From the moment the first episode of the Thai BL Love in the Air opened, the lyrics from the 1983 song “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls started playing in my head. Mainly because of the characters’ names and the fateful connection they seem to have with rain.

Starring actors Boss Chaikamon (Payu), Noeul Nuttarat (Rain), Fort Thitipong (Prapai), and Peat Wasuthorn (Sky), Love in the Air is precisely the type of drama it bills itself as: angsty, fun, cute, a little edgy and sexy.

The first two episodes don’t offer a deep narrative. There’s nothing viscerally complicated about it outside the typical love/hate BL trope, but the chemistry, acting, and production are good.

An interesting thing to note about recent BLs is the diversity offered. When I first started watching Thai BLs during the Lovesick era, many (not all) kept to a similar theme and formula.

Not anymore.

Recent BLs offer a diverse range of viewing, from youth dramas to mature dramas. From the typical tropes we all fell in love with years ago to more profound, emotional, and symbolic series.

Love in the Air straddles the line between playing it safe and pushing the envelope. Much of the focus in the first two episodes are on Rain (Noeul Nuttarat) and Payu (Boss Chaikamon), their first meeting in the rain, and the bickering, teasing relationship that’s born from it.

Although Payu is a popular senior well respected among those who knew him in school and those who’ve heard of him, he has a secret dark side. And yet, despite the bad boy imagery, I found that he was reasonably equal to Rain in the bad boy department.

I haven’t read the novel Love in the Air is inspired by, but I liked that even though the supporting characters hold Payu and Rain in different regards, the two of them see beyond that. His peers respect Payu in public but are unaware of his darker pursuits. On the other hand, Rain is off-putting and foul-mouthed, which can drive people away. In public, Rain is more of a bad boy than Payu. In private, Payu drops his highly regarded public veneer. He wants to correct Rain’s disrespectful ways while taunting him with lust.

Payu and Rain have the kind of dynamic people like to daydream about but may not necessarily wish for in reality. And that’s what dramas like this are made for.

I didn’t walk away from the first two episodes of Love in the Air questioning life or my place in it. I didn’t walk away from it trying to figure out the deeper meaning of the plot. But I did walk away from the first two episodes highly entertained. Considering the diversity of dramas now offered, simply being entertained is also a good place to be as a viewer.

The tension between Rain and Payu is tense and electric. Despite how stupid the drama tries to make Rain appear, I feel like it’s being done to offer him room to grow. He comes across as more naive than ignorant.

The obvious secrets lurking behind Payu’s intense gaze promises potential emotional depth, and the story waiting to happen between characters Sky (Peat Wasuthorn) and Prapai (Fort Thitipong) left me with much to anticipate.

I look forward to being entertained.

If you are looking for a hate-to-love drama with a lot of sexual chemistry, check out Love in the Air on YouTube and iQiyi.

Rating- 4 out of 5