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Spectacular and hilarious
This drama is very funny in the Thai overthetop way. Luke Plowden is one of my fave Thai actors.Just about halfway through the story is being dragged (no pun intended :-)) somewhat.
The appeal comes from the drag shows, the humor and chemistry of both leads and from their great delivery. The Pla/Too character is a great find. The seamless switches between Pla and Too are awesome.
The whole noona-nadia swaps annoyed me. At this point I was just hoping Prab confesses w/o knowing the truth. That would have made an interesting twist.
What was good: The colorfullness, the representation, the acting, the humor
What was bad: The bland romance, the mafia theme, bad acting from side characters.
Other things worth mentioning: Although this may be a very forward show with regards to representation and modern outlook on LGBTQ+ from a Thai standpoint, do not expect too much Western woke-ness. For example transgender, drag and transsexual are not really seen as different concepts.
That being said, the message that Love Is Love is clearly put forward and I love that.
Sooo sorry that this series is finished! I was looking forward to every episode, despite the flaws. What am I gonna do with my Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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Over-the-top and draggy
[EDITED AFTER FINISHING THE LAST EPISODE]I'm not sure if I'm objective on this drama because it's not really my style of drama but let's give my 2 cents anyway...
The acting is too much. The actors are probably directed in such a way that they have to act in an over-the-top manner, that gets exhausting the more you watch the drama: exaggerated facial expressions, loud exclamations, stereotypical "drag queen/trans woman" way of talking... it becomes annoying.
A slightly biased opinion: I think Joss (the original actor meant to play Prab) would have added a real something to the character, I think. Luke is alright but... I initially wanted to watch this drama for its storyline and to see Joss in this role.
However, there are some nice looks of real concern and affection in Luke's eyes when he looks at Grace and Grace does portray emotions quite well as well.
The story had potential (a super cis dude getting into the world of drag queens, a girl looking for her sister, mafia traffic.... how exciting!) but they had to make it longer than 14-16 episodes and it ruins the tension, the interest and the excitement. The last couple of episodes pick up the pace and are quite eventful and entertaining, shame we had to wait that long to get there!
Speaking about the storyline, it's a bit fuzzy and unclear.
-Why do Noona and Nadia look exactly the same? (I know they're twins but one is a transgender woman, the other is cis' so
Nadia purposely had procedures to look exactly like her sister?)
-Why is Prab acting like a trans woman (and acting like it's a ridiculous thing) when he could have easily passed as a transgender man?
-Why is Pran included in the investigation team when she's not even a cop?
Some characters are a bit too one-dimensional: Lucy is the jealous b*tch, Tanu is the "try hard to be funny" sidekick, Julia is the slightly dumb villain's minion however, Honey's character, Decha's character, and PlaToo's character were interesting and brought something, made us feel something.
I know the plot is based on secrets, misunderstanding, and double identities but the lack of communication between the two main characters ends up being problematic. Because they don't talk, and don't reveal anything to each other for a long time, they both sink into a situation that doesn't really evolve. Had they revealed their true motive or their true identity, they would have become a team that works in the same direction instead of doing things alone and there, it would have gotten exciting or thrilling. Therefore the plot drags on! (I know I said it already).
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A fun series in the midst of a disappointing season
I hesitated before watching this series, as I thought it might be kind of... stupid. And in some ways it was, but a good kind of stupid! Here are my pros and cons:PROS
FUN. Yep, this series was fun for me. I looked forward to it every week.
LUKE. Fanning myself here, Luke is just about as perfect specimen of a man as I could ever ask for.
CHARACTERS. I didn't dislike any of the characters. Special shoutouts to the actors playing Lucy, Decha, and PlaToo. I appreciated the representation of drag and trans characters.
ACTION SCENES. I thought they were very well done.
CONS
"PATTY." Luke, I love you hon, but no self-respecting drag queen would be caught dead with long sideburns and unshaved legs/armpits. Did the directors just choose to keep him "manly" looking for the sake of the straight couple thing? No matter, it didn't work. Lose the body hair, gurl!
NADIA. About as convincing playing a trans woman as Luke was playing a drag queen.
TOO MANY EPISODES. It started out advertising (I think) 12 episodes, then it went up to 14 and on and on until they finally ended with 22. Could have and should have wrapped up sooner, there were a lot of unnecessary and dull scenes that did nothing to advance the plot.
Still, I'm giving this a 9.0 because I just really liked it. This series was a bright spot amidst some really disappointing series (cough*Cutie Pie*cough) (cough*Star in My Mind*cough).
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I enjoyed the story and how it was almost like Captain Pra's journey of understanding the LGBTQ+ community and learning to accept and love his older brother for the person she was born to be. And I apologize if I am misusing pronouns as the subtitles on youtube weren't the best - how Pra's brother used her/she pronouns, but everyone called her an older brother, whereas Noona's sister used she/her pronouns and everyone called her an older sister.
I enjoyed the premise of both Pra and Noona going "undercover" at the cabaret, Pra trying to arrest Decha for illegal drugs and Noona trying to figure out why her sister disappeared. Going off that, the drama did seem to drag a bit. I feel that 75% of this was about Pra and Noona annoying one another as well as falling in love. I believe this could have turned from 22 episodes to an easy 12/14. But maybe I am biased as I feel that Pra went through a lot of character change and development, and could no stand Noona's character. She was very unlikable and at some point near the end, even her sister was like... yo.. you have no right to be mad at Pra because you did the same to him... and he did it because he was on an undercover mission with the police force... you did it for shits and giggles.
I don't understand how I was able to sit through 22 eps just for the main characters to realize that they were both not who they said they were in the last 5 minutes. BUT I did enjoy the acceptance that Pra found in his heart as well as the relationship he had with his family - Pree, Parn and Tanu. Tanu was a down-ass best friend. I would fall in love with him too.
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A great concept that fell flat
I was excited to see Drag, I Love You this year. After reading the initial concept, I thought it would be a good blend of drama and drag. While the initial episodes lived up to a higher standard of plot and directing, later episodes really fall by the wayside as the plot goes around in circles by trying to be a RomCom.The premise of DILY is actually pretty good. A drag nightclub doubles as a front for illegal drug smuggling, ok I can get behind that. In the early episodes, this plot point was done very well; most of the scenes took place in the Mambo Cabaret and we got a glimpse of the art of drag, if maybe slightly eschewed. We also get a theme of challenging gender roles and sexuality. Captain Prabsuek is a “man’s man” who solves all his personal and professional problems with toughness. However, he must recondition himself to go undercover as a drag queen at the Mambo Cabaret, which is also the whole point of drag in the first place. Having actual drag queens as part of the cast gives the story more natural humor in the early episodes and had me hooked.
However, I think the biggest critique of DILY is that it just…KEEPS…GOING. Every week was a guessing game of whether this show was going to be 10 episodes…12?...15?...22! There was just so much filler by the time we got to the final weeks. As a result, some of the plotlines get tiring and over-the-top. The undercover plot becomes unrealistic, like really the police chief is going to let Prab continue to be a drag queen without producing any results? The whole RomCom aspect that develops between Noona and Prab is also dragged out to the absurd. And, unfortunately, the whole what is gender and what is romance becomes pointless when you already can see what’s going to happen in the end. In short, this series could’ve been a lot better if it was, well…shorter.
My award for top acting actually goes to Namtan. Having come off The Player, where she played a scheming socialite and to go to feisty tomboy was seamless, she is a versatile actress. Guy as Decha was also amazing. It was enjoyable to watch his transformation from suave businessman to insane and desperate crook. This, of course, leaves the main cast. The main couple did nothing for me. Grace was at times whiny and full of herself and is quick to throw stones, in a drag hall, about what other people’s sexuality means to them while she’s a woman pretending to be a trans woman. As for Luke, at times he’s leaning a bit too much into the gay man stereotype and he just seems to be overacting as Patty through much of the later episodes.
Ultimately, this show isn’t bad, some of the absurd circumstances are genuinely funny, but you can tell the director transitions to use drag and gender as a gimmick to create forced and over-the-top humor. This story just doesn’t have any moral takeaway and when you try to find one, it’s undermined by falling into LGBTQ stereotypes. It’s hard for me to recommend DILY because the early episodes are really good, but if you manage to stick around for all 22, you will get tired of it. So, I guess watch at your own risk?
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Another Boring RomCom in 2022
I thought that this drama will only consists of 13 episodes as initially announced but now it's just updated to 20 episodes with some boring ass "add-ons", funny but not funny, literally.Honestly, I don't know what to think of this drama but good looking casts slightly help their characters. However, the overall include their acting is so lame. Luke is nicely looking but his acting needs more improvement. Especially, when he expresses his aggressiveness in a funny way but it turns out not work.
Folks, please follow my guide as only watching this drama from ep1 to ep12, or at least to ep14, because the rest I believe will waste our time for other better dramas out there.
Conclusion: Nice looking casts, fine plot but so inreasonably lengthy.
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Surprisingly Good
So far this series has been a funny and entertaining watch. I was kind of disappointed when I found out Joss wasn’t in this series anymore, but Luke is actually doing a really good job playing Prab Suek. He really suits the comedy role very well. In the past 5 episodes it’s been a good comedy and has been something entertaining to watch. Grace is also so pretty! This is honestly a much lighter and comedy version of Not Me with the whole twin switch thing lol. It’s also teaching me more about drag which is interesting to watch. Also features a lot of LGBTQ+ in the cast which is nice. So far so good!Was this review helpful to you?
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Excelente
Uma série realmente magnífica. Conseguiu unir vários fatores e construir um roteiro delicioso, surpreendente e muito engraçado.Os dois núcleos principais são:
1. O cabaré- Lugar onde Nadia trabalha e sofre o atentado que a faz desaparecer. Lá é onde se passa a maior parte da história, onde acontecem os crimes e tem personagens muito interessantes, como PlaToo, que tem dupla personalidade e é simplesmente o máximo a atuação do Thongchai nesse papel. O Guy incorporou a vibe mafiosa do Decha e entregou muito nesse papel, bem como Tania e Bambi, simplesmente hilárias, Lucy também foi uma personagem espetacular, profunda.
2. A delegacia- esse núcleo conseguiu unir os atores perfeitos para cada papel. Vitor, Namtan e Luke foram magníficos em todos os sentidos.
3. A família- As irmãs Noona e Nadia e a tia Honey também deram um show de atuação. Trouxeram muita emoção e risos.
Os três núcleos são interligados o tempo todo, Honey trabalha no cabaré de onde Nadia fugiu e Noona se infiltrou. La ela conhece o policial Prabsuek disfaçado de drag, e seus amigos policiais, e ambas chamam a atenção do criminoso e dono do cabaré.
Se posso fazer alguma crítica, é a respeito da homofobia de Prabsuek , que realmente não aceita ter se apaixonado por quem ele acredita ser uma trans, e mesmo no último momento quando ele afirma aceitar a cena ficou muito forçada.
Gostei do desenvolvimento do relacionamento entre Parn e Tanu, Amei a ajuda que as drags deram no fina, se unindo e se voltando contra Decha. A reviravolta de Lucy, que apesar de vilã me gerou muita empatia ao observar a história sofrida dela.
Enfim, atuação de milhões, ost espetacular, cenários lindos e muitas risadas em meio ao drama. Não posso deixar de recomendar essa série.
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