Roxyone03
US
This review may contain spoilers
"With greater popularity comes greater love & criticism. Let's high five to this" - Bright & Win
Even though this drama failed to meet my expectations in the end, I will say I'm still happy that I had something to look forward to each week during this long quarantine time. Also, I have not read the 2gether novel so my opinions will be based on the drama itself and my personal judgement is not clouded by how handsome both Bright and Win are as individuals, what matters to me is the story and how it's presented by the cast and production staff.
STORY:
We start off with a silly concept: Please be my fake boyfriend so my gay admirer will give up on pursuing me. The concept calls for comedy as Tine gets caught up in various situations as his admirer Green tries to win his heart. After much persuasion, Tine gets popular heartthrob Sarawat to become his fake boyfriend all while slowly falling for him himself and as their relationship grows, we begin to learn that Green may not be the only one trying to win Tine's heart.
The first 7-8 episodes seemed to be the strongest even though our main leads were not even in a real relationship. Chemistry, tension, entertainment factor, etc.. It was all superior to the second half and that's that the affection they showed was minimal. But I rewatched these episodes the most because as the series progressed, the direction of the series started to plummet. The relationships between side characters were seriously underdeveloped, especially Mil and Phukong's story, making their final outcomes in the last episode seem very forced and unrealistic.
Certain conflicts between Tine and Sarawat fell flat or weren't given the proper direction, with the most prominent being the issue regarding Sarawat's first love Pam in the final episodes. Tine and Sarawat never got an actual scene by themselves to openly talk to get a better understanding of each other and closure to their feelings on the situation. Instead we got a round-about way of explaining things through interactions with other people and a ton of flashbacks. Poor direction lead to out-of-character moments from Sarawat. There were barely any scenes with the main leads actually together then suddenly we were rushed into the band competition which didn't show much of a competition at all aside from Sarawat's song to Tine with questionable lyrics, a quick and oddly distant "ok we're back together" moment, and then the series ended. And don't even get me started with that high five.
The final episode of the series was like a gift someone wrapped with no real care or thought: Sure they wrapped it up, but there are many holes and when you open the gift to see the final result, you're left speechless because there's literally nothing inside.
ACTING:
Here's where I found much of my criticism if I ignore the directing. Bright and Win are great, but not great as a couple. An couple in love should be able to show their feelings whether they kiss or not, but this was something they couldn't pull off together onscreen. Actors should be able to portray their characters feelings, but it seemed that the actors themselves were outside of their comfort zone when it came to being romantically close and it transferred to the drama itself. While viewers could somewhat sense some distance as the drama progressed, the second half showed just how awkward it really was because their characters now required them to show affection and feelings of love towards each other. Once Sarawat and Tine were in an actual relationship, the little chemistry Bright and Win had started to visibly fall apart at a fast rate. You could tell they weren't comfortable being too close: we were given distant hugs, distant head pats, and the worst of all that high five from hell in the finale (lmao I'm sorry, but I still can't get over it). They were literally in a "long-distance" relationship.
Various climatic scenes that could've been perfect had their been a kiss or hug to highlight their love for each other were poorly executed and fell short because they did nothing but keep their distance. Another distant head pat. Another lets just smile at each other at a distance, or I love you, but let's keep a gap between us. Even the little scenes of Man and Type's speedy relationship in the final episode displayed more closeness and chemistry than Sarawat and Tine. There's nothing wrong with hugs or head pats and regardless of the tv rating, it's the way these gestures were executed that was very distant and lifeless for these two characters who are supposed to be in a romantic relationship.
On a somewhat positive side, I was pleasantly surprised by Win's acting since this is his first drama and I personally feel his performance outmatched Bright's by far, especially when it came to any emotional scenes. Crying? He can do it. Sadness? He can do it. When Tine is happy, he can easily show it. Bright on the other hand, not so much. Any scene that required deep emotions from Sarawat didn't work well which made it difficult to figure out his thoughts or feelings, at least for me. Sarawat has a more serious demeanor than Tine and Bright did well in those scenes, but anything emotionally complex such as sadness seemed difficult for him to portray. There's a scene in the final episode where it seems like he should be crying or looking deeply saddened while he stands in the middle of the road after Tine's departure, but they had him covering his face and even turning his back to the camera to cover up his inability to shed a tear and pull off those emotions.
REWATCH VALUE:
This is not a perfect BL drama, it's lacking in many ways but it's also not as terrible as others are making it seem. I know people are angry, their expecations were really high for a drama so widely watched and talked about. I myself was left bitter and underwhelmed at the end. But it's still a good watch. There's still comedy, handsome characters, sweet scenes of Sarawat serenading Tine with his voice and guitar, and is overall a very light show of romance. Almost invisible even lol If I watched this again, I would ignore most of the 2nd half because those episodes were poorly done. I really like Bright and Win, they made a visually stunning couple, but sadly they couldn't pull off a believable couple in love like I hoped they would. Hopefully they can improve if they ever decide to be in another BL drama, but this drama showed clear proof that they both aren't ready to portray a gay relationship.
STORY:
We start off with a silly concept: Please be my fake boyfriend so my gay admirer will give up on pursuing me. The concept calls for comedy as Tine gets caught up in various situations as his admirer Green tries to win his heart. After much persuasion, Tine gets popular heartthrob Sarawat to become his fake boyfriend all while slowly falling for him himself and as their relationship grows, we begin to learn that Green may not be the only one trying to win Tine's heart.
The first 7-8 episodes seemed to be the strongest even though our main leads were not even in a real relationship. Chemistry, tension, entertainment factor, etc.. It was all superior to the second half and that's that the affection they showed was minimal. But I rewatched these episodes the most because as the series progressed, the direction of the series started to plummet. The relationships between side characters were seriously underdeveloped, especially Mil and Phukong's story, making their final outcomes in the last episode seem very forced and unrealistic.
Certain conflicts between Tine and Sarawat fell flat or weren't given the proper direction, with the most prominent being the issue regarding Sarawat's first love Pam in the final episodes. Tine and Sarawat never got an actual scene by themselves to openly talk to get a better understanding of each other and closure to their feelings on the situation. Instead we got a round-about way of explaining things through interactions with other people and a ton of flashbacks. Poor direction lead to out-of-character moments from Sarawat. There were barely any scenes with the main leads actually together then suddenly we were rushed into the band competition which didn't show much of a competition at all aside from Sarawat's song to Tine with questionable lyrics, a quick and oddly distant "ok we're back together" moment, and then the series ended. And don't even get me started with that high five.
The final episode of the series was like a gift someone wrapped with no real care or thought: Sure they wrapped it up, but there are many holes and when you open the gift to see the final result, you're left speechless because there's literally nothing inside.
ACTING:
Here's where I found much of my criticism if I ignore the directing. Bright and Win are great, but not great as a couple. An couple in love should be able to show their feelings whether they kiss or not, but this was something they couldn't pull off together onscreen. Actors should be able to portray their characters feelings, but it seemed that the actors themselves were outside of their comfort zone when it came to being romantically close and it transferred to the drama itself. While viewers could somewhat sense some distance as the drama progressed, the second half showed just how awkward it really was because their characters now required them to show affection and feelings of love towards each other. Once Sarawat and Tine were in an actual relationship, the little chemistry Bright and Win had started to visibly fall apart at a fast rate. You could tell they weren't comfortable being too close: we were given distant hugs, distant head pats, and the worst of all that high five from hell in the finale (lmao I'm sorry, but I still can't get over it). They were literally in a "long-distance" relationship.
Various climatic scenes that could've been perfect had their been a kiss or hug to highlight their love for each other were poorly executed and fell short because they did nothing but keep their distance. Another distant head pat. Another lets just smile at each other at a distance, or I love you, but let's keep a gap between us. Even the little scenes of Man and Type's speedy relationship in the final episode displayed more closeness and chemistry than Sarawat and Tine. There's nothing wrong with hugs or head pats and regardless of the tv rating, it's the way these gestures were executed that was very distant and lifeless for these two characters who are supposed to be in a romantic relationship.
On a somewhat positive side, I was pleasantly surprised by Win's acting since this is his first drama and I personally feel his performance outmatched Bright's by far, especially when it came to any emotional scenes. Crying? He can do it. Sadness? He can do it. When Tine is happy, he can easily show it. Bright on the other hand, not so much. Any scene that required deep emotions from Sarawat didn't work well which made it difficult to figure out his thoughts or feelings, at least for me. Sarawat has a more serious demeanor than Tine and Bright did well in those scenes, but anything emotionally complex such as sadness seemed difficult for him to portray. There's a scene in the final episode where it seems like he should be crying or looking deeply saddened while he stands in the middle of the road after Tine's departure, but they had him covering his face and even turning his back to the camera to cover up his inability to shed a tear and pull off those emotions.
REWATCH VALUE:
This is not a perfect BL drama, it's lacking in many ways but it's also not as terrible as others are making it seem. I know people are angry, their expecations were really high for a drama so widely watched and talked about. I myself was left bitter and underwhelmed at the end. But it's still a good watch. There's still comedy, handsome characters, sweet scenes of Sarawat serenading Tine with his voice and guitar, and is overall a very light show of romance. Almost invisible even lol If I watched this again, I would ignore most of the 2nd half because those episodes were poorly done. I really like Bright and Win, they made a visually stunning couple, but sadly they couldn't pull off a believable couple in love like I hoped they would. Hopefully they can improve if they ever decide to be in another BL drama, but this drama showed clear proof that they both aren't ready to portray a gay relationship.
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