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Like when you're rained on and left wet or damp and unhappy with that feel.
The premise was interesting and the series had a great start with good themes and some depth.From the second half, it started losing it's interest on me. The pacing, for one, felt inconsistent. Sometimes it was good and other times, it dragged. Too many unnecessary flashbacks. It's not hard to forget something we just saw five or ten minutes ago or even an episode before for Pete's sake. Needless to say, some information could have worked as just being mentioned without the need for a flashback. I'm beginning to think some of these flashbacks are used to just fill out episodes and give a series more content. Episode 12 turned out to be more enjoyable for me than any of the preceding five episodes, which was a good thing at the very least.
The actor who played Tien did a good job and made this whole thing more interesting. It didn't hurt that I also liked Lomfon. I honestly preferred Lomfon and Tien than Phat and Tai. Phat was great, but Tai... I didn't like how the character was played and wish the actor would have been different.
And then there was the communication issues. I hate it when communication problems become the essence of the whole plot and are dragged on til the end. That it took almost the entirety of the drama for Tai's parents to have a talk with him, and even then, it wasn't anything so mind-blowing and was something he understood in fewer minutes than he spent fuming about. I get that they had to use that to fuel the other plot of him not believing in soulmates, but them hinging on that conflict for nearly the entirety of the series made it even more annoying. Since they were subverting a trope, they could have also done this one and have that conversation happen as soonest possible, but oop! then they'd have nothing to hang on.
Also having a gaping plot hole just for the sake of furthering a plot isn't it. It just seems lazy. Given that that wasn't the usual restaurant Tai went to, and it wasn't one they'd been at before and there was no communication of any meet-up to Tai, how Phat knew the exact restaurant to go to to just happen to see Lom and Tai and have his great misunderstanding, so he could quit his job and move out of Bangkok and Tai would have to take us on a tourism trip to look for him, is a mystery. At least he didn't find him on his first day.
It would have been much better if he was just going there and coincidentally happened to see them, but him showing up there with flowers, (and full intention of making up) makes no sense cause it leaves so many questions. Just lazy.
I wish I could have liked it better, especially since they took the subverting a trope direction, which is not often used in bls, but I just couldn't. The director had a good vision, but it wasn't put together so well. Too many annoying things that would undo any enjoyment I'd had and unfortunately, the main cp weren't enough to pull me in and make me ignore those, so really low attraction and rewatch value.
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Disappointed? No, Not Me
I guess I should count myself lucky that I didn't know to anticipate this series and neither have I watched UWMA so there was barely anything to expect and be disappointed by.The exposition was nothing exceptional, but maybe because of the actors, I still got drawn into this series and I will say I did enjoy all 12 (well, maybe 11, episodes of it). Sure, the story wasn't anything extraordinary and the direction and execution came across as lacking, but still.
Win/Team. I loved them. Their chemistry wasn't off the charts or anything, but I weirdly just loved seeing them. Another "Hia" for the books, but even though I felt it was a tad bit too excessively used, I didn't find it as aggravating.
The few things that aggravated me with them was I wish there would have been more of a plot. And the plot with the drowning was dragged out too much that it lost any mystery and interest and by the time Team had the full recollection, I couldn't be moved with it. Win's hair was also very distracting in that I couldn't help noticing the growth (and the difference) in every scene. I found myself analysing scenes (which one was shot before the other, etc) instead of being engrossed in the series.
Phruek/Manow. I loved these two individually, but I almost couldn't stand their scenes. As much as I liked Manow, her over the top behaviour when with Phruek was too much for me to watch.
Dean/Pharm. I don't have anything to say about them because they were almost absent from the whole series and when they did appear, it was the same thing.
Tul/Waan. I really liked Tul. I didn't feel Waan that much and didn't feel their relationship either.
I don't know why there had to be so many couples though. All those couples in one series, it's no wonder not much can be said for them. Splitting time to tell all those stories and produce something nice and coherent wouldn't be easy.
The ABC gang, as Win called them. They stole the show for me. There wasn't a single shot with them in it that I didn't like. And Art is so pretty and I really liked his performance. It's too bad we don't get to see him in many things. But I liked all three of them.
The cinematography was good and enjoyable to see, but the continuity was out of sorts. I feel like they had what they wanted to show but they didn't go about it the best way they could have. Still, I enjoyed it and would rewatch it.
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In the end, despite being Big Mouse, he still remained Big Mouth.
I was going to give this a 9.5 or 10, but that last episode was a total disappointment. For the most part, however, the drama did keep me entertained throughout. There were many things I loved about the characters and their progress as well as the way the drama handled hints.One of the things I loved was seeing Changho's progress into Big Mouse. I loved how gradually it progressed. When he first got to prison, he was adamant in denying being Big Mouse. But even when he decided to take on the identity, he didn't instantly change overnight into a serious Big Mouse persona.
For the first several episodes after he assumes the identity, there were many instances where despite many promising fierce looks where you'd think "oh, he's really going to do sometimes now", they'd amount to nothing and you could still glimpse the unlucky lawyer Changho who loved his wife and father-in-law, and was scared of his wife's wrath. He was flustered and stumbled often in his new assumed role before he got settled into it. And the more challenges and situations he faced, the more he settled into the persona until finally we got a Park Changho who was clearly different from the man we first met. I loved that gradual show of his change in personality. That he didn't just wake up one day and was a totally changed man.
Another thing I immensely loved was the hints they threw prior to the many reveals. Some became clear in retrospect after big reveals and some gave you clear hints. For instance, after No Park revealed himself as Big Mouse, it made sense about his card reading talents, as well as how cards found their way easily to Changho even onto his bedding, and why he often hang out with Warden Park. Another one was about Soontae. After the footage taken through the camera in the Virgin Mary statue was edited, Changho pondered about it saying only himself, Miho, his father-in-law, and Soontae knew about it. At that point, Soontae became a good suspect, and further clearance by Jerry eliminating himself and Park Yoongab as the one's who insisted on saving Changho solidified Soontae as being a part of the organisation.
Special mention to Yang Kyun Won for playing the hell out of that role. He was nothing short of amazing as Gong Jihoon. And despite being villains, the three idiots, as I call them, cracked me up often. I loved their scenes and their camaraderie when together. Oh Ryoong as Lee Doogeun especially I thought was amazing. Kwak Dong Yeon and Yoo Tae Joo as Jerry and Tak Kwangyeon respectively, also caught my attention. Loved them! But overall, many of the actors and actresses did a good job with their roles.
Now onto the finale, I was very disappointed to see that despite knowing what Choi Doha was capable of and Park Yoongab even commenting on it, that despite having a powerful and capable organisation to help him plan, Changho did not think of having another plan except for fully relying on Juhee. His enemy's wife who until then had scorned them and shown no interest in helping them. You'd think the thing with Hyejin would have taught them something, not to mention he'd previously hatched his own counter plans to distabilise Doha's, but all that just went out the window. He couldn't possibly have been putting his trust in the justice system. He knew very well it didn't work that easily so what the hell was that?
It was also disappointing that in the end, his only way for besting Doha was to kill him. At that moment it felt like he was just someone who'd gotten in over their head and found out they didn't know how to deal with it. And that's why despite being Big Mouse, he still ended up being Big Mouth because all that talk about taking everything from them, about making their soul burn ended up being just big talk. In the end, except for losing his life, Doha did not lose anything. Even his death was too quick for him to have felt any pain like what he'd inflicted.
And then there's all the plots that were left hanging without proper address and/or closure. Big disappointment that ending was. It took away a lot of what the drama had built until then.
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A Pleasant Watch
A lovely, and enjoyable series. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. I loved that the love story does something different with a love between a doctor and a motorbike rider. Mork (Fluke) was stunning and great to watch, and his smile and dimple were too endearing.Uncle Cheep's and Dej's relationship was another enjoyable couple even with their constant banter. And Mayom was pretty great. I loved the consistency his character had. Fueang and his other two buddies and Mayom's assistant, provided us just the right amount of comic relief, and the OST grew on me after just the first episode that I wouldn't skip any intro just to hear it.
That being said, there were sides to it that make me give it an 8 and no more. Por and Tawan's dragged on relationship was something I wish had been introduced as an established relationship because it really was barely anything for it to drag on the way it did. And it took away time that could have been used more on Mork and Tawan's developing relationship. Mork and Tawan's relationship fell into just a few episodes and felt too short and too sudden that I wasn't really convinced.
This kiss, too. I don't care for "touch our lips together and call it a kiss" kisses so having to see it twice (even if one was just an imagination) was way too much. It's gives off more "uncomfortable" vibes than "we are in love."
The other doctor couple, Toy and Boss, didn't leave me invested in their relationship. The teasing may have been meant to come off to the audience as cute, but to me it was just Toy being annoying. There were instances I couldn't see it as anything other than blatant disrespect for someone's boundaries. Toy was just a jerk, but apparently that's what Boss was into so.
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Just Once and Never Again
The ONLY thing I loved about this whole drama was the OST. Other than that, it did the truly exceptional job of boring me to tears. All that hype I fell for is something I regret.The acting was average. I would even say Mix's acting was lacking. He had such a limited range of facial expressions that I couldn't even buy into whatever mood Tian was supposed to be expressing because it just didn't come through. And the pacing could give a snail a run for its money.
Anything I may have found interesting was utterly erased by the sheer boredom it put me in. I've had a lot of hype about EarthMix, but thanks to this, I can't bring myself to watch anything they're in anymore. For this, once is way more than enough.
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