I wrote a review for My Tee/Cause You're My Boy several months ago but eventually decided to delete it. Months after finishing this series and starting/finishing several other lakorns, I still couldn't get this one off my head. It was special, in a sense.

What I appreciated most about My Tee was its RAWNESS. For months I kept thinking that My Tee was so different from the other series I've seen from Thailand. The term I was looking for lingered at the tip of my tongue and it was only today that I realized the perfect adjective to describe the experience -- RAW. My Tee served CRUEL REALITY. It does not go for the love/hate dilemma of SOTUS. It does not go for the fiery, burning passion of Dark Blue Kiss. It does not go for the fluffy cute shit of 2gether the Series. While the characters in My Tee are no different from those we've seen in other lakorns, they are shown under different light here. These are kids thrown in difficult situations that only adults are known to face. It was because of this that I found some scenes quite painful to watch. I thought at first it was pure cringe, but it wasn't. I just thought these kids didn't exactly deserve what they are going through.

So many people have already commented on FrankDrake, so I won't delve deep into their chemistry/relationship. All I can say is that Frank needs to attend more workshops because his performance here leaves so much to be desired. He was the weakest link in the entire cast, and in a sense it was a death sentence for the series because he is playing one of the leads. Thankfully though, we have Drake playing opposite Frank. Drake has shown so much versatility in the roles he's been taking, and by far, he gave his best performance in My Tee. He carried all of the drama on his shoulders yet he pulled off the role of Mork with so much ease. His acting chops at the second half of the series bested the rest of the cast: it was at this part where Mork was going head to head with Tee's mother, dealing with his separation from Tee, his expulsion from school, etc. This is a performance that you just have to see in order to appreciate. Drake outshone all of his co-actors by a mile, and it offset the film's big weakness that is Frank's performance. Unfortunately, Drake is yet to land another lead role in a film/series. I hope GMMTV invests more in him because he is one of the strongest actors they have in their roster.

Another strong point of My Tee was Gord-Morn sidecouple, which has accumulated a small fanbase of its own. GordMorn was the only thing that was constant in the series; while everything around them seemed to crumble down, these boys are still looking out for each other, except for that very brief episode of the two not talking to each other after one of them felt betrayed by the other. I would even dare say that GordMorn was better than TeeMork, and I really appreciate that they were given enough screen time here instead of being left in a corner until they are completely forgotten by the audiences (the ill fate of most sidecouples in the lakorns I've seen). Their relationship is too pure; it was puppy love at the truest sense of the word. I can't even complain about the lack of skinship between them (that would be disturbing considering their age!).

Muad, Au, Ton, and Tee's grandma were just as special as the four leads. Muad was the quiet father to Morn and Mork who just quietly accepted his sons' orientations without making a big scene out of things. Au and Ton's gestures of unwavering loyalty to Mork were so heartwarming to watch. Tee's grandma was basically a female version of Muad who was more expressive of her support to her grandson's life choices. Then there's Tee's mom whose purpose in the series was to represent the hypocrisy of the members of the Thai society --- or society in general --- in their acceptance of the LGBT+ community. She makes her first appearance in the series as a motivational speaker telling children to be accepting and tolerant of people who are "different," and then in the next few episodes, we listen to her tirades about why it is not okay to be gay. I am fully aware that audiences hated her inclusion in the story, but I think that without Tee's mom, the story of My Tee would just go nowhere and it will just be as typical as the other Thai BLs.

Now let me get to the "realness" of My Tee. First, My Tee is probably the only lakorn I've watched where the main characters are from the lowest class of society and touched upon the topic of struggling families. Mork was reduced to selling illegal pornography, while Morn desperately clung on the dream of becoming a 'net idol' and unwittingly buying fake followers on Instagram --- and they both did these things to support their father's struggling barbershop business. Second, My Tee was the only series I've seen where Thailand was not portrayed as completely modern or upper class. Each scene seemed to be painted in a darker, more natural hue, which starkly contrasts the other BLs where almost all scenes have been shot in full light. Interestingly, a lot of scenes in this series have been shot at night, where children are at their most vulnerable to crime and vice (and there are actually several scenes throughout the series where our young characters actually fell prey to this kind of stuff). It somehow sends a message that Bangkok is not the paradise that other series have portrayed it to be; it is no different from other notoriously dangerous cities in Asia, like Manila for instance. Third, GMMTV series rarely seemed to touch upon the topic of homophobia, yet My Tee shed full light on such topic and how members of the LGBT community, including the young ones, are struggling with it. This feature also completely contrasts the other series I've watched where it seemed that being gay is "completely OK" in Thailand.

Then there's the production issues. My Tee was apparently shot on a limited budget that they couldn't invest in better sound editing or at least in a continuity director. There are so many scenes in the film where you can barely hear the dialogue because the environmental noise was too loud (thank God for subtitles). One can also see "jumps" from one scene to another that do not make any sense at all.

There are also characters that have been grossly underused --- Bambi and Ching. I feel that we were supposed to have a third couple in My Tee, a lesbian couple at that. I don't know why the creators decided to drop it, but if they kept it in, My Tee would've become a landmark BL series for being the first to showcase a lesbian subplot (to the best of my knowledge). We only get two short scenes of the two throughout the entire series --- one near the beginning (where Bambi makes it clear that she does not feel the same way for Ching and the two never spoke to each other after that) and another near the end (where the two finally reconciled). Given that this potential GL subplot was eventually left on the cutting room floor, keeping the scenes of Bambi and Ching seemed pointless because they don't actually contribute anything to the story (besides Bambi being the sister of Au and Ching being that annoying friend of Mork).

And then there's the completely unnecessary sexualization of children. First off, we should keep in mind that almost everyone in this series were underage at the time of filming. With this in mind, I found several scenes in the show that were disturbing in so many levels:

1) Morn and Gord's encounter with an online sexual predator: I'd actually let this pass as it somehow sends a warning to children that these kinds of people actually exist and that anyone can be targeted
2) Mork groping Tee: This was a key part of the story that shows how Mork is struggling with his sexuality. But I'm sure there are lots of other ways to achieve the same purpose...
3) Mork and Tee buying condoms at a convenience store: This scene was so random and completely unnecessary.
4) Au 'subtly' attempting to rape Mork by intoxicating him: Now this is completely unforgiveable. What the hell is up with whoever decided to write this in? Did s/he also write Love by Chance, by any chance (pun intended)?

There are also a lot of scenes in the show that do not make any sense at all:

1) Mork and the gang chasing after robbers: This scene was so awkward, it was just so pointless.
2) Mork meets Tee's 'stepdad': There was this long scene in the series where Mork was speaking to Tee's stepdad yet it was never made clear how this person is related to Tee. However, I think that this is more of a subtitling problem than a case of lousy writing
3) Tee's gay father: Now THIS is a case of lousy writing. I am sure there are countless better reasons to explain why Tee's parents are no longer together. I seriously LMFAO'd at an otherwise dramatic scene near the end where it was revealed that Tee's homophobic mom divorced her husband because she merely 'suspected' him of being gay. I mean how psycho was this bitch?
4) Au and Bambi, Bambi and Ching, Bambi and Tee: Seriously, the character of Bambi should've been completely erased from the series if the writers couldn't use her right. It was never made clear what is up between her and Au, Ching and Tee
5) The school principal calling Mork a "cancer in society" IN FRONT OF HIS DAD: Are school principals in Thailand like this?
6) The transgender in Muad's barbershop: She only appeared at the beginning of the series and never showed up again. What's the deal with her, no one will ever know.
7) All Bambi+Ching cuts: Already mentioned above


But I am willing to let go of these limitations because overall, I was impressed with the series and how it lingered in my head for a longer time than, let's say, Love by Chance and 2gether, which are considered by mainstream audiences the "reigning BLs from Thailand." You've got to be kidding me.

Overall rating: 8 over 10