I was going to make a joke here about how I’m so clever, this is the pilot and proof of concept like Thai bls do, and then I started thinking about how interesting it is that Thai production companies air their pilots to the general public. In American television, that’s generally kept to the shareholders/production company/etc. with maybe a few test audience viewings. It’s an interesting model for generating buzz and gauging interest, especially since unlike with American pilots, these are shows they’ve already decided to make.
In any case, this is in fact my pilot letter. There’s a lot going on in the bl/ql/gl sphere these days, which some people complain about but I think is absolutely magical as someone who grew up clinging to any scrap of queer media I could get my hands on. And most of it was extremely low budget and often fucked up and sad, and I ate it up like candy. Yesterday, I was talking with some friends and going “kids these days” because wow, you can watch entire gay romcoms on YouTube now, and there’s enough that you can actually choose what genre you want to watch. That’s incredible! I don’t get not being grateful for and amazed by that.
Currently Watching (on air)
Jack & Joker: This show continues to be a delight. It loves a trope, but then so do I, and the way it executes them is with the joyous knowledge that it is in fact a trope. I am also still amazed by beautiful it looks!
Kidnap: I still can’t say that I think this show is “good”—it has absolutely batshit pacing, for once thing—but every week I am compelled. Generally I find the action scenes in it mid, although better than a lot of shows; it just suffers massively in comparison to Jack & Joker where they put a lot of effort into the fight scenes. However, the scene this week was so well executed and tense.
I continue to hope Papang gets a man in this show. He looks too handsome not to! They also still have not introduced Tee’s character from what I remember, which is interesting since we’ve officially entered the back half of the series.
Fourever You: I saw a tweet that was like, I’m confused by Ter and Hill’s backstory, it doesn’t make sense, and I was like girl it’s episode 3! The way information has been drip-fed to us about why they separated has been killing me (positive) because part of it is obviously that we’re mostly in Ter’s POV and he doesn’t want to think about it, and also because it’s so clear that the two of them have very different ideas of what happened back then. Pond is so good at face-acting; when it flashed back with Ter being like, “Oh, he had a crush on my sister,” as soon as they cut to his expression I said, “Baby, he never cared about your sister.”
I’m curious how the structure of this show is going to play out; it seems like it might be split into two parts a la Love in the Air, with Hill and Ter being the a couple and Tonfah and Phoom being the b couple in the first half, and Johan and North/Arthit and Daotok in the second half. If so, Director New is truly on his bullshit again (positive) because that’s the Perfect 10 set up too.
Currently Watching (completed)
609 Bedtime Story: I got the WeTV app for reasons (the reason is Love Mechanics, which I’ll get to in a minute), so I’ve been browsing what else is on there and came across this. It’s an odd little story with parallel worlds and also a murder-mystery plotline. The leads decide they’re in love way too fast, which was cracking me up, but since they’re played by Ohm and Fluke from Until We Meet Again, I’m like ah, they’re just soulmates in every universe. I’m about halfway through, and while it’s not incredible, I’m so curious about how it’s going to resolve that I will have to see it through.
Love Mechanics: Jack & Joker got us YinWar pilled, which is why we’re a little over halfway through this show. It’s funny, because so many of the characters in this are insane and make insane decisions, but it looks incredible and Yin and especially War are great. I think if this version had come out a couple of years earlier, like around the time TharnType was released, it might have more dedicated shooters rather than the vast consensus being wow that relationship is unwell. Which is true! But people used to be more tolerant of that I think.
Knock Knock Boys: I remembered that I wanted to check this out while browsing Yuletide Letters. I’m two episodes in, and I do love a stupid friend group, which is very much what this is, and it’s filmed in a fun way. Three sluts and one virgin in a house share together, what can go wrong.
Completed
Cherry Magic (rewatch): I only rewatched part of this with the group that’s been watching it, but it’s been fun dipping in and out again after watching more of Tay and New’s oeuvre. They really did style Tay so handsomely in this show; kudos to the makeup and wardrobe team.
I really do love this adaptation. It’s not complicated or anything, but it’s so sweet and heartfelt. I was laughing though thinking about what Karan’s longterm plan was if Achi hadn’t developed his superpower. Like, was he planning on ever actually making a move, or did he just plan on existing in the periphery of Achi’s life doing kind things for him until he died? It’s probably that second one, which hurts me deeply.
Only Friends (rewatch): This might be the show where I have the most diverging opinions from people on AO3, which is honestly saying a lot. First of all, every time I see the first scene in episode 12, which is filmed and scored like a horror film, I just go, why would anyone want these three men to actually have a threesome? I know why, it’s because they’re all handsome. But the characters—especially Ray—would hate it. It’s amazing to me how many people seem to think Ray is being genuine when he suggests threesomes. I think that might actually be his worst nightmare unless he was the center of attention the entire time, and even then it’s a strong maybe.
I watched this mostly week-to-week when it was airing, so on rewatch its flaws are a lot more obvious. There’s a lot of pacing issues, some of the characters are written really inconsistently, the timeline makes no sense—and yet I’m really glad it exists, because it’s such a different show from everything else GMMTV produces for bls.
Other BL News
I’m intrigued by the slate of shows One31 previewed this week—a historical queer romance (the set looks exactly the same as the one in I Feel You Linger in the Air), a bodyguard romance with Daou and Offroad, and a GL where they don’t both look super high femme? Sign me up!
This was a little over a week ago, but the trailer for Perfect 10 Liners dropped. Some cowards are like, twenty-four episodes? I can’t do this. Whereas I say, six months of what is essentially an ensemble cast college au? Yeah, actually, I do want that. Director New, you’re so on-brand.
I’m particularly enchanted by Santa in this role, as he brings a different kind of sweetness and cuteness than Chimon (who I also love).
The confirmation that Marc and Poon will be playing a couple again made my day.
Junior is maybe playing Perth’s faculty junior, which is completely deranged. That man is 30 years old.
Peaceful Property Corner
Because this is “not a bl”TM I will give this its own section. Director Dome’s recent trolling was to say it’s like The Untamed, so at least he’s getting closer to admitting that Peach and Home are specifically written as a romantic relationship.
While narratively I think it would have been very satisfying for them to kiss in the most recent episode, I do think that adding a romance plot would unbalance the show because you can’t just have them kiss and then ignore it the next week. I mean, I guess you could? But this show is better written than that.
I showed this to a friend yesterday and we got through the first five episodes, which is a lot. It’s got so much rewatch value, both because it’s entertaining and fun to watch, but also because plot and character reveals are all rooted in things that got seeded early on. The thing about this show is that it is, in many ways, extremely predictable because it adheres to genre convention, but even if I can guess what’s going to happen, I am constantly surprised by the execution. And that’s good writing!
Anyway, dear Jeffrey, I am afraid about next week’s episode. Admittedly I’ve felt this way about every episode since episode 5, so that’s not new, but I’m just so ready and also not. Director Dome, get ready to fight me in the pit.
I think in future letters this might be where I include thoughts on a show I’ve finished already, but this was already really long, so I’m going to cut this here and say: we live in a golden age of yaoi. I’ve seen more bl than my fujo foremothers could have dreamed. And kids these days don’t know how good they got it.
urs truly,
hk