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Ready, Set, Love thai drama review
Completed
Ready, Set, Love
8 people found this review helpful
by leahaven
Feb 17, 2024
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.5
This review may contain spoilers

Fast, Fun, and Full of Surprising Characters

From the trailer and promo images, you would think this was a bit of comedy fluff but it's actually a dystopian thriller full of character development disguised as a rom-com.

The story is simple on the surface: for some reason there are hardly any men in the world, so the government gathered them all into a place called The Farm and basically raffles a few off every year through a reality competition show called Ready, Set, Love. Our leads are all involved in this show as competitors and production staff, and it becomes clear very quickly that the game is not only rigged, but also hiding some really, really dark truths.

In the middle of this game we have our leads, Day and Son, who trace the path of dislike to friendship to love quickly but with real sweetness. There's several drama tropes thrown at them, but the actors and the story make it all work in an adorable fashion.

Alongside Day we have her best friend, Va, who is working on the show with an ulterior motive. I loved her character and her family's story, sad as it was. Day also deals with two rival competitors, Chanel and Bovy. These two are great - just when I was worried they'd become the typical villainess and airhead friend, they surprised me with complexity and emotional depth. Chanel's story was, to me, especially touching and I was so glad when she got to make her own choice and thrilled by the decision she went with.

Son's friends are the other men who are the prizes in the game show, and three of them (Paper, Almond, and Max) have really interesting stories of their own. It's impossible to praise them much more without major spoilers, but each one had a personal journey that was well written and acted. They each broke my heart a little and their brotherhood was lovely.

My favourite character, though, was Jenny. She's the show runner for the reality game and her story, her relationship with her wife, and her choices throughout the series had me completely entranced. I love, love, love Jenny.

There production values of the show were insane - particularly the reality show competition elements, which were so elaborate. I don't watch that kind of show so I found some of those sequences kind of bizarre, but I appreciated them in how the showcased the characters. I am also new to Thai dramas, so the occasional exaggerated acting was jarring for me but it wasn't too frequent.

I will happily rewatch this show in the future, presumably ahead of the second season that was teased in a little mid-credit scene.
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