spunkless
This review may contain spoilers
Cringefest
I wanted to like My Engineer. It was marketed very well, and the dynamic among the actors (well, if you exclude Raff/Ryan) feels so good to watch. It has been in development hell for years, with parts being casted and re-casted after several rounds. The story runs in four different streams, so I am going to split this review into four parts:
Bohn x Duen (1/5):
The main problem with My Engineer lies in the main couple, BohnDuen. They are just so ridiculously incompatible, and the actors who play them, Cooper and Poy, only have that brother-like chemistry going on. I liked Poy as Duen as his bubbly, happy-go-lucky personality in real life fits his character very well. However, Poy comes up short in the acting department in a lot of scenes. The one where he cries for example - that was quite honestly one of the worst I have seen. I also have a major problem with the Duen character. In the beginning he was cute and fun to watch, but as the series progressed, he became so childish and immature to the point that he turned into one of the most unlikeable leads I've seen in a BL.
I wish I could say positive things about Bohn, but there is not one positive bone (pardon the pun) in his body! He was the absolute worst: he basically bullied Duen into becoming his boyfriend and he is just too unbelievably nasty to everyone (who isn't Duen) around him. Throughout the entire series, he carried this mentality where he feels that he is superior to everyone. He was an incredibly bad character, and if the creators would want to redeem themselves in My Engineer SS2, they'd better give BohnDuen a much smaller part. Acting wise, I haven't seen any of Cooper's past projects, but his acting here was very boring. I guess the character of Bohn never gave him much material to work with.
Mek x Boss (3.5/5):
MekBoss revolved around the theme of keeping your feelings to yourself. It was a story of two long-time friends who unwittingly hurt each other with their actions. The story was undoubtedly filled with BL clichés, but MekBoss was still a nice escape from that terrible BohDuen plotline. Raff/Ryan and Inntouch, despite having obvious difficulties in communicating with each other, developed an undeniable chemistry between their characters.
Raff/Ryan was Chinese and despite trying to learn Thai for his role, he never gained much proficiency in the language on time, hence forcing the creators to dub nearly all his lines in the show. The creators of My Engineer were basically forced to include him in the cast to get the much-needed funding from their Chinese investors, and when the show proved to be a success and they no longer needed the Chinese backing, they cruelly disposed of Ryan/Raff as well, citing that he has been "unprofessional" throughout the filming. But Raff/Ryan wasn't that bad; he actually played the part pretty well despite the poor dubbing. I especially liked how he conveys his emotions through his eyes. This silent-type acting is not easy to do, so this was an admirable feat. Inntouch on the other hand did not have the showy-type of acting yet still maintained a loveable presence all throughout. But the "jokes" that he made throughout the series fell flat and even sounded cringe-y.
Thara x Frong (4.5/5):
Thara and Frong have been in the series since the first episode but they weren't matched together until the last few episodes (I think things only started happening between them in Ep. 12). And when that happened, things went ELECTRIC! I don't understand the other reviews who thought that these two were boring, but these two guys were basically eye-fucking each other in their scenes! MD and Shane showed such explosive chemistry for the limited time they had, and I really loved how they kept that going on even when they are behind the camera. If SS2 actually happens, these two needs to be given more time to shine.
Ram x King (5/5):
Ask anyone who watched My Engineer who their favorite couple is, and most likely they will answer RamKing. I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. RamKing had the best development in the entire series and were the only ones to completely avoid the usual tropes we see in Thai BLs. It started with King feigning interest (with no romantic implications whatsoever) in Ram, a quiet freshman of foreign descent who rarely speaks to anybody inside or outside his circle. Throughout those 14 episodes, we watch King try to break the shell where Ram was hiding himself only to realize in the end that he was actually falling for him and that Ram was willing to reciprocate his affections. I would definitely rank RamKing as one of the best-written couples in all of the boys love series I have seen. I would die to watch them further develop this strange yet very charming relationship in SS2. In real life, Talay and Perth basically had the same interests in life and were not far off each other in terms of age (I think Talay was only a year younger than Perth) , which made them the perfect choice to play the show's most-celebrated couple. Talay basically acted as himself throughout the show, and Perth, who is quite the funny child-like type in real life, was incredible in playing the cold, stone-faced Ram.
Outside its plot, My Engineer had lots of problems:
1) What is up with the OST? I could swear the same song will play about 5 to 7 times in a single episode, it is so tiresome and ridiculous. They could have invested in expanding the selection of music they will be playing in this show considering its length (BLs with more than 12 eps. is quite rare for Thailand).
2) My Engineer excessively relied on flashbacks interspersed with dramatic background music, which is pure cringe!!! I was watching the cast reactions on YouTube and I can tell that these guys were so bored watching these flashback scenes and were just trying really hard to hide it from the camera.
3) Bad acting from supporting players: the woman who was playing Ram's mom had such a laughable performance, and her English was horrendous. Again, it was pure cringe. I could say the same for the guy who played Ram's brother and basically every single kid who appeared in this series (look very closely and you'll see that they even stare directly at the camera)
4) Sloppy editing all throughout. I don't notice this aspect of filmmaking usually but it was very evident in My Engineer.
Two extra good things:
1) Ting Ting and her two friends were a riot, but I wish they could've given them more material to work with instead of creating them merely as the "funny friends" of the lead.
2) I loved how non-existent ad placements were in this series. That's quite a feat.
Despite the relatively low rating I have given for this series, I am still looking forward to season 2. The cast was so fun to watch, but things would be much, much better if they have been given a more solid storyline (with the exception of TharaFrong and RamKing, which were already perfect).
Bohn x Duen (1/5):
The main problem with My Engineer lies in the main couple, BohnDuen. They are just so ridiculously incompatible, and the actors who play them, Cooper and Poy, only have that brother-like chemistry going on. I liked Poy as Duen as his bubbly, happy-go-lucky personality in real life fits his character very well. However, Poy comes up short in the acting department in a lot of scenes. The one where he cries for example - that was quite honestly one of the worst I have seen. I also have a major problem with the Duen character. In the beginning he was cute and fun to watch, but as the series progressed, he became so childish and immature to the point that he turned into one of the most unlikeable leads I've seen in a BL.
I wish I could say positive things about Bohn, but there is not one positive bone (pardon the pun) in his body! He was the absolute worst: he basically bullied Duen into becoming his boyfriend and he is just too unbelievably nasty to everyone (who isn't Duen) around him. Throughout the entire series, he carried this mentality where he feels that he is superior to everyone. He was an incredibly bad character, and if the creators would want to redeem themselves in My Engineer SS2, they'd better give BohnDuen a much smaller part. Acting wise, I haven't seen any of Cooper's past projects, but his acting here was very boring. I guess the character of Bohn never gave him much material to work with.
Mek x Boss (3.5/5):
MekBoss revolved around the theme of keeping your feelings to yourself. It was a story of two long-time friends who unwittingly hurt each other with their actions. The story was undoubtedly filled with BL clichés, but MekBoss was still a nice escape from that terrible BohDuen plotline. Raff/Ryan and Inntouch, despite having obvious difficulties in communicating with each other, developed an undeniable chemistry between their characters.
Raff/Ryan was Chinese and despite trying to learn Thai for his role, he never gained much proficiency in the language on time, hence forcing the creators to dub nearly all his lines in the show. The creators of My Engineer were basically forced to include him in the cast to get the much-needed funding from their Chinese investors, and when the show proved to be a success and they no longer needed the Chinese backing, they cruelly disposed of Ryan/Raff as well, citing that he has been "unprofessional" throughout the filming. But Raff/Ryan wasn't that bad; he actually played the part pretty well despite the poor dubbing. I especially liked how he conveys his emotions through his eyes. This silent-type acting is not easy to do, so this was an admirable feat. Inntouch on the other hand did not have the showy-type of acting yet still maintained a loveable presence all throughout. But the "jokes" that he made throughout the series fell flat and even sounded cringe-y.
Thara x Frong (4.5/5):
Thara and Frong have been in the series since the first episode but they weren't matched together until the last few episodes (I think things only started happening between them in Ep. 12). And when that happened, things went ELECTRIC! I don't understand the other reviews who thought that these two were boring, but these two guys were basically eye-fucking each other in their scenes! MD and Shane showed such explosive chemistry for the limited time they had, and I really loved how they kept that going on even when they are behind the camera. If SS2 actually happens, these two needs to be given more time to shine.
Ram x King (5/5):
Ask anyone who watched My Engineer who their favorite couple is, and most likely they will answer RamKing. I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. RamKing had the best development in the entire series and were the only ones to completely avoid the usual tropes we see in Thai BLs. It started with King feigning interest (with no romantic implications whatsoever) in Ram, a quiet freshman of foreign descent who rarely speaks to anybody inside or outside his circle. Throughout those 14 episodes, we watch King try to break the shell where Ram was hiding himself only to realize in the end that he was actually falling for him and that Ram was willing to reciprocate his affections. I would definitely rank RamKing as one of the best-written couples in all of the boys love series I have seen. I would die to watch them further develop this strange yet very charming relationship in SS2. In real life, Talay and Perth basically had the same interests in life and were not far off each other in terms of age (I think Talay was only a year younger than Perth) , which made them the perfect choice to play the show's most-celebrated couple. Talay basically acted as himself throughout the show, and Perth, who is quite the funny child-like type in real life, was incredible in playing the cold, stone-faced Ram.
Outside its plot, My Engineer had lots of problems:
1) What is up with the OST? I could swear the same song will play about 5 to 7 times in a single episode, it is so tiresome and ridiculous. They could have invested in expanding the selection of music they will be playing in this show considering its length (BLs with more than 12 eps. is quite rare for Thailand).
2) My Engineer excessively relied on flashbacks interspersed with dramatic background music, which is pure cringe!!! I was watching the cast reactions on YouTube and I can tell that these guys were so bored watching these flashback scenes and were just trying really hard to hide it from the camera.
3) Bad acting from supporting players: the woman who was playing Ram's mom had such a laughable performance, and her English was horrendous. Again, it was pure cringe. I could say the same for the guy who played Ram's brother and basically every single kid who appeared in this series (look very closely and you'll see that they even stare directly at the camera)
4) Sloppy editing all throughout. I don't notice this aspect of filmmaking usually but it was very evident in My Engineer.
Two extra good things:
1) Ting Ting and her two friends were a riot, but I wish they could've given them more material to work with instead of creating them merely as the "funny friends" of the lead.
2) I loved how non-existent ad placements were in this series. That's quite a feat.
Despite the relatively low rating I have given for this series, I am still looking forward to season 2. The cast was so fun to watch, but things would be much, much better if they have been given a more solid storyline (with the exception of TharaFrong and RamKing, which were already perfect).
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