Without question, I am a living fossil, and undoubtedly, should be the last person on the planet to critique this series. It is as far removed from my world as is humanly relatable to being. I hardly understood anything that was going on between and among these characters. Their idiomatic expressions, the clothes, their strange ways of relating to one another. Conversely, I doubt they would have understood my world growing up. As with all of us who watch BLs, we ‘see’ what we want to see and what I saw in this series was still a masterpiece. Even if its relatability was as far removed from me as conceptual thinking of myself as ever living on the planet Mars. Yet, underneath all the gloss and nails and completely unrecognizable noise that they considered music is a heartfelt story. And the unmistakable diegesis is one, much like it was in the original Gelboys, around redefining/reimagining love. Here, giving it a crisp, new way of defining it. And I loved it.

The 4 ‘boys’ have kind of, sort of grown up. We get to see them transition from their stages in high school to young adulthood and what a transition it is. Frankly, I am not sure if I fully understood the story because the transition bounced around quite a bit and if there is a flaw in this story, this is it. It frankly is hard to follow. And being the individual that I am, I can easily get bored with minutiae; therefore, I fast-forwarded through a lot of their dribble. I just did not care about their nail care or the concerts. It was all tedious to me, but I am supposing to be relevant in some manner to today’s youth. What got to be center point was the increasing strength of their relationships as time went on and they matured. I was mesmerized by how strong their bonds became; yet at the same time, how thin the basis of their affinities actually was.

Fou4Mod (New Chayapak) and Chian (Pide Monthapoom) are now a couple, deeply committed to one another and intensely in love with each other. That is a strange word to use in a BL and especially for a young couple, but, in this case, it is as if they see no others. Over time, their love simply strengthened. However, there is a caveat to their fairytale story. Fou4Mod begins to make it ‘big’ and, as such, his fan base becomes fanatical. Terminologies such as “boyfriend stanning” vs. “mommy stanning” as well as “biasing” a performer, which are completely unconventional terms to me, are the rules for stardom now. I had no idea the extent of the passion and commitment that went into those terms. Frankly, I still do not, but in a sense, that is what caused the rift between Fou4Mod and Chian. They HAD to pretend they were not in love and when they were caught, had to disavow that love. Until it got to be too much – for both. I found their love story to be controlled by sadness that neither could commandeer. With no one in a position to advise or counsel them on what to expect, they are managed by his fandom. In a sense, they were facing a “Lord of the Rings” scenario with no one, no functional adult, being responsible enough or in a position to guide either one. They were all wrapped up in Fou4Mod’s success that no one looked at the tragedies it was creating within each. The two paid heavy prices for a little bit of fame and, of course, money.

Meanwhile, Baa (PJ Mahidol) and Bua (Leon Zech) fared no better; in fact, they were worse. At least Fou4Mod had a ‘future’; these two seemed directionless. Sure, Bua wanted to be a ‘dancer’ while Baa simply gave up his dreams for others. Of all the characters in all the BLs I have ever watched, Baa is by far the saddest character, at the same time, the most altruistic one as well. He is a solemn character almost incapable of enjoying the pleasures of living except for commitment to others. I felt every intrinsic pain he had and every disappointment he experienced. He never measured up to anyone’s standard, including his own, which is he had stepped back and actually saw himself. He was one of the finest, most altruistic, and most noble individuals in the BL world ever portrayed. He would have done anything for anyone – and did. He sacrificed all his love for Fou4Mod and Bua. Sometimes, those two objectives were at contradictory odds with one another and his fatal mistake was trying to accomplish both at the same time. He could not and thus failed at both – then feeling left out and noting more than a ‘mother stan’ to both Fou4Mod and Bua. The sacrifices in his life were his to make, and they were painful ones with consequences of loneliness and isolation fundamentally. The one constant was that his love for Bua never wavered.

Bua was not at fault. He too suffered for his devotion and love for Baa. He just never felt as if, in Baa’s eyes, he was his number one ‘bias’. These two did break up because of the issue of loyalty (my word). Not because of a lack of love. However, you want to define ‘bias’ – as favorite, True One, absolute favorite – simply could not be reconciled. Maturity would have given it the time and space to do so. It did seem as if their relationship was shallow. But they lived in a different world than mine. With different standards, I do not understand; but it did not make it wrong. Just different. Their love was as deep and as strong as the one between Fou4Mod and Chian. Only the consequences were sadder. Much, much sadder. Both lacked the passion to commitment.

This is NOT Gelboys One and simply cannot be compared to that; so stop. Somehow the expectations were, I think, that the saga would be a continuation of the innocence of youth that we saw unfold in Gelboys One. This story hits you with a hard new reality check within the standards of today’s linguistics. The actors, and characters, have matured. And as such, they had children, and we see this story now through the eyes of the sons of our protagonists. And truth-be-told, these guys stole my heart. Their innocence of freshness showed through in their performances. Both wanted ‘answers’ as to what happened to their respective fathers. So, we explored the internal journey of their fathers’ lives through their eyes. Baby, played so beautifully by 18-year-old Mye Nattapatt, displays all the innocence and curiosity of a child who truly wants to know what happened to his fathers with the basic question looming over his head: Was he the reason for their breakup? That is a terrible and horrible feeling of guilt to hang over you to feel as if you are the cause of your parents’ breakup. His ‘best friend’ and confidence is none other than the son of Fou4Mod and Chian named Gelz, played by 19-year-old Peem Veeravit with a face that holds your attention. While both at times seemed childish, immature, and self-centered, their thinking is far from that. Singularly, each knows that they love each other but fears losing the other if he does not feel the same way. Much like what happened in their own fathers’ lives. Both these characters are vital to the story as we see the lives of our Gelboys through their dimensions. They brought a wide range of emotions to this story that I think would have been missed otherwise. The acting by these two young men felt so real and genuine. Being the chronological ages of their ‘sons’ lent a sense of authenticity to their roles. They literally had no idea what their fathers’ lives were like, as they themselves had not lived life yet.

I, of course, undoubtedly read way too much into stories. This series seemed to me to be an allegory. The sons, if you will, were parables. Then the story made sense to me. It was wishful or fantasy thinking on the parts of Fou4Mod, Chian, Baa, and Bua if their lives and subsequently their loves were to conclude with the creation of other lives. It was the culmination of life’s fulfillments.

All of it seemed real but it was not. (HINT: did you see any significant changes, or advancements, let alone improvements from 2024 to 2054?). I honestly do not know what happened to Fou4Mod and Chian and Baa and Bua at the end of Gelboys One. There are other worlds – perhaps each with their own version. This is just one of them. I loved this one though, because it gave us the best of all possible outcomes. It gave us and them – their legacies. After all, is that not what we are all about anyway?

Kudos for smart, intense, love stories told through the eyes of maybe (or maybe not) their sons. That ending left us with a pending conclusion: Will they have their own legacy to carry on?

This is truly a masterpiece production with all the right elements. The cinematography, like its predecessor, is spectacular. Unquestionably, this will be a Top Ten Series and ought to be seen by every BL fan out there. Do not let this one pass you by.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Streaming on- IQIYI