Chains of Heart (2023)

the plot was a mystery, even to the writer/director/editor

Overall: The chemistry and production was really good but it was ruined by the nonsense plot and confusing editing. Hope to see these actors again in something else. Aired on iQIYI.

Content Warnings: murders, violence/fight, blood, non con kiss, kidnapping, stalking, manipulation

What I Liked
- the gritty/darker tone (though it did fall back on the silly comedy parts a few times, none of which I found funny)
- opening credits with appropriate heavy metal music instead of a pop song/ballad (Underneath The Surface by Tiger Gang)
- intro scene grabbed my attention
- clear time jump
- chemistry between Lue and Ken
- that treehouse
- production value (especially the color grading)

Room For Improvement
- it was just too confusing and it's sad because they could have made it make sense (i.e. adding a location text in the first episode so we knew they weren't in Thailand, adding in when there are time jumps/location jumps how many days/weeks later it is, not having 2 different guys wearing the exact same outfit (all black), telling the story in a linear fashion instead of constant flashbacks)
- total nonsense things (how did no one ask about the gloves, why was he wearing turtlenecks in very hot Thailand, why didn't any airbags go off in that car crash, why was everyone knocked unconscious, why did Ken have zero sense of self preservation, how was Ken strangled and crying in practically every episode including his dream, why run after a bad guy when your friend might be dying, why is there a bath tub in the middle of a warehouse, why did they botch a very important casting so the plot makes zero sense, why can't anyone shoot in the final episode etc)
- continuity errors (Lue was missing a scar that he should have had, characters are injured and then suddenly not injured, etc)
- stupid characters (Din could have just pretended when he found out about that stuff and then reported it later, Ken makes the stupidest decisions considering what he's been through, Lue's "plan" made zero sense why couldn't the police have someone go undercover to get evidence, why couldn't Lue tell Ken????
- bad editing/jumpy, scenes suddenly jumped or picked up elsewhere
- I had zero interest in the side couple, if my significant other did that to me during a business meeting then that might be the end of our relationship
- cartoonish villains (and it isn't human trafficking or drug smuggling??? in the final episode we learn more stuff why wasn't this shown before)
- why did a character suddenly have visions?
- please never kiss through a shower curtain again, also don't wear double underwear
- that open ending was bad, wasn't Lue acting in self defense and working with police why would he be on the run???

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Awful! Awful! Awful!

I Really wanted to give this show straight zero's, my rating is being kind.

I think someone with a good idea wrote a horrible script and maybe they had money to throw away so they produced it, or had ties with someone in the industry, I don't know.

I did watch the whole thing, all though I watched other shows in between, but I really wanted to leave a review and I won't do that unless I watch it all.

It really is a convoluted mess. It's not really what I would call a BL since there wasn't really any romance, unless you want to count a couple of flashbacks that were pg rated.

I can't recommend this, but I know some of you will watch it out of curiosity, which is ok, as long as you understand it's all confusing, a bit creepy in places and the ending is as disappointing as the entire series.

This definitely goes to the bottom of my list - I certainly won't watch it again. In one review someone mentioned they hoped for a second season so they could get some answers???? There are no answers - and the only question I have - is WHY was this even produced?

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Better save your time…

To be honest, I had high expectations after the first episode and I’m so disappointed. Even after watching the whole series I can’t summarize the story. It was so confusing and predictable.
The actors did well but everything else was a mess. One of the worst Thai BL series I’ve ever watched.

I finished it because it was fun watching it together with a friend. Without my friend I wouldn’t have watched more than 2 eps, seriously. The crying and choking was like an insider joke of us while watching the series.
Best of what he said: “KinnPorsche ordered on Wish.”

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Not sure if I fully understood this one

I've finished watching all 10 episodes and I think I have more questions than answers...
Not sure if this series came to fruition after the success of "Kinn-Porsche" but it seems that BLs with plots or at least some side stories that include gangs, illegal activities or guns are increasing a bit.

This series had the original premise of a forest ranger (Din) who found out all the bad deeds done by Chief Ingpha and wanted to expose him. On the road to that, he falls in love with Ken and both have to suffer a premature death at the hands of Ingpha and fall off a cliff in the process (similar to what Max and Tul go through in "Manner of Death"). The only original points I give to this series is how they handled Din's fake death. His sister Sai and Sai's husband, Dr. Chayeol, take him to South Korea to get treatment and stumble upon the chance of an identity switch when a Taiwanese patient (Peter Lue) dies in the hospital. To avoid any trouble with the Taiwanese authorities, Din takes Peter Lue's identity by getting his face while he is reported as dead so Ingpha stops looking for him. Up to this point, the series sounded quite interesting using a plot similar to John Travolta and Nicholas Cage's movie "Face/Off" were both undergo face transplants (except both are alive in the movie unlike this series)... however, afterwards, this series got many things wrong.

I read comments about this being a mystery/thriller type BL so, it should be somewhat confusing to keep the mystery going... I agree to some extent because, yes, I don't want any mystery series to be predictable enough for me to lose interest by episode 5 if I already know who did it. However, this series left me with many questions after each episode that I'm not sure any series, even a mystery one, should leave... for example (I might switch between Peter Lue and Din's names but you know he is the same character by now):
1. Why is Peter Lue wearing turtlenecks and leather gloves almost all the time? The necklace that Din got from the monk and that Ken finds during one of their fights seems like the only reason to wear a turtleneck... but the gloves? He is not hiding a scar or a specific tattoo that Ken could recognize, so it makes no sense.
2. If Ken goes to China why can't Din just contact him at some point during all this? Instead, Ken spends countless times crying and remembering his boyfriend. Then, Ken has to fight this mysterious man in black (who is Peter Lue) because apparently he is trying to prevent Ken from getting involved and keep him safe... noble action but without telling him or anyone else of his intentions, Peter Lue just confuses Ken and the viewers when we have to spend several episodes figuring if he is good or bad.
3. Why Sai is the only family member aware of Peter Lue's identity? Her parents and her brother Hin have no clue until Hin discovers everything in episode 8-9 and the mother suspects it around episode 9-10, but never really finds out. I also don't get how Dr. Chayeol is qualified to perform such a complicated-looking surgery, but I guess he is a genius doctor.
4. Din finds out the illegal activities by Chief Ingpha and also discovers that his boss is involved by getting payments from Ingpha... what happened to Din's superior in all this?
5. How is Inspector Don involved in all this? He seems to be part of Ingpha's group but later we know he is actually helping Peter Lue/Din find evidence against Ingpha but I never found a reason for him to be helping Din other than he is a righteous police officer like Din was a righteous forest ranger. Same with the second doctor who works for Ingpha to perform the organ trafficking but is also helping the police.
6. Ingpha even has an organ trafficking network in episode 10 that comes out of nowhere as I thought the drugs and the illegal wood were his only businesses.
7. The ending... OMG... after all the things both characters go through only to have Peter Lue charged with murder and him having to vanish again?! Now, I do think he is hiding somewhere but Ken and him will reunite at Sai's wedding that will be on the 7th day of the 7th month, the date that linked Ken and Din in the series. But still, the open ended finale was a bit disappointing after 10 episodes of figuring things out in the series.

Now, kudos to Haii (playing Ken) as he has to adapt and develop chemistry with two different actors who portrayed Din (played by Kut before "dying" and by Boom when he becomes Peter Lue). I think Haii navigated through many emotions in this series, from falling in love to almost dying due to Din's findings, to thinking he lost Din, to struggling when he begins to develop feelings for Peter Lue while still clinging to the thought of Din, to feeling betrayed when he finds out the truth of Din being Peter Lue, to accepting the "new" Din, etc. Haii does an adequate job of taking me through all those feelings (with some minor exaggerations that I can overlook). Kut and Boom had to act in very different situations so you can't compare their portrayal of Din. Both do have some good moments but thanks to questionable directing and editing, most of their moments end up being confusing to the viewer with flashbacks that come out of nowhere and situations that were not properly connected.
The other characters are fillers for the most part... Marc Pahun must be enjoying not being a GMMTV exclusive anymore as he is appearing on 3 BL shows at the same time (this one, as one of the leads in "Past-Senger" and in some of the "Our Skyy 2" episodes) and in here, he is able to showcase a bit more of his acting skills by playing some relevant role as Sai and Din's brother... too bad some of his moments get lost in silly or comedic situations that were highly irrelevant and his interactions with Sai when he finds out the truth could have been exploited much more but poor editing and directing switched out of the scene to have another useless Ken/Peter Lue moment. And, his relationship with Payu was never explored and aside from a brief steamy scene between them, we got nothing worth remembering. Other side characters like Ken's dad (who we saw as the head of the family in "Kinn-Porsche") is just relegated to being a restaurant owner in China; Din's dad (who we saw in "The Miracle of Teddy Bear" and other shows) barely has any lines in this series; Poppy (playing Inspector Don) seems to be present in all major scenes according to the flashbacks, but we never really know anything about how he fits in this puzzle; Ken's friends seem wasted as we barely got anything useful from them and instead, we got a healthy dose of DeeDee in the final episodes with him being one of the most irrelevant and dumb characters in this series. And, Ingpha's main bad guy is annoying with the horrendous laugh all the time... I know they want to picture him as a psychopath or a sociopath or both, but the laughter is just poorly done and quite distracting.

As for the sillier moments, all have to focus on the chaos that episode 10 was. First, all the killings done by Din/Peter Lue are just a joke... he faces 5 gunmen who cannot hit him once with semiautomatic guns and pistols... then he does his best impersonation of James Bond and shoots some of them, throws knives at others, and slits 2-3 throats with his knife without a drop of blood staining his face or clothes... when you slit someone's throat, the amount of blood that gushes out is quite significant... he also shoots a bad guy in the head at point-blank range and he is pristine and clean during all that, quite unbelievable. Then, he faces Ingpha who is holding Sai hostage... Ingpha still has no clue who he is until he shows him the camera/mic he dropped when they met in the forest for the first time and that led to him being shot at later. In the blink of an eye, Ingpha recognizes Din who suddenly thinks this is a Western movie and pulls out his gun and shoots the chief in the shoulder so precisely and without affecting Sai (who was sitting on Ingpha's lap and suddenly disappears from the screen until many frames later when we see her sitting unharmed on top of a rock). Then, in a weird twist, Din/Peter Lue is so revenge-thirsty that instead of bringing the chief to justice, he just kills him execution-style with a shot right in the middle of the forehead. The cold-blooded execution makes no sense... I mean, I understand Din is harboring too much hate towards the man who ruined his life, forced him to take a dead's man identity and separated him from his family, friends and boyfriend... but to kill Ingpha like that seems a bit anti-climactic for the man who wanted to expose Ingpha's actions.

In the end, the show was not the worst BL I've seen but it left the lingering feeling of "what might have been" if directing, editing, writing and acting would have come together, maybe this would have been a masterpiece given the plot... instead, it became just one more BL that failed to meet my expectations.

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What did I just watch?

Seriously, what was this? Although I'm sure these actors could produce good work it will definitely be with a better script and director. It felt far too long and like the overall story could've been helped by some judicious editing. I never felt any connection to any of the characters and felt nothing between the leads or even the second couple (they felt like such an odd pairing, no natural chemistry at all). We could've learned about smuggling and illegal wood trade, novel topics for a bl, but it is peripheral and haphazardly told. Finally, the fight scenes really needed a fight scene coordinator and some training on the actors' parts. Some scenes it was so bad I actually laughed out loud. I want my 8+ hours of my life back. This was basically a cheaper version of KinnPorsche but with no plot, romance, or reason for existence.

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In the beginning, I was confused. At the end, I was confused, annoyed and disappointed

This has got to be the first series that after watching the first episode, I had no idea what the heck was happening and what was going to happen during the course of ten episodes. This series really had me scratching my head. And I know a lot of people would ask 'Then why did you continue it?' Two simple reasons: 1. I never drop a series and 2. I wanted to know what happened till the end. And what happened has just left me confused, annoyed and disappointed.

Story-4.5/10
In all honesty, I had NO clue whatsoever about whatever was going on in this series. I can safely say that I was confused for the first seven episodes (yes, you heard me!). Heck! I didn't even know the woman who went to jail was Inpha (the Chief)'s sister until I saw it in the comments section! I only finally started to get the grasp by episode 8. And by then it was a little too late.

That and the fact that I was getting annoyed with nearly every episode up until 7 or 8 where Ken was getting choked. Anyhow, they go through all that crap ONLY for them not to get back together. I mean, it was already hard for them to get back together due to the fact that Din and the doctor literally stole the face of a dead man and gave Din his name. So, why not kill the Chief on top of that as well? But I must say that the cinematography was indeed beautiful (so that will get a .5 from me). So, for all of this, I'm giving the story a 4.5.

Acting/ Cast-5/10
If I had any idea what this series was about before episode 8, I would have given their acting a higher score. But I have no idea and out of the kindness of my heart, I'm giving them a 5. However, I would like to add that hopefully in the future Boom Raweeqit Jiraphonggkanon will get a better main role. Because I knew him from the hot mess that was 'My Dream' and he was one of the few actors that I liked there.

Music-7/10
The music was the only good thing about this whole series. So, for that, I will give a 7.

Rewatch Valu-2/10
Yeah...I can't rewatch this. Because, as I have stated before, I was confused for the majority of the episodes. And I don't think rewatching this series will help me in any way at all.so, I'm going with a 2.

Overall-4.5/10
Overall, I give this series a 4.5. Maybe if it was executed better, it would have gotten a higher score from me.

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Er... It's hard to watch

A weak script with many holes.
The actors are good (not all of them) but they were let down by the script.
I don't even know how to put my dissatisfaction into words, but I'll try.

1. There are scenes where you get lost, because the character is in one place and suddenly appears in another place.
2. The plot twist was weak and very predictable. When it happened nobody was really surprised.
3. I started watching it thinking it was going to be something KinnPorsche, but it was nothing like that (yes, I was wrong to have high expectations)
4. Lack of secondary character development
5. Ken cried in most episodes
6. Suddenly a character who can read minds / see visions (???????)

I could go on, but I'll stop here.

I don't know how so many people are giving more than 5 stars.

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not that good

WARNING : SPOILERS AND A VERY BAD/MESSY REVIEW
If ken isn't getting choked then he's crying
there's a random guy who can read minds
mr lue can change clothes at the speed of light
noone can shoot mr lue no matter how close he stands
ken is superduper delulu king.
ken is a bit creepy and has pictures of din everywhere in his flat. there's not a single milimeter of space that isnt covered with dins face

i didnt love the fact that din was mr lue. i knew it since the begginning as it was very predictable but i still disliked it. and also, how the hell couldnt delulu king ken tell that it was Din? I get that he's had like hundreds of plastic surgery sessions but his personality and idk body would still be the same. Had potetntial but i was wasted. I feel bad for the real mr lue who dide in a carcrash. he didnt sign up for any papers saying that they could use his face,name and identity....casting wasnt amazing either mr lue and din didnt look alike AT ALL..
i didnt like the ending either...... 5.5 stars is generous,

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Bad In The Very Best Way

It's terrible and I love it.

-The story is nothing special
-The plot has more holes than swiss cheese
-The acting is so melodramatic it's comical
-It had some of the most confusing characters and what they did/were/meant to the story
-Great music, terrible sound effects
-Terrible fight scenes
-Some of the worst faked injuries/blood/suddenly missing injuries I've ever seen.

And it is ADDICTINGLY entertaining. I loved every minute of it. It followed some of the most predictable plot twists ever and I had so much fun predicting what was coming next. I still don't know who or why or what about a lot of it because it was all so random, and I can't wait to binge this series all over again soon.

Absolutely watch this series. If you don't try to take it seriously, you will have an INCREDIBLY fun time, I guarantee it.

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Wait, is this a comedy, or a drama?

Gorgeous cinematography, the actors were (mostly) great, beautiful locations, well-done direction. Everyone tried and wanted to make Chains of Heart a quality and engaging series. well.... everyone except the writers. The first episodes appealed to me as they reminded me of my favorite series, KinnPorsche. Then it got worse; especially at the end things started to make no sense. But it was so funny! Especially Din's ninja moves in the forest. Or how Ken was crying 24/7. Or how someone was strangling him all the time. Too bad this wasn't a comedy. :)

list of funny moments:
1) mr. lue is wearing sweater and leather gloves in bangkok where is hot all the time
2) if ken is not being choked, he is crying
3) that one dude who is literally reading minds
4) the main bad guy is illegally selling wood and.... human organs
5) no one can shoot mr. lue even if he's like 5 meters away from them
6) mr. lue's ninja moves in the end
7) payu's eyebrows

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