Well, that happened.

You know how a lot of BLs have eight episodes-worth of story stretched out to 12 and have 4 totally unnecessary characters that just chew up time? Well, this series has 4 epsiodes of story stretching into 18 with 40 totally unnecessary characters that just chew up time.

So again we have Fluke Natouch paired with a talking mannequin that makes him cry a lot. That's OK, though, because we have the sublimely handsome Peterpan Thasapon and Noh Phouluang, who I had thought was dull because he was in Nitiman, but he's actually really sexy and appealing, and together they make one of the better BL couples I've seen in a while.

So naturally, they're separated for literally half the series and their story is resolved offscreen. This is so frustrating that it's hard to express how much, especially as I had to wade though 9 episodes of utterly static story hoping to get more Rain and Payoo - but nope. They did manage to introduce an entirely new couple in episode 17, but no Rain & Payoo. There are 5 secondary couples. Only one of them gets together.

Nothing in this makes sense. All the characters' lives are perpetually in danger, accentuated with truly OTT music cues, and since you know nothing bad can ever happen to anyone, even if they jump out of an exploding helicopter from 50 meters in the air (this happens), there are no stakes. Ohm's character's brain is bleeding for 9 episodes, and instead of hospitalizing him and having bodyguards protect him, he's dumped in the middle of nowhere for three months to engage in archery and equestrian sports. Is it a good idea to race horses when your brain is bleeding? I don't know - I'm not an expert, but intuitively it feels like a bad idea. Fluke will die unless he eats apples. You know this because whenever he goes without one for too long, he melodramatically clutches his heart and keels over. Or at least that's what I think causes it. He's an uke, so it could be sunlight, or walking, or maybe he didn't dry his hair thoroughly enough.

Speaking of which, we reach a new low this series when an uke manages to cut himself with a butter knife. I'm waiting for one of them to accidentally garotte himself while trying to floss.

Whoever wrote this series doesn't know anything about music, despite it being about musicians. They couldn't even be bothered to get a real cellist - it's all synthesized, and sounds like a casio keyboard from the 1980s.

I think we've gotten to the point in Thai BL where we need some self-examination. Are we really so desperate that we're willing to be exploited like this by productions that aren't even trying anymore? This story is infantile. I'm not exaggerating, it feels like it was written by a 12-year old (no offense to 12-year olds - I realize most of you could have written a better story than this). It's so boring, repetitive, poorly thought-out, overstuffed with characters and endless melodrama that it's just tiring.

Story: 1 - There is one, sort of.
Acting: 5 - This is generous. Peterpan and Noh have a certain presence in the first half. Fluke cries a lot, and Ohm is there. Everyone else is passable and the villainess (the villain of the story is hidden. It's a big mystery. Who could it be?) would be twirling her mustache if she could. She almost literally shouted "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those pesky kids!!!"
Music: 1 - it's awful. Oppressively schmalzy, with overblown dramatic cues, MY brain was bleeding by the end listening to that synthesized cello.
Rewatch value: 3 - There are a lot of hot guys in this, so there are individual scraps I'd watch again.
Overall: 3 - probaby generous, but the first half did have a "so bad it's good" vibe. Then it just got bad.