My Stand-In (2024)

Romanticized abuser

This drama is like the fictionalized simulator of witnessing someone in an abusive relationship and being unable to help them. The abused person experiences all the abuse and will keep going back even with intervention from loved ones like friends and family.

Joe is used, kidnapped, tied up, and struck with a bat, gets his career destroyed which lead to his death. When he gets a miracle second chance, he goes right back to the same conditions that led to his initial death, working for a scumbag actor and worse selling his body and time to the abusive ex that ruined his life rather than borrow money from a friend he knows is generally a good person and wouldn't take advantage of him.

Ming has been a selfish, unhinged, obsessive, abusive person from the start. All his actions are his own, regardless of Tong manipulating his feelings. He just realigns his obsession from Tong to Joe, he's the same person that would hurt others to satisfy his own obsession. He threatens and manipulates the second Joe into sexual slavery. It's so horrific watching him love bomb Joe and Joe going back to him. Ming has done nothing substantial to show growth or change, just selfishly getting his way. Part of it is the bad writing/directing and another part of it is also the actor can't show any further nuance to Ming. Abusers can truly love the people they abuse and vice versa, but it doesn't change dangerous toxicity of the situation and certainly doesn't redeem the abuser in anyway. The resolution of the show is ultimately unsatisfying and empty.

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Final Review of *My Stand-In*:

I just finished the last episode, and in my opinion, it's too "joyful" for certain characters. I won’t spoil anything, but those who have seen the drama will understand who I’m referring to.

Regarding Ming, I really liked his character even though I would never have been able to read the novel due to numerous additional scenes that, thankfully, were removed from the drama, making it more enjoyable. Up did an excellent job. The actor has a rather cold expression when he doesn’t smile, making him perfect for playing Ming, who, in his own words, doesn't like people. I found it brilliant that they had Ming say, "I don't like people very much," because Ming will never be the type to smile and be friendly with everyone. He doesn’t pretend; if he doesn’t like you, you’ll know it, if he loves you, you’ll know it too, and if he’s indifferent, it’s the same!

From start to finish, Ming retains his personality while evolving in how he shows his love. Yes, the character made mistakes that, in real life, would be intolerable for 90% of the population, but there are 10% who would be willing to give a second chance. 5% would be right, 5% wrong. Here, Joe was right. I just regret the lack of tears, but I think that fits the character.

Regarding Joe, he remains the same from beginning to end. He is a sweet, kind, and somewhat simple character. Let’s be honest, Joe isn’t very clever, but he has a natural gentleness that attracts the audience. The actor played his role very well; it’s flawless. He was perfect; Joe was Poom and no one else!

As for Tong, I hated his character from start to finish. Kudos to the actor, nothing more to add without spoiling.

The music is very well managed, the series is beautifully shot, and the roles and actors are perfectly executed. However, it lacks an "I love you" at the end. I was waiting for it...

I know they both show their love through their actions, but I would have still liked a little "I love you" to wrap things up nicely.

It’s an 8.5/10 for me. My highest rating of the year so far!

Why not a 10? Because I found some moments a bit slow, long, and uninteresting, and others too rushed and illogical.

Thank you to all the actors. Plus, I discovered a lovely YouTube channel. The actor who plays Ming (Up) has a YouTube channel if you want to check it out.

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The book was better

This is basically the Thai tv show version of a transmigration story. The original book was Chinese, and transmigration is a popular theme in their novels. It almost always features a redemption arch as well. I think the show translated that well. The actor that played Joe fit the character well, even his body type. I also think he had good acting. The actor playing Ming, however, was not cast well. His acting was also pretty wooden at times. I have seen him in lovely writer, which I think he did a good job. But he was like a totally different actor in this show. Definitely subpar. He also did not physically fit the character in the book. This did not help me get lost in the story, but was distracting instead. I think the book was better, and recommend giving it a try if you haven’t read it.

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Disastrous show with terrible writing!

First of all, let me get this straight! The amount of hype and ig edits endorsed by the PR team has absolutely spoilt the entire drama for everyone! I have don't have much problem with those somewhat beautiful Bollywood edits, but it made me feel like I've already seen the entire show through the reels and there was nothing exciting to be anticipated in every episode, like i already know what's going to happen next. There needs to be certain limits to what extent the clips are released to the public!

Coming back to the show, the kind of hype that was created towards this show had me keenly awaiting for the show to end, so that I could binge watch it to the core! Judging by the premise it gave me hopes that it would deal with actual adult gay complex relationship dynamics which we face in a day to day basis! But I was let down so bad! It was just awful romanticised toxic obsessive 'Girl in trap' BL trope! Even Only Friends did better in showcasing actual gay culture!

THINGS WHAT WORKED:
• Relatively fresh cast was refreshing, yeah Joe was definitely one of the prime most reason I wanted to watch this show
• Miniscule addressal of coming out to family
• Repressed emotions portrayed by Ming towards Tong when he learns about his marriage
• Initial 3-4 episodes did show some potential and were gripping

THINGS THAT MADE CLENCH THE FEW STRANDS OF HAIR LEFT ON MY HEAD:
• The decision of keeping the same actor for portraying both the Old Joe and New Joe just for the sake of pushing the better looking actor shows the shallowness of the director and totally nulls the entire meaning of the show. The New Joe flashed at certain points was so dull and expressionless that it made it absolutely impossible to thing of him being in the character. Like even Chains of Heart does such a convincing job of making both actors likeable.
• The amount of times Joe has spilled the beans from his daily conversations looks so lame and unrealistic.
• Which mother who's spent entirety of her life living in a dilapidated house, just blindly walk in a super expensive villa with a private servant without even getting into any details of how his struggling son was able to provide it.
• The entire redemption arc of Tong was an absolute nonsense filler.
• Cringey trope of promises by his elder brother for helping Ming out from his father.
• Joe's friends did not even take a moment believing that he has been reincarnated
• The usual trope of parents being extremely repulsive and immediately accepting in a flash of a second without any convincing set of repercussions and consequences sets a really bad example to young LGBT individuals, whose lives can be at stake after coming out
• The extremely disturbing stereotypical portrayal of the Indian/Pakistani Sikh or muslim loan shark in an already racially conservative country, which the writer is himself confused about portraying in EP11 is what irked me the most in the entire show. If you are thinking of promoting a show to such a global level, you really need to be sensitive of the racial stereotypes that you are representing.
• The NC scenes had absolutely no build up and lacked intimacy!
• Why does Ming breakdown after the fencing shoot looking at the New Joe's back? He's not even the Old Joe and how does he realise that it was the Old Joe's back not Tong's the entire time when it is the New Joe playing the role.

The amount of plotholes delivered by this script is endless. I could go and on about this ridiculous writing of the show, but I have listed the major factors that frustrated me the most. This is one the biggest let-down of a BL dramas I had in a while.

Viewers beware of the hype, this show is extremely passable!

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I must say the ending is a definition of thrash, I was just annoyed, I expected a better ending. But the acting was good especially from Joe, he played his part really well.
But the story line thrash it. And if I find ming I will put him behind bars, I don't really care what Joe wants, ming smile really irritated me made me wanna puke, what are you smiling at you big, abusive fool, you this ugly bi##h, no tell me

Ming: we don't need to do it from the front (weird creepy smile)
Joe: hahaha ?
You stupid ba##ard no do it from the back. Gosh I give up on Thai drama............. And Joe just die because you are a useless c##t

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¡Qué tres meses este viaje!

Aunque llevo tiempo viendo BL, es la primera vez que una serie me hace querer leer el material inicial y vaya si me lo introduje por el orificio anal con fuerza, que me leí las 1000 páginas en menos de 4 días. Eso habla mucho de la adaptación.

Y, aunque habiendo leído la novela, siento que tengo una opinión distinta de la que habría tenido sin haberlo hecho, no me arrepiento, porque llegué a comprender mucho mejor la psicología de los personajes que no llega a desarrollarse todo lo que me gustaría en la serie. Creo que la mayoría de los cambios realizados aportan bastante a la trama y, por mucho que la gente diga, yo no siento que hayan endulzado el personaje de Ming. Sinceramente, me lo imaginaba bastante como lo he visto en la serie. Más joven, claramente, pero igual de guapo, malo y ajusticiado por el karma.

Volveré a verla, lo tengo claro.

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"girl in debt" trope adapted to BL

In all earnestness, i have to say that this drama is a total fiasco - read embarassment. Besides the ML - nothing to see here, not even hot scenes.
By ep 4 or so, it's just recollection of the past... By ep 8, it's same story with - supposedly - different ML. It becomes absurdly repetitive: the ML died because of the villain and crazy jealousy of partner, he wakes up in a different body to share same jealous partner and same villain and same name and same life story... The narrative loop is motivated by the "debt" trope, like - the ML cannot escape the circumstances because he is trying to raise money for his sick mom.
I personally dont like most of the cast. Everything looks forced and rushed and unprofessional.
Very predictable too... The ML is to be appreciated post-mortem and coming back from the dead to his repenting lover and friends.
Body-swap trope is supposed to add to the wow factor, but it's not... It also becomes really soon Polichinelle's secret to its dumbest.
The trend of the year seems to be "movie in a movie" trope. I find it annoying and an attempt to ruin the little credibility these dramas already have.
There is some unwilling humour to it, like Joe being recognized because he sneezes during orgasm - LOL is this a new unconfirmed study? Also, his BF always takes him from behind because - we assume - he doesnt want to see his face, though s*x is good and packed with feelings!? I seriously want to know who wrote this stuff!!
I'd say, this lakorn is targeted to housewives while looking down on their intellectual abilities.
Waste of time.

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Incomparável!! Um trabalho absurdamente bem feito.

Sinceramente, gente, essa série é uma das melhores da Tailândia. Se não for a melhor. Só poderei dizer, de fato, se é, ou não, quando assistir o final. Sim, o relacionamento deles é tóxico, mas não é tóxico como em TharnType ou KinnPorsche. A série deixa bem claro que o Ming é um lixo e que o Joe não tem amor próprio. É romântico, mas não é romantizado. Tá tudo bem claro ali. Além de roteiro, diálogos, fotografia e trilha sonora absolutamente maravilhosos. Não tem aqueles clichês horrorosos, que tem em todas da GMM. Os protagonistas atuam super bem. O elenco todo é muito bom!

Quem deixou de assistir porque tem drama ou sofrimento demais, está perdendo uma história maravilhosa, muito bem contada, cheia de altos e baixos, que te prende. Vai ser um marco na produção de BLs na Tailândia. Elevou DEMAIS o nível. E que cada vez venham mais BL's como tão bons, ou melhores, do que este

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Does More Harm Than Good

This series attraction simply confounds me, honestly. To be sure, the acting is not the issue. But we have seen good acting before in mediocre series without any sort of recognition. Yet, this series seems to be inordinately ‘liked’ which to me makes absolutely no sense. Let me try and explain in reasons that both summarize the story as well as exhibit its massive flaws in the series overall – both in terms of its script and message. Let me emphasize that I have nothing against the acting, per se. It is satisfying but with no one really rising to the top to claim any accolade for outstanding performance. It all seemed rather predictable and pedestrian. You can read my full review of this BL, which for me does more harm than good, at BLBliss.com. It is filled with toxicity, abuse, and exploitation, and I find none of that 'loving'.

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What a waste of time

You know, I've seen all this hype about the series and was really intrigued

First of all, there were a lot of people who said "it's so good, the best series of the year, what a hire bar". It avokes interest, isn't it?
Secondly, people said the main character was a red flag even more than Vegas from KP. And I really really love KP and Vegas. So, I expected something similar

So, I waited till the end of the show and then decided to watch everything at once. And you know what ? I'm highly, highly disappointed

The main character - Joe is so stupid it's not even funny. One of his "best decisions" that got my eyes to turn:
- being a virgin for his while life he loses it with a random drunk man for no reason at all
- he asks a person whom he has known for a week or even less to live with him (????)
- he falls in love with a person who doesn't give a fuck about him and demonstrates it clearly and so on
Don't get me wrong I wantched the series only for Poom, he's really pretty and a good actor. But his character is super dumb

The second main lead - Ming. He's a red flag but Vegas is still on top of my list of the most toxic characters. Just a reminder that Vegas tortured his supposed love interest and does other unpleasant things. So, Ming is not the best red flag, and he is stupid. His "best decisions":
- to do everything for Tong who doesn't give a fuck about him
- to waint for Joe for years. Man, you doesn't even love him! Why so out of the blue? And so on
The actor was fine even if sometimes he reminds me of a fish. But it doesn't safe the character

So, let me summarize

1) The plot is horrible and unrealistic with so many holes it's not even funny
2) A lot of questionable moments like with Joe's flat, Ming's relatives and so on
3) The process of shooting is shown really poorly
4) Supportive characters are plain
5) NC senses and fiting sences are just bad

Some positive moments are

1) The music. I think it suits the atmosphere
2) Poom (I've wrote about it above)

To tell the truth, the last five episodes I've watched using 2x speed cause I was bored

Will I watch it again? Never in my life
Will I recommend it? No, save your time

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