STORY (No spoilers)
For me, the idea of a couple gradually growing to love each other through an arranged marriage is an appealing concept because I am someone who carries the belief that while passion and romantic love is great for its drama and high tension, it doesn't stand the test of time. What stands the test of time is the love and devotion that comes from slowly knowing a person for who he/ she is, faults and all, and still choosing to forgive and accept the person into your heart, and to strive to make things work. Warm, gentle love vs explosive passion = warm gentle love wins for me. So, the fact that this is not your average dramatic, explosive slap/ kiss Thai lakorn, already makes this a very different beast.
The story is set in a sort of 1950s setting - love the period feel of it with the fashion and the sets. The pace might be a bit slow for those who are used to fast-paced, snappy, dramatics. By contrast, it has a relaxed, dreamy feel here. The show takes it sweet time in showing us the background of the main characters, and bulk of it is focused on your everyday living during that era.
However, this show is not exempt from the some of the usual drama tropes of bitchy second female lead. I am honestly shocked at her outrageous and ridiculous behaviour. And I am not sure if it is dramatic license or not, but some of the scenes with her come across incredibly unrealistic to me. There is also a running plot through the series of a criminal group which the main male lead is supposed to apprehend. The leader of the group, the White Tiger, practices black magic and uses it for nefarious purposes. Some of this will probably seem rather far-fetched to a viewer who does not subscribe or believe in this sort of thing, but as I come from an Asian/ Oriental culture myself, I do know that some people really do believe in this sort of thing. So, if this aspect of the show does not float your boat, feel free to ignore or fast-forward those scenes. I certainly did that myself and found that it did not detract much from the main storyline which was about how the two main leads fall for each other gradually through living with each other and discovering more about one another.
There are other secondary couplings (the 2 sisters of the female lead), but I freely confess that they did not really catch my attention because my main focus throughout this series was on the 2 main leads. But these events certainly lend some drama and also break what some people might deem as monotonous from watching the 2 main leads interact.
I personally did not find the slowness and the gradual budding love and understanding between the main leads to be monotonous or boring in the slightest. In fact this was really the sole reason I kept watching this series to the end because, as I mentioned earlier, I am a sucker for gradual building of love and trust, and for gentle and warm love.
I also particularly liked the sort of themes the show explored, about the type and kind of person one looks for in a life partner, and the kind of flexing and compromising one has to make in a relationship in order to make things work. Because life can be long and paths can be difficult, and it is good for the characters to examine what sort of life partner they would want to have with them as they make this sort of journey. Not many lakorns explore such wide, over-arching concepts and values, so this lakorn has more depth and dimension in itself, compared to loads of others out there.
PS: The editing can also be rather choppy - one of the negative things about this show. Scenes are abruptly cut with the accompanying background music also suddenly ceasing and before you know it, a completely new scene and background music jumps in. This makes for a jarring watch, especially when it happens at particularly emotional/ poignant scenes. The editing could definitely do with more work.
PPS: On hindsight, those sudden breaks of scene could very likely be due to advertisement breaks during the show's airing.
ACTING/ CHARACTERS
As I was mainly fixated on the 2 main leads, this will be my main review point.
BELLA RANEE - who plays Rin aka Brulalee, did well in portraying her to be the sort of noble gentlewoman of high society. Generally restrained, gentle and refined, I enjoyed her character and personality very much. I also like that she comes across very hands-on with the housework (though who really cooks in the kitchen with those outfits?), and is not a wilting wallflower when she feels strongly about something. Rin is not a one-dimensional character, and I like that she is relatable and realistic (unlike the caricaturish second female lead).
JAMES JIRAYU - who plays Saran, looks rather young to be a Deputy Sheriff and the male lead, but I warmed up to him because unlike your alpha-male dominant character, Saran comes across confident but not too aggressive or over-bearing. He is also humanly flawed. What I do like about this lakorn is that Saran rather quickly warms up to Rin and is willing to give her a chance and make things work out with her early in the show. James makes it easier to like his Saran character and understand his conflicts. He has a sweet smile and can carry the occasional cheeky look, which makes his character rather cute at times.
Also, I thought that the 2 main leads looked good together and there is a comfortable natural-ness to their acting which makes their love and warmth believable. It is on the strength of this great chemistry that I enjoyed the series as much as I did, so well done to both James and Bella for their portrayal of their characters in making me like them and root for their happy ending.
MUSIC
I actually like the soundtrack and thought that it suited the mood and the pace of the show very well. There is this slow, dreamy mellow feel to the music which is very reminiscent of the period itself. However, towards the later half, I thought the theme songs for Rin and Saran were starting to get over-played. it would have been nice if they had changed the songs from the second half of the show onwards to prevent song-fatigue.
RE-WATCH
I probably would not re-watch the entire show again but I may re-watch certain bits of it for the Saran/Rin interactions because they were lovely and sweet. Overall, it is a lovely, sweet, warm and slow-build little show. If you like this sort of style and premise, then you really should consider giving this a try - it certainly won't disappoint you on that front.
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Rin was a good female protagonist, had great sense and presence. From beginning to end I admired her and, to be sincere, if I ever come to marry I hope I'll be able to be at least 30% of the wife she was. Even when the female rival plotted against her and Saran's wedding, she always acted accordingly with elegance. It's hard to find a main character like her in dramaland in general, so I was really surprised to find one in a lakorn of all things.
I think some of that also applies to Saran. From the moment he started opening up to Rin (what happened really early, another good surprise) he was really sweet. The only thing about him that made me a little mad was that he was too gentle for his own good at times. His first love didn't deserve 1% of his consideration towards her... That bitch really irritated me.
Now, besides the usual bitch character that is always present in any romance drama there is, the only other thing that I must complain about was the "White Tiger" and his magic thing. For me, that part of the lakorn was totally unnecessary and what would cause me distress if I ever were to recommend this to someone who isn't really into dramas and lakorns in special. Watching that part made me extremely silly, I wasn't even believing what I was watching at times and every time someone would enter my room I would simply stop watching out of embarrassment. I mean, really... Magic powers and all that in that kind of setting was horrible. This wasn't supposed to be a fantasy drama!!
The OST didn't really stand out to me. I would rewatch this only to see Saran's and Rin's beautiful relationship develop again. I just wish there were more kisses on the mouth instead of kisses on the forehead (which was seriously over used... I mean, there was this one episode where I counted at least five of them!!!)
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I honestly admired RIn, she was very patience, caring, loving, and her skills, she cooks, cleans, she plants, make perfumes. I don't think that I have got half of her skills as a wife. She protected her calmness when her husband's ex-gf suddenly came to destroy her wedding. She endured her even after getting married.
I loved the advice the mother give to her daughters. " Do you think marriage is like fairy tales that you read in book" & about a heart can change.
Saran's ma advices to her son... " Love is like pen & paper " " Spoon & Fork" you can love / marry someone out of your circle ( matching-suitor- someone richer - poorer- different culture-beliefs-religion etc ) but this may not always work. (this type of relationships)
Saran & Ri they slowly fall in love, Although I'm against arranged marriages, but arranged marriages still exists and not all ends up like Saran & Ri's.
When you fall in love slowly, you learn to respect, but when you marry someone you already know / in love, after a while you lose that spark,
This lakorn is set in 1950's and you can that vibe from the music, outfit, cars & surroundings. I really really enjoyed the OST, it was pleasant almost very relaxing.
Also we have Villains called White Tiger, who uses black magic, now this is not everyone's cup of tea for me it's the power of the words. Believing into something too much and making it real.
She has two younger sisters, One gets married after her but her marriage crumbles down in a short time. Saran's friend is wooing Rin's little sister, she's the only clever one after Rin.
Sisters don't get much screen time. I totally recommend it. It's not your usual lakorn
No matter what I love the connection between three sisters, we only see the two of them arguing it's Rin & the middle sister, that's because Saran refused to help her husband on his illegal rice exporting business, (that reminded me something very similar happened in my family when my mother was still a child funny enough in the 1950's like in this lakorn. All three of them were protective of each other, none of the other sisters made Ri felt like she's adopted, but she always slept with the maid, until Saran's friend starts to investigate. Her story sort of reminded me of Cinderella, how she was doing all the housework while her step sisters are socializing.
She hopes that her husband will be back and take her so they can continue to live together but the end all she got is a failure from her husband.
Ri's story towards the end may surprise you
I love how both mothers were good towards Rin, except the bitchy ex & stupid White Tiger everything is all ok.
If you find the ex gf annoying like me, just wait through the end she's gonna get a nice slap by Rin's sister.
What I love about Korean, Chinese - Thai Dramas they use karma .. being quite spiritual myself I believe in karma.
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This review may contain spoilers
Overall I really liked this show. The main characters were flawed with hang-ups about their backgrounds, but generally likeable.The best things about this show were the variety of relationships and the implications for duty, love, loyalty, and conflicts in fulfilling roles/obligations. The show put a lot of effort into showcasing how motive in a relationship can impact its success, contrasting various couples to support its philosophy.
This isn't a spoiler since it is spelled out in the summary and the first part of the show: My big annoyance was that the show would sometimes forget its own facts. Rin wasn't always a full daughter of the house - although she received the same education as the girls, she shared a room with the maid! Although one reason Saran was hesitant about Rin was because he knew she wasn't the real eldest child, he WAS tempted by Duang and continued to give her opportunities, even later when he should have figured out just how toxic/unstable she is.
The one thing missing from this show for me was that it never fully recognized that Saran gave Rin no good reason to trust in him. Given the situation, I'd be like Rin and have one foot out the door also. Still, the show did better than most at being steady paced and charming.
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The brave-hearted sheriff Saran (Hero) have got his heart broken by his first love.To make him get over her his mother reminds another family of a promise they made many years ago,a arranged marriage between their children once they become adults.The family let their adopted daughter,the kind-hearted Rin enter the marriage.Both Rin and Saran slowly fall in love with each other,but their love will be tested when secrets,duties and a jealous ex-girlfiend come between them.
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I found this lakorn to be so refreshing! What I loved so much about this drama was the relationship between the two leads. FL was headstrong, graceful, and knows when she's being disrespected, and she doesn't resort to nasty jabs. Class. ML is a tough little cookie but also a warm bowl of sweetness sending butterflies to my belly. At first, they don't really have an understanding as to why they needed to be in each other's lives, but as they start to grow closer, their relationship was built on the foundation of friendship that grew into love. ML is definitely a committed man to the woman he loves, it's just that he was still getting over his Ex of 10 years when he got married to FL. It took him sometime to figure out why that relationship was doomed to end, and to rediscover the world of love with a more compatible person who supports him and understood his passion for justice.
Positives:
- supportive couple discovering romance along with friendship
- ML and his mother's relationship ( I liked watching mom teaching him life lessons and FL as well)
- FL is not a pushover. She stands up to those that are disrespectful to her, even ML and Nang'Rai (the Ex aka evil Ex).
- FL is SMART. She uses her brain and trust in ML to overcome stupid misunderstandings that we see other FL struggle in other dramas time after time.
- The two leads are innocent and sweet each time they are on screen.
- Addicting story line in terms of romance
- ML is sugar and spice. A nice equation of sexy and cute. Great character with scars and insecurities. He is patient mostly, and respectful of FL when it comes to intimacy. (A+)
- ML and FL actually try to work things out like a married couple which is a nice touch of reality.
Negatives:
- OMG Evil Ex was a one dimensional character (not rare in Lakorns) She was just evil for no flipping reason, although it is explain that she's always been selfish
- Evil Ex was given way too much tolerance by EVERYONE. Like WHY? Even in scenes where she isn't necessary, her ass would be there saying crap and no one cares to kick her to the curb.
- One annoying ass second male lead that is heads over heels for FL
- Some cliches I didn't care for
- FL's sisters love lives and stories overall were boring and filler
- Sorry I love ML but his job of catching the criminals, I mostly skipped.
- Don't really understand when FL fell for ML, might have to rewatch
-ML is too handy with a gun, made me a little nervous. lol.
OST:
- sweet, loving, chill, beautiful, romantic
- overused though
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1. Good insight into thai culture such as marriage ceremony - dialogues, story, direction - location and camera everything was superb according to me - all lose ends and situations were well thought of and tied up - eg; the sunflower following the sun its context in the drama is well explained and such interest to details makes this drama a great watch - the period setting was so on the dot you are literally transported to that world
2. Lovely acting and chemistry between leads - they share alot of screen time together and the romance between them is one of the few longest and sweetest Ive watched of any dramas
3. spiritual messages interspersed on various situations in life is given as advice by the mothers to their children - i liked it a lot
also messages such as the need for a country and its citizens to not indulge in corruption and its effect etc make the drama worthy of watching
4. Great camera work the opening scenes and food layout on their breakfast/ lunch tables look so beautiful. Music is also really enjoyable (though i dint understand a word - sounds very pleasant to the ear)
5. Realistic story about how marital life and how a couple grow into partners and family
6. Even in the adopting family everyone is shown with a good heart and have good understanding - even mother/ sisters are not shown as the evil step mother/ stepsisters type- which was refreshingly different for me.
7. Some people may be put off by the black magic and spells used by bandits but this shows the reality and culture where gullible villages in asia still strongly believe and practice such things
But the best message is when one practices goodness and has blessings and prayers of a lot of people it protects and helps overcome- i can relate to such beliefs
I thought of rating it 9 or so but the ex girlfriend was quite annoying but I felt the story needed a villain as almost everyone is portrayed as upright and ethical - so excused it as any drama would need something to test the couple so its understandable. But her repeated shameless attacks are a bit too much and doesnt match too well with the overall sensibilities and sophistication displayed by other characters.
Also the lead guys inferiority complex and his indulgence towards his ex and repeatedly allowing her take advantage of him is a little bit of a downer.
On the whole the lead couple and their chemistry onscreen is so sweet that hardly forwarded any parts as i was afraid of missing a nice dialogue or scene- on the whole dont miss it
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This review may contain spoilers
I have decided to give it a review even though the reviews given is already basically what I saw in the lakorn but I just want to add more things. DISLIKES:
Nos. 1-4 are minor things I did not like but doesn't mind much
1. The transitions- you know those overly dramatic transitions in Indian Series? Yes they used it here but ofc not as exaggerated
2. Black Magic - Kind of out of place in the story
3. Female Antagonist - I know I know, most lakorn really has unreasonable female anti but she's really annoying and I don't like it that ALL of them are overly soft to her.
4. Lack of kiss scene- Lol, I did not watch the drama for the kiss scenes but I think it's relevant to say that the real romantic kiss was at the ending. Yes, forehead kiss is also romantic but they overused it.
5.EPISODES 12-14! - This episodes contained the bulk of my dislikes in this drama. Upto the last episode the the ML was being unreasonable to the FL. I also dislike the lack of advice from the ML's mother to the ML as if she's supporting him, being unreasonable.
LIKES
1.CHEMISTRY OF THE LEADS- Need I say more? No
2.Cookings- I love the scenes as if it were a cooking show.
3. Story- Despite being a slow burn romance it doesn't feel draggy (just the last 3 eps), the scenes of the leads and the love growing feels natural.
4.Setting/Costume/Design - I love it and it seems very fitting with the drama
4.RIN(FL)- She's just really perfect and her character really conveyed Padiwarada
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A Surprise Gem
This was a gem of a find. I never really expected to watch this since I liked modern era stuff and this was set way back but not too historical. I must say that Rin and Saran make such a great couple, although their story was not that of usual roots, it was a love that developed gradually over time. Saran is a great man and Rin is a great woman. They both have stories to tell, they have strengths that complement each other and they built trust around themselves even though there was a big lie in the beginning. I hated the 2nd lead, Duang. I wanted to cute her hair to the roots. But she did turn it around and it felt good. Rin and Saran's story is worthwhile, a must watch!Was this review helpful to you?
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It's a good drama but it's also frustrating!!
This drama is one of my favorites of all time. Although i adore this series, there are things that i find super annoying about it.1. Duang
She's one of antagonists in this drama. Lemme just say that this bitch annoyed me to my core. I hate her so much and i gotta praise the actress for doing a marvelous job, portraying such a despicable character. First of all, she was the one abandoning ML to marry somebody else, who she thought was richer than him. She put him through a great deal of fiasco. Later on, she found out that the supposedly rich husband of hers went bankrupt, she just went ahead and abandoned him, the same way she did to ML, and went back to our ml. After finding out Saran(ML) was already married to Rin (FL), she made it her fucking mission to crash their marriage. Her methods were stupid, despicable and imprudent ( typical female antagonist behavior in every thai drama). She tried to manipulate him by reminding him of the love he had for her. She insisted to our FL that saran will only love her, and it'd never changed because she's his "first love", and he could always come back to her since the two mc haven't signed any marriage contract. Overall, she was just a selfish bish, who loved having the upper hand. She loved nobody, except herself. Her dumb behaviors made my blood boiled. It made me wonder how could someone be so shameless, and thick-skinned. But that is what an antagonist should be doing in a show, so this might be pointless. Nonetheless, she was still damn irritating.
2. Saran
He's not the typical toxic, abusive, possessive ML we've seen in a lot of thai drama, he's actually a good person, and is very gentle toward Rin. Although he's a good person i wouldn't say he's a good husband. The fact that he witnessed his stupid ex-lover disrespected, and sabotaged his wife right in front of his fucking eyes, yet he did nothing to prevent or protect her made me wanna go through the screen and slap the shit outta him. Most of the time he just fucking stood there and watched it happens. He knew damn well what duang was trying to do, yet he made no effort to stop it. When duang tried to cause misunderstandings between them, he rarely gave a proper explanation to Rin, all he ever did was telling duang to "stop". Seriously, what makes him think, him telling her that would help with anything???? Was giving Rin an explanation that hard? It's not like what duang said were true. No wonder Rin ran away cuz I'd do the same. And he asked her to trust him?? Who could trust you when you can't even deliver a simple fucking explanation. Rin would have understood him if he had explained it to her. She knew what that bitch was up to. Toward the end, Rin was revealed to be saran's wealthy friend's younger sister. He got insecure, and tried distancing himself from her because he thought he's "poor" she's" rich", she's too good for him. First of all, didn't you say you love her???? Then what's this? If you love her, shouldn't you be happy for her? Why are you demotivating her, making it looks like being linked to a rich family is a sin, and she's at fault for being a rich man's daughter????????!!!!! He even said he wanted her to be a maid that he thought she was cuz she's suitable for him that way. Like huhhh????? SHE'S YOUR WIFE, YOU FUCKING IDIOT. IF YOU ACTUALLY LOVE HER, YOU SHOULD BE GLAD FOR HER, NOT SITTING THERE WEARING A GRIM FACE YOU DUMB FUCK!!! did she ever care about your status and your wealth when she first came to you??? No, she didn't!!! And why are you fucking do that to her? Why are you trying to make her look bad for being wealthy????!!!! She never asked for it. LET HOMEGIRL ENJOY HER NEWFOUND HAPPINESS, WAS IT REALLY THAT DAMN HARD????
This sounds more like a rant than a review but who cares, these two annoyed me the fuck out.
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A little overrated
Not gonna lie, it was pretty bad for me. Probably the only lakorn I have watched this year that disappointed me. Maybe it has something to do with this being filmed way back in 2016.Initially, I think that the storyline being set in the 60s is interesting. I wanted to see how it was in Thailand during this period. It had the very common arrange marriage plot which is a troupe but the synopsis is quite intriguing. However, as I am watching it, my interest plummeted. I had a lot of things I didn't like. I ended up watching the last four episode in a 2x speed.
The most annoying part is the ML is so unlikable. He is so self-centered. It feels like everybody had to adjust to him because he lived a pitiable life. He makes the people around him feel like he is the most virtuous man there is. I was pissed about how the FL is the one who should prove she is worthy of his love. Like what?
Our female lead Rin is actually quite okay. She didn't become a pushover in this one especially with the main love triangle issue with Duangsawat. But she is kind of dumb when it comes to Saran. I guess love really makes people dumb. I also feel like the Virgin Mary act was a little bit overacted by Bella.
The OST is really not my cup of tea too actually. It made me sleepy. And I know Thai dramas tend to overuse their background music but this is one of the few where I got irritated. And the amount of flashbacks every episode is too much.
I watched this drama because I loved Bella in Dare To Love and decided to check her older dramas. I watched this straight after finishing Dare To Love so it may be a reason why I thought she is acting a little too Virgin Mary-ish because I still can't separate Rin from Ticha. I was deciding between this drama and Love Destiny but I decided to be petty and picked the one that has a more handsome ML. Lmao. We all make bad choices but I least we got to see the pretty. James Jirayu is an eye candy. I've always wanted to watch his lakorns due to his popularity. I tried Game Sanaeha and that didn't work for me either. I hope someday I'll encounter a drama of his that I'll love.
To sum this up, this is not recommendable. I would never be able to rewatch this one. There weren't even a lot of cute scenes to look back to.
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Loyalty and pure intentions will win the day.
Padiwarada is a refreshing change of pace from the usual Lakorn. It's set in the 50's era, and has a charming and relaxing vibe overall.The show tells the story of an arranged marriage of an unlikely pair and showcases their gradual but sure journey towards love and acceptance of each other. Loyalty is a main factor in this story as well as good intentions, duty and responsibility.
The female lead Rin, played by Bella Rannee is a dutiful woman who is obliging but nobody's doormat. Her journey from adopted child to beloved wife is told with a liberal sprinkling of life and relationship advice and truisms from her adoptive parents as well as from her mother in law.
The male lead Saran played by James Jirayu, is a sweet man who is equally dutiful and responsible. He suffers from some inferiority issues but this does not take over his character, it's just a problem that is emphasised later on in the show and is dealt with in the end.
There's good chemistry between the two leads although I find James a bit too baby faced, especially in this role of a Sheriff. Bella is self assured and James comes across as a tad childlike/ish.
The second female lead is the main negative point of this drama; the show has a mostly mellow vibe but Duangsawat is extremely irrational, nasty and destructive and I think the male lead and his mother give her way too much leeway and airplay. It's as though Saran is keeping his options open, even though he is very sweet to his wife, still I didn't enjoy this aspect of the story.
The job of Sheriff is a big part of this story and the male lead spends some time trying to bring down the "White Tiger" and his "cult". this aspect of the story showcases the clash between magical practices and good/faith.
The show juxtaposes different relationships to illustrate the qualities and behaviours that are needed to build a strong and long lasting marriage.
The music is very nice, I especially like the songs "Every molecule of My Heart" performed by James and " A Love Song from Me" by Beau Sunita.
I gave this show a 7.5 out of 10.
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