Hidden Agenda (2023)

A feel-good university romance with a lot of fluff

Hidden Agenda is a good BL with an interesting plot and a great cast.

The plot starts out strong and we are immediately swept up into getting to know the characters for around two episodes whilst the groundwork is set for the rest of the plot. I thought the pursuit was fun to watch and had some cute moments. The main couple is sweet, and I personally enjoy university plots with angsty and confused feelings.

Watch this drama if you enjoy the following genres: university, romance, fluff, sweet, pining, confused feelings, slight angst and a few steamy kiss scenes.

I’ve seen many other reviews of people hating on this drama for no reason. I’ve mainly seen people insult Dunk’s acting skills which are perfectly fine. Whilst I agree that Joong is slightly better, I do not think that Dunk’s acting skills are bad (or as bad as some people claim). Some people said the plot was boring which I disagree, I think they just prefer action-thrillers with heavy stakes and a fleshed-out plot rather than a simple watch with a lot of fluff.

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To be honest, I am not a fan of the plot itself but I love Joong so I decided to give it a try.
The story is not too promising; there was no exact scene that I would love to go back watching. The acting was not really phenomenal but it was good and could have been improved.
I was really expecting more from the other love team because they actually look good and their story made more sense to me than the leads but they unfortunately up until the last episode, they did not dwell on that. They even had an emotional scene.

Hoping for more projects with better plot this year for both couples.

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it is so bad, I want to give you a 0, but that's not possible, so I give you a 1

I really don't care if there's a kiss, bed or whatever scene, I only care about a good story and acting, but the main couple it's just so boring and their acting is bad, not even a good ost 😭 tbh I got so bored that I just skipped every single episode and the only parts I watched were about pok and jeng bc their story is more entertaining even with the little screentime and the fact that they're not the main couple. Just give them a own show pls their acting is better and chemistry is insane.

look, I understand that there are bls to just have fun and don't think too much while you're watching it, I enjoy those bls too but this is definitely one of the worst I've watch, not entertaining, script and acting is bad (for main couple) there are things that don't make sense or that are just out of pocket, etc.

I don't recommend watching it. if you're interested in the other couple just watch a compilation and don't waste your time.

also, I hope the main couple gets a better bl and acting classes.

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This series was OK, not great or bad, just OK

I liked the premise of the story and the story itself was fine. It was a little bit different twist on the college story, there wasn't one engineer in the whole thing! All kidding aside, they explored how families can affect relationships, and how parents can unintentionally mess up their kids by stuff the parents say and do. The acting was good, and this was clean and something even your Grandma could watch.

I think part of the problem with this story it seems to drag in places, they could have edited this down to 8 episodes and had a much more cohesive story. For almost 12 hours of runtime, not a whole lot happens, at least not compared to something like A Tale of Thousand Stars, Not Me, or Manner of Death.

The other direction they could have gone is explored the side characters more. For example, Wave and Trin, they seemed to have some unresolved issues (possibly romantic?) even at the end of the series. Kot and Pat really didn't add much to the series, there were lots of ways those characters could have rounded out this series, possibly with those two dating each other, or showing more than a passing scene with them. Poor Nita barely got to speak during the whole show, and the story loosely revolves around her and the two leads. Then you throw in a stalker for a few minutes randomly.

I did enjoy this, but it wasn't the best thing I watched recently. It is worth watching, but don't think you are going to be watching a memorable or groundbreaking series.

Leggi di Più

Good acting but boring storyline...

The only feeling I had throughout was that the series had been wrongly named. I expected different with such a strong name... Comparatively I really enjoyed Only Friends, which has been made at the same time...
It felt too dragged at some places...
I have no complaints regarding the acting. The cast has really acted well... It really feels like they have adopted the characters into themselves.
But the storyline seems too straight...
Or it might be that watching other dramas with likable content has set my bars high...
But don't give this review too much importance... Watch it and decide for yourself... Mightbe you enjoy it...

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It was cute...I guess.

Hidden Agenda was cute and I enjoyed it, until the last three episodes. Zo took Whiny to a whole other level. So they won the competition but Zo lost the scholarship to Nita. This is where the wining starts. He pouts through Nita's B-day party and pushes Joke away. And then his father gets sick and goes to the hospital and this is where Zo informs Joke that he didn't have time for him because he had to focus on "more important things", like that's not a crappy thing to say to the boy who adores you. So Zo's mother has to tell him...Yeah, your boyfriend is kind of important. I rolled my eyes so hard they almost fell out of my head. And then the final episode, Joke is having dinner with his family and his father is being an ass...and of course, Zo shows up to give the dad a long speech, which makes Joke's dad "see the light" and then my eyes finally fell out of my head from rolling them so much. I love Joong and Dunk and they have great chemistry, but this show was not it.

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Surpresa boa

Eu confesso que não comecei a assistir com muitas expectativas, mas terminei essa série com uma sensação gostosa de conforto. É importante falar da evolução do Dunk, pois a série anterior, que ele também fez par com o Joong, deixou a desejar tanto na atuação como na química, Agora, ele aparece mais maduro, talvez pela construção do personagem, que é diferente da outra série, e com atuação melhorada a química entre eles melhorou consideravelmente.

O plot é bem clichê na verdade, mas blzeiros vivem de clichês, não é mesmo?
O roteiro nada inovador, traz o personagem de Zo "apaixonado" por Nita, e o personagem Joke, amigo de Nita, promete ajudá-lo a conquistar a garota, com a condição de que ele consiga entrar no clube de debates (esse clube é novidade pra mim). Na verdade, Joke tem a intenção de aproveitar o tempo próximo a Zo para conquistá-lo, e ele consegue! Mais clichê impossível.

Gostei muito do casal secundário, gostei de não terem vilanizado a personagem Nita, ao contrário, humanizaram ela e mostraram uma amizade sincera entre homem e mulher. Não existiu nenhum drama mirabolante entre os casais, apenas aquela negação dos sentimentos que atormentou Zo após o primeiro beijo, e foi bonito ver o Joke entendendo isso e correndo atrás.

Minha crítica vai apenas para a questão familiar. A família de Zo, com sua alegria ou problemas estava sendo mostrada desde o início, mas sobre Joke, tivemos apenas a aparição rápida de sua avó (uma diva) e no último episódio é que vemos o real problema da família dele, a treta com o pai poderia ter sido explorada de forma mais inteligente.

A parte técnica também não deixa a desejar, não tenho críticas.

Com certeza recomendo essa série, e pretendo assisti-la várias vezes.

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Lenta, porém deliciosa!

Eu amei como o romance é construído, não teve traição e a enganação foi Joke já gostar de Zo há muito tempo!
Muito fofos, atuação não é das melhores, mas só alguns personagens se perdem ali, Nita foi usada na medida certa. Vovó maravilhosa, só gostaria de saber como o pai de Zo ficou, se ele foi pra casa ou não.
Os beijos muito fofos e a cena da primeira vez do casal foi muito fofa na medida certa!
Sorri demais toda vez que eles se beijavam ou se abraçavam, fofos DEMAIS!
Lembrei um pouco do meu relacionamento, nesses longos 7 anos foram muitos altos e baixos e ficamos juntos, crises vieram, mas relacionamento é isso, é algo fluido que precisa estar todo tempo se adaptando as pessoa envolvidas!
Muito amor e respeito envolvido!

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A subpar level of an average BL lovely dovey-ness overload

So this one is a bit enjoyable at least for me. I know y'all be so down bad to treat this but I think for me it's okay. Nothing special. Good for those who wants lighter series or starting out on BL genre. The show fell short way too much.

The chemistry was there but the well-written script and plot were definitely HIDDEN. I think the plot serves no AGENDA and it's all just a lovely dovey-type fluff series. It failed to captivate me that much nonetheless I was entertained which is the bare minimum of a series to do to keep my attention.
The running time is way too long, just about any average BL produced in GMMTV. The plot also can be told and narrated in just this much eps, like just 5 eps is enough to deliver the missing plot.
The plot felt like something that when pointed out then what happens next kind of thing. I felt like, ok after pursuing Zo and they got together and Nita is out of the picture then what now?? Are there something that needs to be tackled about that's interesting?? Also they didn't reveal their relationship to both of their families. I get it that in the last ep, the show tried hard to give inner chaos inside freaking Zo and Joke respectively but such last minute problems are what I'm not a fan of. I never understand why producers would introduce a problem in the last ep when it should be addressed prior to the ending. Other aspects that didn't make sense if we were to talk about the plot are: Nita's stalker, perceived dishonesty of Louis's character, JengPok's love quarrel and the club's mentor's trouble one-sided love.

There are more flaws in this series that understandably failed expectations of many audience including me. For a JoongDunk fan like me, it's disappointing that GMM didn't give them a worthy series with convincing plot to take us anywhere but 55555 being wasted away with the same formula used in most BLs.

Overall, this was okay but lackluster, pretty entertaining though so yeah........

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This is the story about Zo & Joke. As MDL told us, this drama begin with Zo that decided to pursue his long-time crush Nita before graduation. In order to pursue her, he approaches Joke, Nita's ex, for dating advice. In exchange Joke ask for a place in the debate club. Or, at least, that's what he tells Zo, cause like the title said, Hidden Agenda.

What I like:
+ Zo is good man, weird sometimes but good. He bothered to explained his feeling to nita before moving forward with Joke.
+ Joke & Zo have problem with their parent. I like how they help each other to deal with their parents, Zo help Joke & Joke help Zo. And how everything solve & be better in the end.

Now what I feel strange about this drama:
- The plot feel weird. I don't know, it feel like jumping from place to place. It feel like there's something missing, but they don't include it in the final cut. It's like when Zo said he gonna enlisted in military during vacation, but we never see him join military. Or when Zo's dad get into hospital, he just make space with joke, yeah he explained it later but before that feel like there's missing scene...
- The chemistry between Dunk Natachai Boonprasert & Joong Archen Aydin themselves feel strange. It feels like they uncomfortable with each other. It feel like the actors is not gay but force to play gay man & had to kiss a man make them uncomfortable.

Overall this just another drama on my list

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Vide mais mignonnet

Sincèrement pas très intéressant, juste mignonnet. Je trouve que GMMTV fournit à JoongDunk des séries quand même assez limitées, notamment niveau scénario (en clair, c'est vide). Cette série ressemble tellement à Star In My Mind, les personnages sont similaires, que ce soit pour Joong ou Dunk, le personnage de Joong lorgnant également du côté de Sarawat dans 2gether. Si je trouve que Dunk s'est amélioré, il est quand même le maillon faible du couple côté jeu. Peut-être qu'il n'est d'ailleurs pas possible de leur donner des séries plus ambitieuses comme pour ForceBook, JimmySea ou PondPhuwin.
Après avoir dit tout cela, leur alchimie est ce qui sauve cette série du naufrage et qui permet de donner un 7 (je suis quand même assez gentille dans ma notation) parce que c'est toujours adorable de voir JoongDunk ensemble. Je conseille d'ailleurs les BTS, qui sont presque plus affectueuses que le drama lui-même.
Un problème que j'ai eu par contre avec le couple JokeZo est cette impression de déséquilibre dans leur relation, que Joke est plus investi, plus amoureux. Les scénaristes et/ou réalisateur ont d'ailleurs rajouté des scènes insistant sur l'amour de Zo.
Le couple AouBoom et les rôles secondaires, pourtant donnés à des acteurs GMMTV solides et familiers, sont anecdotiques.

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Disappointing Tale with a Good Concept

**Brief Synopsis**
B (Student): Zo
T (Student): Joke

- Beginning: B is in love with a girl and would like to know her better. However, he doesn’t know where to start so he decide to ask T, the girl’s ex, to help him with wooing her. T agrees in exchange for help getting in to the debate club but it was obvious from the beginning he was only interested in B and not debating. To teach B how to date, T brings B on a date, help him dress better and generally be true to himself. During his date, B’s heart started racing, but he doesn’t know what to think of it. He still goes on a date with the girl who finally notices him, but for some reason, when he finally got to sit down with her, he finds the experience lacking and his heart stayed silent. He retells the experience to T who assures him that it was fine. But when T puts an arm around him, B’s heart started to pound again.

- Middle: B and T spends more time together, thanks to T’s efforts. They go on trips and they get to know each other better. B still treats T as a friend which T takes advantage of to get closer to him. Finally B notices that something is up because T is acting way too intimate with him and starts distancing himself a little. T finally confesses to B and asks him for a chance to woo him. B did not refuse even if he still doesn’t know what he is feeling. He is obviously not comfortable with the PDA but is not repulsed by it. And when T does things such as hug him or spooning him while they sleep, he makes a slight show to refusing and then seems to enjoy the intimacy. After a while, B finally admits that he has feelings for T and kisses him.

- End: But after they have gotten together, B finds T’s chat logs and realizes that everything he thought was fate was actually a lie because T has planned everything out including pretending to help him get the girl. He is hurt that their relationship started with a lie and runs away. T goes to B to apologize and tells him how he had fallen for him in the first place. B is touched and ends up forgiving him. The show ends with them graduating and B telling T that he wants to stay with him forever.

**My Opinion**

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT:
- I actually liked the characters despite how underdeveloped they are. That is normal because the focus was entirely on their relationship rather than them as individuals.
- I really liked how the actors looked. They are really good looking and fits well together. I really like how B looked after he had taken off his glasses and started dressing more stylishly.
- I actually like the fact that I could feel the romantic tension between them since the beginning. The actors did an okay job in portraying this state of mind.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ABOUT IT:
- The plot is practically non-existence. The story is cliche and predictable and does not have any memorable moments.
- There were some subplots but the other characters aren’t developed enough for me to care about their stories.
- Acting can get a little awkward at times, especially when strong emotions needs to be displayed. Reactions can get cringey and underwhelming at times. For example, when B admits to his friends that T is trying to woo him, the way they react is way too calm. Or when T meets the guy who was a jerk to B before. Scenes with only the two of them are fine but once there are other people, it feels badly acted.
- Dialogue can get a little awkward as well. It’s moments like this that reminds me this is just a cheesy rom com. There is absolutely no depth to this show and every time they attempt to add depth, it comes off as unfinished and not thought out. For example, there was something about a stalker but it was resolved so fast that it didn’t leave an impression, just felt it was to extend the run time.
- The intimate scenes are pretty tame but I feel that something is just missing. It doesn’t feel as passionate as with other shows.
- The angst lacks the emotional punch because it’s just so cliche and the characters themselves doesn’t look to distressed about it. The angst comes from lying to your partner to get close to them and then them finding out, which is also an overused trope.

**Conclusion**
It was frankly a rather boring watch as I feel nothing happened and there was no reason to cheer the main couple on. It was a good concept but it was badly executed.

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