Many series that come out of GMMTV fall into the same tropes, conflicts, and story-telling, so I found Moonlight Chicken to be really refreshing.

To start off I really loved the setting. I was happy to see a story featuring the struggles of low income families. This show highlighted Thai culture and current events. I enjoyed the emphasis on family relationships. The dynamic between Gaipa and his mother was so precious, along with the development between Jim, Li Ming, and Jam. I also loved Leng and Praew. Overall the characters were diverse and interesting.

When it comes to relationships, I absolutely loved Heart and Li Ming. Fourth and Gemini did really well in their respective roles, and I was happy to have a Deaf character. They put lots of attention towards Deaf culture, and though it wasn’t perfect, it was 1000x better than most of the stuff I’ve seen. Fourth played the perfect moody teenager while also keeping the sweetness of youth. Heart was also interesting, and their relationship definitely was the perfect coupling to go with the rest of the story.

I thought Earth and Mix did really well with their roles. This show has shown how much they have both grown as actors. I could tell what they were thinking just through their expressions and actions, though this is also due to having a solid script and good director.
I don’t have many complaints with the casting for Jim. Despite Earth not being able to pull off being any older than 35, he was able to communicate the character well. Maybe Jim has just applied daily sunscreen since a young age. Wen was the perfect foil for Jim, and I liked how Wen was able to be the bridge between Jim and Li Ming.
Wen and Jim’s relationship didn’t strike me as anything special, and the pacing of their relationship felt a beat off. I think that Wen really carried the interest in their relationship, and Jim was a little on the boring side. I hardly care because their chemistry was through the roof.

There are some aspects that I feel could have been improved. After watching the trailer, I was fully expecting a cheating story and relationships full of adult problems. Though personally I don’t care that this plot was likely cut out to appeal to a larger audience, my main problem with it was that it sidelined First and Khaotung’s characters. Khaotung’s character suffered lesser consequences from this, and I absolutely loved him as Gaipa. I liked Alan, but I was a little underwhelmed at times. He had good moments towards the end of the series, but he was brought in too late.
The pacing was slightly off as some tensions were resolved too early, and some conflicts were brought in too late.

The production was better than your average GMMTV series, and I appreciated how they put effort into making the show look good and have an atmosphere. I thought the first episode was lovely, but the quality started to falter at times throughout the rest of the series. Some scenes looked amazing, but some were too dark. I thought the soundtrack was much better than usual, and far less repetitive than some other shows. Now GMMTV has a tendency to have really crappy mics and sound-mixing (looking at you The Eclipse..). This show was better than usual, but not perfect. Also I wish they had subtitles for the signing.

Overall a good watch, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.