This review may contain spoilers
Just a porn parody trying to be edge
Playboyy is a camp series. They want to be dark, edge and sexy, but the script is too bad to allow that. And the worst of all is that the story has immense potential and could easily be one of the best BLs ever made. But that's not the case.
The biggest problem here is the lack of development. The script (for a 14-hour series) is extremely rushed and does not allow for in-depth analysis of the characters. It's a series that wants to address very complex issues such as sexual harassment, prostitution, murder, trafficking and addictions, but the characters and their motivations are too shallow.
The entire mystery plot surrounding Nant's disappearance (a character we only see in 2 or 3 scenes) is promising, but investigation boils down to Noth accusing people without proof and torturing prostitutes. The discoveries are all random and the plot never advances, which makes everything even more confusing.
All the relationships and the problems arising from them are equally shallow and unrealistic, in part because the characters look at each other, talk dirty and are having sex. Two scenes later they are in love, but the series doesn't bother to show it. There is no sexual tension, no flirting, no tension or sense of danger in the mystery, no nuance. Everything here is raw, played out on screen and explored in an extremely dramatic and obvious way.
Each episode has around 5 to 6 sex scenes that are terrible. It's like watching a porn parody and the attempt to do something daring gives the impression that these scenes were created by a teenager who just discovered pornography.
It's exhausting to follow a series where 95% of the content is sex scenes or bad dialogue that revolves around sex. It's a script extremely obsessed with its own theme. The prostitutes are there to show off their bodies and that's all the series allows them. The students are spoiled and almost all of them are committing a crime or being toxic and whiny.
Zouey and Teena are a couple that happens very quickly and after the fifth episode they practically serve no purpose in the plot. And the entire final plot with Zouey doesn't make sense, maybe it would work if the series showed the relationship between them, but that never happens.
First and Soong give us the worst representation of BDSM I have ever seen. They have a relationship that starts from nothing, there is no construction whatsoever and the First being so spoiled, cruel and selfish only makes things worse.
Captain and Keen have something interesting there at the beginning. But everything goes wrong when they have Captain lying, recording and exposing Keen's sextapes and still coming out as the lovelorn sufferer.
Porsche and Jump is another random couple that adds nothing to the plot. Porsche blackmailing and harassing Jump and his relationship with Mr. Lee just means nothing in the narrative.
Puen and Aob are by far the most interesting couple. But the characters are too shallow. At no point does the series attempt to bring any critical thought about prostitution or social inequality. The entire psychological and sentimental aspect is left aside, which makes any social criticism present in the series and these characters null and void.
Phop and Nuth is another couple that I don't care much about. There is a violent presentation of Phop, a construction that there is something wrong with him, but this is soon abandoned and Nuth is there. Even the final plot with him is something that only the screenwriters will be able to explain, because there was no logic in the plot.
And finally we have Nont and Prom. A couple with no chemistry and that shouldn't even exist. Nont is looking for his brother, but that soon turns into him having sex with other men to find out information. Prom is a dull character and the final revelation that he knew everything (the fake suicide tape and the dog mask) just makes their entire arc so pointless.
The series even gets better from the 7th episode onwards and continues to grow interestingly. The photography is solid and has beautiful scenes with stylish lighting, the script has surprising twists and despite some average performances, all the actors have a lot of charisma.
But the final episodes sink the plot again and show the screenwriter and director's inability to connect all the plots and deliver scenes of tension and danger. There is no responsibility for the atrocities committed by the characters, Nont's plan is something so silly and the revelations are just confusing. The editing does nothing for this series, the way they put a supposed suicide scene followed by a sex scene is just an example of how bad it is.
The unresolved ending and the promise (threat, in this case) of a second season is the proof this series as a huge disappointment and waste of time.
What remains are sex scenes without chemistry, a convoluted script, problematic and poorly constructed characters, countless scenes of men in padded underwear and an attempt to create a mystery BL that results in a sleazy porn script.
For those who just want to see men making out, enjoy. But to everyone else, stay away from this series. A complete waste of time.
The biggest problem here is the lack of development. The script (for a 14-hour series) is extremely rushed and does not allow for in-depth analysis of the characters. It's a series that wants to address very complex issues such as sexual harassment, prostitution, murder, trafficking and addictions, but the characters and their motivations are too shallow.
The entire mystery plot surrounding Nant's disappearance (a character we only see in 2 or 3 scenes) is promising, but investigation boils down to Noth accusing people without proof and torturing prostitutes. The discoveries are all random and the plot never advances, which makes everything even more confusing.
All the relationships and the problems arising from them are equally shallow and unrealistic, in part because the characters look at each other, talk dirty and are having sex. Two scenes later they are in love, but the series doesn't bother to show it. There is no sexual tension, no flirting, no tension or sense of danger in the mystery, no nuance. Everything here is raw, played out on screen and explored in an extremely dramatic and obvious way.
Each episode has around 5 to 6 sex scenes that are terrible. It's like watching a porn parody and the attempt to do something daring gives the impression that these scenes were created by a teenager who just discovered pornography.
It's exhausting to follow a series where 95% of the content is sex scenes or bad dialogue that revolves around sex. It's a script extremely obsessed with its own theme. The prostitutes are there to show off their bodies and that's all the series allows them. The students are spoiled and almost all of them are committing a crime or being toxic and whiny.
Zouey and Teena are a couple that happens very quickly and after the fifth episode they practically serve no purpose in the plot. And the entire final plot with Zouey doesn't make sense, maybe it would work if the series showed the relationship between them, but that never happens.
First and Soong give us the worst representation of BDSM I have ever seen. They have a relationship that starts from nothing, there is no construction whatsoever and the First being so spoiled, cruel and selfish only makes things worse.
Captain and Keen have something interesting there at the beginning. But everything goes wrong when they have Captain lying, recording and exposing Keen's sextapes and still coming out as the lovelorn sufferer.
Porsche and Jump is another random couple that adds nothing to the plot. Porsche blackmailing and harassing Jump and his relationship with Mr. Lee just means nothing in the narrative.
Puen and Aob are by far the most interesting couple. But the characters are too shallow. At no point does the series attempt to bring any critical thought about prostitution or social inequality. The entire psychological and sentimental aspect is left aside, which makes any social criticism present in the series and these characters null and void.
Phop and Nuth is another couple that I don't care much about. There is a violent presentation of Phop, a construction that there is something wrong with him, but this is soon abandoned and Nuth is there. Even the final plot with him is something that only the screenwriters will be able to explain, because there was no logic in the plot.
And finally we have Nont and Prom. A couple with no chemistry and that shouldn't even exist. Nont is looking for his brother, but that soon turns into him having sex with other men to find out information. Prom is a dull character and the final revelation that he knew everything (the fake suicide tape and the dog mask) just makes their entire arc so pointless.
The series even gets better from the 7th episode onwards and continues to grow interestingly. The photography is solid and has beautiful scenes with stylish lighting, the script has surprising twists and despite some average performances, all the actors have a lot of charisma.
But the final episodes sink the plot again and show the screenwriter and director's inability to connect all the plots and deliver scenes of tension and danger. There is no responsibility for the atrocities committed by the characters, Nont's plan is something so silly and the revelations are just confusing. The editing does nothing for this series, the way they put a supposed suicide scene followed by a sex scene is just an example of how bad it is.
The unresolved ending and the promise (threat, in this case) of a second season is the proof this series as a huge disappointment and waste of time.
What remains are sex scenes without chemistry, a convoluted script, problematic and poorly constructed characters, countless scenes of men in padded underwear and an attempt to create a mystery BL that results in a sleazy porn script.
For those who just want to see men making out, enjoy. But to everyone else, stay away from this series. A complete waste of time.
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