Potato the cutie
Planet Earth
This review may contain spoilers
A sweet ending to a beautifully done series
!!Disclaimer¡¡
This review is based on my personal opinion. It is not meant to encourage/discourage you from watching. Please feel free to agree/disagree with it. This is going to be quite a lengthy review, it also might contain a lot of spoilers so if you're not into that go ahead and skip reading it.
Ok, first of, let me start off by saying that this series has officially made me fall in love with Thailand and its absolutely gorgeous nature. I've seen the bts of this series and I want to give all the people behind this amazing series a big hug for their amazing work. Although there were some parts of the plot that didn't make sense and made my head spin a little, I was able to ignore these little things because the positives outweighed the negatives in this one so thank you GMMTV, for not ruining this one.
Story/plot :
Let me say this first, as someone who has not read the novel and only discovered this drama a couple of months ago, I didn't know what to expect from it, and I literally just dove in headfirst (which is a rarity since I don't like going in blind) and I must say that it really exceeded my expectations and left me feeling very much contented. The script was written really well and you could really feel the efforts put into it. The way they presented each scene and how they introduced each character was very good and I'm more than happy with it. The series tells the story of Tian, a rich college student with a terminal illness who gets a second chance at life after undergoing a heart transplant surgery. While still unconscious, he dreams a strange dream and upon waking up, is curious about who was his heart's donor. His parents try to conceal the identity of the donor from him but he finds out anyway after secretly looking at his medical file. He tries to know more about his donor who turns out to be a woman named Torfun, a volunteer teacher at a remote village, and discovers that her death was caused by an accident. He gets hold of her diaries and after reading it, decides to become a volunteer teacher at the same village she was in and finish what she had started. While there he struggles to adapt to the very unfamiliar environment and the very closed people of said village, while hiding Torfun's death and his identity from the villagers. There, he meets Phupa, the chief of a group that protects the village, who helps him adapt with the help of a few friends as he aides and protects him while he teaches the kids of the village. Phu and Tian start off on the wrong foot but they slowly start to get closer and eventually fall in love, but as time goes by and the closer Tian gets to Phu and the villagers, his secret starts weighing on him and it leads him into dangerous situations, and eventually he reveals his secret and faces the consequences of it. That is a very summed up version of the plot.
When I first watched the trailer for it, I was very skeptic about how such situation would be portrayed considering it is not your usual romantic drama nor is it college/school life originated. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the final results. The way they presented the difference between social classes, the importance of money and influence in our modern society, and how someone's life can change in the span of a day was very believable, so a big shout out to the screen writer and the creators for this great plot.
Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about some of the very minor plot-holes that really annoyed me personally. How on earth did no one ask for Tian's last name? How was Doc able to get hold of all this information on Tian? Isn't that illegal? Why did Phu have to out Tian like this? Was it really necessary? And a few other things. I really wanted to give the plot a perfect rating, but these very small details really bothered me so I had to deduct 2.5 stars from the final rating, but apart from that, the plot was very unique and I enjoyed it very much.
Acting/cast:
Every single actor was gorgeous. I really loved the cast and I think everyone did a really great job in playing their own character. I loved the main couple and their chemistry throughout the show and I really liked how everyone interacted with each other. The supporting cast on this series is one of my favourite supporting characters of any Thai drama out there ( especially Lhongtae, Khama and Tul) BUT, I must say I did dislike some characters (like Tian's mother and his friends back home expect for of course, Tul) and I found them really annoying tbh. But yeah, with that out of the way, let's move onto our main characters.
~Tian: A
Mix is an amazing actor and I'm honestly really shocked that this is his first time acting, like I'm legit stunned by this fact. The way he played his role and how he brought Tian's character to life is fantastic and I'm officially in love with him. I must admit, I did dislike how his character's personality lacked in some aspects and how he acted in some situations. But yeah apart from that, I really liked his character and I think he did an amazing job in portraying it. Also, mad respect for Mix since he continued filming even though he was very tired and fainted eventually from exhaustion. Also also, can we talk about Tian coming out as gay instead of him going with the usual overused "I'm not gay I just like this guy" line? Cuz whoever is behind that scene needs a freaking raise cuz FINA-FREAKING-LLY!!
~Phupa: A
I have seen Earth act before in LBC and I honestly didn't really like his portrayal of Type back then. However, I think the role of chief Phupa really suits him and he does an amazing job in portraying him. I loved how his stoic face completely differs from his gentle and caring personality. What I didn't like tho is how they removed the part where Doc tells Tian that Phu is gay (I heard it was a scene in the novel and was really excited for it) and how he acted irrationally in episode 8, contrary to his usual self, which resulted in me being kinda disappointed and angry at him and doc for a while, but I got over it eventually. It did irk me tho so I had to point it out. But that aside, I really liked his character and I'm very proud of EarthMix.
Music/soundtrack:
I'm officially obsessed with the soundtrack. This series has one of the most beautiful soundtracks in the history of Thai dramas imho. I loved the ost, especially Aye's version of it and I loved how the soundtrack fit in and how it enhanced the overall feeling of the episodes. They really outdid themselves with this one ngl.
Production:
Two words, true effort. That's it. When I tell you I was stunned by the amount of effort put into this, I literally mean it. The fact that they literally built everything from scratch and it took them 3 years to make this speaks for itself. So hats off to everyone involved making this masterpiece, you guys rock.
Product placement:
The product placement in this was surprisingly decent. It wasn't great and you could tell that some scenes were filmed in certain ways to advertise some products, but it wasn't that excessive or bothersome. And they didn't try to cram in that many products in one episode like other shows did (yes, I'm looking at you 2gether).
And finally, if you've read this far, hats off to you! Thank you for sitting through this long ass review. You're a beautiful, kind, great person and I really appreciate your patience.
My final thoughts on this show is that it was a very nice rollercoaster of emotions lol. I loved the pacing and how natural it felt and I really liked the message that this series is trying to send, I'm also a big fan of the little quotes at the end of each episode. I'm honestly really liking the new Thai BLs coming out lately, I really like how they're slowly breaking the mold and starting to relate to real life a tiny bit more. And with that being said, I hope other people like it as much as I did and I highly recommend giving it a try, cuz even if you don't really like the storyline or the characters , you'll at least like the gorgeous scenery and sets of this series.
P.s: I know that Torfun really effected the villagers and that everyone really loved her, but the fact that they kept bringing her up was really insensitive of them. I also really disliked how Phupa wasn't the one to break the news to the people and how he and everyone around him, kept comparing Tian to Torfun, it really annoyed me tbfh....
This review is based on my personal opinion. It is not meant to encourage/discourage you from watching. Please feel free to agree/disagree with it. This is going to be quite a lengthy review, it also might contain a lot of spoilers so if you're not into that go ahead and skip reading it.
Ok, first of, let me start off by saying that this series has officially made me fall in love with Thailand and its absolutely gorgeous nature. I've seen the bts of this series and I want to give all the people behind this amazing series a big hug for their amazing work. Although there were some parts of the plot that didn't make sense and made my head spin a little, I was able to ignore these little things because the positives outweighed the negatives in this one so thank you GMMTV, for not ruining this one.
Story/plot :
Let me say this first, as someone who has not read the novel and only discovered this drama a couple of months ago, I didn't know what to expect from it, and I literally just dove in headfirst (which is a rarity since I don't like going in blind) and I must say that it really exceeded my expectations and left me feeling very much contented. The script was written really well and you could really feel the efforts put into it. The way they presented each scene and how they introduced each character was very good and I'm more than happy with it. The series tells the story of Tian, a rich college student with a terminal illness who gets a second chance at life after undergoing a heart transplant surgery. While still unconscious, he dreams a strange dream and upon waking up, is curious about who was his heart's donor. His parents try to conceal the identity of the donor from him but he finds out anyway after secretly looking at his medical file. He tries to know more about his donor who turns out to be a woman named Torfun, a volunteer teacher at a remote village, and discovers that her death was caused by an accident. He gets hold of her diaries and after reading it, decides to become a volunteer teacher at the same village she was in and finish what she had started. While there he struggles to adapt to the very unfamiliar environment and the very closed people of said village, while hiding Torfun's death and his identity from the villagers. There, he meets Phupa, the chief of a group that protects the village, who helps him adapt with the help of a few friends as he aides and protects him while he teaches the kids of the village. Phu and Tian start off on the wrong foot but they slowly start to get closer and eventually fall in love, but as time goes by and the closer Tian gets to Phu and the villagers, his secret starts weighing on him and it leads him into dangerous situations, and eventually he reveals his secret and faces the consequences of it. That is a very summed up version of the plot.
When I first watched the trailer for it, I was very skeptic about how such situation would be portrayed considering it is not your usual romantic drama nor is it college/school life originated. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the final results. The way they presented the difference between social classes, the importance of money and influence in our modern society, and how someone's life can change in the span of a day was very believable, so a big shout out to the screen writer and the creators for this great plot.
Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about some of the very minor plot-holes that really annoyed me personally. How on earth did no one ask for Tian's last name? How was Doc able to get hold of all this information on Tian? Isn't that illegal? Why did Phu have to out Tian like this? Was it really necessary? And a few other things. I really wanted to give the plot a perfect rating, but these very small details really bothered me so I had to deduct 2.5 stars from the final rating, but apart from that, the plot was very unique and I enjoyed it very much.
Acting/cast:
Every single actor was gorgeous. I really loved the cast and I think everyone did a really great job in playing their own character. I loved the main couple and their chemistry throughout the show and I really liked how everyone interacted with each other. The supporting cast on this series is one of my favourite supporting characters of any Thai drama out there ( especially Lhongtae, Khama and Tul) BUT, I must say I did dislike some characters (like Tian's mother and his friends back home expect for of course, Tul) and I found them really annoying tbh. But yeah, with that out of the way, let's move onto our main characters.
~Tian: A
Mix is an amazing actor and I'm honestly really shocked that this is his first time acting, like I'm legit stunned by this fact. The way he played his role and how he brought Tian's character to life is fantastic and I'm officially in love with him. I must admit, I did dislike how his character's personality lacked in some aspects and how he acted in some situations. But yeah apart from that, I really liked his character and I think he did an amazing job in portraying it. Also, mad respect for Mix since he continued filming even though he was very tired and fainted eventually from exhaustion. Also also, can we talk about Tian coming out as gay instead of him going with the usual overused "I'm not gay I just like this guy" line? Cuz whoever is behind that scene needs a freaking raise cuz FINA-FREAKING-LLY!!
~Phupa: A
I have seen Earth act before in LBC and I honestly didn't really like his portrayal of Type back then. However, I think the role of chief Phupa really suits him and he does an amazing job in portraying him. I loved how his stoic face completely differs from his gentle and caring personality. What I didn't like tho is how they removed the part where Doc tells Tian that Phu is gay (I heard it was a scene in the novel and was really excited for it) and how he acted irrationally in episode 8, contrary to his usual self, which resulted in me being kinda disappointed and angry at him and doc for a while, but I got over it eventually. It did irk me tho so I had to point it out. But that aside, I really liked his character and I'm very proud of EarthMix.
Music/soundtrack:
I'm officially obsessed with the soundtrack. This series has one of the most beautiful soundtracks in the history of Thai dramas imho. I loved the ost, especially Aye's version of it and I loved how the soundtrack fit in and how it enhanced the overall feeling of the episodes. They really outdid themselves with this one ngl.
Production:
Two words, true effort. That's it. When I tell you I was stunned by the amount of effort put into this, I literally mean it. The fact that they literally built everything from scratch and it took them 3 years to make this speaks for itself. So hats off to everyone involved making this masterpiece, you guys rock.
Product placement:
The product placement in this was surprisingly decent. It wasn't great and you could tell that some scenes were filmed in certain ways to advertise some products, but it wasn't that excessive or bothersome. And they didn't try to cram in that many products in one episode like other shows did (yes, I'm looking at you 2gether).
And finally, if you've read this far, hats off to you! Thank you for sitting through this long ass review. You're a beautiful, kind, great person and I really appreciate your patience.
My final thoughts on this show is that it was a very nice rollercoaster of emotions lol. I loved the pacing and how natural it felt and I really liked the message that this series is trying to send, I'm also a big fan of the little quotes at the end of each episode. I'm honestly really liking the new Thai BLs coming out lately, I really like how they're slowly breaking the mold and starting to relate to real life a tiny bit more. And with that being said, I hope other people like it as much as I did and I highly recommend giving it a try, cuz even if you don't really like the storyline or the characters , you'll at least like the gorgeous scenery and sets of this series.
P.s: I know that Torfun really effected the villagers and that everyone really loved her, but the fact that they kept bringing her up was really insensitive of them. I also really disliked how Phupa wasn't the one to break the news to the people and how he and everyone around him, kept comparing Tian to Torfun, it really annoyed me tbfh....
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