I saw a comment on my first impressions of “I Feel You Linger in the Air”, pointing out that I had given it 5/5 stars, which was rare for The BL Xpress, and personally, quite rare for me too. I had been sure about it then, but I did start to think about whether I had been too optimistic. Was I getting caught up in my feelings and giving it too much credit, seeing the show through rose coloured glasses?

Every episode after another quelled the second guesser in me. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the drama to become unnecessarily long to pad the runtime, for the chemistry between Jom and Yai to waver, for anything that could justify even a 4.5 rating, because how could a show keep me hooked from the beginning to the end? “I Feel You Linger in the Air” proved me wrong.

I couldn’t, and still can’t, deduct any points from it. The casting, from Nonkul Chanon as Jom and Bright Rapheephong as Yai, to the supporting cast, was marvellous, there was palpable chemistry between Jom and Yai when they as much as looked at each other (Nonkul as Jom in particular has mastered the art of bashfully peering up from under his eyelashes, igniting undecipherable emotions of protecting him in both Yai and me), the OST hit all the right notes and complemented their budding relationship, which itself developed organically rather than through elaborate and forced plot set ups, and the cinematography was as gorgeous as it had been when I started it.

Speaking of the cinematography, my favourite technique employed throughout was the use of reflective surfaces to frame important scenes. Mirrors do more than reflect what is on the surface, in media texts they are often used to indicate a depth to the character or to the scene that have not yet been revealed. Mirrors also symbolise the reflection of truth, and express all-seeing wisdom that the characters are as yet unaware of. From the beginning, the Jom from the past and the present, same though they are, find themselves interacting through a mirror. This complicates the mystery of who the two Jom’s are relative to each other. In multiple scenes, the camera pans from the reflections of characters to the characters themselves, indicating that there is something more about them than we, as the viewers, see from the camera itself. Not just mirrors, the lens of a camera too, proves to be a pivotal point later on in the show in uncovering a devastating truth for Jom and Yai.

I could write sonnets about the care and detail that went into the making of this series, from minor details like using specific flowers for different characters in the opening sequence to allude towards their characteristics, to the direction of the emotional and physical intimacy between Jom and Yai. The actors themselves are brilliant together and by themselves, and would have probably shone even with a mediocre script and direction, but we were blessed that everyone involved in the making of “I Feel You Linger in the Air” showed up on set each day intent on making a masterpiece.

It didn’t trivialise the time travelling plot just to provide a historical set up to the love story; again and again through the show, even until the very end, we are reminded that Jom and Yai’s story is at its core a tragic romance. Their souls are destined to meet in every timeline they exist in, but it is time itself that is their enemy. Even as it ends on a happy note, the post credits scene adds another layer to the mystery, justifying the need for a second season. While teased by Nonkul in a fanmeeting, this has not been confirmed officially and there are no concrete plans for a second season in the immediate future. For the time being, however, we can all satiate ourselves with the upcoming special episode that is sure to provide some much needed light hearted moments between Jom and Yai after the beautiful heartbreak that was (hopefully the first season of) “I Feel You Linger in the Air”.

Rating: 5 out of 5 (yes, I still stand by it, this show is amazing)

Streaming on- YouKu, Gagaoolala, and YouTube