Midnight Museum (2023)

The tale of involuntary naps and ass whopping.

So, I’m not gonna lie, Midnight Museum is a complete mess - from how the characters are written, through the countless plot holes and underdeveloped plotlines, up till the rushed ending. It’s entertaining though. I think it is… I honestly cannot be sure how much of my enjoyment came from all the chats, comments, posts and discussions with other mdl users. This is a perfect show to hype each other up about. (psst... I do love the show though. I sold my soul to it).

While the idea behind the plot is brilliant, the execution left a lot to desire. From the start it was an episodic type of a deal, which seemed to exist more as a promo for all the GMMTV actors and less as a means to tell a cohesive story. Not to mention the mix of supernatural, fantasy and even sci-fi theories - nothing to be explained or explored. It’s just a big bag of everything, that ends up being nothing.

I understand where they were going with the plot, but I honestly think they lacked a writer and director with experience in that genre. Midnight Museum is just not a smooth viewing experience. They did not highlight important details in the scenes, lines that were explaining connections between plotlines, hints that would make it easier for viewers to understand the whole picture. When you watch the episode, it’s hard to tell what you should focus on and what info might be useful later on.

You know what it feels like? Like watching just a middle season of a tv show - you don’t get a proper setup for the characters nor a well explained conclusion. It just felt like there should be more at the beginning and the end. All that said, the second half of the last episode was just phenomenal. Added 0.5 to my rating just because of these last 40 minutes. But it also made me truly see how much potential to be a masterpiece this drama had.

While I love Khatha and Dome for their interactions (local straight boys acting gay, if you know what I mean), and Khatha was quite a “mood” on many occasions, I don’t think I have ever seen weaker main characters than them. Dome was forced to take a few too many involuntary naps and Khatha got his ass whooped by almost every bad character. That said, this was a bromance on the level of Chinese censored gay romance and for that I am grateful.

Then we have all the supporting characters: Anthika served looks, Triphop and Bam got the “kind of competent, but not really” presentation with a 0.5% fling going on, June was there to make Khatha accept his feelings for Dome and Boon… barely existed. That’s more or less what the characters brought to the table. I think it’s kind of an achievement to have 10 episodes and not one character actually developed.

What saved all of these characters? Amazing acting. Tor and Gun did a great job and their on screen chemistry was to die for. It’s nice to see two competent actors together, because too often we watch one person carry the whole show on their backs.

Supporting cast did a great job too. Yes, I would appreciate Saiparn going one step further and exaggerating the character just a little bit more and Tay giving me a little bit more expression during some scenes, but overall, I don’t really have many complaints. I’m especially content with all the guest appearances and the quality of acting there.

The MVP award goes to Nanon though. This guy delivered probably his best performance up to date.

For the production value - it fluctuated. I was not exactly on board with the set designs. The museum felt painfully empty and not grand enough. I think the majority of the costume budget went to dress Tor, so the rest was underwhelming (especially June - the design for the dress was great, but the quality of it seemed cheap). Some special effects were nice, some were rather questionable. There is also the case of actors not being used to acting with nothing, which made the CGI elements stand out more and not feel like they were part of the picture.

Overall, entertaining mess. It had a lot of potential, but most of it was not used. They tried to pack too much into these 10 episodes so we ended up with a diluted story with little details and world building. I would highly recommend it as a group watch, because it benefits greatly from exchanging theories and hyping each other up as you watch. It’s a great memes and joke source.

That ending though. I don't think I could be more happy with all that crazy shit at the end. Exactly my type of a deal.

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everything and nothing

Midnight Museum was a very ambitious project, there is mystery, science fiction, dark magic and curses, fantasy and even some religious jargon thrown into the mix–everything and nothing because it did not create a cohesive plot. It was almost as if the show makers couldn't decide exactly what they wanted to create, not to mention it also as very convenient plot points.

The biggest fallacy of this show is its pacing. When Khatha's museum is robbed, the dark artefacts he has stowed away make their way into innocent hands and create chaos. The first six episodes revolve around a bunch of random people discovering these artefacts and killing a bunch of other random people. The excitement is boosted by bunch of random cameos by a l o t of popular gmmtv actors. Also, did i say "innocent people" because no, these were terrible people and the artefacts brought out the worst in them. It was fun as the kill count kept increasing with each episode, but it does get boring after a while you know? In retrospect, I wonder if the show was created for this very purpose, to showcase the gmmtv roster.

Throughout this however, gmmtv was working on the gayest bromance to ever exist—the story of Dome and Khatha. The actors, Tor and Gun, have a "to die for" chemistry, probably because they themselves are very capable actors. Honestly, without them and their "bromance", Midnight Museum would have ended up on my drop pile. Their intriguing past and the estranged soulmates thing they had going for them was really awesome, at the very least it did keep me impatient every week for the ep to air.

After episode 6, the show kind of loses steam in terms of fantasy. We are now thrust into the emotional exploration of Khatha's past and we learn some unexpected (and some very expected) things. Cue another cameo. But this was really strong development on the "bromance". Then all of a sudden we are thrust unceremoniously into the possibility of multiverse. Think multiple moons, nerd scientists, communicating with the past from a different galaxy–hardcore shit. And Dome is lost!

Now with the sudden absence of my favorite on screen off screen straight gays, I was examining the plot and all I saw was a string of unexplained bizarreness with some murder thrown in; plot holes or a lack of plot to even have holes! And lo! We have been fooled ;) There is no plot, is what I realised as even more bizarreness unfolded in front of me.

Coming to the characters, Bright as a moth-eating murderer was more developed as a person than the supposed important side characters of this series. Take June for example, I found so many viewers confused as to who she was although it was actually shown in the very first episode, in a very confusing way. Then there was Bam, a "spunky" officer; i put that in quotes because spunky equates to useless and dumb enough to be killed. And Phob, he supposedly helped Khatha do undercover work ...

In shows like these, I usually turns to the villains. But the villains here were either behaving like a lazy grouchy teenager or cult leader (played by Tay Tawan, LOL)—they seem to be power hungry and they did given Nanon some very good one liners and Tawan a lot of swag, but their motivations were largely unclear.

Even my favorite b̶r̶o̶mance seems undeveloped now as the Dome in the past wasn't Dome at all! Won't spoil any further but as much as i liked seeing them together, it doesn't make sense to me (but I won't take points for that, bc I love my straight boys). I won't even take points for this queer baiting because wow, that good.

Overall, this has been a terrible disappointment but i can't bring myself to rate this a six, as I rightfully should. The overall production is very lazy—lazy fight scenes,

lazy fashion (1. why was Gun always in that fucking grey tee and pants like a prisoner! 2. impractical clothing for women, CHECK 3. sometimes they dressed Khatha so well and sometimes the clothes looked so cheap...)

lazy pacing (it is slow as a sloth till episode 8 and then it's dashi dashi! keep up! till the finish line),

lazy half-assed development of the universe this was set in, the only consistent point being that it is extremely illogical.

7/10

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How are there no reviews about this yet???

How are there no reviews about this yet???

This is my first time writing a review for a series but....

It's literally one of the best thrillers out there and the acting, cast and story is crazy amazing!!!!

Tor and Gun are literally the best pair and their chemistry is no joke!

We don't know if it's a BL or not but if you're having second thoughts about watching it... Just go watch it right now!!!

Oh and you don't want to miss out on the cameos in every episode.

Ps: Triphob's onlt line in this drama is 'Her name is Bam' lmao

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This is a mess

I truly can’t understand where it all went so wrong. Well, I can. It was the middle of the season. The story they tried to tell in the second half of the series does not make sense. It’s impossible that the story was finished when the show went into production, or they had to wrap everything up in 2 episodes. We had several “case of the week” episodes in the start and not much happening to build an overall world or explain any backstory. I was not super worried because I thought the series had 15 episodes. But then, I saw the finale trailer after episode 8 and my jaw dropped. The last 3/4 episodes are so so rushed. It’s basically information dump. Suddenly we have 3 parallel worlds and 3 Guns. And the 200 year old protagonist doesn’t know about that. The true big bad, with the VERY original name of “The One”, is extremely boring and goes into long monologues. Not even Gun and Nanon can save that.

Another major problem is that there’s not a single episode where one of Gun’s characters is not unconscious or needed one to be saved/rescued. And then we have the effects… they keep get worse as the season progresses. It’s really bad green screen and CGI monsters.

The only good aspect is the solid cast. Which are completely wasted on a terrible plot and weak execution.

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A MUST WATCH SERIES

this series has honestly blown me away and we are only 4 episodes in. not a series I'd ever expect from GMM but am beyond surprised by how amazing it is.

I like that each episode is different and we get cameos from a range of different actors and actresses, while still being able to follow the overall storyline clearly.
absolutely amazing possibly my favourite series yet!!

plus tor and gun are giving the performance of their lives. the chemistry between the two are amazing and I like that their acting really bounces off one another.

if you are reading this this is your sign to watch this series

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Prepare your brain for theories

Honestly, if you are looking for a show you can watch head empty then this is not for you. I have seen some others blame the show for a lack of plot and even though I think the writing could be better, one needs to pay attention to the small clues left throughout the episodes to connect the dots. You cannot simply not rewatch it and expect to understand what's going on. This increases the rewatch value because once you have an answer you will need to go back and rewatch episodes to see how it was hinted at in a previous episode. The last episode was done nicely and opens up the possibility of S2.

Apart from the plot, acting phenomenal, bgm used is also good. CGI is a bit questionable but not to expect much from a Thai drama in terms of CGI. Overall better than a lot of shows out of GMM that are overly hyped. This show makes you think and theorise and that's what many liked about it. If you are not one to like thinking much then maybe this is not for you.

However, I will ask the viewers to give it a watch anyway and decide for themselves because as with any other show, some people will like it and some people will not.

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Mostly middling

Much of the beginning episodes felt really rushed in post production with very messy editing, an issue that wasn't rectified until the final few episodes of the show. The main plot and the plot of the episode also didn't tie in with each other well enough to develop the main characters as individuals and their relationships with each other.

The creepy episode 3 and and heartbreaking romeo romeo episode 11 were standouts as stand alone stories, while the latter was also the rare ep that also gave more development to the main character, all the way at the end of the show. The queer love of friends who want to be more is also the foil to the aggressively platonic bromance of Khatha and Dome, which is certainly a choice.

The concept and casting of the show was really enticing, but alas the execution didn't meet the potential of what it could have been.

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Flawed but fun

Full disclosure, I came into this not expecting to like it. Literally the only reason that I pulled it up was because it was Monday and I had nothing else to watch. I like Gun (the only actor I knew going in) well enough, so I figured unless I hated it I could just have it on as background noise.

But then a strange phenomenon happened. I fell in love. No, really. By the second ep I was hooked. I really enjoyed the creepypasta like style of the stories, and ep 2 is a particular favorite for that. The cast is excellent - plenty has been said about Tor, Gun, and Nanon, and in my opinion, all deserved, but in my opinion the entire cast brought their A game. I was especially a fan of Namtan's June and Ploypach's Bam - June was just lovely and sweet and her friendship with Dome and they way that she prodded at Khatha about him was delightful, and i love Bam with Triphop and her antagonistic relationship with Khatha. Again, though, everyone showed up for this show, even guest stars who were only there for one ep, and it shows.

The meta plot kept me guessing, but that is also where the weakest element in this show is, I think. I am not against dribs and drabs of meta plot that slowly build into a crescendo of insanity, but I do think that the pacing was off - the meta plot only really came into play in episode 5, and then they had to ramp it up fast so that they could wrap it up by episode ten, and it shows.

Subjectively, this is a 10/10 show for me. I love it, and will wind up watching it again and again because it's a blast and large swathes of it feel tailored to me personally (the entirety aforementioned episode 2, episode 6, and episode 10 are particular faves, but really the only episode I wasn't too keen on was five). However, if I force myself to pull back a little I have to admit that it wasn't perfect, even if it felt perfect for me. However, I do think it is very good, and ambitious, and I don't think that most people who try it will find themselves regretting the watch. If only to count how many times Dome faints (nope not a criticism, that's another part that was tailored to me :D).

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THE BEST FANTASY SERIES

Not even gonna lie, this is one of a kind Thai series! apart from the amazing actors the plot also very promising, the CGs also not bad love everything about this series. I also love how every episode they bring different actors. and this series also makes you use your brain to think deep, the history, the folklore and many more. It is really exciting

Gun and Tor totally killed it as duo! Gun as Dome is just the softest and cute in this series and a protective Khatha is just so precious but he's so funny every time he acts so tsundere lol I really recommend this series

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Episodes 1-9 were great.....

*Sigh*

I was all about this series until the final episode.

I loved the way the story started.....looking for the missing museum pieces. I very much enjoyed seeing so many of my favorite GMMTV actors playing their roles. Tor, Gun, Foi, Namtan, and especially Nanon and Tay Tawan. They absolutely KILLED it! (I'll be honest, Tay was never at the top of my list until this role, neither in acting nor visuals. But him as the bad guy made my jaw drop to the floor. He was definitely cast in the right role.) But all of the other actors in this show did exceptionally well also. And props to the directing and editing teams for bringing the fantasy to life. (Some people had problems with the CGI but I thought it was well done.) Oh, and the writing team had to have some extreme imagination to come up with some of these episodes.

I did have a problem with the amount of times that Dome was unconscious throughout the series. But I could live with that.

The last episode, however, was a total letdown for me. It wasn't meant to have a season 2, and I don't think it really needed one, but it did need another episode or 2 in order to wrap things up neatly. If GMMTV listens to the fans, there actually may be a season 2 though, because even the director has stated that it's up to the company, so they know what's being asked of them. But in my opinion, there are too many unanswered questions, plot holes, and open ends for episode 10 to be the finale. I am really good at filling in the blanks with my own assumptions and imagination, but not this time. I am dissatisfied. And that sucks considering how much I have raved about the acting in this series.

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Midnight Gore + A little Bit of Everything Supernatural

As I watched through the Vally of the Shadow of Hotel Del Luna, I took a look at the screen and realised there is a lot of gore.. The next episode took me in to the X-files and then I am not really sure where the twists and turns took me but somehow I wounded up in a gory cult, dogma, mixed with time travel, parallel universes, mixed with everything all at once,..

So basically this is a drama that manages to fit in a lot, and by a lot I mean a lot making me feel all confused inside as well as sick to my stomach.... As I am not really good with blood, crunchy moths and what not... There is a los a lot of beautiful people, beautiful skys, beautiful buildings... Some covered in blood, black shadows and mostly medicare CGI... But some pretty impressive acting and for those who enjoy colorful stars and skys there is a lot of beauty in the black mist.

There are some interesting and thought provoking lines here and there, some lovely friendships, some not so lovely friendships as well as a lot of disturbing takes on family and love...

Do I recommend this?
I do not know, it is not a drama for everyone so prepare yourself to be disgusted, you may also want to prepare yourself for some confusion, lack of logic (I am pretty sure that is part of the point) and other stuff... And you will be rewarded with some more confusion, a combination you have probably not seen before and you may even get to see some fluff (very little, but it is there).

You will also be rewarded with a whole lot of stars, both i the sky as well as GMM one so for the GMM fans out there, you will most probably see at least one of your favourite actor/esses as this drama is packed with cameo appearances .

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Still enchanted by the midnight museum

I'm glad I decided to watch it after some eps were released but not really when I've binge watched and wanted to know what is going to happen in the next ep.
I'm interested in bizarre, creepy, dark theme and supernatural things so that was perfect. I was hooked by the first episode and made me want to watch the next ep.

I really like the pace, each epswere like a layer of interesting things, it's not the usual dramas that I watch and it's like "unique" even though, I may find some references or some similar things but in thai cinema, it's a bit new and in particularly from GMMTV. So that's why it was worth it (or maybe, I forgot some serie or dramas or I didn't watch it).

I want to thanks the crew, staffs who have worked on this serie and of course, the cast! Actors were all great and I feel like it was a challenge to them to play these kind of characters. I feel like thanks to this project, they did improve their acting skills, like leveling up or something. It's really nice to see something new, something challenging.

But sometimes I feel like I'm dumb or I didn't really understand some parts or it's just me lol (maybe I had to check the whole serie again haha)

So I finished Midnight museum, but I wish it have more eps or a second even though we have to consider the investment behind this project.

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