Hook (2020)

The last 4 episodes WTF

This was a pretty good drama. The main characters were loveable, it was funny and cute and it had great acting, but it wasn't the best. My first problem was the whole switch-up babies and Wanchai's pathetic ass reasoning/excuse. Like since you mad you gon ruin the lives of multiple people? Also, he said in his reasoning he didn't have to take care of Arun's child and he didn't. He was just a drunk all of Man's life and Man never go the love he wanted or needed. My second problem is how Man forgave his "dad". It was even worse how they got Pop's dad to talk to him. Like I don't know if it's just me but, if you leave me and my mom when I'm a kid, I'm not forgiving you; I and my mom struggled and then I'm just supposed to forgive you, hell no. And what Wanchai did is also unforgivable. In addition, he decides he's gonna leave (this time his reasoning makes sense, but still). That was dumb and it made me mad. My third problem is Dandao. She was a pretty ok character, I thought bad about her cuz she was sending mixed signals to everyone, and then she had the nerve to say she has a boyfriend. After I found out Kawin was her brother I liked her a little more but I still didn't like how she led Saifah. Also, the actress's facial expressions weren't the best. You can see it at the part where Man and she are on that bench after they leave the hospital; her face looks irritated but it's supposed to be concerned or something like that. My fourth and last problem was how Saifah needs it. Although I'm happy he got to be a boxer, in the end, it sucks how; he didn't get to box in the championship and also fight Man, he didn't get the girl, he got hit by a fucking car, and he got switched at birth. I just felt he got the short end of the stick. Besides the last 4 episodes, I really enjoyed it but I do think the best score this show deserves is a 7 or 7.5/10.

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Enjoyable but flawed buddy-sports drama

Despite being full of common tropes, I thought this drama was fun and quite binge-able. I was invested in both of the main characters' journey throughout the 13 episodes. Though, the supporting characters were all given the bare minimum, if anything at all. Ying, for example, was revealed to have enrolled in school halfway through the final episode despite never mentioning a desire to go to school. Dandao's entire character arc was simply allowing herself to have a boyfriend. I'm not knocking her story simply for being reliant on her love life but it never made sense. She made a promise to her mother that she wouldn't get into a relationship until she finished school, despite her mom encouraging her to date. Hongyok got accepted into medical school, even though it seems as if her only interest in it is her love interest, Kawin. Every single sideplot/conclusion was either random, forced, or extremely underdeveloped (or all three).

And don't even get me started on Wanchai's arc. The plot twist in episode 10 that revealed that he purposely switched the boys at birth was a soapy mess. The performances from the cast really saved that entire revelation from being a complete disaster. It wasn't a believable plot development and Wanchai's character motivations were nonexistent. I can believe that everyone forgave him in the end but it's not believable that he didn't end up in jail. His years-long kidnapping became public news, but he was never held accountable under the law. In the end, he chose to atone for his crime by running away but we hardly got a reaction from Man after he read the goodbye letter. It was both ridiculous, unrealistic, and underwhelmingly concluded.

Arguably, the alcohol addiction was written even more terribly. Everyone seemed to brush off his recovery. Wanchai's alcohol addiction nearly killed him and had him hospitalized for days, yet, the day that he returned back home, Sing had offered him hard liquor. His recovery was played off for jokes the entire time and not handled with a single sense of gravity. They even poured him a glass of wine, ffs. They shouldn't have even bothered to say that he quit drinking if it was going to be treated like a literal joke.

Other than that, the other flaws are quite typical with Thai dramas. They provide the bare minimal in the editing room. Saifah's car accident was shot and edited terribly. I didn't even think he got actually hit by the car at first. And then when I started to realize that Saifah was actually injured by the car, I didn't understand the severity of the accident until the hospital scenes.

In retrospect, it says a lot that the most enjoyable part of Hook was the love triangle. Dandao had cute moments with both Man and Saifah. Until episode 10, I was unsure of which couple was going to be endgame. Man and Saifah's friendship really carried the show. Since both actors are BL veterans, there's some fanservice-y moments between the two, which made the triangle even more fun to watch (for me, at least).

Overall, although there's a lot to criticize, I still had a fun time watching this show and I think the cast all have great chemistry with each other. It's definitely not the kind of show that viewers should analyze under a microscope.

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