Baddie
A Perfect Balance of BL and LGBTQ+ Drama
I have re-watched this drama for so many times and I never failed to end up crying a river. The story was just so beautiful and Fluke's acting was impeccable, to say the least. Now let's get into the pros and cons.
PROS
1. Acting
Fluke's acting was, again, excellent. He has shown time and time again that he is one of the best actors in Thailand. The last episode alone has showcased his range. His ability to cry on cue, his amazing skills to switch from one character (Pharm) to another (Intouch) in a single frame, and his subtle yet profound expressions have basically carried the whole show.
I also want to praise the veteran actors who played Dean's mother, Dean's grandma, Intouch's father and Korn's father. Their acting was sublime and they elevated the drama. Other actors did decent too, although not reaching the same level as Fluke and the veteran actors.
2. Story
The story is one of a kind. No other BLs have reached the level of complexity that UWMA had at that time. This would make you cry buckets of tears yet at the same time would also wrap you in a lingering warmth. DeanPharm's story was a fated one. This might seem boring to most people but I personally think it portrayed a healthy and mature relationship between two young individuals—which is unfortunately rarely shown in BLs. Dean was full of desire but also patient, while Pharm was meek but also firm.
I was quite impressed when Dean was making physical advances to Pharm by grabbing his behind when suddenly Pharm took a stand and said a firm no to Dean. Dean respected that and apologized to Pharm, which showed that 1) Dean succumbed to his desire, he made a mistake, but he recognized that mistake and apologized profusely; 2) Pharm knew his boundaries and was not foolish enough to let someone he loved to cross those lines, and 3) Consent was clearly a major key in this drama.
How this drama portrays family acceptance/rejection was also another major plus. In DeanPharm's arc, we would see how family acceptance became the stone that built both individuals. Meanwhile, in KornIn's arc, we saw how rejection from their fathers broke their lives apart and created a long-lasting, detrimental effects to all parties involved. BL dramas rarely showed, let alone elaborated the extent of the latter scenario. LGBTQ life in Asia, in fact, is not all butterflies and rainbows and UWMA had successfully portrayed both sides of the coin really well.
There are also other great points that the drama brought up, such as the importance of safe sex and care after sex (!!!). The use of condom/protection has been brought up multiple times in BL drama and I will never get tired of it, but I believe UWMA was one of the first ones that brought up the after-sex care. Sex, especially for the first time, can be mentally/physically exhausting and painful, especially for the receiving end. After care is needed and Dean showed his love for Pharm by providing care package afterwards. I found that very thoughtful and sweet, and it was a major plus to me. UWMA also gave us a serious conversation on same-sex marriage, which is surprisingly rare in BLs.
However, the story is not without flaws. I found WinTeam's arc to be unnecessary. It felt like a filler and I was compelled to skip through most of them, although I understood that it served as an introduction to the sequel (or spin-off?) which focuses on WinTeam. Still, I wish the drama could have focused more on KornIn and DeanPharm.
3. Music
I found myself listening to the OSTs from time to time. The orchestral music did its job to intensify the watchers' feelings in emotional scenes. I also appreciated the different opening soundtracks. I noticed that they changed the opening soundtrack depending on the overall mood of the episode, which I found pretty neat.
CONS
1. Editing
I hate to admit this but the editing was sloppy at times. There were some scenes that could have used better transitions or been cut a few seconds shorter. There were also some filler scenes that I find unnecessary as they added nothing to the main story and added little entertainment value. They also missed some minor details were quite bothersome for the watchful eyes.
2. Pacing
My goodness, the pacing was the biggest flaw of the series. It would've been a 1000000/10 if it had 12 episodes or so. Some of the scenes were awfully slow. I felt like the middle part of it was quite draggy, while the ending was a bit rushed. That scene where Pharm and his friends went to the BBQ (??) place was unnecessarily long, in my opinion, and could have been used to flesh out Pharm's mental journey to separate his love story with that of Intouch.
CONCLUSION
Despite the flaws, this drama is a trailblazer in BL genre. I often found the acting in BL drama to be lackluster, but Fluke really showed his acting chop and served the best performance out of all BL drama. The story was solid and deep, unlike most BLs that often have surface-level plot. As I said at the beginning of my review, UWMA truly is *the* perfect balance of BL and LGBTQ+ drama.
PROS
1. Acting
Fluke's acting was, again, excellent. He has shown time and time again that he is one of the best actors in Thailand. The last episode alone has showcased his range. His ability to cry on cue, his amazing skills to switch from one character (Pharm) to another (Intouch) in a single frame, and his subtle yet profound expressions have basically carried the whole show.
I also want to praise the veteran actors who played Dean's mother, Dean's grandma, Intouch's father and Korn's father. Their acting was sublime and they elevated the drama. Other actors did decent too, although not reaching the same level as Fluke and the veteran actors.
2. Story
The story is one of a kind. No other BLs have reached the level of complexity that UWMA had at that time. This would make you cry buckets of tears yet at the same time would also wrap you in a lingering warmth. DeanPharm's story was a fated one. This might seem boring to most people but I personally think it portrayed a healthy and mature relationship between two young individuals—which is unfortunately rarely shown in BLs. Dean was full of desire but also patient, while Pharm was meek but also firm.
I was quite impressed when Dean was making physical advances to Pharm by grabbing his behind when suddenly Pharm took a stand and said a firm no to Dean. Dean respected that and apologized to Pharm, which showed that 1) Dean succumbed to his desire, he made a mistake, but he recognized that mistake and apologized profusely; 2) Pharm knew his boundaries and was not foolish enough to let someone he loved to cross those lines, and 3) Consent was clearly a major key in this drama.
How this drama portrays family acceptance/rejection was also another major plus. In DeanPharm's arc, we would see how family acceptance became the stone that built both individuals. Meanwhile, in KornIn's arc, we saw how rejection from their fathers broke their lives apart and created a long-lasting, detrimental effects to all parties involved. BL dramas rarely showed, let alone elaborated the extent of the latter scenario. LGBTQ life in Asia, in fact, is not all butterflies and rainbows and UWMA had successfully portrayed both sides of the coin really well.
There are also other great points that the drama brought up, such as the importance of safe sex and care after sex (!!!). The use of condom/protection has been brought up multiple times in BL drama and I will never get tired of it, but I believe UWMA was one of the first ones that brought up the after-sex care. Sex, especially for the first time, can be mentally/physically exhausting and painful, especially for the receiving end. After care is needed and Dean showed his love for Pharm by providing care package afterwards. I found that very thoughtful and sweet, and it was a major plus to me. UWMA also gave us a serious conversation on same-sex marriage, which is surprisingly rare in BLs.
However, the story is not without flaws. I found WinTeam's arc to be unnecessary. It felt like a filler and I was compelled to skip through most of them, although I understood that it served as an introduction to the sequel (or spin-off?) which focuses on WinTeam. Still, I wish the drama could have focused more on KornIn and DeanPharm.
3. Music
I found myself listening to the OSTs from time to time. The orchestral music did its job to intensify the watchers' feelings in emotional scenes. I also appreciated the different opening soundtracks. I noticed that they changed the opening soundtrack depending on the overall mood of the episode, which I found pretty neat.
CONS
1. Editing
I hate to admit this but the editing was sloppy at times. There were some scenes that could have used better transitions or been cut a few seconds shorter. There were also some filler scenes that I find unnecessary as they added nothing to the main story and added little entertainment value. They also missed some minor details were quite bothersome for the watchful eyes.
2. Pacing
My goodness, the pacing was the biggest flaw of the series. It would've been a 1000000/10 if it had 12 episodes or so. Some of the scenes were awfully slow. I felt like the middle part of it was quite draggy, while the ending was a bit rushed. That scene where Pharm and his friends went to the BBQ (??) place was unnecessarily long, in my opinion, and could have been used to flesh out Pharm's mental journey to separate his love story with that of Intouch.
CONCLUSION
Despite the flaws, this drama is a trailblazer in BL genre. I often found the acting in BL drama to be lackluster, but Fluke really showed his acting chop and served the best performance out of all BL drama. The story was solid and deep, unlike most BLs that often have surface-level plot. As I said at the beginning of my review, UWMA truly is *the* perfect balance of BL and LGBTQ+ drama.
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