I Bought The Box Set

I'm a year behind, and wish I wasn't, but there you go.

If you can't stop re-watching a series, you buy the Box Set.

You just do.

The English translations of the novels "Love Storm" and "Love Sky" were released in May of 2023. I purchased them on impulse, and read both of them in two days.

Then, I watched the tv series.

And watched it again.

And again.

And again.

And then I bought the Box Set.

Let me start off by saying that this is a show that earns it's NC/18+ rating. If that makes you uncomfortable, that's fine, it's not your cup of tea and that's ok. It's mine, and I love it.

Rain is an Adorable Puppy dog.

I just want to give him a hug and spend the whole day with the little snark. Everything he does, everything he says, is so entertaining and so--what a 19-year-old would do that I'm grinning like a stupid idiot whenever he's on screen. His sweet and naive misreading of the initial situation is so authentic and his "plan" spectacularly backfiring on him is one of my favorite little plot points. He attracted to Payu from the get go(I mean, he literally says "you're so handsome" at their first meeting and then bites his lip because it just slipped out and I "awwwww"ed, because why wouldn't I). I also love that he goes straight to Payu when he needs him(in the rain, because of course) and remains his stubborn feisty, snarky little self even after they get together. Watching his become more confident in both himself and his relationship with Payu(Episode Six: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) is fabulous to watch.

Noeul Nuttarat Tangwai is a delightful personality and I love how he throws himself into his character. The lip twitch thing he constantly has Rain do is so freakin cute I could die. This is his acting debut, but it's hard to tell, because he's so authentic and commits one hundred percent to portraying Rain. I want to see more of his work and I hope he does another series soon because !!!!!!!!!!

I want a Payu.

This is the type of character who could easily be called a red flag, but he really isn't. Yes there are controversial scenes in both the novel and the series with Payu/Rain, but here's the deal: Payu LITERALLY give Rain the Safe Word/Phrase, and stops as soon as Rain says it. Even when he's doing the butterfly kisses he checks to see how Rain feels(it's a very tiny glance, but a glance none the less, and Rain *looks* like he's enjoying it; plus, Rain is 19 and super naive so misreading of situations is bound to happen). However, he never pushes later on--he literally says "I'll wait until you're ready". Payu is attracted to Rain but wants a committed relationship, and tells Rain so. There is no NC until Rain has proved himself to be responsible, and even during that scene, Payu is checking in with Rain. He asks permission and takes his time so Rain is comfortable(if you know, you know, disagree if you want to).

Say what you like about the early interactions( since I've dated guys like this; I see it as mischievous flirting, but others may disagree) Payu cares about his little Rain. He drops everything at work and runs home because Rain is waiting for him after Rain missed a deadline as is upset. He comforts Rain when he first sees him, and then delivers Life Home Truths about responsibility and then distances himself from Rain so Rain won't be distracted. He won't take him to the street race because there's "too many assholes". He allows himself to get beaten to a pulp by some rich asshole so that rich asshole won't kill Rain.

Boss Chaikamon Sermsongwittaya is making his acting debut with this series and he knows his character inside and out (seriously, that Payu Smirk and Eyebrow Thing is my favorite). He even read the novel and discussed his character relationship with both P'MAME and Noeul Nuttarat Tangwai(Rain) to make sure that the character was portrayed accurately. He's also a total sweetheart off screen so I'm looking forward watching more of his work.

The relationship between Rain/Payu is raw and sexy and full of squeal-worthy and even tear jerking moments(Rain's "I screwed up" about tore my heart open). Even before they get together, there's an emotional as well as physical connection that I adore. Payu reassuring Rain before his race and Rain running to Payu on the racetrack is another highlight that I watch on repeat because of course I do.

Also, Stop sucks. Like, what a freaking entitled asshole. But, a great villainous foil for Rain/Payu, and I love the fact that he doesn't cackle in the corner for most of the first half of the season and then make his move. No, he shows up halfway through, and antagonizes Payu in a way that's realistic and fabulous. Because, let's be real, sometimes people we see as"villains" show up out of nowhere and do their thing and leave. Theme Phubeth Atarunwong is another Thai actor who is now on my radar because he acted the shit out of his role and made me hate him so much(leave my baby Rain alone!!!).

And I want a Prapai.

It's the One Night Stand With A Playboy Trope--at least to start. The thing that I love about Sky and Prapai's relationship is that Sky is savvy enough to initially tell him "you're an asshole, I know you're an asshole, leave me alone", so then Prapai has to deal with someone he's crazy about who wants nothing to do with him. It's a sweet little slow burn, where Prapai has to go from Playboy to Nice Guy. And the way he wins Sky over is so sweet: buying him food, texting to make sure Sky is eating, and sleeping and literally saying "I'm worried about you"(which we know Sky loves).

Prapai is someone I want with me when I'm sick or stressed. The way he looks after Sky both when he's worked himself sick and when he's stressed about school made my heart melt. He's another one that doesn't push, but he doesn't push in a different way. He tells Sky "you can tell me when you're ready" and he also holds himself back beautifully when Sky is vulnerable. He also drops everything to run to Sky when he thinks Sky is in trouble, and even though he's annoyed that all Sky wanted was help with his homework, he stays to help. He even proves himself worthy by cleaning Sky's apartment and in the NC scene he wants to make sure that Sky is aware of his intentions(again, if you know, you know).

Fort Thitipong Sangngey is the youngest in the cast and starts out just a tiny bit rough improves as an actor faster than expected. Seeing his relationship on and off screen with Peat Wasuthorn Chaijindar(Sky) is the most adorable thing ever. He can say so much with just a tiny little gesture and I'm also looking forward to seeing more of his work.

Also, Sky should be my best friend.

For someone who has such a traumatic past, Sky is able to maintain his sassy and sarcastic front, especially in the first half of the season, when you're seeing him through Rain's eyes. He's the kindest, most supportive of Rain's friend circle and is always ready to either help Rain out or tell him when he's being stupid(which he does--often). In the second half of the season, when we get in his head, he still has that sassy front, but we also see how strong he actually is, and how hard he has to work to move past his trauma. As hard as it was to watch, his confrontation with Gun is a highlight of his half of the season because he tries so hard to fight back and it's Gun's lies about Prapai that finally break him.

His relationship with Prapai is also one of the most endearing parts of the second half of the season. As standoffish as he is to the "dark giant", who wants to court him, you can tell just how much Sky wants Prapai to like him and how much he hopes that his feelings toward Prapai are reciprocated. The diary scene/love confession about broke me and his "I love you"s in both Thai and English were a masterclass in emotional acting.

Peat Wasuthorn Chaijindar blew my mind with his acting ability. He's another of those actors who can act with his eyes or a twitch of his facial muscles, which is a joy to watch. He also said is a couple of interviews that he improvised some of his lines, and they were truly some of the best ones. He's a natural actor that I can't wait to see again.

Sky/Prapai's relationship is a beautiful contrast to Rain/Payu's. It still one-partner-trying-to-win-the-other-over, but there seems to be a more mature quality to it. Their conversations--once you get past the sassy "stay-away-from-me-you-potential-asshole" phase made me smile like an idiot, and the trust that builds between them was a beautiful slow burn. The NC scene was equally fabulous, and a fantastic contrast to Rain/Payu's, it made me "awwwwwww".

And Gun is a Fucking Pig.

Like Stop, he doesn't really make an appearance until the the end of the Sky/Prapai half of the series, his presence is felt throughout. When he actually does appear, he made my skin crawl even though I had no clear idea who this person actually was. His confrontation with Sky was heartbreaking and I wanted to help Prapai kick the shit out of him. Well done, Patak Pingmuang.

I said at the beginning of this review that the show earns it's NC/18+ rating, and here's why: one of the themes that I saw in this series is "you can have sex without love, but you can't have love without sex"(Boss said something like this in an interview and I totally agree). Both Payu/Rain's and Prapai/Sky's stories show that. Contrary to what some viewers may think, I believe that these are two of healthiest portrayals of how couples who have a solid relationship also have a healthy sex life, and I wish this was portrayed more often in entertainment.

MAME gets flack for some of her content, so this show isn't for everyone, but it's worth the watch--and the re-watch.

And you should by the Box Set.

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Fluffy Fun with BounPrem

Maybe I'm just keeping my rose-colored glasses on, but I really liked this series. There were a couple of flaws--like, it's two short, only six episodes, so the story gets choppy sometimes--but not enough for me, at least, to knock off more than one star( and that's only for story quality, and if I could only remove half a star that'd be great, but I can't so it's fine). Also, when you realize they successfully shot this during COVID I am more than willing to forgive flaws, because shooting during a pandemic is hard enough given all the health and safety regulations you have to add on top of Everything Else That Could Possibly Go Wrong During a Shoot(and I speak from experience, that in itself is a long-ass list) and everyone involved just seemed happy to be working(thank you BTS vids before the credits!). Boun(Athit) and Prem(Sun) are GOLD when they are on screen together no matter what they do, and it was awesome to see all of their antics(Prem screaming "I won't let you eat bananas!" at a monkey and Boun's thing with the handcuffs, and the two of them riding on the scooter while handcuffed were fabulous I don't care what anyone says). It was also surprisingly nice to see Tae Weerapat Toemmaneerat(B from "Between Us") in a less comedic role--as Prem's competition in debt collecting. Also, Tiger Tanawat Hudchaleelaha is so freakin cute as Boun's little brother Nemo I could die. I wanted fluffy BounPrem fun, and I got fluffy BounPrem fun. And I will watch this again for that reason.

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WOW

Spoiler Filled Review--You Have Been Warned.

Ok.

Ok.

There are 12 episodes in this series.

That's how many times I have seen this show.

12.

And counting.

So I've read both "The Red Thread" and "Hemp Rope"(waiting for the rest of the English translation about killed me, but there you go).

I've see UWMA(like a month ago so I didn't have to wait as long as everyone else for more WinTeam) and now I've seen Between Us.

UWMA BROKE ME (in a good way).

Between Us DESTROYED ME(in a good way).

How. HOW is it possible to tell such a RAW, EMOTIONAL, CHARACTER-DRIVEN story that won't get out of my head. HOW? Boun has an uncanny ability to act with just a flick of his eyes, and he makes me want to squeal, or hug Win, or strangle Win, depending on the situation. Prem tugs on my heartstrings and delivers Team's survivor guilt trauma to perfection. When the two of them are onscreen, the chemistry crackles. And yes, I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn't there before, but it UWMA, they were the side couple--the bad boy and the comic relief--but this time they are FIRE!!!!

We see almost immediately why Win has his bad boy mask, and Team has puppy face. Team's PTSD struggles and Win's "I don't want to love anyone because I don't want to lose anyone" issues perfectly balance and the flashbacks of Team's drowning and the revelation of Win's difficult home life helped flesh out why they acted the way they did. Both of them have adapted personas to hide what's really going on an that's so true to live that I LOVE IT! The way Win makes Team feel safe and Team makes Win feel needed makes me both squeal and cry.

Also, consent. This starts off as a Random Situationship, but even then, Win never pushes Team to do something he deosn't want to--even though it's a One Night Stand ("I'm not going to do this if you're drunk, or unconscious...Are you dating anyone?"). And when Team asks him about it from the beginning, it's there that this is relationship has consent("We're both benefiting, right? No one is being taken advantage of, right?" "Yes.") Win truly cares about Team and wants him to feel comfortable in whatever the situation is(just like Boun cares so much about Prem). So bravo for including that as part of a healthy relationship(which they have, even if it's complicated because they won't COMMUNICATE properly. It's fine, I'm fine.)

Some reviews have said this show is boring because there is no plot. But WinTeam ARE the plot. Neither of them are willing to confess their feelings out loud(because both are afraid to lose the other one) and so the relationship gets more and more complicated because they basically start word fencing("are you asking me to be your boyfriend" "if I say yes, then do you have answer for me" "did you really mean to ask me that" UUUUGH JUST SAY "I LOVE YOU "YOU STUPID BOYS) which, again, is so true to life.

The show also takes it's time with Win and Team coming to terms with their feelings individually and then as a couple(Team avoiding Win after their One Night Stand and then realizing he's in love after talking to Pham and ABC Gang--who I also LOVE; and Win basically running away from Team after saving him from drowning and then realizing he's in love and it's ok after taking to Dean/Waan)It's slow burn romance/relationship GOLD.

Whether you've read the novel or not, or seen UWMA or not, it is clear from the second you see these two how much Win needs Team and Team needs Win, and it was nice to see them taking care of each other, especially when:

1. Team breaks down over his winning of the gold medal and the first person he calls is Win, so

2. Win drops everything goes *on a two hour bike ride* to Team, consoles him while he cries *in the pouring rain*, takes him to a hotel to sleep(yes *just* to sleep) and then

3. Win gets sick from riding in the rain(I mean, who wouldn't, all he had was a WINDBREAKER and the WINDCHILL factor is real, even in Thailand) so then Team stays up most of the night to take care of him

I find the above sequence particularly beautiful because Win is someone who doesn't like to rely on anyone to the point where he almost passes out in Team's room rather than tell anyone--including Team--that he's sick, and when Team asks him why he tries to bravado it off even though he feels like shit but falls asleep as soon as Team tells him to lay down. The little scene of Team giving Win the meds and trying to bring down the fever has very little dialogue and it's a short scene but shows how much Team actually truly cares for Win, which I thought was a very nice touch.

Also, the fantastic scene about how to handle homophobia(and one of my favorite parts of the novel) was PERFECTION. "We can't control everyone. But we can choose not to care." Yes. SO MUCH YES!!! That quote is now on my wall.

The Confession.

OMG THE CONFESSION.

Yes, it took it's sweet time to get there and yes, it was in the second to last episode, but you know what? It was perfect.

I read this scene in the novel and I cried.

I saw the scene in the series and I was a blubbering mess(do you know how hard it is to get through emotional scenes when you can't see the screen--it's insanely hard)

I loved the songs, I loved the rollercoaster of emotion, and I loved that Team asked Win to confront his personal feelings before his romantic ones ("Do you even know who you are? You..help everyone...But I've always wondered, who takes care of you" open heart, insert dagger), and was brave enough to say "if you won't say it first than I will", and Win's "enough I love you, do you hear me". Boun and Prem acted the HELL out of that scene and it was truly a highlight among Love Confession Scenes.

Ignore the haters, go read the novel if you're unsure, and then watch this series. Then watch it again, and again and again, because you will never get sick of it.

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This is Something Special

Being one of those people who watches multiple shows that happen to air on the same day, I've had to pick and choose which to watch live and which the binge later.

This one was a binger, and I'm so glad it was!

Don't get me wrong, I like a BL that's set at a university/high school/whatever and has hesitations of starting/maintaining the relationship and all that stuff, but "Last Twilight" is a whole other caliber and I REALLY hope that more of these types of BLs get made because WOW!!!!!

First off, they aren't university students at all. Ok, one of them sort of is(Day's on a break due his deteriorating sight), but we never see him in class/studying on campus or whatever. They are adults, with adult problems that adults can identify with--and not just blindness.

Right off the bat I can see that the actors and production team did their research. I knew going into this series that Sea has good eyesight, but if I didn't, I would have Googled several times to make sure, because Day actually appears blind. Every movement, every facial expression, and the way he never looks anyone in the eye the way seeing people do was a masterful performance. All Day wants is to get his sight back, even after he appears to come to terms with it, and that desire screams from every minute of Sea's performance.

Jimmy is someone I loved from "Bad Buddy", so I was ubber happy that is was one of the leads here. It's made very clear from the first minutes of the first episode that Mhok is a working adult with a rough kind of life. He's another one of those actors(along with Sea) who can portray emotions so authentically, that I was a bawling mess every time he broke down, both when his sister died while he was in jail and during the breakup. Mhok was so also caring and sweet when it came to Day, even when literally dragging him out of his room.

Jimmy and Sea need to do more work together, and not just as a couple, because they are phenomenal scene partners.

I've said this in other reviews, so pardon to repeat, but one of the cliches I don't like in BL is the bitchy girls and the girls who try to break the relationship apart--sometimes those are two different roles played by two different girls. This series none of that. Film and Namtan as Gee and Pojai are warm and supportive and a positive light on the series. I adore how Gee is so positive and accepting of Day when she sees him again, and I love that Pojai and Mhok are just friends without any underlying agenda.

It was also nice to see that it wasn't a girl in the middle, but a boy. And that boy was August, Day's former badminton partner. Here again, the series dodged cliche, and instead of making August a total douche, they made him sympathetic enough that even when he kissed Day just to make him happy, you still felt bad for him. At least, I did. I wanted to hug August when he told Mhok that he tried but really can't see Day as anything but a friend. Credit goes in no small part to Ohm, who I haven't seen since "A Boss and A Babe", who took a character who could have been a throwaway cliche who we hated to someone that I actually felt bad for(see hug comment above).

Mark was another fantastic surprise for me. I liked him in "Bad Buddy", and I liked him in "Only Friends" but this time he played a character type that I've never seen him play before and it was phenomenal! Mark and Sea look like brothers so to see them in scenes together as Night and Day was deliciously authentic. Night's guilt over Day's condition and his attempts to make it up to his brother hurt so much to watch and I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they finally started talking to each other. Mark knows how to play guilt without being overt about it and he knows how to portray relief the same way. I'd like to see him play more characters like this. Also, Night and Porjai ending up together is so cute could die.

Watch this series squeal and cry and fall in love just like I did.

Also, I just ordered the Box Set, which should tell you something about just how great this series is.

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Slow Burn Thriller

For some reason I binge things multiple times before I write a review.

This one I have seen twice and am on round three.

Why?

Because it's like one of those classic old timey thrillers that slowly unravels the plot and gets more and more intense and twisted until the Final Buildup when you scream "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?"

And I did scream that.

Several times.

I knocked off one star for just a few little things:

There are fourteen leads in this show.

FOURTEEN.

And all of them kill their roles but I can see why managing a plot with fourteen main characters can make the plot drag just a little bit.

And it did drag just a little bit--there were at least two episodes where it just felt like a Plot Placeholder. Maybe cutting it down from 18 episodes to 14 would have helped, but even the Filler Episodes had some great little moments, and we did kind of need to know that background of all fourteen of these kids in order to understand their actions and attitudes, so there you go.

Also, while I didn't do shots every time I heard the words "Home School" in a single episode, I did start counting during one episode and ran out of fingers and toes in about fifteen minutes(that's just one segment of a 45 minutes show).

HOWEVER

I love me an old fashioned type thriller and this was it!

There was plenty of mystery and unanswered questions that were tied up nicely(for the most part) and there were plenty of comedic(thank you JJ and AJ) and a couple of swoon worthy moments too(like, can Kay and Jamie be a couple in another series? Because EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)

Every character was human.

There was a lot of gray in every one of the students and I felt for all of them once I knew why they behaved the way they did. Jingjai and Hugo's backstory was more heartbreaking than I expected and I wanted to hug them as much as shake them for the rest of the series.

Even the villain (which was actually pretty easy to spot) was someone who thought he had a good reason for his actions(even if it was twisted, it made sense to him and that's what makes villains like this creepy.

Some people don't like Nani or his acting, but I think this genre is PERFECT for him.

True, Nani doesn't overreact or over-emote; he plays everything very subtly and very close to the chest and this type of character he was playing fit him to a tea. GMM should give him more characters like this because Nani is one of those actors who can make characters like Tibet(who seem to push down their emotions to avoid being hurt) really interesting. And Tibet's final confrontation with Prasath was FABULOUS!!!

Dew and Jane were fantastic as Nai and White(the side romantic couple). Watching them dance around their feelings for each other was super fun.

Nani and Film as Tibet and Maki where the nice kind of main romantic couple that didn't have the drama to deal with an felt natural in the friends to lovers trope, which can sometimes fall on it's ass, but this time it didn't.

Chimon STOLE THE SHOW for me.

Pennueng was so adorable I wanted to give him a hug and Chimon's performance was spot on--so much so that my brother walked in while I was watching and thought Chimon was actually on the Spectrum, and I had to get my brother to Google Chimon to prove that he wasn't.

The climax was almost perfect. I'm a little bit sick of the girl always getting hurt and needing to be saved by the guy, and kinda wished Tibet or Nai or White or even Run got shot instead of Maki, so that Maki could confront one of the baddies the same way that Run(with Champ) and Tibet(with Prasath) did, but hey, sometimes the soapy trope works better and I suppose this could be one of those times.

Plus, I did love that Run was able to hypnotize Champ with the click of a pen and force Champ to punch himself into a bloody pulp, so that made up a little bit for the girl gets hurt and guy takes revenge trope.

"Home School" was fun and would make a great low-key Halloween rewatch, which I'm totally going to do now.

Ignore the flaws and give this show a shot--it's worth it.

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My Favorite--Will Rewatch from Now to Forever

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Words can not express how excited I was when this series was announced and waited for the premiere like a crazy person. This is also the first series I have watched as it aired, so that just added to the awesomeness(and the tinder hooks I waited on the six freaking days between each episode.

Pavel is a fabulous shining star, and I've been a huge fan of Nut since "Oxygen", so seeing the two of them in one series(playing Best Friends to boot) got the HELLZ YES from me, no questions asked(what made me even more happy is that both of these guys read the novel after they got the casting notice and that shows in SPADES--I wish more actors would do that).

As a writer and artist myself, I know that there are characters and plot lines that are really difficult to write. In this particular series, this difficulty lies with three characters, in my opinion. The night a Certain Episode aired, I knew fans would go ballistic, and I was actually really curious to see how that was handled(more details below). Also, there were two characters who--in less capable hands--would have been completely blah, but they totally weren't and that made me so happy(again, details below).

First, Way and that Certain Episode.

I'm one of those crazy people who LOVES a good Gray Character/Anti-Hero and Way is CHEF'S KISS. His relationship with Babe makes his betrayal and the culmination of his character arc all the more heartbreaking. As someone who is basically threatened into r*ping his best friend(and yes I say "threatened" because he was scared to death of Tony, and the reason it took him ten years to actually attempt the r*pe was because Way fell in love with Babe and I could write a whole other essay on THAT topic, but I won't), Way could have been portrayed as a one dimensional and even gross person.

However.

Nut Suppanut's portrayal of Way was both authentic and sympathetic. His tiny little hurt reactions when Babe got together with Charlie hurt my heart and when he broke down in his car after Babe's announcement that he and Charlie were A Thing, I just wanted to hug him.

I might also be a very twisted little human being but even in the Certain Episode where Way attempts to r*pe Babe, I was upset, but not for the reason you would think. Fans went ballistic and got upset, like I knew they would(again, it helped that I read the novel and knew what was coming) but I was upset because this poor guy actually believed that this was his only way out, and both the look of betrayal on Pavel's face, and the reluctance on Nut's face(yes, I said reluctance, because to me the Way's body language made it clear that he knew Babe would be pissed at him, but he thought that this really was the only way to get Tony to leave them alone--and not just because that was in the dialogue).

I was also really glad that the scene between Tony and Way was included after the attempted r*pe, because it helped reiterate the fact that Way is actually scared shitless of this jackass(Tony), and really will do anything to get away from him(see other parenthesis above). His conversation with Babe where he asks for forgiveness before the final confrontation with Tony was absolutely fabulous and so well handled by the writers, Pavel and Nut.

Also, Way's death DESTROYED ME.

Like, I cried for an hour when that scene aired, and do you know how difficult it is to watch something when there are so many tears in your eyes you can't see straight? It's really, really DAMN HARD. Pavel and Nut deserve awards for their emotional goodbye scene. And hugs. Lots of hugs.

Second, Kenta and Pete.

If I could have secondary favorites that I wish I could see more of in a novel, it would be these two. Kenta is always in the background whenever Tony is on the scene, and Pete shows up toward the end to become a fantastic plot catalyst.

But that's in the novel.

In the series, Kenta is still in the background as Tony's pretty silent right hand, but Garfield took what could be portrayed as a stoic and easy to forget henchman/crony and made a living breathing character that had me glued to the screen whether he was speaking or not. Kenta is a character that needs to be handled the right way or he becomes flat and forgettable. This Kenta was not forgettable. At all. He was Tony's trusted right hand, but at a cost, and you could see that cost through his subtle reactions to both Tony's casual and more intense violence was perfectly done. Also, Kenta is the one who takes Tony out, and that make me stupid happy. Yes, I get that everyone concerned had great motivations to take out Tony, having Kenta do it was the perfect culmination to his character arc.

Pete was one of my favorite secondary characters when I read the novel. His banter with all the boys and his cool headedness during the final takedown of Tony was so brilliantly written I was unsure how the series could improve on it. Except to make him visible throughout the series, rather than at the end.

Which is just what they did! Pete is made the sponsor of Xhunter, rather than a businessman who Way meets by chance who just happens to have vital info they need later on, and I applaud this choice that the writer' s made. By not only having Pete there from the beginning(Ping makes his first appearance in Episode 2) and connecting with Way(even if they never were able to let their relationship blossom, and yes even though I get why, I'm still a little irritated by that), Pete's proposal to ally himself with Babe to take down Tony was seamless. Also, it was nice to see Pete being Way's conscience, even when Way was not in the mood to have one.

Ping knew exactly what he was supposed to do with his portrayal of this character, and he took it a ran with it, and he DELIVERED. He is an actor who has the uncanny ability to say so much with just a flick of his eyes or a twitch of a facial muscle and I wish I could do that. The next time he is in a project I will be glued to the screen, because wow!

One final note about the cast overall: there were a number of actors making their screen debuts(Lee, Pooh, Topten, and Benz are the ones that come immediately to mind, can't remember if there are any more), and each of them were working their asses off to deliver. Yes, some of them were given initially rather flat characters, but they took them and made each of those characters their own and it's obvious that they are having a blast. Pooh, who plays Charlie, is only twenty years old. If I was twenty years old and got told that I was playing a lead in a series that had everyone super excited about, I would have run the other way. But Pooh stepped up and gave it his all, even when the script didn't give him much to do, this young actor figured out how to make it work, and his chemistry was Pavel was SO HOT. Topten and Michael were clearly having a blast playing the social media influencers and (apparently) youngest members of the team and made me grin like a stupid idiot whenever they were on screen(also, I forgot Michael was in "Oxygen" with Nut until a recent rewatch of that series, and I have to say both of them have come long way since then--not that they weren't good actors before, but still). Lee as Dean and Benz as Kim were also really fun to watch, and it was nice to put an actual name to the face of the person who messed with Charlie's car/delivered info to Babe about his car(we are never told in the book who actually caused those accidents and it made me curious if they ever really found out)

Ignore the haters. The cast is perfect, the writing is perfect, the adaption is perfect! Granted, I was maybe just a little teeny tiny bit disappointed that some of my favorite scenes from the novel didn't quite make it into the series, but I got over that. I'm currently on my rewatch binge because that's how DAMN GOOD this series is. The end.

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Entertaining Ensemble

When you're trying to tell seven different stories in twelve episodes and make sure that watchers will love and sympathize with the characters, it's always a balancing act.

Wednesday Club came pretty close.

I started watching this series shortly after the second episode aired, so this time I had to do the Weekly Wait thing rather than binge.

I'm going to watch it again, and I'm going to binge.

The premise of the story is pretty relatable--lonely people get together and form friendships that then start to effect the lives of all seven of them. Granted, this is done to varying degrees, and there are a couple of episodes where one of them(usually Mac or Pali) didn't do much other than take up space on the screen, but it was still entertaining to see what hijinks everyone else was getting up to.

Pali's storyline was a little bit flat, and I felt kind of bad that Nani didn't really have much to do in the series other than stand quietly in a corner(at least for the first half), but once Mink showed up, Pali had more to do, and that helped. One thing I'm starting to figure out about Nani is that he when he gets a script and character that mesh with his acting style, he's GOLD, and when he gets one that's...a little bit of a mess he misses by *that much*. I hope "High School Frenemy" is the former, cause Nani can deliver snarky and dry asides really well, and this series looks like it'll be full of them(and Kay is in that one too!).

Tam's story made me cry. I mean, how much shit can this poor girl go through in one series? Apparently, a lot. Her struggles with finding her place in her family, and her relationship with her grandmother hit me right in the feels and when she sobbed after she was literally alone in the hospital I did too( and it's REALLY HARD to watch something when you can't see the screen through your tears, so that episode took a little longer to watch). Film delivered the way she always does.

I....could not sympathize with Kul. Like at all. I tried, I really did, because I love watching Phuwin, but something(maybe the way Kul was written?) just didn't vibe with me. That being said, Phuwin played Kul to the hilt and even if the character was unevenly written and his storyline was kind of a mess, Phuwin's acting was not.

May and Pheem are the cutest couple ever. Their relationship stays low-key without getting to over the top dramatic and makes me grin like an idiot. Also, when may meets Pheem's older brother and has a day out with him made me awwwwwwwwwwwww. Satag and Piploy should be paired together more often, cause their chemistry is fantastic and natural.

Kong. What can I say about Kong. I---kind of wanted him to get up to more hi-jinks, I guess? I mean, the opening shot of Ohm and Nani running down the street in their birthday suites was GOLD, but then it all seemed to peter out, and I wanted Kong to do more to move the plot along. He did, sort of, in later episodes, but he was spurred on by the other characters, which was a little bit of let down.

Having just come from "Home School", the best surprise for me was Kay's performance as Mac. This is a complete one eighty from Hugo and Kay is so good! Rather than wanting to shake him like I did in "Home School", I wanted to hug him. He was so sweet and humble and the look Mac gave Venus when he was in trouble broke my heart. As an added bonus, sometimes when Kay was on the screen as Mac, then AJ and JJ were there too(as Ma Han and Wang Chao, two other boys who are not in the Wednesday Club, but are close friends of Mac) so it was kind of fun to see the three of them again(they were also in Home School together).

I didn't read the novel, but being a writer I know how difficult it can be to balance multiple storylines and make them stick. "Wednesday Club" came close(although, as with "Home School" they did the "girls gets shot protecting her friends" trope which was kind of a cop out, but I went with it), so I'm watching it again when I need fluffy messy entertainment.

And I'll also rewatch for Kay and Satang and Piploy and Film, because their performances were !!!!!!!!!!!

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Adorable

So I am one of those people who happens to LOVE MAME--she has this ability to:

A) create love stories seemingly out of thin air, and

B) Create both beautifully flawed human characters, and sweet fluffy well meaning ones that aren't too saccharin

She did the latter with Wedding Plan, and she's maturing as a screenwriter, which really shows in both this series and LITA(see my LITA review for the reasons why)

Yes, the series was a little bit short, but it was well executed and well acted. I loved the clever idea behind the title and the awesome LITA cameos(seriously, how cute is it to see Sky/P'Pai and Payu/Rain's stories tied up in such a cute little bow, I squealed SO MUCH).

Pak is so freakin cute I could die. His portrayal of Nuea as someone I just want to hug and cuddle is spot on. He's so well meaning and so sensitive and just wants to be a good guy. I absolutely adore that he fights his feelings for Lom BECAUSE HE IS A GENUINELY GOOD GUY, and not just for the plot's sake. His over thinking made me smile so damn much and when he cried, I cried with him.

Lom is interesting in that he is very upfront with his intensions toward Nuea, but he also proves what a loyal friend he can be to Yiwa by sticking by her through this crazy plan. His pursuit of Nuea and the way that he is totally open about it(at least with Nuea and not his family) is refreshing, and made me squeal. I hope Sunny does more series because his performance had me glued to the screen.

Can I have a best friend like Yiwa? Aya is freaking adorable and authentic and knows her character inside and out. The scene after the initial wedding plan meeting where she is so encouraging to Lom and and everyone around her won me over. This girl also has some spine and substance which is fabulous after seeing female BL characters that just seem to be in the series for comedic effect or to Make Things Complicated for the Main Leads, or just to be annoying.

I was smiling every time Yiwa was on the screen and even before I had a clear idea of what exactly was going on I loved her conversation in the car with Lom about if he pursued Nuea she would support him( I thought it was a little weird, yes, but I was willing to roll with it, especially after I knew why she said it.

Both couples in this series are fantastically healthy. Yes, there is a little bit of miscommunication between Nuea and Lom, but it comes from a very real place of Fear of Rejection(Lom) and Wanting To Do The Right Thing(Nuea), but Yiwa and Marine's relationship was a fabulous contrast to that. Neither couple had anything cringey and both the NC scenes where HOT(the girls were a little tamer, but that's ok cause it still made me smile).

I did take off one star for story, mostly because after Nuea ran back home the plot felt a little rushed and I would have loved to see more of Lom and Nuea together with Nuea's family but the little snippet we got was ok--especially Donut and Forth as Ryu and Sun(when do we get their story, because awwwwwwwwwwwww)

Also, that Tongrak reference made me squeal for more than one reason (LOVE SEA--and if the worship ceremony pics are anything to go by, Aya is in that cast as a Support Role and I am TOTALLY THERE FOR THAT BECAUSE I WANT MORE AYA!!!)

(Can you see that this show had me smiling and squealing a lot? Ha, ha.)

Wedding Plan was a fun fluffy sweet little binge, and yes I've already seen it four times and will keep watching it when I need to indulge in a mini squeal fest, the end!

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Fluke, Earth, and BounPrem

So once upon a time I wrote a review for "Between Us", where I said UWMA broke me, and then I realized that I had never written a UWMA review, so I'm fixing that right now.

And when I say UWMA broke me, I mean it BROKE ME.

I smiled, I squealed, I cried(OMG did I CRY), and it was all worth it.

Actually, I have never spent so many episodes bouncing between smiling like a total idiot and then bawling my eyes out(until I watched "Between Us", but that's a totally different review).

Like, Earth and Fluke have this amazing ability to take my little heart and make it glow one minute, and then smash it to pieces and make me bawl just as hard as they do the next(like, Pham's final breakdown and In begging Korn to wake up, I can't, I JUST CAN'T).

This series is on the my list of Things That I Love So Very Much, and it's not going to get removed ever.

I found this novel as a translation online and read it two days--that's how good it was.

Then, I found the series a couple of months ago.

And binged it.

Twice.

This cast is perfect, the writing is almost perfect(there's a couple of scenes where the pauses between dialogue felt a little bit too long, but hey I can forgive that).

Also, I said in my review for "Between Us" that there is a fabulous display of Consent--it's here, too. Dean totally backs off when Pharm tells him to and wants to make sure that Pham is comfortable in the relationship and won't push boundaries. Pharm also gets kudos for establishing those boundaries and wanting Dean to respect them. Can you say Healthy Relationship? Because that's what it looks like.

I love that Pharm is so passionate about food, and the cooking scenes made me hungry(like, I googled the recipes so I could try them myself).

The swimming scenes were a nice touch. I loved the dunk tank, and the races, and the locker room flirting(especially when we needed a little bit of a breather, and you know, shirtless BounPrem--because both of them look fabulous without a shirt on I don't care what anyone else says).

Ohm is one of those rare actors that can say so much with just his eyes, and Dean's face while he eats the food Pharm brings him food at the swimming club turned me into a big pot of goo.

Fluke is absolutely adorable and can emote on the turn of a dime, and Pharm's shyness is so cute I could die.

BounPrem have always and will always make me smile. The Christmas broccoli scene is one that I watch on repeat whenever need a pick me up because awwwwwwwwwwww.

The beach scenes made me squeal(like, I scared my dog with the amount of squealing going on).

Manow is the friend everyone wants, and she's not the annoying-female-who-exisits-in-the-plot-only-to-make-trouble-for-main-couple-because-she-has-a-crush-on-one-of-the-boys. Manow is there as a supportive a wholly positive person and she also made me grin like a stupid idiot whenever she was on screen.

Will I rewatch this?

ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY!!!!

I'll just make sure that I have plenty of tissues and no makeup on when I do.

And I bought the novels, because of course I did.

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