This series is a dichotomous BL, bordering on being oxymoronic. Sometimes brilliant then slipping into utter banality. Occasionally poignant but mostly filled with mundane trite tediousness. Sporadic displays of serious adult behaviors but mostly overshadowed with adolescent/pubescence behavioral patterns acting like petulant teenage children instead of adults in a serious sexual relationship. Occasional story lines eliciting tears and then in the next dialogue nothing but endless dribble of cliches and platitudes. In other words, not generally reflecting real life but an idealized sanitized world peppered with a whisper of reality and an occasional homage to authenticity. The best word to describe this series is: puffery. I simply had a hard time relating to this story.

Did I like this story? No. Did I enjoy this story? Parts of it, sure. Was it engaging? It was, up to a point! I know that sounds contradictory but let me explain. Watching this series is like when you are in one of those ‘in-between moods’. While one might not be hungry, if there is a bowl of peanuts in front of you, somehow it becomes compelling. Although not really interested in eating, reflexively one starts and before long, half the bowl has mindlessly been eaten. Strangely, some seem tastier than others and those are enjoyable. The realization soon sets in that one ate too many and overall, this eating experience was not necessarily pleasurable but one simply could not stop eating those peanuts. You enjoyed only a few but wish you had not eaten all of them. Well, that was this series. I found a few narratives enjoyable but the rest of it was just like that ordinary bowl of peanuts. Just sort of there. Honestly, my life would have gone on just fine without watching this series.

Unfortunately, this story is your standard, run-of-the-mill Thai BL. Predictable, tropey, cliché-filled and sorry to say, rather boring. A young considerably good-looking orthopedic doctor, Dr. Wandee (Inn Sarin) with a bubbly personality has for the past 8 years been pinning over another orthopedic doctor named Dr. Ter (Pod Suphakorn). While I know nothing about Thai courting rituals and even less about the nuances of gay courting in Thailand, I would think that after a year or perhaps 2 of bantering about with one another, it would be time to make some sort of ‘move’ to indicate feelings. To go about floundering for 8 years seems, well, stupid.

Finally, when Wandee does, he is soundly rejected by Ter as being too ‘vanilla’ in addition to the fact that he likes girls, even though Ter seemed to reciprocate in kind to Wandee’s enticements to him over the years. Being labeled too vanilla was indeed one of the funniest moments in this series. Of course, the story begins to write itself from here.

Of course, Wandee gets drunk and is rescued by one of his more precocious patients named Yak (Great Sapol) who is astonishingly handsome. Initially starting out as a relationship labeled ‘friends with benefits’, which I found to be refreshingly different. Circumstances led to such that they had to ‘pretend’ to be boyfriends. The only problem was that they were in fact deeply falling in love with each other. Yak fully expressing that more easily and quickly while Wandee’s sensitivity/hesitancy to love overshadowed his certainty.

And here is where I have a problem with this series. In essence, they are on two very different levels of relatable. Yak is solid in his passion and commitment and therefore vulnerable. Wandee, perhaps for legitimate reasons initially, hesitates but uses that to manipulate and control Yak’s feelings. That I detested. He knows that Yak is deeply in love with him by words and deeds while Wandee only does so in some deeds and without words. This endless bantering and mocking feelings nonsense droned on and on for at least 5 or 6 episodes, with the obvious knowledge that both were deeply in love with each other. This is not adult behavior in any way shape or form.

Meanwhile, Yak’s brother Yei (Thor Thinnaphan) is in a loving and deeply committed relationship with Cher (Fluke Nattanon). Their background story and relationship, ironically, is actually more fully developed than that of Yak and Wandee’s. We get to see a ‘real’ relationship trying to work things out from all different aspects, and we also get to see the two of them working on issues as a couple. In the end, they get to marry, which is simply a thing of beauty to watch. They come across being more genuine and honest than the contriveness and silliness of Yak and Wandee’s relationship development. To be honest, it seemed like an odd pairing. Yet, they made it work completely. This was a real testament to their acting strengths as it could easily have ending up appearing incongruous.

This is a well-acted series to be sure. And the screen chemistry between Great and Inn is off the charts in many scenes. Inn with his smoky, sexy, sleepy, alluring smile and eyes could seduce anyone with just one look while Great with his wholly innocent expression and sweet and charming demure is equally captivating. When they are on screen and acting like adults, they are irresistible – hot, sexy and most importantly, believable. However, when they get silly and start bantering about like preteen schoolboys, it loses something. Occasionally, that might be cute; too often it becomes cringe-worthy.

However, who is really on point here, focused, and is consistently good is Ployphach Phatchatorn Thanawat as Yak’s good friend, Taemrak. She is there for Yak and initially seems to be only a close friend to him. But Yak and her go way back, and she perhaps does have feelings for him that are more intense. While Yak also ponders those feelings for her, he knows , deep down, his love, his only love, is Wandee. Taemrak would like to be with Yak but senses and knows that Yak’s feelings are with Wandee. She is a character of great principle from beginning to end and does nothing to hinder or thwart that connection between the two of them. She knows that is best for Yak. That is a noble characterization. While hurt, she is strong enough to know right from wrong and does not give into any bitterness. However, I do wish that the story did not hint perhaps she and Dr. Ter would be an ‘item’. I found that concept distasteful. Frankly, she deserved better. Not every relationship is destined to have a happy ending.

The ending of this series, if you like pure sugar endings, would be right up your alley, as the expression goes. I detested it. Again, it suffers from a Pollyanna influence. Wandee waited until the last moment to inform Yak of the two things that everyone who is in love wants to hear: He says that he loves him back, and he wants him to be his boyfriend, finally. All too little too late. This is such a major flaw in these productions with the one-sidedness of relationships, waiting for the other side to finally come around. Wandee does this at the awards’ ceremony in front of all these people, yet throughout the series, if Yak even sneaked a kiss, was met with consternation because someone might see them. I just could not understand this yet again set of dichotomous rules of behavior.

I also had a significant issue with Wandee and his getting an internship, which meant being away for ‘several years’. I have always found these endings, in which they will wait for each other, completely and exceedingly unrealistic. They are so new into a relationship. Wandee was right in proposing a pause in their relationship just in case, being away for so long, they did meet someone else. That was meant for both. That was and is real and should have been agreed to. Being away from one another, especially in such a new and tenuous relationship, for such a long period of time, is difficult. Neither one had time to discover each other nor settle into understanding the other or what is a relationship. I would not dare propose that they should not have one, but I think Wandee was right. It seemed unfair and unwise to commit to each other given the length of time they would be apart. I would have insisted that they ‘pause’ their relationship until and if and when Wandee comes back. That is the adult, mature thing to do rather than making this some fairytale with a happy ending story. Quit being so utopian about gay relationships and add a sense of reality every once in a while to a story line.

Overall, this BL is uneven. The main leads are good and created a cute couple. It frustrates me that they still treat gay relationships like infantile adolescent relationships with such shallowness. Smooching and kissing and acting like they are going to be caught on a school playground for doing so. Being less than honest with your feelings for no solid concrete reasons and worse, not wanting to share your feelings because of being rejected or hurt or having been hurt in the past. It is like they have never grown up. This is not love, and I am frankly getting so tired of seeing this theme portrayed over and over in BLs; as if somehow that is standard in the gay world and obligatory for BLs. Honestly, it would have awakened Wandee into adulthood if Yak had said much earlier either you are clear about how you feel about me, or I am GONE. I am done with the playacting.

There are acts of forgiveness in this series that are well handled and are worthy of praise and are commendable. Also, encouraging all to get their HPV vaccinations is such a major plus to its theme. Yet, the need to rely on tried-and-true cliché setups for storylines is getting old, (e.g. borrowing money from loan sharks, guilt with dying parents, bad relationships with a parent or two, pinning over unrequired love interests, drunk scenes with one needing to be taken home or accidently [or almost] kissing, and without exception someone has to have a birthday and sing “Happy Birthday”). There are so many side stories like these to unpack here that again diffuses the main connection, and I am not sure the reason the production found it necessary to have so many side stories of such magnitude. One very odd side story was with Dr. Wandee’s best friend at work, involving Dr. Plakao (Drake Sattabut), who is a psychiatrist. While offering sage advice, he himself practices a personal way of life uniquely different and I would think very difficult and a bit unnatural. He is asexual. I found the introduction of this concept fascinating and would be a surprisingly interesting theme for a BL. What a tale that would make.

This series is way too long and divested itself too much that it lost a lot of its impact. Ending on a Pollyanna note, did this series no favor and to give the impression that all will be well with both ‘waiting’ for each other for several years is completely unrealistic. Both men are young and barely know each other. This is a mighty big world with lots of opportunities to meet very interesting people along the way, who may force you to reexamine your path.

Life has a way of altering expectations.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Streaming on- GMMTV YouTube Channel