well. I did not find much chemistry between the two of them. Their connection felt strained and feigned to me.
But one of the weirdest and most obtuse side stories was with Dech’s brother Sriprach. Being one of the most exotically beautiful men I have ever seen in a series, his character is as enigmatic. He is a lyrist and becomes the King’s official poet laureate for the kingdom. Always in a state of deep pensiveness and reflection, he never appeared to be very happy. But apparently, he falls in love with one of the beautiful concubines of the king, which of course is a cardinal offense. He and Gaew seem to have this circumventing conversation about his future in which Gaew tries to warn him that the road he is travelling down is dangerous and he must rethink the path he is following. Sripach keeps asking Gaew who he is, but he never answers him as Great only quietly assesses on what he knows will happen. I felt oddly uncomfortable with this conversation as it appears that Great knew the outcome but would not more clearly articulate that to Sriprach. Yet would it have made a difference? Could Great have in effect changed history (the butterfly effect)? The outcome nonetheless became an inevitable one. Perhaps it was meant to be that way.
There are also the usual pitfalls to the development of a romance between Dech and Gaew. And it grew frustrating to watch all of that especially from Dech’s mother. Her behavior became excessively irritating after a while. Certainly, I understood that previously, Gaew was unlikeable, but after he began to prove himself, the constant harassing of him became annoying and excessive. When there is finally some intensity to their romance, it kind of lands like a thud. There is no real spark here. I think that is true for two reasons. The story was so geared for Great returning to his time, that he ‘held back’ in committing strong feelings for anyone as he knew his priority and desire was to return home. And two, the two actors did not honestly have screen chemistry together. While they ‘acted’ reasonably well, I felt no spark between them, nor did I honestly feel like they had even a modicum of a connection between them. They could not pull off that they were ‘in love’.
The ending of this series is really, really disjointed and ineffectively finalized. It is astonishingly rushed. Sure, Great returns in a somewhat predictable fashion. And when he returns, he then realizes how much he misses Dech. Yet was he really there?
When he finally wakes up from his coma, his attending physician is, well….
What is further disconcerting about this ending is that while Dech, when both were back in the Ayutthaya Dynasty, stated he would “find Gaew and love him” no matter his era. The ending’s logic is convoluted, to say the least. While the attending physician looks like Dech, Great shortly turns around and then saves this same doctor from a serious knife wound. With both now working at the same hospital as surgeons, a rivalry ensues as to who will then become the head of the surgical department, like it was some competitive contest. The burning question is: Did current Dech retain any of his memories of those past times? By this point: Who cares? The story cryptically ends.
This had a good premise but was used much better in previous time-travel BLs, that just did not know how to end, let alone figure out how to get there. I am guessing this was all linking to a potential Season 2? It all just seemed like just another side story.
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