This review may contain spoilers
How far is too far?
Things that I liked about the series:
- There are a lot of classic movies referenced throughout this series, and the fact that each movie coincides with what was going on in that moment was brilliant. A perfect way to tell a story about film majors.
- Gun, who plays Third in this drama, is a stellar actor. He's one of the more popular actors in this genre, and now I can see why. This was my introduction to both Off and Gun, and I was impressed by what I've seen. Gun, like Fluke in UWMA, was able to express all emotions perfectly. I sympathized with him when he was at his lowest, and I was proud of him when he started fighting back.
- The music throughout this series is one of my favorites. It was so beautiful and perfectly captured the show.
- Two, played by White, is my favorite of Third's friends. Once again, I see White playing the supportive friend to the main characters. My first introduction to him was when he played Tul in A Tale of Thousand Stars. Also *snorts* I can't help but make a comment about how he and Mix both had Earth lol. Tian, keep Pupha away from Tul!!
- Speaking of which I kindof like the whole side story between Two and Un, played by Earth. They were honestly my favorite ship in the entire series. I loved how Two was secretly crushing on his high school sweetheart, but then P'Un walks in and turns everything around. I felt for Two's dilemma, and I was so glad they got together in the end.
- Bone I felt was the most mature character of the series. Okay, that's not saying a whole lot and I'll explain why in my dislikes. Finding out the girl of your dreams is your college professor was like a slap to poor Bone's face. While he did have his moments of immaturity, I like how he had a moment of weakness where he could've kissed her, but didn't. In addition, he put his own feelings aside and allowed his crush and her fiance the chance to get married without any conflict. I honestly felt bad for him, but I was also proud of how he handled himself in the end.
- Khai....oh Khai...I have a lot to say about this guy, and unfortunately a lot of it is bad. HOWEVER, I did enjoy that his quest towards redemption did not come easy. The guy had to work his ass off for it, and rightfully so. It shows that he is willing to change for the better, and I appreciate that Third didn't cut him any slack.
- I love how we were able to get the POVs of both Third and Khai. It was unique from any of the other BLs I've seen so far. Being able to know what both parties were thinking about helped flesh them out as characters.
- In terms of realism, this show has it in spades! The concept of Unrequited love towards a supposed straight guy, and how this show portrayed it, was so realistic it hurts. I've lived through this concept myself. I was Third many times, which is probably why I related to him so much.
Things that I didn’t like about the series:
- Oh boy, I feel like this is where I'm going to piss people off lol. Okay, there's one thing that I seriously dislike about the show. Or rather, one person I seriously dislike. One word...KHAI! I'm sorry to all my TOL fans, but I freaking hated Khai's guts. I hated him so much, I wanted to punch him. I felt so bad for Third, and for the first time, I was honestly hoping that the main couple DID NOT end up together. We're constantly told that he's a good friend, but we never see it. Khai was never a good friend to Third at all. He treated Third like his little servant, which pissed me off even more. Yes, he may have had a great redemption, but that still doesn't erase the fact that the guy is a total asshole. I mentioned how very realistic this show is, and I stand by that. Including Khai's behavior. But it's also because Khai's character is realistic that makes me want to punch him even more. I've met guys like guy. I've crushed on guys like Khai. I've been hurt by guys like Khai. I hated Khai!
- Now I can't put all the blame on Khai. While I think Gun's acting as Third is stellar, I do also have a problem with this character as well. I relate to Third a great deal because I've been in his shoes. That also means I can be frustrated with how much abuse he was willing to put up with, and the poor guy put up with a lot. But some of the blame for his misery falls on him too. Is it hard to get over someone you love so much? HELL YEAH, IT IS! I would understand his dilemma more if I actually saw the good in Khai, but as I already stated, Khai wasn't even a good friend to Third. What good qualities does this man have? I will say Third giving Khai the cold shoulders during the second half of the series was so satisfying.
- Since I'm passing blame around, I have to put some on Bone as well for his part in Khai's ploy to find out if Third really likes him or not. That whole stunt was what made me lose any and all respect in Khai, but Bone had his own hand involved too, which was not cool. You don't pull that kind of stunt on someone you deem as a friend.
- Khai's sudden sexual identity reversal was poorly done. Am I really supposed to believe that all of a sudden he has feelings for Third just like that? I get what the writers were trying to do with it, but the fact that Khai just accepts it and goes along with it is not believable in the slightest, especially given how much of a womanizer he was. If he was a closet case, that would've made it more sense, but that wasn't what we got.
Overall Thoughts:
Admittedly I struggled with how I wanted to review this show. I originally gave this a 6.5/10, but I saw a lot of comments that made me really think the show over. The show is great, I admit. I love the storyline, I like the idea of showing the hardships of unrequited love, I love Third as a lead protagonist, I love Two as a supportive best friend, I like Bone as a character, and I love the soundtrack. However, the biggest thing I dislike about this series is the main love interest. I hated Khai. Just because you give him redemption doesn't mean you suddenly forget all the horrible things he's done. And Khai has done a lot of horrible things for most of the show. He's arguably the worst love interest I've currently come across in a BL. In a show where I'm wanting to root for the main couple to get together and get their happy ending, I was hoping Khai would stay away from Third. That said, if I were the look at this show in terms of demonstrating the toxicity of an unhealthy unrequited love, I'd say this show perfectly demonstrates how destructive it can be. I will agree with a lot of fans that not all relationships are butterflies and rainbows. Some are quite messy, I agree. Some are toxic. That being said, we're also supposed to root for the characters to be together, and I didn't find myself doing that.
Despite all that, I admit I found myself continuing to watch the show because I was really hoping for a well deserved happy ending, so it did grab my attention. And Khai's confession to Third at the final episode was corny and sweet, and reminiscent to Third's confession to Khai.
With all of that in mind, I am raising my ranking a bit, but not that much. I still wouldn't watch this show a second time, and I still hated Khai.
Rank: 7/10
- There are a lot of classic movies referenced throughout this series, and the fact that each movie coincides with what was going on in that moment was brilliant. A perfect way to tell a story about film majors.
- Gun, who plays Third in this drama, is a stellar actor. He's one of the more popular actors in this genre, and now I can see why. This was my introduction to both Off and Gun, and I was impressed by what I've seen. Gun, like Fluke in UWMA, was able to express all emotions perfectly. I sympathized with him when he was at his lowest, and I was proud of him when he started fighting back.
- The music throughout this series is one of my favorites. It was so beautiful and perfectly captured the show.
- Two, played by White, is my favorite of Third's friends. Once again, I see White playing the supportive friend to the main characters. My first introduction to him was when he played Tul in A Tale of Thousand Stars. Also *snorts* I can't help but make a comment about how he and Mix both had Earth lol. Tian, keep Pupha away from Tul!!
- Speaking of which I kindof like the whole side story between Two and Un, played by Earth. They were honestly my favorite ship in the entire series. I loved how Two was secretly crushing on his high school sweetheart, but then P'Un walks in and turns everything around. I felt for Two's dilemma, and I was so glad they got together in the end.
- Bone I felt was the most mature character of the series. Okay, that's not saying a whole lot and I'll explain why in my dislikes. Finding out the girl of your dreams is your college professor was like a slap to poor Bone's face. While he did have his moments of immaturity, I like how he had a moment of weakness where he could've kissed her, but didn't. In addition, he put his own feelings aside and allowed his crush and her fiance the chance to get married without any conflict. I honestly felt bad for him, but I was also proud of how he handled himself in the end.
- Khai....oh Khai...I have a lot to say about this guy, and unfortunately a lot of it is bad. HOWEVER, I did enjoy that his quest towards redemption did not come easy. The guy had to work his ass off for it, and rightfully so. It shows that he is willing to change for the better, and I appreciate that Third didn't cut him any slack.
- I love how we were able to get the POVs of both Third and Khai. It was unique from any of the other BLs I've seen so far. Being able to know what both parties were thinking about helped flesh them out as characters.
- In terms of realism, this show has it in spades! The concept of Unrequited love towards a supposed straight guy, and how this show portrayed it, was so realistic it hurts. I've lived through this concept myself. I was Third many times, which is probably why I related to him so much.
Things that I didn’t like about the series:
- Oh boy, I feel like this is where I'm going to piss people off lol. Okay, there's one thing that I seriously dislike about the show. Or rather, one person I seriously dislike. One word...KHAI! I'm sorry to all my TOL fans, but I freaking hated Khai's guts. I hated him so much, I wanted to punch him. I felt so bad for Third, and for the first time, I was honestly hoping that the main couple DID NOT end up together. We're constantly told that he's a good friend, but we never see it. Khai was never a good friend to Third at all. He treated Third like his little servant, which pissed me off even more. Yes, he may have had a great redemption, but that still doesn't erase the fact that the guy is a total asshole. I mentioned how very realistic this show is, and I stand by that. Including Khai's behavior. But it's also because Khai's character is realistic that makes me want to punch him even more. I've met guys like guy. I've crushed on guys like Khai. I've been hurt by guys like Khai. I hated Khai!
- Now I can't put all the blame on Khai. While I think Gun's acting as Third is stellar, I do also have a problem with this character as well. I relate to Third a great deal because I've been in his shoes. That also means I can be frustrated with how much abuse he was willing to put up with, and the poor guy put up with a lot. But some of the blame for his misery falls on him too. Is it hard to get over someone you love so much? HELL YEAH, IT IS! I would understand his dilemma more if I actually saw the good in Khai, but as I already stated, Khai wasn't even a good friend to Third. What good qualities does this man have? I will say Third giving Khai the cold shoulders during the second half of the series was so satisfying.
- Since I'm passing blame around, I have to put some on Bone as well for his part in Khai's ploy to find out if Third really likes him or not. That whole stunt was what made me lose any and all respect in Khai, but Bone had his own hand involved too, which was not cool. You don't pull that kind of stunt on someone you deem as a friend.
- Khai's sudden sexual identity reversal was poorly done. Am I really supposed to believe that all of a sudden he has feelings for Third just like that? I get what the writers were trying to do with it, but the fact that Khai just accepts it and goes along with it is not believable in the slightest, especially given how much of a womanizer he was. If he was a closet case, that would've made it more sense, but that wasn't what we got.
Overall Thoughts:
Admittedly I struggled with how I wanted to review this show. I originally gave this a 6.5/10, but I saw a lot of comments that made me really think the show over. The show is great, I admit. I love the storyline, I like the idea of showing the hardships of unrequited love, I love Third as a lead protagonist, I love Two as a supportive best friend, I like Bone as a character, and I love the soundtrack. However, the biggest thing I dislike about this series is the main love interest. I hated Khai. Just because you give him redemption doesn't mean you suddenly forget all the horrible things he's done. And Khai has done a lot of horrible things for most of the show. He's arguably the worst love interest I've currently come across in a BL. In a show where I'm wanting to root for the main couple to get together and get their happy ending, I was hoping Khai would stay away from Third. That said, if I were the look at this show in terms of demonstrating the toxicity of an unhealthy unrequited love, I'd say this show perfectly demonstrates how destructive it can be. I will agree with a lot of fans that not all relationships are butterflies and rainbows. Some are quite messy, I agree. Some are toxic. That being said, we're also supposed to root for the characters to be together, and I didn't find myself doing that.
Despite all that, I admit I found myself continuing to watch the show because I was really hoping for a well deserved happy ending, so it did grab my attention. And Khai's confession to Third at the final episode was corny and sweet, and reminiscent to Third's confession to Khai.
With all of that in mind, I am raising my ranking a bit, but not that much. I still wouldn't watch this show a second time, and I still hated Khai.
Rank: 7/10
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