GMMTV's version of Big Brother

This is very much GMMTV's version of "Big Brother".

Take a house with 8 actors in it, fill it with cameras and sound equipment and then give them some games, challenges, etc. and let the cameras roll for hours at a time and this is what you get.

There's been a lot of postponements, etc. because of covid surges, so if this show is their solution, it's actually pretty brilliant. It's a very simple version of something like big brother where they compete for points and at the end one wins, but it seems like it doesn't have all the eviction, etc. aspects.

This week long series is very much part reality show, part competition, and part concert all rolled into one which really lets it stand out from other series that have been done before.

It's live so there are no subtitles for international fans, but honestly what's going on is simple enough to still follow.

AMMENDMENT (After Final Episode):

There was no drinking, no artificially created drama, no showmances, all of the challenges were simple and inexpensive party games that anyone could easily do with their own group of friends. This was an exceptionally done reality show that easily became a smash hit among fans from around the world. The fact that not one, but all seven of the 6 hour long streams have reached over 500k views in mindboggling in itself, but also the amount of viewers from all over the world that watched in, many of which not even knowing the language. GMMTV has been flooded with fans asking for a season 2 of the series and personally I really hope they at least consider it.

I can only assume this series was born out of needing to get creative during the pandemic and the latest surges that have interrupted other productions. I think the creativity that went into this, their amazing lineup of actors, and it's reception has shown that there is a very strong desire for a show like this. The other benefit of this series is that it allows the actors to be themselves without all of the fanservice that typically goes along with the Y/BL/LGBTQ industry, but also allows the fans to gain a greater appreciation for the actors and get to better know their true personalities as well.

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Equal parts amazing and infuriating....

CAST:

Choi Jae Hyun as Yoon Oh and Jimmy Karn Kritsanaphan as Peach are not only perfectly cast in their respective roles, but are absolutely amazing together. Their interactions and character relationship is so comfortable and natural that if you saw them walking down the street together you would think they really were a couple.

Jung Ae Yun as Moon Sung Sook [Yoon Oh's mother] was incredible in the moments where the character showed emotions, but there was also a lot of it that felt very devoid and flat, which given the way the character was written, I think comes down more to that than her actual performance.

Tommy Sittichok Pueakpoolpol as Mario was just kind of there, he served his purpose at the beginning but then the more the series went on, the less and less parts of his character and story made sense.

STORY:

This is where the "equal parts amazing and infuriating" from the headline comes into play. If you separate the whole two meet meet, become friends, fall in love, and cherish what time they have together part from the rest of the story, then it's an amazingly beautiful story. Unfortunately, it's the rest of the story that really left so many holes in the plot and missed opportunities that you really have to turn off your brain.

The whole one person being dead, them being in love/falling in love, and trying to help them move on definitely isn't anything new, not even in BL dramas, and honestly other series and movies have handled the execution of it so much better. I personally think a lot of the issues cold have been easily addressed if the series had been longer or if several scenarios were written and or executed differently. We've seen other series like "He's Coming To Me" actually address the other people question why things are floating around, why is this person talking to themselves, the different costume changes, etc. and take those into consideration in the series.

OVERALL:

It's a beautiful series with more holes than Swiss Cheese, but if you can get over that and enjoy it for the beautiful moments of two people cherishing preciously short time together, it's definitely worth it.

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This is a series that will linger in your thoughts long after you're done watching it....

FYI: This project started off as a short university film project for Mean Phiravich Attachitsataporn, who then not only adapted it into a series, but also directed and starred in as a support role.

WRITING / DIRECTING / PRODUCTION:

The dedication and passion for this project is so blatantly obvious from the very first scene, to the last and beyond. There is a level of quality in this series that is only truly matched by other works that have the same dedication and passion fueling them. Mean has provided the foundation, but it's obvious that the entire cast and crew put their hearts, souls, and undoubtedly more than a few gallons worth of tears into this.

CAST:

If a script is only as good as its writer, then a series/movie is only as good as its cast. These aren't just characters on a page, the raw emotion and performance of the cast has truly brought these characters to life as fully developed, living, breathing and deeply feeling as real as any people.

The biggest compliment that could be given to the actors who this is their first project would be that throughout the entire series you can't tell who are the veterans and who are the newbies. They all appear and feel so natural in their characters that you could easily think they are just portraying themselves and not some fictional character.

For the veteran actors, it doesn't matter how many other series, movies, etc. works you've seen them in, you become so immersed in the characters in this series that you forget about any other roles they've done while watching it.

STORY:

There's something truly haunting about the beauty and realism of the story that makes this stick with you long after you're done watching it. It draws you in like you are experiencing this extraordinarily difficult time in the lives of two of your closest friends and not just characters on a screen. The emotional pacing of the series is incredible, especially when it comes to invoking the stomach churning uncertainty on how situation to situation is going to progress. Mean absolutely lives up to one definition of his name in the middle of the series and the way he lets you linger wondering until the end.

SEMI-SPOILER (Not a spoiler if you've watched the final episode through to the end including the special content)

This is apparently only the end of one chapter of the story as there is a mention of "The Yearbook: The Movies" in the special extra content.

OVERALL:

This series doesn't just mark a dramatic shift in the quality of BL/LGBTQ in Thailand, but should also stand with the best examples of the BL/LGBTQ genres in the world. There are series/movies that are provocative in the way they try to portray BL/LGBTQ to spark a reaction to create discourse and change, and then there are series like this that portray it as a normal everyday, no big deal just a small part of life in a beautifully done way. In the end I personally think a series like this will have a much more meaningful and impactful place than any "throw it in their faces until they accept it" work.

Thank you to the cast, crew, and anyone involved in this work for your dedication, passion, and for giving us viewers such a beautiful experience.

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A little on the short side, but still good.

The star of the series is definitely Cheng Chang Fan who plays Kyan/Kane, even though it was hiss first series, he portrayed the character and the emotional side better than anyone. The story itself isn't overly complex and it really didn't need to be, but it does cover some very realistic real life situations that often times either get glossed over or go to one extreme or the other. I will say there are a few spots where it does suffer from the duration of the episodes, but it's nothing really deal breaking. I do wish there was better chemistry between the actors of the two couples, but again that's something that usually works out over the long run with longer duration episodes that this series didn't have.

Overall, it's worth a watch especially with how short the episodes are, and it's not nearly as bad as some make it out to be.

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A simple slice of lives done perfectly

"Escape To Homestay" is every bit the perfect escape the name implies and so much more. Grammy Tub's Homestay is a place for people to come and make good memories, recharge, and reflect on the different situations in their lives. She delivers her own version of "Screw It" life lessons dished up with a healthy dose of laughter without being preachy and giving the people that come and stay, a chance to take a breath and really discover themselves.

The series focuses on a small regular cast as well as some guest roles as it explores the different situations, etc. that the people coming to the homestay and from the surrounding village are facing. The cast delivers a really solid performance throughout the series and the scenery and music really help to sell the Homestay as an escape. There's one storyline that happens throughout the series that I wish had been completed a little differently just because it felt somewhat unfinished. That being said, if this series ever has a second season it's also a storyline that they really could continue and develop more.

Overall: It's an excellent little series that blends a little thought, some good laughs, and a couple of tears.

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I definitely don't understand all the negativity towards this series....

I honestly don't understand all the negative reviews, etc. towards this series.

If you haven't watched this series yet I have two suggestions before you do. The first suggestion is keep in mind that it is forbidden for the god of love to actually fall in love. The second suggestion is make sure you pay close attention to everything Nite tells Tae about how this whole guide of love thing works, and also to the conversation Morganite has with Amethyst later on.

OVERALL: If you go in knowing the story isn't just going to be handed to you, it really is an awesome series and definitely not deserving of all the negativity and hate it gets. Personally I really hope this get either another season or at the least a few special episodes.

STORY LINE: This is NOT a series you can watch while distracted, you really have to pay attention to every minute of it or like many people you'll be completely confused for the whole back half of the series. This series doesn't spoon feed you every aspect of the storyline, the nuggets are there throughout the episodes, and if you've payed attention you're rewarded at the back half of the series with something really special. Don't be surprised if episode 9 throws you for a loop at first, if you've been paying attention to the prior episodes the pieces will fall into place rather quickly.

CAST: Tee Khunakorn Sunantham (Tae), Peace Nutchanon Juengdamrongkit (Morganite / Nite1), and Pak Chavitpong Pusomjitsaku (Nite2) were easily the three breakout cast/performances of the series.

Tee and Peace had probably the most awkward yet perfect on screen chemistry with each other that fit their characters and their development perfectly. They represented opening yourself up to the idea of love, not just a crush, and that first time of realizing you think of someone more than just a friend or a crush.

Tee and Pak unfortunately had the shortest amount of time together on screen as Tae and Nite2, but they had the on screen chemistry to pull off the "when it's the right one you just know" whirlwind from strangers to feelings part of the story.

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So much right for a first time production and hopefully more to come

This easily gets a spot in my top 10 favorites for the BL genre. Sure it's rough in places, but it's their first go at it and I really liked the story overall. It's only 8 episodes long and honestly it could have used another episode or two to really sell why they had to resort to protecting the village themselves instead of the other villagers helping them.

It's great to see a series that isn't full of all of the typical locations, stereotypes, and BL fan service, although they did of course still just have to get all the sound effects in there that it could have done without.

Overall it's worth giving it a chance and they have the series on their official youtube channel so please support it there first. The other great thing about this series is it's story first, BL second whereas many are so BL focused with a sprinkle of shallow story mixed in.

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Emotions are a messy thing, much like this series.

This may be set at a university, but with the execution of this series the location might as well been at a high school with the characters being a bunch of childish freshman.

Cast:

Victor Chatchawit Techarukpong (Min) and New Thitipoom Tacha-apaikun (Apo) definitely carried this series both in their characters and their acting abilities. I think this would have extended to Tytan Teepprasan (Achi) as well if his character was more developed and given more screen time. These three all showed their ability to convey their emotions through their facial expressions, body language, etc. much more than any of the other actors did.

Story:

This is one of those series that just simply tries to do too much and in the process loses much of the quality and potential it could have had. It's important to remember when you're working with source material that sometimes you have to pick and chose what parts of that source material you're going to use and what's best to leave.

OVERALL:

In many ways I think the movie version actually handled a lot of the situations better. The performances from a couple of the actors is what really saved this from having a lower score. There was just too much that was glossed over and too much that was added in that shouldn't have been so they could have focused more on the really important things.

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This one will definitely have you scratching your head

I'm now 11 of 12 episodes in and it finally reached a point it easily could have done in 3-6 episodes without all the unnecessary filler. I originally wrote this review 7 episodes into the series and really nothing has changed from the initial review.

This series comes off very much as the production company wanted to jump on the bandwagon of the popularity of the BL genre without having any real interest in the genre, or any experience in producing a series.

Every stereotypical BL cliche is of course added ad nauseum, and overall the whole thing just doesn't know where it wants to go or what it wants to be. If you took out the unnecessary fluff from each episode there may be 5-10 minutes of actual story to it, but even that is being generous.

There's no real chemistry between any of the cast members and the story overall is like someone put the script through a paper shredder and then tried to piece it back together and got it all wrong. If you took the cast that the series has and changed what characters they are playing and changed some aspects of the characters that could have helped this series a lot, but nothing could make up for the rest of what's wrong with it.

OVERALL: Skip it, forget it exists, and don't hold your breath on it getting better as it goes.

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This series is incredibly infuriating to watch

There have been some amazingly well done series recently with truly remarkable performances from many new actors, which makes this series infuriating to watch.

OVERALL:

If you can ignore everything wrong with this series and just focus solely on the performances of the cast, it's worth watching being that it's only 6 episodes long. If this get another season, they really need to put all of their focus on improving the writing, directing, and especially the editing.

WRITING / DIRECTING / EDITING:

The writing, directing, and editing of this series is like knowing a gruesome accident is about to happen right before your eyes, knowing you should look away, but you can't. Please don't get me wrong, there are some really well done moments throughout the series, but more times than not either the writing, directing, or editing really let it down. If a more experienced team were given the raw materials from this series and they added about 2-3 episodes length of new material to it and completely reedited it, this series could easily have been one of the best of 2021.

Much of the series is more like a collection of disconnected scenes rather than something that flows together to weave a story. Something will happen one moment and then the next it's like the last one didn't happen.

The other major issue with the series is there's no real substance to it, the most we get are a couple of glimpses of what it could have been, but it never really breaks the surface.

CAST:

The majority of the cast and their performances are the only real reason to watch this series.

The biggest misstep with the cast would definitely have to be with Nice Pitayut Orsuwan and his character Arthur. The character might have been a "support" role, but his actions played a very large part in shaping a good majority of the overall story of other characters. Unfortunately the character was never fleshed out more than he did and action which caused this reaction and that was it, which is so frustrating because it was obvious that Nice Pitayut Orsuwan has real talent. If they hadn't wasted so much screen time with the three girls and instead dedicated that time to giving Arthur a backstory that would have given some insight into his behavior it would have drastically changed the series for the better. I really hope Nice gets the chance to really shine in another series and show what he's capable of as I really think he has the potential to be an amazing actor. The writing, directing, and editing of the series may never have developed anything for the character, but Nice portrayed a level of pain, sorrow, anger, and regret even just in his facial expressions that it's easily the one thing from this series that you'll remember.

The other standout performance would definitely be from Mawin Tanawin Duangnate who played Chris. I personally think that Chris was the most developed character of the whole series and it was obvious in the performance from Mawin. He was able to take what he was given and really give a performance and a character you connected with and really wanted to root for. Here again just like with Nice, Mawin really needs to be given the proper opportunity to really showcase what he's capable of and hopefully he'll get that chance.

I personally think if Nice and Mawin were teamed up together that with their talent they could play off each other remarkably well.

STORY ARCS:

Tong Fah x Paper: This is probably one of the oldest stories in the book, two long time friends end up developing feelings for each other....eventually. Of course it wouldn't be a teen / young adult self discovery and declaration of love drama series without the use of alcohol to give one of the characters the "courage" to finally make a move. Yes it's not uncommon for that to happen in real life, but it's so overused and there's many more creative ways it could have been done. There are easily 2-3 major scenes missing from this story arc that not only would have allowed it to flow better, but given it so much more impact.

Chris x Jeno: This one is just kind of all over the place thanks to poor writing and editing. Sometimes there are reasons why you develop a very close personal connection with someone or fall in love with them and sometimes you just do and there's no real singular reason why. In this arc there's multiple things that are thrown in but never really properly developed or flow in a way that really portrays their journey into loving each other. As I've said many times before, the editing really muddled this up.

M x Near: Honestly this series could have done without this whole story arc, and that's nothing against the actors themselves. It comes across as something that was just thrown in as an after thought and again is a jumbled mess throughout the series. They are both gamers who meet online in a game, become virtual boyfriends, and then realize they know each other in real life. Of course nothing can be straightforward in a drama series like this so they decided to complicate things by one of them knowing who the other is in real life, cue the misplaced anger when Near finds out that M is his virtual boyfriend and never told him, even though Near doesn't come out and tell M when he figures it out either. Then cue a series of disjoined scenes of them arguing back and forth, which ultimately leads to "Hey let's be real boyfriends" suddenly in the end.

The 3 Girls: Of course it wouldn't be a stereotypical BL genre series without a group of girls that serve no purpose other than wasting screen time that could have been better used with the multiple story arcs going on. Yes we get it, there is a large portion of the BL/Yaoi fandom that is extremely toxic / obsessive / compulsive / even dangerous, but really does it have to be thrown into every series and so over the top.

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Good series overall, but it definitely has it's weaker points.

The cast is definitely what makes this series worth watching, despite some rather major issues with plot holes and a terribly written and executed last episode. The first half of the series starts off strong, but with the back half of the series it almost seems like they had planned for more episodes and then for some reason had to edit it down to the 12 and it's like some things got left on the cutting room floor than shouldn't have. Luckily they made up for the terrible final episode but giving them an episode on "Our Skyy" which you're definitely going to want to watch after finishing the series.


Overall the series is worth watching, but just go into it knowing there are parts that are going to be frustrating.

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If you like 90's - 00's low budget, "B" rated American movies/series you might like this series.

I know I said in the headline that if you like 90's - 00's low budget, "B" rated American movies you might like this series, but honestly it's more like a "C" or "D" rated series. If you decide to give it a try, don't be surprised if you find yourself bored to death by needless long pauses in conversations, the long awkward stare, and the shallow dialogue.

the base story arc is actually rather good and there are a few moments in a couple of the episodes where it shows, but everything else lets it down and it never really lives up to what it could have been. In movies/series like this there's usually one or two of the cast that give a performance that really stands out from the rest and helps make it worth watching, unfortunately that wasn't the case with this series. This really could have been a rather amazing story and series if it was developed by the right studio with the right cast and crew, but unfortunately it's more of a "If you have nothing better to stand the time on" watch it and forget it series.

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