Tawan Arb Dao (2020)

I'm still confused by what I watched; this was recommended after I watched "You Are Me," another lakorn about twins switching places in order to solve a murder/assassination attempt on the other twin.

I instantly was drawn in with the characters and story in the beginning, lost interest around ep 10, but pushed through until the ended where we learned about how this simple, "who killed my brother" plot turned into this domino effect of jealousy. We knew who was involved in this plan from the get go - it was obvious by the drama opening credits, but we never knew how or why until the second to last and the last episode. and let me tell you, I WAS SHOOK.

But, I think the best part of this lakorn, compared to other revenge stories, was that that the plot kept on giving and getting better. It wasn't a typical, "I have daddy issues, so I go around grumpy and ruining people's lives." Instead, there were some real motivations behind why people did what they did, and the theme I got was that everyone can be bought at a price.

Unfortunately, that was the only thing holding this drama up. I wish that characters were more....likeable.

Siwakorn, after the death of this brother, is determined to find out who killed him and why. As a character outside of revenge, he was extremely likeable. I loved him and Dao's interactions before they officially met and he was trying to be Siwat. I loved there cute interactions when they were lost in the forest, him trying to save her life. But when Korn got too enveloped in his plot for revenge, he started acting like a grade A jerk to everyone, and even moreso to Dao. It broke my heart seeing these interactions, but we ultimately got Korn back when an apparition (yes....you heard that right) of his brother talked some sense into him. After, he comes clean to Dao and tries to earn back an ounce of trust. It was a honest an supportive Korn I could get behind. It was almost like a 180 switch.

Dao was a complex character for me. She was passionate about what she believed in, but it was hard for anyone to change her mind about anything. She was protective of her family, even though she also wanted to bring her aunt down. She was passionate about her one opinion, that her uncle/father was the center of her world and she would do everything to protect him, which made her extremely stubborn. But then there were times where she was calm and cool and the most mature person in the room.

Chorpae, I hated. She was just an all around mean person who was mean because she could. I also wished for her demise and understood why people wanted to take her down. Which is why I was surprised when I feel like the writer tried to redeem her at the end...while I was sitting there like...yeah... idc.

I am still trying to process the ending - it felt like a chaotic dream and felt that they did Siwakorn dirty. I understand that we all can't have sunshine and rainbow endings, and they needed to address all the repercussions of head injuries, because there were a lot in this story, but....really? Did we need to add a typical telenovela troupe right at the very end?? I'm still confused by it all, and how Chorprae, in my opinion, got better ending than Siwakorn did. Plus, Mek and Chat were barely in this and they got a happier ending. I overall just felt bad for Dao being born into this family and also bad for her good friend Thada who was a decent cop who followed all the rules, but in the end probably lost just as much as Dao did.

Even though, I wasn't a fan of the characters and the ending, this was a decent revenge lakorn, and probably one of my tops in terms of plot, next to You Are Me. I recommend this just for the insane plot, but if you are very character driven, maybe not.

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Wow, in the main cast we have two women, who are both super awesome. I remember Yui Chiranan as the sexiest, kick-ass female in 'Lep Krut', and she was 37 in there(!)... The exactly 10 years younger Thisa Varitthisa, also distinctively charming woman, and by the way the only convincing onscreen partner I've ever watched Weir with. Wow, what a combo... And with them, as the only main male, we have... who? Who forgot to take their medication? Who did this to the audience? What a colossal waste.

In his very first scene, he is called 'Steve' and he attempts to speak english. I can tell you one thing. I had to pause this series at 2min42sec and I just wanted to close it for good.

Okay... I did know about the cast and I did want to give this a chance. It looks it might have an intriguing story, though it is clear this would NOT be my eye candy, to say the least lol. There's just Great Sapol in a side-role to complete the remarkably bland male cast, and he's to be paired with uninteresting girl, too (wished it at least was KiewKoi Kwankawin).

There is a funny scene where the main guy's boss makes a big fuss about him being absent from work without note. She wants to fire him, but when he apologizes saying he had an accident during which he lost his memory and now only remembers his childhood, she lets him go back to work, without bothering about how is a person who knows nothing past their childhood qualified to work (there or anywhere). It's always SO funny with any amnesia plot. No matter if real or pretended. He tells her it might take years to get his head straight and she says okay, go to work now lol.

I'll try one more episode of this but do not give much hope...

Dropped by episode 2.

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