“They gave us the privilege to know about their feelings.” – Quote from The Rebound

The above phrase was uttered by Grandma (actress unknown) and while it may be a throw-away line, it created an epiphany for me. I had never thought of ‘coming out’ quite like in those revelatory terms. That statement, given by a simple woman in a simple context, has such a complexity to it. It is indeed a communion of the most intimate feelings for another shared in the most vulnerable approach possible. Perhaps if we think of it like that, then the hysterical stigma about whom the love is shared with simply diminishes. They have created now a whole new world. It is indeed a declaration that someone has given freely to us, and we are being asked by them to participate in it. That really ought to be an honor; not some type of burden. We are becoming a part of their circle of life.

I wish the whole series had been in this same vein, but unfortunately it was not. While parts of it are well crafted, well written, and even occasionally well-acted, all that gets lost in the completely mundane storyline replete with the usual trite, cliché set-ups and standard screenplay. It is just another one in a long-line of other ‘basketball’ BLs that are similar. This one, seriously, had nothing even creative or original about it. As usual, it writes itself.

This story is as old as the proverb itself: Good vs. Bad. The ‘good’ kid is Zen (Ping Krittanun) who is the captain of the basketball team and the all-around-unblemished-kid who sees everything positively. Who comes back into his life is the ‘bad’ kid, Ryu (Meen Nichakoon). The story tells us that Ryu is ‘bad’ for all the legitimate reasons that one should be, of course. Do not fear, along the way he does reform with the help of Zen. More than once, Zen is placed in a life-threatening situation because of Ryu’s involvement with some nefarious activities in making money. But it is all part of the usual script.

Along the way comes, in accordance with the Scriptwriters 101 course syllabus and requirement, a creepy almost stalky-like character is introduced. His name is Atom (Frank Thanatsaran) who becomes obsessed with Zen. There is the usual falling in love with Zen by both Ryu and Atom with Zen making it abundantly clear to everyone else, except Atom, that he is in love with Ryu. It is so exasperating to watch the same nonsensical scenes over and over again in these series with different characters but the same outcome. Why is it so impossible to say to the one person who absolutely needs to know who you are in love with clearly and unhesitatingly? Being unclear always means there is ‘hope’ for Atom when in essence there is none. This drones on ad nauseum.

You can pretty much guess the outcome of the games because the series goes on for 12 episodes. It is ok if you skip through the games. I sure did. Frankly, I am not interested in watching basketball games.

There is a quasi-secondary love connection between First (Earth Nanthawat) and the team’s manager, Lin (Emi Thasorn) While both are adorably cute together, unfortunately, the series only teased a relationship. While Lin initially had a crush on Ryu, she soon realizes that Ryu is in love with Zen. It was obvious from the beginning that First had a teenage crush on Lin.

Overall, this series is well-acted. Ping has such good expressions when it comes to pained looks. His sad distraught emotions are some of the best I have ever seen and his ability to look like he is going to cry is so convincing. Yet it tends to be overused. Normally, I do not like to negatively comment on someone’s acting skills but honestly, Chin Chinawut was so miscast as the Coach. He seemed so distant from the role and frankly his acting was amateurish. His character was ‘drinking’ (alcohol) a lot and honestly, I could not tell that part from when he was supposed to be sober and that is not good. There are nuances that need to be shown to the audience to make us believe that. I never saw anything that looked like sincerity. Regrettably. He looked bored most of the time he was on screen.

However, two people absolutely stood out for me and the series did a commendable job in both these minor characters. One character was an autistic teenager named Shogun (VJ Nopparoot). The fact that he displayed autistic characteristics with authenticity and realism was impressive. Having worked with people with developmental disabilities for over 40 years, to see a portrayal of this nature made me feel good and I applaud the production company for elevating not only his status but his characterization and giving it importance. He became a team member. He became fully accepted. A rare privilege for someone with his disability. Kudos for a great performance and extra kudos to the production company for his inclusion and not making him a caricature and giving his character equity. The other individual who really ‘steals’ the series is a friend and mentor and protector of Ryu when Ryu was homeless and on the streets. Que (Nammon Krittanai) is simply drop-dead gorgeous in a genuine bad-boy way. While perhaps not a good influence on Ryu initially, he falls deeply in love with Ryu and because of that love, has to commit acts of violence that are ruinous and will forever keep him away from Ryu in order to protect him and frankly keep him away from a criminal lifestyle. His ending is joyless. While his sacrifices were magnanimous and done for the greater good, he is a profoundly sad figure. Nammon’s portrayal of this character is simply outstanding, and he gets so deep into the various levels of who Que is. He really is mesmerizing to watch, and I do hope he gets greater roles, as his acting is quite impactful.

This series, I am guessing, is supposed to be a feel-good series, with the usual bumps along the road to nirvana. Zen in the end, in my opinion, ends up making a decision, that is typical of one who is only thinking of himself and his self-centered interests. I found his decision hypocritical. I found him to be at that point to be completely unlikable and displayed totally immaturity. Zen so easily unloaded on everyone with a flippant thought-process and moral correctness but certainly did not practice what he preached. It was disingenuous. A far cry from his imagery of who he was when the series started.

Honestly, I did not find the connection between Meen and Ping to be very intense. Granted they were ‘high-schoolers’ but still, I thought the intensity was simply not there. I can only recall one serious love making scene and that was in the shower (besides a lot of giddy playful physical bantering and a few contrived kisses). I laughed out loud when they started to ‘make out’ in that shower scene. To be sure, I understand the delicacy of showing such a scene, but honestly the distance between the two of them was so ludicrously great that both looked vapid, awkward, and dotish. That is NOT how two young teenage boys stand in a shower just about to have sex. That was absurd. You can do better and still meet your level of decency standards. Better yet, do not show those scenes rather than make it look like these two guys are play-acting a shower scene. (Oh wait, they were)! You insult gay people and gay relationships by making it look spurious like this.

As with others in this caliber, the story takes too long to develop. There are too many useless episodes. The development of the story is completely unrealistic. Just to give you an example, without spoiling too much, Zen and Ryu are rescued by Que in what has to be an astonishingly traumatic manner and yet they seem to not be traumatized by what they witnessed nor have any consequences to what happened to them. I find that impossible to believe or at the very least improbable. Another example, Zen, pretending to be so highly moral and free to dispense those pearls of wisdom of his, yet cannot seem to be truthful and upfront with a stalker. He is also beyond dense when it comes to knowing how sick his grandmother is, with whom he lives with and professes to want to take care of. Finally, his self-centered attitude in making a decision to switch schools and not telling anyone is unfathomable to me and honestly unforgivable. Overall, this story is just not believable and unquestionably not logical.

The minor characters of Shogun and Que made this series, and I do not think I have ever stated that about supporting characters in a series before. If it were not for these two very interesting and dynamic characters, this series would have been an abysmal failure. Overall, there was just nothing here to sustain my interest or even be entertaining. These two gave it life and a connection to empathy.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Streaming on- Gagaoolala