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This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans thai drama review
Completed
This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans
0 people found this review helpful
by puwupy
Sep 28, 2024
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

More fun than expected

I already guessed from the trailer that this would be a comedy of some sort, but I wasn't expecting to have this much fun.

The plot revolves around a cooking competition where the winner will become the new owner of Chef Oab's stir-fried basil restaurant. Plawan is a model with a passion for stir-fried basil who is having trouble making ends meet, so he makes a deal with the rich businessman Methas: if he wins the competition, he will give Methas the restaurant for a big sum of money, and Methas will be able to do whatever he pleases with the property. Chef Oab, however, hates Methas with a passion, and he is on high alert against anyone he suspects to be allied with him. Plawan needs to learn how to cook and win all the challenges prepared by Chef Oab, all without raising his suspicions.

I'm not a big fan of plots that revolve around scams, but this one made it work by making the entire situation very lively and entertaining from the get-go. Plawan is silly, but his energy really made me root for him despite everything; his attraction to Chef Oab and his scent also made me look forward for when Plawan would finally win him over.
The plot is fun, but it has the flaw of not being very believable. I don't have issues with plots that are unlikely to come true in real life, but I had to suspend my disbelief for more than one aspect of the story and ignore a couple of plot holes. The pacing, on the other hand, is very good! I always appreciate it when the directors are aware of how much space they have for the episodes and are able to use it well. I didn't feel like any part of the story was dragging for too long, nor did anything feel rushed.
It's a story that mainly relies on the character dynamics and the events around them rather than character introspection, so don't expect much to be discovered about anyone's likes and dislikes, but it does its job well. The growing attraction between Plawan and Oab is not only believable, but very visible, and I was happy to see that as a couple they are never shy with skinship, breaking the usual dynamics of BL couples in other series. The unexpected pairing of Methas and JJ also worked great, although it probably had less sparks flying than the main couple. Last but not least, the friendships! I really like how Plawan and JJ felt like real best friends - something that is often neglected in BLs.

I didn't watch with many expectations, so maybe that's why I enjoyed this series so much and felt like being this generous with my ranking. I still want to recommend it to whoever is looking for something fun, light, and moderately spicy to watch.
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