I really wanted to like this series. I watched Boys Journey leading into it and absolutely fell in love with the cast.

And for the record, that is the one thing that has not changed. The cast is the only thing that makes this series work. Pavel is fantastic. Nut as well is a stand out performer for me. But all of the others are solid, well rounded performers as well.

This series dies by its writing. The problems start within the main couple- who somehow have no palpable chemistry, despite the fact that the actors who play them have chemistry in spades. They are written into an insta-love corner that the show never bothers to write its way out of. Eight episodes in, and the main couple is as hollow and vapid as they were in episode two.

There are too many characters. Many of whom serve no purpose to the plot, and ultimately serve as a pointless distraction away from the main story. There are too many ideas shoved into one show. Is this a racing show, is this an action show or is this a romance? Some series can pull together multiple genres to make a compelling series. The Sign, for example is a show that manages to balance several genres at once and still be coherent. But these writers are not up for that challenge. As they get completely lost up their own plotholes, it becomes increasingly clear over the course of this series that these writers don't have a clear direction for this show. And worse, it's become blatantly clear that they have no interest in writing a BL.

The one positive I will give the writers, is that they did manage to make compelling tension. I would always leave each episode feeling a desperate need to see the next one and find out what will happen next. Unfortunately, they are never able to pay off any of the tension they successfully build. Arguments are forgotten from one scene to the next, characters are constantly behaving in ways bizarrely devoid of emotion. These aren't characters. They're walking plot devices used to push the story around. And I do mean push the story around, because the story never seems to actually push forward in any kind of believable way.

So we're stuck with this Goldie Locks syndrome. Too many characters, too many ideas, too many pointless scenes where characters only exist to lob exposition at each other. Not enough character development, not enough time given to side couples, not enough emotional believability built up between the two main leads.

There's a good story buried somewhere in this. Unfortunately, it seems that these writers were unable to find that plot.