Jao Gum Nai Wen (2022)

Beware… You will become Obsessed

Make no mistake, this series will suck you in and leave you breathless, even before you knew what happened.

I LOVED the beginning of this series. Yaya is my go-to Thai actress so I was excited to watch her in something with both a lot of angst and romance. She's emotional and heartfelt and puts everything into every scene.

That being said, after the BIG misunderstanding and separation, adjusting to the leads' fallout was a little jarring. In addition, I found it difficult to watch some of Mario’s scenes between the secondary female characters, AND THERE ARE A FEW. Some scenes are cringy and others are too affectionate/touchy for my liking. There were times I was conflicted on whether to root for Kla to reconcile with Khim after all the misunderstandings have been sorted out.

In fact, through a few episodes, I started to doubt the ML's love for the FL. I also didn't agree with how he used the SFL to test the FL's devotion and love. I do believe the director/writer could have done a better job of making both of the leads jealous of each other without crossing the line of too much skinship with other characters. When a series does this, it runs the risk of breaking the momentum of a great romance and ruining the dynamics and chemistry the leads built along the way. Also, the ML is rather cruel when it comes to wanting his revenge on the FL.

Okay, now on to what this series did right.

Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry

The series does end up righting itself...like in a great way. With each progressing episode, I became addicted to the couple. Their scenes together should be an inspiration to every Lakorn moving forward.

Bottom line, Bad Romeo will tug on every one of your heartstrings while you experience the leads happiness, and sadness together. There is no denying how Yaya and Mario brought some beautiful chemistry to the small screen...so much so, I'm not even sure they're aware how beautiful.

Overall, this is one of the best Lakorns I've ever watched. My advice, if you do plan on watching Bad Romeo, you might want to call in sick the next day, because you will be binge-watching for seventeen episodes straight.

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Dumb martyr victim FL

God, I do NOT like dumb FLds and this one is really far from the brightest candle on the cake!
Not only does she have a - for me - unnatural relationship with her father but he can actually do whatever he wants to do to her and to the people she loves and she still worships the ground he walks on and licks his boots. She is supposed to be a grown up woman, that manages a hotel imperium but she can not put two and two together and act logically even ONCE. All she does is cry. She does not stand up for anybody against her father: the man she loves, nope. The friend, nope. The man she wants to marry, nope. Her mother, nope. Herself, nope. The father can even attempt to KILL and she still defends him and awaits a pat on the head, like the good daddys dog that she is.
They went waaaaay overboard with this storyline, making the FL the martyr victim cry monster in the corner. A bit more backbone, a bit more brain cells, a bit less crying and this would have been a great lakorn. The actors did a great job!
That said, the chemistry was FIRE!!!!

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THE BEST LAKORN OF 2022!!

definitely the most romantic thai drama i’ve seen. the ost and editing is so beautiful and perfect for saikhim and kaokla’s love story. wow, mario and yaya had great phenomenal chemistry, their gorgeous visuals had me wanting more. i began to not even care about the storyline and watched just to see fl and ml on my screen. at times they didn’t even have to kiss because you could feel excitement from their gazes. when they kissed in the last episode it was sweet. the leads portrayed the depth of their love from beginning to end. from strangers to passionate star crossed lovers, a forbidden love, separation and misunderstandings brought resentment/hate. they tried to hate each other but couldn’t. it’s their history that brought them back together because of love. this drama is an unforgettable masterpiece because of mario and yaya. so much emotions and they delivered it with their stellar performance. i really loved their acting, it was very believable. such a special drama.

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This was a very interesting lakorn to watch. I pretty much binged-watch the first 10 eps over a span of three days and continued to watch the rest in real time. This was highly anticipated, as it starred Yaya and Mario who've never been the OTP up till now (both were in the Rising Sun series, but paired with different people). Now that I've finished, I'll give you my thoughts below: 

1. Story
For the most part, this was a coherent, engaging story with decent pacing. The middle episodes felt filler-ish and there was a noticeable decrease in quality of the last few episodes. But for the most part it was good. I felt like this was a slap/kiss lakorn dressed in modern clothing; while there was a good production and was no nightmare 2nd FL or r*pe, the core still felt like a typical slap/kiss with an angry male lead, soft female lead and all the misunderstandings. I pretty much felt like its "true colors" (if a drama could be a person) manifested in those last episodes with the fast pacing and plot twists. This inconsistency in pacing did annoy me, and I wish it stayed on the more contemplative tone that they set in the beginning. 

2. Leads
It's no surprise that Mario and Yaya killed it as Kla and Khim, and I felt like they're the reasons why I enjoyed watching so much. Both such complex, broken souls that have been through so much tragedy and heartbreak. I loved both characters. I really liked Kla as the rough but kind-hearted mechanic, and it was sad to see him change into a bitter, angry person due to everything he went through. Both him, Khim and I miss the old him, but completely understand that if he didn't change, then he wouldn't survive. Excellent character development. I just wish I could say the same for Khim; she still supports her father despite him ruining her life and how he continuously disregards her worth. I wish she realized that he'd never change and cut him off from her life; that she didn't need his love to know she was valuable and that her own strength was enough. Unfortunately she's too influenced by her dad and I think they could've done a lot more with her character. I think if anyone else but Yaya played her, I wouldn't have liked her as much. Yaya was able to make Khim be lovable and a victim of her dad rather than a doormat.

b) I have a complaint I want to make about Khim and her dad's relationship; a of of people talk about the incestuous relations Asia has towards Kla. But I also felt Khim's dad was borderline incestuous with Khim, in how he was obsessed to have the most important person to Khim be him. It was gross. I'm also sick of seeing these shitty fathers do shitty things to the main leads and gettin away with it in the end. This has been a long time issue I've had with Thai lakorns and to some degree I get it, but the straight up manipulation, abuse and cruelty Khim's dad put on her nearly ruined her life. It sucks even more that Khim realizes this, but still chooses her father in the end. Why can't we have our leads leave these shitty parental figures? Khim's father doesn't even apologize for what he did. I'm at least glad they did no redemption arc for him.

3. Secondary Cast
This is the first time where I've felt the secondary cast was useful to the plot but were very, very unlikable. Pretty much everyone (except Kla's dad and Claire) failed the leads and played a heavy role in the trauma they went through. While I expected the rich father to be extremely shitty, I didn't expect the "best friend" characters to be shit as well. Lita and Khem are two of the worst friends anyone can have, and are so selfish; they were the reasons Khim and Kla separated. Especially Lita, she was shady from the first ep but when she decided to lie about the letter switch-up for years and watch Khim be tortured about Kla, she was dead as a character to me and I couldn't care less. I was disgusted that they gave her a love-line with Thanchai, who I thought deserved way better. She got off way too lightly with her lies and the fact that she wasn't sorry about it, and Khim still kept her around makes my blood boil to an unhealthy degree.

I also want to mention that the way characters reacted to the lies and deceit was weird and the only one who reacted normally was Claire. She was my surprise co-MVP along with Kla's dad. If anyone wants to know how to properly deal with being betrayed, you should take a leaf out of Claire's book.

4. Romance
What really made this romance work for me was the strong foundation they built before the time-skip that made everything after so enjoyable to watch. In many ways, this reminded me of Game Rai Game Ruk (Yaya is the lead there too lol) where the leads were deeply in love before jealous forces tore them apart, and lead to a psychological game where both were very mad at each other. This was a more complex, better produced version of that. Yaya and Mario have amazing chemistry together, and their love and angst towards eo was palpable and poignant. They really made me see how two people can love eo, but not trust eo, and their relationship was tested over and over through various obstacles. I almost thought they couldn't make it but the fact that they did made it satisfying to watch.

5. Overall
This was addictive and I had a good time watching. Tbh, Yaya and Mario pretty much carried the show with their character portrayals and chemistry. The music was on point and suited the lakorn well. I just wish there were more refinements in the storytelling and character development. I'd probably re-watch the pre-time skip episodes and some select scenes but not the whole thing. Would recommend watching.

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Real Deal Bad Romeo

My review contains spoilers!

It took my 48 hours to complete from where I left off. I was on holiday through out most of the time it was airing and I was looking forward to complete it.

This not a slap kiss but a romance - revenge, w/o any r scenes.

This lakorn is filled with plot twists.

I really liked the Yaya Mario chemo, tbh they had better on screen chemo than her on / off screen boyfriend Nadech.

Mario done a great job portraying the street smart boy to a man who educated himself in 7 years and returned back as a different man.

Mario is quadrilingual, when he became Carl you don't find it odd that he speaks English perfectly otherwise realistically someone can not speak a language like native with an accent in short amount of time.

Lakorn starts with Kim & Kaokla having a one night stand, Kim getting pregnant and moving into a remote island to be with Kaokla.

She was welcomed by his family but being the daughter of a rich man she faced some difficulties from her loved ones, loads of back stabbing.

Kim's father Songsil never approved their relationship and wanted her daughter to get rid of her baby. (Hats off to Sam Yuranunt he is done a great job as father of the bride)

I believe Sam's political background, his 40 year acting skills helped him to fit into Songsil character.

He has done his best to break them apart.

He succeeded so.

But Bad ass Romeo returns back as Karl / Carl

Kim's & Kaokla second meet up was the same as one of their first scenes at Kaokla's garage, she thought Kaokla was death and she was shocked to see Kaokla, but Kaokla never admitted he was Kaokla nor he revealed his is Karl

And we have Asia Raman whom most of us thought she was Kaokla's bio mother when she saved him from the sea (we were not wrong though, but we don't learn this up until the last episode) Asia Raman (Metinee Kingpayome) is a great actress. She was so good as Asia Raman. Asia Raman also pays for her karma at the end.

Kaokla tortured Kim without asking what really happened same goes for Kim, she received a letter she thought it was from Kla, he received a letter he thought it was from Kim.

Hello, there is something called mobile phones,he could have called her, asked his dad to visit Kim or his sister.

I loved the chemistry in between the 2nd leads

But I am not sure if I would be as forgiving as Kim especially to my best friend

Lita also lied and deceived Kim.

She helped Kim's dad to break them, yes she had her own reasons, she wanted the best education like Kim but she didn't have enough money.

Lita was also a good friend for Kim. She supported her, Kim supported Lita.

Lita was Kim's only friend.

Sajee [Lita's mother] and her school principal boyfriend was also funny (she loves spring chicken)

Yaya is the Queen for portraying innocent naive girls, she has that look so she fits perfectly into the these characters.

I hoped to see baby no2 up to the last minute but we couldn't.

Roek (Wanchana Sawasdee) was a good father even though he's not Kaokla's bio father.

Tanthai & Lita had a decent chemo, they also have their own happy ending

Lita fancied Tanthai from day 1, I suppose Tanthai had feelings for her as well but he just didn't want to accept or just ignored those feelings.

I cried when Khem Kloijai Kaokla's sister's bf died.

Khem didn't have to die at the last minute, he could have his own happy ending.

He was Kaokla's friend from prison.

Claire she was Kim's half sister Kaokla dated her to take revenge from Kim

Kim is a girl who loves her dad and doesn't know he concealed a lot of stuff from her.

Both Kim & Kaokla have trust issues that's what created the problems in their life.

Realistically they were too young to be parents.

Kim had a miscarriage, when Kla asked whether their baby was girl or a boy she said she doesn't know she didn't ask, when she knew the gender, the whole reason not telling Kla was she knew Kla wanted to have a son, oh but Kla thought Kim was ignorant.

He was not thinking clearly.

Yes I was expecting Asia Raman to be Kaokla's ma, I found it suspicious her being on the yacht and saving him just when he needed but I was not expecting Nate nor the story behind Asia Raman learning about Kla's true identity.

I thought she left Kla just like Kim's ma left her and got married with a rich man.

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The story is well made, and I liked it especially the actors who acted in the series, they acted well and their roles in the movie are good to watch, so watch it now

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It was an Ok drama - Spoiler

The goods
- The plot was interesting.
- The chemistry was good.
- The setting (place) was soooo beautiful.
- Claire.

The bads
- The miss-communication. I get it, they need drama to spice things up. But it was so weak and frustrating (except for the letter switch plot).

- The amount of flashbacks. There's so much scenes where the character just sits and stares and reminiscing montage played over and over again.

- The girl cousin (i don't even remember her name). Her character brings nothing to the table. She's just a nosy and a bully.

- The lack of details and background for certain plots/relationships : First, the butler-aunt relationship (it felt like a last-minute-written plot). I'm sorry i was not very touched when the girl cousin realised the butler was probably her father. Second, the Asia-aunt relationship. How the hell they knew each other? Am I missing something here??? And third, Nate (they made it seems like the character will has a bigger role later).

- The rabbit scene. I have no words.

- The father. After all the stuffs he had done to tear Kla and Khim aparts, now you're telling me he just accept them all of a sudden. At least gives us the most cliché scene to convince us (for example : Kla saved his lives or he saw Kla saved his daughter lives and realised how much they love each other). It would make more sense if he just died of heart attack. And plus he should be the one to apologise to them.

- The ending. What the hell was that???!!! They should've just showed us a good 5 mins of their honeymoon at their old marital house (instead of showing us that switch-luggage and cosplay scene - is this a joke?)

In conclusion, there's so much important things can be showed to enhance the main plot for this drama, but they chose to go and put unnecessary things.

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The English title for this drama is misleading. The male lead is not a bad person; it just so happens that the female lead’s family disapproves of him because of his background/status. This is basically a reverse Cinderella story with a poor ML and rich FL and a lot of the conflict stems from it. That said, this is a melodrama, so it has the usual tropes and makjang elements one can expect; I only recommend this if one likes watching this type of show in the first place.

It is pretty good for its genre. The best thing about this is the chemistry between the ML and FL, which is very intense and heartfelt. It’s one of the best I’ve seen in a long time and it doesn’t matter whether the ML or FL are having a romantic moment or a scene of heightened conflict. Mario and Yaya really sold it; they got along so well that there were plenty of times when they didn’t even seem to be acting. They were very natural when they were together.

I am not surprised about Yaya’s performance since I’m familiar with her work. In her last melo lakorn, she efficiently played a very fierce and strong FL. In Keu Teur, her character is gentler and more subdued, which also works since this means that she gets to play a different type of role. She really nailed the role of Saikhim, a character who loves her father in spite of the fact that he bullied her since childhood. Saikhim comes from a wealthy, but very toxic family and yet she doesn’t lose her goodness throughout. Yaya does facial expressions very well; one example is the scene in the beginning of the second episode where the ML’s ex discovers them together in the garage and the FL tries to flee. FL doesn’t say anything at all in this scene but you can feel her panic just looking at her face.

Mario was a pleasant surprise. It’s the first time I’ve watched him and he plays a very strong, devoted and yet vulnerable ML. At first, I thought he was too baby faced to play this character but he was very fierce when defending himself and going against other characters like the FL’s dad or even his evil ‘stepmom.’ The circumstances of his life put him at a disadvantage many times and yet he was no pushover. I love how he could speak out for himself, was single minded and not wishy washy about the FL and also that he was generous about helping people.

Another thing I really liked was that, unlike in previous dramas, the main misunderstanding between the leads was cleared up way before the last episode. Normally, the writers drag it out until the very last (or second to the last) episode, so the viewers only get to see good moments between the leads at the finale. Not so here. It was a very good decision to clear up the misunderstanding several episodes before the show ended and what’s more- I really liked how, even if the ML came back for revenge, it never went out of line (this is one of the few shows where he is actually justified and only acted out of self defense); also, it was clear that he still loved FL even before* the misunderstanding was cleared, which is another thing I liked.

There are only two flaws that bothered me. One is that both the FL and ML are too forgiving. The FL’s father’s actions were inexcusable; even if he supposedly turned good at the end, it was a little unbelievable. The FL’s friend (the second FL) did something very wrong which led to the leads separating. I could understand why she did it and liked her in general, but the way she looked down on the ML’s background was a bit hypocritical and snobbish, given that she also came from the same humble origins. It’s a good thing she redeemed herself later.

The character who bothered me the most was the ML’s friend, Khem. What he did to land the ML in jail was completely unforgivable. It frustrated me a lot to see him (and everyone else) brush this off at the end and worse, to see him angry at the FL’s father and act like he had no part in what happened to the ML.

There is also a very unpleasant reveal about one of the ML’s relationships at the end that was very uncomfortable and may turn off many viewers, but I saw the ML as a victim in there and not at fault for what happened.

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Amazing storyline

This is my first review because most of all I was really shocked when the woman at the end turned out to be his mother. I really understand why she would want to kill herself because it was just really nasty and messed up at that point. This was the biggest plot twist for me.
I love how the drama shows them falling in love and still loving one another after such a long time. I wish it wasn't too dragged at the end but its a thai drama so pretty common.
I would 100% recommend!!!
This is my first review because most of all I was really shocked when the woman at the end turned out to be his mother. I really understand why she would want to kill herself because it was just really nasty and messed up at that point. This was the biggest plot twist for me.
I love how the drama shows them falling in love and still loving one another after such a long time. I wish it wasn't too dragged at the end but its a thai drama so pretty common.
I would 100% recommend!!!
This is my first review because most of all I was really shocked when the woman at the end turned out to be his mother. I really understand why she would want to kill herself because it was just really nasty and messed up at that point. This was the biggest plot twist for me.
I love how the drama shows them falling in love and still loving one another after such a long time. I wish it wasn't too dragged at the end but its a thai drama so pretty common.
I would 100% recommend!!!
This is my first review because most of all I was really shocked when the woman at the end turned out to be his mother. I really understand why she would want to kill herself because it was just really nasty and messed up at that point. This was the biggest plot twist for me.
I love how the drama shows them falling in love and still loving one another after such a long time. I wish it wasn't too dragged at the end but its a thai drama so pretty common.
I would 100% recommend!!!

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MESSY AS HELL, BUT ENTERTAINING

I'm actually shocked that I was able to watch this in 2 days. Usually when it comes to these types of lakorns I have to pause and take a damn break.

+*ACTORS/CHARACTERS*+
The FL was getting verbally ab*sed consistently throughout the show, it kinda reminded me of "Kleun Cheewit (2017)" who even had the same actress but with fewer attempted murders. The ML was going through it too, and the BIG plot twist was expected but still had me gagged smh.

The man has been fighting for his whole life he doesn't even know who he should direct his anger towards, so he decided to take it out on the FL. Classic move. Honestly, everything that happened to them should be blamed on the FL's father and on the ML's criminal past catching up. It was just chaotic, the FL's naive mindset/ tears, and the ML's undiagnosed anger issues smh.

Now with the 2nd Leads, the FL's best friend and the FL's fiance, one word; SHADY. They bout shady as ever! Now our two main leads ain't cherry and strawberries, BUT what if the FL wasn't even messing with the ML?! The FL fiance didn't even know what was going on, but you know who did? The best friend! Smh! You gotta keep an eye out. The FL always came to the best friend with her problems, telling her everything that was going on with her and the ML, and for some reason, I felt as though she used that as an advantage! An advantage to getting close to the FL's Fiance! You telling me it's normal to kiss your friend's fiance in the bathroom "by accident". And to lay your head on his LAP rolling ya head, talking about some "ahh massage harder" just to not have your mom set you on a date?~ First of all, you wouldn't even be my BFF and I wouldn't even have a Fiance if I saw that. DAMN, it's just called boundaries. And you saw how his ass clenched when he thought the best friend told the FL how they kissed in the bathroom stall?! Boi was about to break a sweat smh. As I said, the two main leads ain't unicorns and rainbows, but if we were to separate them 2 from the others, A MESS!

+*THINGS THAT HAD ME PISSED*+
Commitment is a huge problem up in here. Everybody and their mama, literally, either got cheated on or got sabotaged by outsiders. I knew the Fiance was too good to be true, he was over there "accidentally kissing" the best friend and spending emotional/intimate moments with her. Then you got the best friend crushing on the FL's fiance and betraying her because of the FL's dad. Let's not even get to the ML, he's just a hot mess, idk even know where to start. The FL was going back to back with the ML, she kind of neglected her fiance, which probably explains why his ass was always with the best friend. The FL's father is A HOTTTTT MESSSSS! OOO that man makes me mad! The FL father and the ML adopted mother were the villains in the show, so just be ready! The moments when the FL was left gagged, made me mad! They really eating you up in those arguments, and you didn't have a comeback!? Girl at least say something petty instead of standing there speechless!

+*THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY*+
When the ML thought he can just touch the FL without any problems, he betta think again, cause the FL swung! She was throwing hands on that man. You know dem typical wrist grabs, or back against the corner?! She done kneed him in the balls, slapped him with a damn plate, threw a cup of water on him, and punched him in the face with a boxing glove because he was trying to cage her by using his body. LOL now that sounds kinda a*sive, but it's not as bad as you think, it was well-deserved since he kept verbally a*sing her, and physically harassing her. Now I do like the happy moments they have together, especially near the end! It was cute and wholesome and the Actors have contagious smiles!

+*OVERALL*+
Will I watch it again? Probably- in another few years! I'll say this is the milder version of "Kleun Cheewit" but the characters actually do think instead of continuously acting on an impulse. I recommend to watch this just for the fun of it. It's an entertaining watch and can get messy as hell.

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Chemistry level 100%

I just want to say that I regret not watching this drama as soon as it became available on streaming platforms. This one is really entertaining. From the first episode until the last. I am always a sucker for character development, and it's very rare in Lakorn to see one, which is why I can only name a few good dramas made in Thailand. This one is one of the few exceptions.

Now let's talk about the chemistry level. I thought Mark Prin and Yaya's pairing was really great, but lo and behold, the Mario-Yaya pairing turned out to be explosive! I am always feeling giddy whenever they are on screen! They should've been paired more often because they are the reason I lost sleep for two days and was unfocused with work trying to finish their drama.

This drama is really good and a rare gem by Lakorn standards. It reminds me so much of what I feel whenever I watch a classic Thai drama. Lakorn dramas are a guilty pleasure of mine, and new lakorns are not that engaging anymore because pairings don't have chemistry (they are all visuals with no substance). That is why it has been a couple of years since I found Lakorn engaging again.

So, thank you, Bad Romance! I hope Yaya will be paired with Mario again!

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Must watch!

one of the best lakorns played by Mario Maurer. I like the story, dialogue, shots, scenes and more. I watched a lot of lakorns featuring Mario Maurer in the role, but this time it was different. I saw a scene where Mario showed a face full of hatred and expressed anger that I had never seen in most of the roles Mario played; Ah really, when I saw Mario Maurer's hateful face I immediately clapped my hands and said "Wow, I've never seen this before!". this changed my opinion about Mario who previously thought he could only play the role of 'crybaby', completely smacking all those thoughts away. I'm not a fan of Urassaya, so I don't have any comparisons about her acting elsewhere, but I know she is a famous actress (I saw the Free Fire game using her face claim LOL) with amazing acting skill. Yes of course, in this lakorn she perfectly plays the role of Khim, absolutely flawless. ah, theme song and soundtrack also nice! overall, yeah that's it, this is a great lakorn and wow!

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