Papa, What is Love? (2022)

Surprising - LGBTQ+ rather than BL, but very good.

BL audiences probably won't like this too much - but it's such a refreshing change from the formula. Usually BL characters behave like Jane Austin characters instead of actual people - but here we have what feel like real people. The story doesn't shy away from the superficiality in gay life, or how stupid we are when young, and it touches on the nature of love and the different kinds there are.

I think this could have been more special if the position of Rich and his son were reversed - the way it ended up leaned perhaps too heavily on superficiality.

The acting was pretty good - there were a couple of scenes that might have been too ambitious, but kudos for stretching limits. The directing is excellent, as is the cinematography.

It could have used one more episode so that the wrap-up was a bit more full, but it was well-written enough to work at the given length - the final conversation between Richard and Tupe was a highlight.

The music is good, but maybe it could have used a bit more so that the theme song got a chance to rest. There are several things that one would want to rewatch, especially in the director's cut.

I'm so sorry about the loss of the director - it will be hard to find someone of that caliber for S2.

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Uncut versions add spices to an already delicious dish

This series isn't your typical fairy tale BL-series, with all the usual tropes and college students driving around in their expensive cars, living in fancy houses, not being gay, but only being able to love the one and only guy, who was an enemy first and became a lover towards the end of the series. This is a story of real people, with a past that wasn't a bed of roses. There is love, jealousy, cheat, and regret, like in real life relationships.

The first episode led viewers up the garden path, because it looked like the beginning of a shallow OTT comedy. Richard (Arnold Reyes), a widower in his 40s, is urged by his son Greg (Anthony Flores) to hire a helper to look after him and the household. After a series of absurd interviews, the last applicant, Tupe (Rex Lantano), enters the stage with a winning smile, presenting Richard a bunch of flowers picked from the neighbours' garden, and he gets the job which is generously paid so that he can support his mother who is taken seriously ill.

The plot of episodes 2 through 6, however, isn't pure comedy. Richard, who only came out to his son after his wife's death, because he didn't want to hurt his wife's feelings, falls for Tupe, and they end up in bed together. They are caught in the act by Greg, who is embarrassed to witness his father having sex with a guy who is about his own age. At first he suspects Tupe of being after his dad's money, but the two young men slowly get closer. When Richard goes on a business trip, they spend a day together, have a drunk talk about their childhood and traumas, and end up having sex.

The next day, both Greg and Tupe are crying – Tupe obviously because he regrets cheating on Richard, and Greg maybe because of trying to steal his dad's boyfriend, or maybe because he has seriously fallen for Tupe.

The final episode is a real rollercoaster. When Tupe is about to leave because he won't dare face Richard, Greg accuses him of leaving him. They quarrel, but finally Greg confesses his love to Tupe, and vice versa. Of course Richard witnesses their reconciliation kiss, and after a lot of tears, he finally ”gives” Tupe to Greg. Although Richard seems to be the loser of this love triangle, in the end everybody seems to be happy. Tupe and Greg leave for a holiday together, and Richard hires another ”helper with abs”, played by Nick John Tuppil, who is serious eye candy indeed.

Some members of the BL fan community were put off by the unusual constellation of the main characters, especially by their age gap. Others complained about Tupe's ungratefulness and Greg's betrayal of his dad. But as we all know, the life of couples – be they straight, gay or whatever – is rarely without problems, disappointments, break-ups and reconciliations. That can be exhausting, but IMO it makes life colourful, and it makes this series colourful and exciting, too. In opposition to real life,where a story like this would probably end in bitterness, we get a happy ending here, which is something I like in a BL series, I must admit.

The cast is an exciting blend of experienced actors like Arnold Reyes and Rex Lantano and newbies like Anthony Flores and Nick John Tuppil, who are not just very handsome, but also prove that they are talented. They were led sensitively by director Shandii Bacolod, who also directed the amazing series ”Love at the end of the world”, and who tragically passed away when the series was airing.

It is surprising that although the series is relatively short, writer and director Shandii Bacolod manages not only to tell the story of the love triangle step by step and in detail, but also finds time to characterise the three protagonists and to display their backstories.

Most of the series is set in Richard's house, but in contrast to many Pinoy low budget series, the production is professional. Cinematography, editing, and sound are good. The title song 'Papa, what is love?' and the beautiful ballad 'Bakit naman iyong akin pa?' by Malvin Drake are another proof that most Pinoy series have amazing OSTs.

Rex Lantano took the risk of producing the series himself, and it appears to have paid out, because his channel gained quite a number of paying subscribers who are rewarded with uncut versions of episodes 3 – 6 which add some spices to a dish that is already delicious in the regular version.

It's a little sad that there are only 6 relatively short episodes, but that can be an advantage, because a series of an accumulated 2 hours runtime is easier to rewatch than a full-fledged 12-hours series. I don't often rewatch series, but I am quite sure that I will rewatch this one, probably shortly before season 2 starts airing.

Because this is the good news at the end of this review: Rex Lantano has announced a season 2 to be produced soon, and I can only hope that they will be able to keep up the good quality of script, acting, directing, and production in general.

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