The Rebound (2024)

OMG did it go bad in the end

While I expected the show to be good after watching the first two episodes it went downhill from there. The story has no logic and no cohesion.

First, why does Lin have a crush on Ryu? I have no clue and why does she not try to help her father much earlier? It's not ok, for team members to risk the club, but it's also not ok, to publish it without consideration for all the other members. Maybe going to the director first would have been a better solution, so the club does not get disbanded because of the actions of a few.

Second, why did Ryu not ask his mother many years earlier to watch a match? I don't get it, when BLs create "evil" one-dimensional parents.

Third, why did they need Atom to make a love triangle and do things, you don't do, when you know your interest already is taken? To have Atom kiss Zen head was appalling.

Forth, the gangster arc was interesting in the beginning but the ending was beyond stupid. Why is Que not in prison? Is the police so incompetent that they did not get it?

Fifth, while they struggeling for money, nobody gets the idea to sell their Samsung Flip phones which costs around $1000-$1300. Especially Zen and his grandma could never ever afford such a luxury item and here we also see, that in that case the director should have stepped in to say, Zen can't have it, Atom should have it, because his father looked well off.

So overall the story was a plunder as always. The MLs had a bit more to act compared to their previous shows, but they still don't shine because their roles are quite one-dimensional as well. The finale was cringe as well. Why did Zen return? What happend in Phuket? Nobody knows and the writers didn't want to know also. Such lazy writing is incredible. It's a waste of time to count more of the negatives, because there are some positives as well. Cinematography was excellent especially while the actors played basketball but in the later epsiodes the quality declines. Maybe time-constraints because Golf had to direct two shows which aired at the same time. Of course there was some fan-service but nothing eath-shattering and no sensual scenes imho. The fuck scene in the finale was over the top as well. I don't think the grandma is "poor" - she had headphones ? and with her support for them, it's a non-issue. Yes, grandma was the best. And why the club still existed after they lost - nobody knows as well - it's stated in the script I assume ?.

Especially Ping is locked in a character-set, either a pushover or a diva or just annoying - or a combination of all, so not a chance of growing with his acting even when his third outing was better then the previous ones. For Frank it was new territory and he did play his role well and we all don't like him. Of course Meen is booked for the cool and rich one, but also his character is always similar in all the shows and some of his parents are always "evil". To summarize, the show started strong with the first two episodes and fell of a cliff because the writers had no clue what to do. You have four writers and don't manage a coherent story - that's really sad.

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started strong and shirtless (watch suggestions)

Overall: the amount of nonsense in this plot was very high and the visuals only got me so far. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired 2 episodes per week on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4473/the-rebound-2024-e01 and Viu.

Content Warnings: murders/deaths, past death, grief, trauma, blood, punches/fight/beaten up, bullying, alcoholism, kidnapping, non con kiss, dub con kisses (likely consensual but wish they had made it more clear)

Watch Suggestions (the first 7 episodes were fine though I watched most at a faster speed, starting at episode 8 I found myself not enjoying large chunks of needless drama, love triangles, etc)
- episode 8, 10:50-11:50 dub con kisses but pretty sure they were consensual then watch up to 14:30 self pleasure, watch 45 to the end for first aid/kissing
- episode 9, watch 9-10:40 for earbud sharing, 20-22:30 for a side couple first aid, 30-32:30 shirtlessness and hug, 36-37:30 kisses/tickle fight, 45 to the end for a shower scene
- episode 10, watch 45 to the end or could skip the episode
- episode 11, watch 15:30-16:55 for a side couple moment, 19-22:30 for Ryu & Zen, and watch 50-53
- episode 12, watch 18:25-20 and 29 to the end

What I Liked
- the Cafe For All cafe
- how several characters were realistically connected
- good tension/chemistry
- visuals, realistic amounts of skin showing (i.e. not having underwear on coming out of a bath)
- a character actually asked to post a picture on social media and tag another character
- the title as a metaphor for trying again
- supportive grandmother
- hot self pleasure scene in episode 8
- the easter egg that the high school was named after the director
- good that Ryu was proud of their relationship and didn't want to hide it
- good analogy of what a rebound was
- wasn't a fan of Zen evading Ryu's kisses but the last scene was great
- production value (cinematography, editing, ost)

Room For Improvement
- the intro was attention grabbing but generally not a fan of a flash forward/back to start a series
- a character was supposed to be sweet but came across as stalkery and I was super mad at the non con kiss in episode 11
- the teammates bullying their other teammate, there was 1 verbal apology but it still didn't sit right with me
- a character was infantilized, would have been cool if he had had his own romance
- love triangles (there were multiple which was extra annoying)
- nonsense plot stuff: the flashbacks were from 9th grade and they were currently in 10th/11th grade (so they were supposed to be 15/16), not calling the police in episode 4 and later, too tropey (multiple accidental falls in an episode, a lot of near kisses), wearing school uniforms during illegal activities, calling the police when that would get teammates in trouble, a mom's nonsense actions and then nonsense redemption arc, getting super upset when 1 character could easily fly to the other
- telling a significant other they couldn't smile at anyone else wasn't romantic
- the cafe owner and coworker betting on the love triangle/gossiping about it
- too many plot threads not well fleshed out
- comedy sound effects

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