The stories actually pretty basic. Rain and Sky are best friend in architecture school. We first meet Payu, a senior alumni of same college, very famous, as expected for his looks and his work. He works in a big architecture firm and also as a mechanic and has a passion for illegal motorbike racing. They meet in a typical BL fashion unexpectedly. Payu literally forces himself on Rain and in a bizarre twist Rain declares that he will make Payu fall in love with him. Of course, that happens and in fact Payu becomes the lover and protector for Rain. A jealous race competitor kidnaps Rain to teach Payu a lesson but how can Payu lethal happen. The couple is back together stronger than ever. The story then shoots to Sky and we meet Pai, who happens to be Payu's friend and a fellow racer. In another bizarre intro scene< jai also literally forces Sky to sleep with him and they both have a good time but for Sky it was just sex. Pai has been a player and loves to sleep around but something about Sky, that he cannot get him out of his head. He relentlessly pursues Sky, who is very sure he doesn't want to b win love and rather focus on his studies. We also see that Sky has some trauma from his previous relationship, where his ex-boyfriend was a abuser, which has led Sky to be wary of any relationship. But Pai's love and constant attention make Sky see the truth and he starts appreciating the love and finally gives in. For this couple, The villain , in terms of Sky's ex-boyfriend comes back in picture trying to break the couple, but of course love withstands and Pai makes sure that he will never ever leave Sky. The two couple are finally happy together.
I'll start by saying that I actually quite enjoyed this show for many reasons (and yes, I do acknowledge that this show also had a lot of questionable toxicity that I am not ok with it; which I will put my thoughts on little further). For now if we just ignore how the two couple met, I actually very much enjoyed both the couple's eventual love build up. Sure, some of the scenes might feel cheesy, but something about both the couples , where the relentless pursuit by both Payu and Pai and the shy and coy Rain and Sky just suited them and it felt believable. I liked how the two men pursued the boys and eventually made them fall for them despite the little fun and love games they play. One of my absolute favorite scenes in the whole show is when Payu sings a song for Rain, almost confessing his love and what we see on screen is how things have becomes from one to two, like two toothbrush, two pencils, 2 cups etc, almost signifying that two solo people have now become a couple. Also the song lyrics was nice and I am not much for music in these Thai shows, but that song scene, to me, felt genuine and heartfelt and actually made me believe in Payu and Rain's love story. I also liked that Rain was shown a little dumb and it just added to the cuteness. The whole kidnap angle was so not needed and felt forced, but how can there be a love story without at least some sort of villain, so I am willing to excuse that. Similarly Pai and Sky's love story was also nice and refreshing. Once Pai makes up is mind, he pursues Sky like crazy. Its nice to see the secret smiles that Sky gives, because part of him is liking alll the attention he is getting from such a hot guy, but then he also doesn't want to give in so easily. The second couple has a lot more sweet couple moments than Rain/Payu. Also I totally enjoyed the scenes where almost everyone knows about this couple except for Rain and his friends make fun of him on how he is the only one who can't see how much Sky and Pai love each other. Although it was weird that when Rain was in his courtship days, Sky was always there for him, but somehow Rain for always absent when Sky needed him the most. Lets also talk about the sexual intimate scenes. Finally , some of these scenes don't have awkward kisses. The sex was raw, real, there was passion in kissing and the physical intimacy between both the couple was very real and believable.
Now that the good things have been talked about, lets talk about the elephant in the room. The show is filled with toxicity, kinks, fetish, one night stands, sexual favors, manipulation, non-consensual touching, mind games, kidnapping, torture and a lot of these topics are difficult and presented in a manner which should not be acceptable. For both the couples, Payu and Pai literally force themselves on Rain and Sky respectively. The story writers and makers either don't understand the concept of No. Payu literally creates situation so that Rain ends up being at his home in his bed. And similarly, Pai blackmails Sky into having sex with him otherwise he will report him to authorities for showing up at illegal racing. And secondly, clearly Sky has trauma issues. Rather than talking seriously about it and dealing with mental health, the fact that a hot hun of a lover can fix everything is just wrong. I am hoping in some of the future BL series, some of these improvements will happen. Also, what's up with most of the characters talking to themselves loudly rather than their inner thoughts. Who does that? The editing was also choppy in a lot of places. Randoms teens were cut and put together, especially in the first couple which sometimes didn't make sense, but I am willing to ignore that.
Despite my strong criticism above, I still very much enjoyed the show probably because of the great chemistry that the two couples share and the format. I enjoyed that two couples were fit in a 6.5 episode each rather than just stretching one couple for 14 episodes. But at the same time, my personal problem was that by the time the show ended, I had almost forgotten about he Rain/Payu couple because by then I was totally invested in Sky/Pai. So as much as I liked the two love stories following one after the other, I am questioning it. The actors are good looking, their chemistry is palpable, we have some very cute moments of the love build up between both couples and overall its a feel good show. I am hoping the whole consent issues is still something that Thai BL shows need to seriously work upon and stop romanticizing stalking. This is still a good show and after a long time, a Thai show that I enjoyed watching, but only if you are willing to ignore that for a moment. (7.5/10)
Comments
There were so many tiny details that got me hooked from E1 and made both stories hijack a huge part of my brain. Amazing opening scene. Catchy soundtrack. Gn’R T-shirt in the audience. Payu racing in blue-black-white. ’Pai’s brooches.
Of the good elements I was almost sentimental to see that finally someone has created a character for sapio-aesthetics to admire. The terrifying intellect of Payu kept me scared and fascinated at the same time. It was made very clear from E1 that nothing he says or does is random – everything is planned at least three steps ahead. I had a serious suspicion that he might have done something to help Rain’s car break down and when in E7 he confessed that he actually did it, I might have squealed a little... a lot :D Plus the character of Payu switched on my professional cretinism – how do you translate the text of a 23+ yr old male who doesn’t use swear words without making his text appear too posh or too old?!
I found a side character that enchanted me effortlessly. Saifah... Ah! His text was the most elaborately mixed cocktail of wisdom and fluent sarcasm. Loved it, down to every punctuation mark.
If I had to pick three favorite scenes with each couple, I’d go for the fever reducer scene with Payu and Rain (meow! MEOW!!!), the air kisses in the restroom cubicle, and the „I kept my promise!“ & the victory kiss on the race track. With Sky and 'Pai the paper knife threat scene, 'Pai struggling to draw the three curved lines for the sketch of a new brooch and the diary scene.
I’m all for „“no“ is a full sentence“, whoever says it. While Rain’s „no“ was kinda confused and confusing, the „no“ of Sky on the other hand was presented more understandably. Maybe it’s my experience speaking instead of common sense. His initial rejection of Pai’s advances came rather from a disbelief than actual dislike. When a person has been convinced that they are boring and worthless, it’s hard for them to believe that someone could be genuinely interested in them, so they start showing their worst side just to test the feelings of the pursuer.
And then there were triggers, mostly in the second half of the series... Some of them tore open 30yr old wounds. The first tear jerker was the scene when Rain goes to the workshop after he slept in so his work was not accepted. Then the emotional fever of Sky and the nightmares. And the two (three?) missed opportunities to tell 'Pai about the reason he had them. The diary. The planning of the rape. 'Pai and friends almost arriving too late. Sky not able to cry. And Sky finally telling his worst secret to 'Pai. The moment I realized where the story was going I prayed for vendetta on screen, luckily I got it. Although I would have wanted even more blood. It seems like Mame has some sort of ideé fixe about sexual abuse victims, but she seriously lacks actual background information. I understand, not every victim is ready to share their story, but we need the feeling of „someone out there understands us“, showing vendetta scenes on screen. „Apple Tree Yard“ did it. „Elite“ S6 did it. So it is possible.
@Sailor Maan – I’ve been thinking about what you asked and to be brutally honest, the answer is... no. The place in the person’s spirit where happiness comes into being is destroyed for a very long time and the mere trying to restore it takes a superhuman effort, and a shitload of time, patience, trial and error – to say the least. Even though nightmares stopped after the vendetta, even though it is possible to leave the incident in the past and move on, the scars remain.
To end in a positive note – Payu singing to Rain in the kitchen. Best scene EVER. Just like Demelza singing to Ross in "Poldark": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFoDX0ikaVA Not for the audience, but for her lover.
I think we will continue to see decent show like this one and also have to deal with crap shows. If the entertainment world figure out the hit formula, then everyone will be rich (including audience)
When I read it was MAME behind it I thought for better or for worse "BL tropes to their fullest + toxic, rape, and borderline situations" and... I was so right XD. I don't know what's worse: that she can't do anything else, or that I keep watching (and enjoying) it... But it's a BL, you know everything will turn out good. However, if the kidnapping was not necessary, not believable and not scary, the rape part with Sky was believable, so both "captivating" and really hard to watch (Miisu I kept thinking about you and felt horrified).
The couples were very good, with great chemistry, a good love build up (albeit totally illogical at times but who cares at this point), and it doesn't take forever to happen thanks to the format of 2x 6.5 episodes. It actually feels more like 2 separate series in the same universe but for once we have a crisp editing / story telling so I won't complain. Let's take the small improvements where we find them. We even have real kisses! With TONGUE!! My, I'm totally turned on now.
The aestetics and atmosphere with illegal motorbike racing was very nice too.
Pai has a smile to die for. And is absolutely not believable as a big company boss haha. Actually both "husbands" are hot and sexy. So yes, we have less typical BL slowness but the fierce return of husband and wife. Guess we can't have it all ^^;
Really looking forward watching the special episode now.
However, there is one strange thing happening since the first episode of this series. The modern house. The first time I saw it in "The Tuxedo". Then Nawee must have moved out, since Payu and Saifah moved in. Then, literally within days Yai's (Big Dragon) family took over the residence. And then Win (Between Us) and his family moved in!
Holy bloody bagpipe! I feel like I live in that house. Just a friendly ghost sitting on the shelf, don't mind me, folks! The crowd moves in and out so fast my ears are flapping in the whirlwind. During the process there are no saucepans left in the kitchen, so in case you happen to be in the neighborhood, please drop by and bring me one. In exchange for a heap of Eiffel stuff.