Sai Lohit (2018)

I knew what I was getting into when I began watching this, and somewhat I didn't. I didn't know how it was going to end. I found out about the ending three episodes in. I don't want to be blatantly obvious but it's a tragedy for a reason.

For people who may be a little confused, this is a war drama that has romance in it. Not a romance drama that has war in it. There is a difference. What's something that needs more consideration is that it is based on true events. This is a part of Thailand's history. A very dark history. Thus, it's alright that this drama isn't peaches and cream.

To make it easier for you to read, I'll point out things that I liked and didn't like in this drama below.

THINGS I LIKED:
> History.
I liked the fact that it was based on true events. This allowed me to learn more about Thailand, it's culture and where the country and its people have come from now.

> A decent flow in plot.
Since it was based on true events, the sequences of events were well put together.

> THE OST.
I'll be honest, I'd give this drama a 7 or a 7.5 because of the female lead and the length but this OST always pulls it back up. The melody and the lyrics. It made me cry. I could definitely see a soldier singing it to his family or his wife.

> The female lead's grandmother.
What a fine woman.

THINGS I DID NOT LIKE:

> 16 episodes seems too lengthy to be quite honest, the flow of the PLOT was decent but it could have been equally well put in a 12-14 episode drama. A lot of the female lead's angle could have been cut off.

> The female lead.
All she ever did was cry. It was very irritating. There was not a single ounce of special quality in her except her good looks, and if there was it was not focused on. She literally cried all the time. That's what she did. Even though her grandmother taught her how to read fate, she couldn't even do that well. Honestly, I wouldn't have been disappointed if the female lead wasn't given attention or an angle in this drama. Actually, I would have appreciated it. I wish she was half as strong and mature as her grandmother was though. I really wish.

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I have been waiting for years for someone to sub the old version with Kob, but as that might never come to fruition, I gave this remake a go. Unfortunately, other then a pretty decent story, it had nothing to offer.

Acting
I could not stomach the FL, she delivered such a deadpan expression throughout the show and it was so bland watching her perform. Due to this, the FL seemed really weak and naive. I can see where one might argue that the character was written this way as this is a period lakorn and historically females were deemed to be gentle and nurturing, she had to act that way. But even that type of character can have their own strength, you only need to see how the grandma acted to get what I mean by a strong gentle female. In contrast, the FL never achieved that strength of character one would expect of this type of story arc where we see a character grow from youth to adult. I really hoped that the FL did some sort of accomplishment that made her stand out as lead and not just a love interest for the male lead. The younger version of the FL, however, did a phenomenal job and brought the character to life so much more.

The ML was a bit more involved in the story, whereas the FL was just enduring everything that was happening. He moved the story forward with his actions or reacted to events in a much more interesting way for me as an audience.

Supporting characters did a really good job, especially the grandma. cd

Chemistry:
The ML and FL had little to no chemistry. The show had a lot of intimate scenes, but none of them garnered any cute/otp/excited emotion from me. I was hoping to see some koojin magic (as I know would have been the case with the Kob and Num version, they literally ooze chemistry every time they are on screen together).

Story:
The history aspect of the show was not too interesting for me. I have watched other Thai shows like Nueng Dao Fah Diew, which actually take place in the same time period, so I knew the gist of what was happening and even what the final result of all the battles will be. As such, it made me lose interest in the war and the subsequent events related to it.
At EP 15 I thought the resolution was short, but after watching EP 16, I realized what short really meant. The show kept hinting that there was more story to come, especially with all the talk of the swords needing to be brought together. Also, the way the FL just walked around in the last episode listing things she needed to do just added to my dislike of her character. She was supposed to be the pillar for the family now, yet even at this late in the show we never get to see her actually /doing/ anything. She's still thinking about ways to make a living, I really hoped the director/screenwriter actually showed us, the audience, how she was able to do the things she wanted.

All in all, I don't think I will ever rewatch this show. Comparing this to Bhupphe Saniwaat, this falls wayyy short of my expectations. Even though the story is more 'epic' in the sense of war etc, this show couldn't pull me in.

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