Bad Guy My Boss (2024)

Good Guy, My Loss

A Review in Two Letters

Letter 1. From James/Elyes to Me:

Dear Meng,

Forgive me for not writing sooner, but, something strange is going on. As you know, I left Auckland to take up a new position in Bangkok, and I was really looking forward to it. However, since coming here, my world has turned upside down. Completely. I fear I may have left the real world behind, and might now be the lead in a Thai BL. Is this a good thing? Or bad? Help!

Since I stepped foot in this beautiful country, people keep calling me handsome. It has never happened before. Men, women, children, pigeons... they all call me handsome. That was the first clue. I have also lost most of my body fat. You can now see muscles in my body that I did not know existed. Then there is my skin. You’d think that, even with sunscreen, my translucent skin would become more and more tanned, being this close to the equator. But, if you can believe it, I’ve become paler. I suspect someone has been applying a thick coat of make-up on me when I'm asleep, all over my body, and it refuses to come off when I shower. You’d also think that the humidity of Bangkok would mess up my hair into unmanageable frizz. But no, every strand perfectly falls into place, even when it's wet with lube or shampoo.

I am the head of a company whose name I do not know, and whose business I do not understand. I wear suits. It is 35 C outside and I wear suits. I do not sweat. For some reason, I also cannot button up my shirt. Every time I try, it keeps unbuttoning itself, sometimes down to my waist. I go up to my colleagues showing my nipples and navel. Is this sexual harrassment?

I have an assistant. His name is Pat. At this time, I’m pretty sure we have an abusive relationship. I think I’m still gay in this world, or at least bi, but I’m not allowed to say it. Everytime I try to, someone chokes my throat. Not sure who. (Also, all the men in this world seem to be gay, except for one friend of Pat’s. Who would have thought it? Gay friends are no longer the side-kicks, but straight men are. Progress?) Anyway, this assistant does not to do any company work. He just manages my sex life. Which, I think, takes up a good chunk of my waking hours. I know he’s in love with me, and I like him too, so it is only fitting that I treat him horribly, and make him cater to my every whim. I am obsessive, possessive, and controlling, and I'm pretty sure I'm gaslighting him too. I suspect I'll be stalking him soon, then abduct him, and keep him under house arrest. All very romantic. But he loves it... I think. Weirdly, I have this other fuckbuddy named Kim who’s much hotter, and way better in bed. Pat, by comparison, is stiff as a board, and resists me like a Victorian virgin. Yet, the BL gods have willed it that I must lust after this wet blanket.

I keep falling ill. Pat keeps falling ill. We both keep fainting, often from a cold, often caught from a single drop of rain. But we don’t go to the doctors. Oh no. We unbutton our shirts instead (in my case, there's just one button left), and we gently rub each other’s white-as-chalk chests -- and, weirdly, our knee-pits, which is apparently an erogenous zone here -- with wet towels. I suppose leeches and blood-letting are no longer sexy.

Am I the arsehole here? You don’t need to ask Reddit. I am. Yet I’m sure there’s a reason for it, and a past will be revealed which will perfectly justify my present behaviour. Until then, I’ll have to put up with everyone calling me a “red flag”. Which is fine, because I hate "green flags". Only, I’m not sure I want to stay here. I know, it’s a pretty cushy life I have right now. I'm rich, hot, immensely fuckable, and answerable to no one. Who’d want to give all that up? But it sits so oddly with the world of today, and the person I was, that my conscience might not permit it. We shall see.

I’ll write if I have any updates. Pray for me.

Love,
J./E.

*****

Letter 2. From me to Elyes

Dear Elyes,

You will notice that I'm no longer calling you by your birth name, because I've been waiting for a reply to my last three letters, and have received none. I must presume therefore that you have now embraced your new identity, and are completely of the BL world, with no access to reality whatsoever.

To be honest, I'm not upset. I rather envy you. You get to live in a world where homophobia does not exist, the majority of men are gay, and straight people exist just to support you. A photographic negative, in other words, of the real world. As you say, you are rich, handsome, and attractive to anything that can breathe, and the writers make sure that, however horrible you are to people, you will always win, and you will always get a happy ending. There is, admittedly, a Mephistophelean bargain here: you've been reduced to a mere stick figure without any psychological depth or complexity, upon whom is foisted the most boring of lives, and the most nauseating of words. Worse, all the people around you suffer for it. But you don't care, the writers don't care, and the audience who eat this up certainly don't care. They'll "ship" you no matter what.

I was, for a moment, sad for you, because you are now trapped within the confines of this world, and must live out the same segments of your new so-called life over and over again. But then, you get to be perpetually young, and perpetually rich, and perpetually happy, while others around you, including the man you supposedly love, get perpetually marginalised, hurt, or shoved aside. I suppose that, at least, is a faithful enough reflection of the real world.

I'm glad you got to escape our mundane realities, and gladder still for the fantasy you get to live out. However, I have lost you as a friend, and I won't see you again. The fact that the writers wrote you into this kind of cheap, derivative, nonsensical world, instead of creating a fantasy that is less demeaning to others, more worthy of you, and had greater ambitions, makes me very, very angry. I'm angrier still that Thai BL has decided that such stories, which they keep churning out at the rate of one a week, is all that its audience deserves. Each new series promises a new world, and new friendships, only to rob us of both. It has gotten very tiresome, and I can't take this anymore. I have decided to quit your whole world for good.

I'm sorry if this sounds rather wistful, if not bitter. Call it grief. I don't know if this letter will ever reach you. But I do hope you are happy. I shall miss you. And I shall miss the best days of Thai BL.

Take care, my friend.

Love,
Meng.


Reader's Digest:
DO SAY: Blame it on the Bossa Nova
DON'T SAY: Where's HR?

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What's Wrong with Secretary Pat (bodice ripper BL version) - watch suggestions

Overall: the first episode gave me the feeling of What's Wrong with Secretary Kim except the boss is a playboy. Unfortunately, subsequent episodes are being bogged down by corporate stuff/love rival. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4736/bad-guy-my-boss-2024-e01

Content Warnings: non con kissing turned consensual, manipulation

Watch Suggestions (takes out love triangle stuff)
- watch episode 1
- episode 2 watch 27:40-29:40
- episode 3 watch ep 2 recap up to 3 min, 15:20-17:30 (which is a flashback) and 31 to the end

What I Liked
- the overall premise
- good, established 1 protagonist as queer and sexually active
- characters are intelligent, a protagonist actually made a decent plan in ep 1 to keep another protagonist by his side
- Pat has some spine
- caring moments
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- there were many flashbacks/flash forwards and I was not sure a couple times where we were in the timeline including the intro (or was that a dream and not a flash forward...)
- the daydreams and what actually happened needed more differentiation
- not totally clear on the picture and the past/current relationship dynamics of 2 characters
- a character has a terrible "plan", he is acting like a total jerk (which granted is in the title) but I'll need to see character growth to want the leads together
- odd 360 rotating shot in episode 2 when a character was talking to his friend
- too many near kisses

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First Impressions AND Booty Call Appointments

AHHHH, I am losing my mind!!! Someone needs to slap Pat with a rubber chicken, cuz... Pat, son of Adam, please, quit!! My blood pressure is on the roof! Pat is soo pathetic. And Elyes is an asshole with a capital jerk! He's the kind of character you wanna shove down a long cliff, then throw a bulldozer over just to be sure. Yes, we all knew he was going to be an awful bad guy, but damn Susan, did he have to be so good at it? He straight up sucks!! He's getting to me, and I'm lowkey starting to have beef with fictional characters. #sendhelp

I don't even blame Elyes for how pathetic Pat is, cuz homeboy should have known better, he's literally the one in charge of Elyes' eff-buddy list. Falling in love with a guy who actively hurts you to teach you a lesson cuz he sorts of cares---miss me with that BS!

2 episodes in, and Elyes have:
1) Double booked a booty call. Homeboy has a schedule where he appoints his booty calls!! Nah ah, it could never be me! Come try that in my backyard, child, see what happens ho! I dare you.
2) Made Patt filled in for a date so he could get with another booty call instead. The angry girl threw water on Pat for his troubles, while Elyes was having a good time against some wall.
3) Made Pat buy a birthday gift for his booty call, just to hurt him. He was like, 'you know what he likes, get to it.'
4) Humiliated Pat by letting him serve him and yet another booty call as their waiter.
5) Forbad him from quitting, or being friendly with people he dislikes.

And after all that, all THAT, Elyes still loves him with a capital stupid, and let him kiss him. Child of Adam, why? Why yous so stupid?? Pat deserves no right. Do you enjoy getting hurt?? QUIT, child, QUIT! Listen, I love drama, and stupid arse characters with no self respect makes me love myself more, but this is just sad. We are only two episodes in and I can't stand both leads.

Anyway, *shaking my head* in shame at Pat while eating my popcorn, and waiting for the next episodes.

Episode 1 review:
What was that random arse time jump after all the close up shots? How many close up of his effing shoes did we need to see? The camera work was just weird and all over the place. Also that boss dude seemed more like that one person who stands and open the door at a fancy/important person's home than an actual boss. I swear, they'd let anyone in a suit and a watch be a boss these days. And what the eff does the company even do? what they selling? contracts?

And did Pat help him build an empire in five years only to remain an assistant, a booty call, and the designated driver while he's out effing everyone and their mamas? No, Pat is sad to look at, he's so pathetic he's pitiful. Elyes even made him a stand in for his dates. And he has to wait in the car while he's out ho-ing? Plus, after all that he have genuine feelings for Elyes? Like, why? Literally, why you gonna fell for someone who treats you with less respect than dirt? Sure, there was a scene where Pat said he didn't mind the ho-ing and felt nothing about it, but dude, you have a random else photo with you in the corner in a frame, on your bed-stand, probably taken off the internet, come on son, have some shame! Self respect Susan, do you have any?

And the sad truth is, it's not that Elyes doesn't see that what he does hurt Pat, he does, and even knew when he was mad at him. And it also seems he have some left-over, inner struggle, perhaps misguided feelings for Pat as well, cuz he doesn't even want him to quit. But bish, after 5 years together, working so close with you, many late night dinners, if you don't know I'm allergic to seafood, imma riot.

Also, the story I wanted to see is how Elyes went from complaining about Pat being 10 seconds late, and ready to call HR on him, to him being under him on his bed. Suddenly Elyes doesn't look or sound repulsed to be breathing the same as Pat and they are eff-buddies-by-appointment. I hope we get a flashback to how it all started, it would be nice. That time jump literally after 1 scene was rubbish. The director and editors might have thought they ate with that, but my arse was staring like... pack it up and bring it back Sharon, you've done nothing impressive enough to time jump.

That being said. I AM GOING TO ENJOY THIS SHOW sooo verrry much. We have a pathetic lead with zero percent self-respect, who is going to make me yell at my screen at how much I wanna slap him with a rubber chicken. I'm gonna enjoy all the hurt, the nonsense, me rolling my eyes and shaking my head, all the cringe dialogue, stupid romantic gestures and judge him through my screen. Is it going to be cringy, awkward and super nonsense, probably, but we love drama and red flags in this house, so sign me the eff up, I am seated for this show!! I'm lowkey holding my breath that it ends up surprising me and be good drama.

I am looking forward to learning more about the characters and to see how they develop, hopefully. I hope we get to see flashbacks of how these whole thing started, and learn just what this company does. I'm also looking forward to how these two would find common ground and end up together, cuz obviously, they're probably gonna end up together, and Pat is going to pretend Elyes isn't a man-ho who treated him like used slippers. And of course the what-the-eff-is-even-going-on drama that's to come. Ooof, I can't wait!

Anyway, if you're looking for some dramatic arse show that's probably gonna make you want to reach into the screen and slap yourself a lead, then this show is for you. Grab some popcorn cuz we've got a red flag and a lead who is colorblind by choice, it can only be a fun ride from here.

AN: This is NOT my final rating or review, just my first impression, I'll return to do a full review after the final episode. Anyway, we are starting with 7 stars and neutral ratings, then we'd see whether we go up or down from here.

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On today's episode of office BLs: Is it romance or is it workplace harassment?

I've watched about one and a half episodes of this train-wreck, and while I'm not usually one to judge and review shows based on so little run-time, I just have to with this one. Usually, I persevere through bad shows, hoping they'll get better, but in 9 out of 10 cases, I end up regretting to have wasted my time. So, in the spirit of self-care, I will not make myself suffer through another minute of this mess.

I normally don't review shows I've only seen so little of since I don't really think it's fair. So take my review with a grain of salt. But what I have seen of it has been so painful, I just have to rant about it.

The most glaring issue by far is the acting, specifically James as Mr. Elis. I really don't like to shit on actors because it is a difficult job. But boy oh boy, this guy cannot act at all. Okay, that might be a bit harsh. Maybe he could pull off another role, but definitely not this one. Mr. Elis is supposed to be this stern, fierce, confident company boss. Instead of looking fierce or strict, though, he just ends up looking either constipated or like he's a moustache-twirling villain, practicing for his villain monologue at the end of a terrible movie. This role would've demanded for a ton of charisma and charm, which the actor has absolutely none of. Thus, he comes across like a walking plank of wood with angry eyes attached to it. When Elis is supposed to look happy, James somehow makes him looks evil. In one flashback where Elis was supposed to be portrayed as kind by buying food for Pat, he had this evil smirk on his face like he poisoned the meal or something. I was literally waiting for Pat to get up and drop dead to the floor. Elis looks angry in scenes that are (what I assume to be a poor attempt at being) romantic, and when he's supposed to actually act like a tough boss, he's unconvincing. It really looks like he's a robot who's got a wrong program installed, thusly mixing up all kinds of human emotions. It's borderline unwatchable, but it is kind of funny.
The acting performances of everyone else involved don't stand out as either bad or great, so I'll leave that judgment to people who choose to watch more of the show. But if one of your main leads stands out so badly, I just cannot rank this higher than a 5 in terms of acting.

On top of the poor acting, there is zero chemistry between the main leads. As established, Elis just looks like he wants to kill Pat whenever he gets close, and Pat looks uncomfortable more than anything. Which I cannot fault him for because this feels like a bad case of workplace harassment. Mr. Elis tried to kiss Pat, Pat told him he's not comfortable with it, and then in the next episode, Elis keeps getting close to him in several almost-kisses. It's not cute or hot, it's scary. Maybe if there was actual sexual tension and Elis didn't look like he's planning to commit murder every time he steps close to Pat, this would've worked better. But it's all just painfully uncomfortable. There's no vibe, no sparks, just an immense sense of threat.

All that put me off the show entirely. But here are some other random grievances I have with the first episode and a half:
- If you centre your story around a boss, you should dedicate some time to establish what company he's the boss of. The first episode did nothing to inform viewers, so he's just some vague CEO.
- The characters don't seem to have personalities outside of their work persona. Pat is a dedicated assistant, Elis is a strict boss. That's all I could tell you about them. There's no appeal, no personality, no nothing to get attached to, or root for them.
- The editing and overall premise is confusing. At the start of the first episode, when they graze arms, we get a brief scene of Elis and Pat getting down and dirty. I still don't know what that was about. At first, I thought they were currently having an affair, which isn't the case as it seems. So what was that about? Was that just a dream sequence? Pat's imagination? Did they sleep with each other in the past and now they're not? You should make sure your first episode establishes these things clearly.
- We've reached a new low of flashbacks. You know how I complain about shows flashing back to scenes that happened two minutes ago? Well, this show flashes back to a FLASHBACK that we got two minutes ago. It is also filled with flashbacks in general which is something I just don't generally vibe with. If you have that much to tell about the past, maybe you should've started your story at another point in time.
- The dialogue often feels clunky and unnatural, especially among Pat and his two friends. They also give off big cringe energy which I assume will only get worse.
- Pat needs to get his glasses adjusted. If you have to push them up so many times, you need to get them fixed. This is not supposed to happen.

That's as much as I can say. I've promised myself not to suffer through any more BLs when my gut tells me they're just going to end up making me frustrated. Besides, I'm just not one for office romances if the two people involved are in different power positions. It just makes me feel uncomfortable, especially when one of them is as pushy as Mr. Elis here. Therefore, I will now distance myself from this series, and devote my time to better shows. If this does turn out to become a masterpiece of cinema, my words shall be damned, but I really doubt that.

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