.. which actually turned out to be a good thing. There was a lot of hype around this series being geared toward a more mature audience and having adult themes, not just in the NC sense. There was a lot of talk about it incorporating aspects of Omegaverse so I was interested to see what they did with that... whether it was going to be a major plot point or just a passing mention like "Oh, by the way, I'm an Alpha, just so you know."

What I thought it would be, based on the trailer:
-sports drama based on racing
-"playboy denying he's falling for a guy" type of romance
-rivalry between racers as main source of conflict
-father trying to cash in on son's success

While the first few episodes make it seem like it is setting up for some of the above.... Spoiler alert.. it's actually about none of the above and only mildly focused on the racing aspect. The story we actually got was much more involved and, quite honestly, more interesting to me, personally, than if it were simply about car racing. The "omegaverse" aspect was actually the main focus of the overall plot although it's not quite the omegaverse that is commonly portrayed in novels/webcomics/etc which typically includes the secondary sexes, mPreg, going into heat, amongst other things. In this series, they do have Alphas and Enigmas where both can have supernatural abilities and strengths. Scenting plays a small part as well though that is more because of the fact Babe's specific special ability is heightened senses, which obviously include his sense of smell.

But in this series, the big focus is on the Alphas being rare "super human" beings that all have different abilities which manifest as they get older. It was very X-Men to me, quite honestly, as every Alpha had different "powers" and I found myself keeping them straight by comparing them to their X-Men counterpart.

The overall plot was very involved and nerve-wracking while at face value it just looks like the good guys are going after a super villain and his cronies. However, as agendas are revealed and the entirety of the situation unfolds, it actually turned out to be some of the most interesting story writing I've seen in a BL to date. It's very rare this happens, but I would dare say that the story was what kept me more invested rather than the acting. A lot of times, an actor's performance will save a series for me and keep me from either dropping it or giving it a bad review because of bad or uninteresting plot. But here, it was the opposite.

I wouldn't say the acting was "bad" per say, but there were definitely some better than others, which became evident when they all had scenes together. Pavel was really good, especially when it came to the emotional scenes in the later episodes. He wasn't afraid to "ugly cry" which made it that much more believable. Pooh wasn't bad but he certainly wasn't outstanding. I feel like he either got better over time or he just grew on me throughout the course of the show. (most likely the latter since these things don't typically shoot in chronological order.)

Nut's performance was very good and, honestly, I think he pulled off the complexity of his character very well. We don't find out much about him as an individual until about halfway through but there's always this underlying question of "what is his deal?" from the very beginning because something just seems "off." Nut portrayed this extremely well with little nuances sprinkled throughout and it's almost like a "blink and you miss it" kind of thing.

There's actually quite a bit of that going on throughout the series with multiple characters and I found the guessing game to be very captivating. I think the only characters I never questioned their motives or true feelings were Babe, Mr. Tony and Alan. They were pretty much "what you see is what you get" all the way through.

This was also one of the few times I've seen a series where everything is explained, tied together and resolved by the end. There's nothing introduced for the drama aspect only to be forgotten about or given a half-assed resolution. Everything that happens is important and it all gets wrapped up by the finale. It was a breath of fresh air not leaving the series with questions or feeling like something is missing. All of it is very satisfying in that regard.

That being said, I can see this not being for everyone as it is very heartbreaking and frustrating every time the "heroes" are thwarted and they have to start over. People looking for a more mature love story may also find it somewhat lacking as the romance part takes a back seat to everything else going on. It's certainly NOT a light a fluffy watch. But I assure you, it truly is engaging and it had me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next pretty much from start to finish. I definitely liked it a lot more than I thought I might and I would gladly watch it again in the future.