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labcat
This review may contain spoilers
Interesting time loop BL
The question in my mind when I started watching this series: you mean this is a TWELVE-episode series about a doctor who has to keep going back in time until he saves this person. (Won't it get boring by Ep 2? And how on earth do you have BL if the protagonist is just going back in time to do something different to save the person in the ER?
Expectedly, the only way to avoid repetitions with few possible variations is for the doctor to go back to different points in time. And the ostensible mission he's given is modified: it may not really be about saving this one guy he doesn't even really care about at first.
Yet, the series surprises with rather nuanced characterization. The characters seem a bit different from one loop to another, showing how slight changes to one's experiences can have significant changes to one's values and character. There is a lot of fun in the time loop premise, but the series avoids being frivolous. Ultimately, it seems to be saying that, unlike the characters, we don't have multiple chances to try again in life and it is important to do what is right--a bit of kindness can change everything for the better while a moment of callousness can make everything turn out unexpectedly terrible.
It takes quite a few episodes to get to the BL. I think this is evidence of confidence that the story is good enough to draw audiences in even without the BL. No one finds it necessary to make the lead actors bare skin or have a kissing scene in Episode 1 when the story doesn't call for it (compare this with series in which someone dreams of or fantasizes about a kiss in Ep 1 just so that there is a kissing scene to titillate the audience).
While the main characters are flawed, they need to be characters we care enough about before the time loops can be interesting. And this is deftly handled. Dr Tin has a back story and his character changes as he undergoes the time loops--from trying to save Tol just so that he can get out of the time loops, he becomes someone who genuinely cares. The story also becomes more intriguing as Dr Tin discovers more things each time he returns to the past. The stakes also get higher with each return to the past, so there is a lot to keep us watching.
Triage may not seem exceptional at first, but it is certainly one of the more unusual Thai ELs. Don't be deceived by the hospital setting. For a story with a strong supernatural element, the medical drama parts are surprisingly good (at least to someone who doesn't have much medical knowledge like me). But this isn't just another BL featuring a doctor.
Expectedly, the only way to avoid repetitions with few possible variations is for the doctor to go back to different points in time. And the ostensible mission he's given is modified: it may not really be about saving this one guy he doesn't even really care about at first.
Yet, the series surprises with rather nuanced characterization. The characters seem a bit different from one loop to another, showing how slight changes to one's experiences can have significant changes to one's values and character. There is a lot of fun in the time loop premise, but the series avoids being frivolous. Ultimately, it seems to be saying that, unlike the characters, we don't have multiple chances to try again in life and it is important to do what is right--a bit of kindness can change everything for the better while a moment of callousness can make everything turn out unexpectedly terrible.
It takes quite a few episodes to get to the BL. I think this is evidence of confidence that the story is good enough to draw audiences in even without the BL. No one finds it necessary to make the lead actors bare skin or have a kissing scene in Episode 1 when the story doesn't call for it (compare this with series in which someone dreams of or fantasizes about a kiss in Ep 1 just so that there is a kissing scene to titillate the audience).
While the main characters are flawed, they need to be characters we care enough about before the time loops can be interesting. And this is deftly handled. Dr Tin has a back story and his character changes as he undergoes the time loops--from trying to save Tol just so that he can get out of the time loops, he becomes someone who genuinely cares. The story also becomes more intriguing as Dr Tin discovers more things each time he returns to the past. The stakes also get higher with each return to the past, so there is a lot to keep us watching.
Triage may not seem exceptional at first, but it is certainly one of the more unusual Thai ELs. Don't be deceived by the hospital setting. For a story with a strong supernatural element, the medical drama parts are surprisingly good (at least to someone who doesn't have much medical knowledge like me). But this isn't just another BL featuring a doctor.
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