Something in My Room (2022)

Truly wonderful series

I think this is only the 3rd time I've rated something a 10. Note that this is a review of the uncut version - the cut version is significantly less good, and it also cuts out almost all the love scenes, which are mostly very well-done and lovely kissing.

The writing is excellent, and personal to the author, which shows in the realism of the writing. The characters are not 2D archetypes - they are complex and flawed, and there are no villains or heroes. The plot is well-thought out, and does not go for a cheap ending. The writing respects the intelligence of the audience, which is a nice change, and there are none of the tired cliches that seem to clog every BL. The two leads don't fit into two neat seme/uke boxes - they are fully realized characters, who react like normal people to situations. Even the house's protecting spirit is a complex character.

The acting is some of the best I've seen in a BL. Partly that's because there are a lot of adults with important parts and they cast very experienced and effective actors - but the two leads are fantastic in this. I thought Nut was terrible in Oxygen, but that must have been bad directing because he's amazing in this - he does the most realistic crying I've ever seen, managing to communiate real grief without childish sobbing. Green has a 2-ep role and he's truly spectacular, putting in a powerful performance (and he's clearly a trained dancer), again contrasting with The Tuxedo where he's distinctly underwhelming. Plan Thanawat as Phat is so cute I can't stand it, and on top of that he can really act - his character can be childish and self-absorbed in a realistic way, balanced by all his good qualities. I really hope we see a lot more of him.

This is not just a cute ghost meets boy story - it really explores how things don't always work out like we hoped, and the need to both seize happiness wherever you can find it, and let go of things you can't change, like the tragedies we all have to face - and even how sometimes you can't completely move on.

There was not a single episode that I walked away from disappointed. None of them are filler, and there is no manufactured drama in Ep 9. There are a few plot lines that probably seem pointless in the cut version, like a lot of Dream and Luck, but their story reinforces the importance of respecting each other's beliefs.

The music is great, from the theme to the use of classical music to the instrumental score, which which does a great job of supporting the story.

I really loved this, and for me it's the best BL of this year so far, and this is turning out to be a fairly strong year.

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Not your usual ghost story

When I started watching “Something in My Room” I had virtually zero expectations in a show that was airing on Channel 3 in Thailand, that wasn’t known for investing a lot of time and resources in creating a pure BL drama. Plus, Nut wasn’t exactly my first choice for lead actor as his work in “Oxygen” was quite underwhelming. And, the plot of ghost and boy meet and fall in love was already explored in “He’s Coming To Me” with Singto and Ohm, in the two episodes of “Y-Destiny” that had Pee and Au and in the Thai-Korea co-production “Peach of Time” with Jimmy and Choi Jae-hyun. However, while not perfect, “Something in My Room” became an interesting choice because of how the director managed to adapt the work of Raflael into this drama and because the acting was better than I expected. And before I dive deeper into the show, I’m acknowledging that the plot is an issue. We are all aware that ghosts can’t touch, kiss or have sex with living humans. Singto and Ohm and Jimmy and Jae-hyun managed to kiss in their series but when Singto and Ohm tried to take a picture, Singto never appeared in any picture. In this series, Phob slowly is able to gain more “self-awareness” to touch and handle things and him and Phat do take pictures together with Phob being visible (at least that’s what I think… it might be that he is only visible to Phat even in the pictures but that theory was never tested) and then have quite a lot of romantic moments, especially in episode 10 (really, they kissed so many times just in this episode). So, yes, I’m ignoring the fact that the plot is quite impossible but as this is the centerpiece of the series, I’ll let it go.

Now, let’s talk about what worked:

a) Plan and Nut: Both actors are nearly acting newbies as Nut is the older one (28 years) and with “Oxygen” as his main role in the past and a guest role in another Thai drama. Plan had been in another Channel 3 drama in a support role but at 24 years of age, he finally got his opportunity to take the lead in a series. Thankfully, the chemistry between them was quite good and that facilitated things between them as they had to navigate through difficult sets of emotions like Phat’s shock that he was able to see a ghost, Phob’s uncertainty about his past and his future, then both realizing they liked each other, to the end of the series that is simply a tear-jerker with them having sex and then having to say goodbye. Nut was able to showcase more of his personality as he felt incredibly stiff in “Oxygen” and Plan was able to showcase that he is more than capable of being a lead actor.

b) The ending: Most of the usual BL fans will be disappointed with this ending as it is a partially sad one. I say partially, because they do end up being together, but to get there, Phat has to live the rest of his life and then die of cancer in order for him to see Phob again and reunite in the afterlife. That being said, I’m ok with that… I was fearing some sort of ending with Phob suddenly coming back to life or Dream casting a spell from her book to make Phob live again or Phat thinking about dying just to follow Phob. Luckily, that was not the case and we see both characters enjoying their last moments together, Phob saying goodbye to Dream and then saying goodbye to Phat in very emotional scenes. Then, many years later, Phat returns to the house where all began and reveals he is dying of cancer and that he is ready to see Phob, which happens in the end when Phob comes to bring Phat with him. It was a somewhat sad ending but it was well crafted and without any ridiculous plot twists. Aside from the weird end scenes when we see the house again and some roaming evil spirits walk around it and one does end up getting inside the house... what was the purpose of that after the nice Phob-Phat afterlife reunion?

c) Dream: I was hoping for a strong female character that didn’t have to act like crazy, super jealous or bitchy just to earn some attention from the male character. Faii was a pleasant surprise as her character was a mystery at first because of her resentment towards her dead father and her friendship with Phat. She looked like she had a crush on Phat but it was actually the other way around but both end up being best of friends. Dream has also the ability to see dead people but struggles with that ability and wants to suppress it at first, but when Phob appears she decides to help Phat see Phob. Faii dealt with all those emotions adequately and provided a strong support to both Nut and Plan.

Now, what didn’t work…

d) The rest of the support actors: Phat’s mother was played by Took, for those who remember her, she was Frank’s crazy mother in “My Tee” who was completely against him having a boyfriend. In this case, she was a “shipper” as she tells Phat that if he decides to love a guy, she will be happy about it. Her only important moments were in episode 9 when she begs Phob not to take Phat with him and to leave him alone and in episode 10 when she tells Phat that even if Phob is not there anymore, she will be with him. The rest of her scenes came with Nuan (played by Phiao) and were mostly useless scenes about the house and Nuan’s past. Phiao also had plenty of weird moments as Nuan because she knew Phob’s family as she was the neighbor who fell in love with Phob’s father only to be rejected by him and indirectly causing Phob to die as he watched that and thought his father was cheating on his mother, began walking and got hit by a car and died. Nuan was obsessed with Phob’s father as she thought he would be over the grief of losing his wife and will take her immediately, but was rejected once again. Nuan’s father turns out to be the house guardian spirit that she is keeping there as punishment for how he treated Nuan in the past. And she had cameras installed in Phat's house and she would watch them at night from her own TV, but the purpose (aside from being a creep and a stalker) was never really revealed.
Green played Ben and had a brief appearance as Phob’s ex-love interest that ends up being a manipulative person who then supposedly changed and produced an awkward theater play to tell his story... I mean, he knows Phob died and he feels that guilty that he decided to do the play to show some remorse perhaps?... The reality is that I couldn’t trust him in the 2-3 episodes he appeared. Green’s acting is just like his nickname, super green, as he was stiff as a board in “Y-Destiny” and he hasn’t improved much for this series and for “The Tuxedo”, so that was a bit of a bummer.
But, the worst of all, was Big playing Luck. Big previously appeared in “My Mate Match” and as the bed-ridden and dying of a brain tumor P’Pha in “Gen Y 2” but this character took the cake of weirdness. He likes Dream and thinks Dream and Phat are hiding a relationship and something else so he begins by hacking Phat’s laptop. Both forgive him quite quickly but he can’t open up to Dream so they break up. He finally has a heart-to-heart with Phat and then with Dream and end up together. All of that was more or less OK, except for the part that he is obsessed with aliens as apparently his parents were abducted by them in the past. Then he sees a flashing light in episode 9 and wonders if the aliens are still kidnapping people… I mean, WHAT?? That was probably the most bizarre moment of the show as it made no sense to the main story, it provided nothing useful to the plot and it solved nothing.

e) Some of the editing: I appreciate having the chance of watching the longer version of the episodes as the shorter ones lost anywhere between 25 to 35 minutes of screen time. Some might argue that the edited scenes were probably irrelevant moments like scenes that had all the secondary actors, but I think that some Phat/Phob moments were cut a bit short as well because of that.

So, in the end, “Something in My Room” ended up being more than just a ghost and boy fall in love story. It had a lot of lessons on life and death, on forgiving others, on communicating with others to avoid misunderstandings, on second chances in life, on dealing with the loss of a loved one, on dealing with rejection, on finding new love, on realizing that nothing lasts forever, on dealing with the fact that we are all going to die one day, on moving on and letting go, etc. The show was a very decent BL proposal for those, like me, who are tired of engineer/medical students, poorly written plots, bad acting, bad directing, and the usual Thai BL clichés.

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