Être doté d’une capacité « hors du commun » te permettra-t-il d’être heureux ?
J’ai regardé ce drama peu de temps après avoir vu « Blacklist ». C’est pourquoi, je m’attendais à un départ rapide de l’histoire… Ce qui n’est pas arrivé, j’ai donc failli abandonner au cours du 3ème épisode. Cependant, Je lui ai laissé une chance et finalement, durant l’épisode 4, j’ai fini par accrocher. (Comme quoi, il ne faut jamais désespérer XD !)Alors de quoi parle ce drama :
Une école élitiste pratiquant une scission des classes de 8 à 1 afin de donner un « grade » aux étudiants. Ce grade détermine comment sera ta vie au sein de l’établissement. (Le niveau 8 étant, bien entendu, le plus bas.)
Au milieu de cette guerre, pour arriver au plus haut niveau, se trouve les « Gifted » considérés comme plus haut que toutes les classes… Ceux-ci possèdent, aux yeux de leurs camarades, tous ce qu’ils pourraient désirer… Mais que se passe-t-il réellement dernier les murs du « Gifted » ?
Thématiques principales de l’histoire :
• Un placement scolaire géré comme un système de « Castes » : Cette histoire est centrée sur un système de castes, les avantages étant plus important pour les personnes se trouvant dans les catégories les plus élevées. (Ce système cause des problèmes fondamentaux : les étudiants n’ont pas les mêmes droits, une disparité sociale évidente, une forme de violence psychologique & morale envers les élèves se trouvant dans les classes les plus basses…)
• La corruption : Le directeur n’a pour but que de favoriser une catégorie d’étudiants (les Gifted) afin d’obtenir de plus en plus de subsides et d’être reconnu comme étant à la tête de personnes « vouées » à diriger le monde.
• Des capacités hors du commun : Les Gifted sont des personnes possédants des sens plus « aiguisés » que le commun des mortels. (On parle d’ailleurs d’une approche scientifique dans l’histoire afin d’améliorer leur compétence de base.)
Malgré un démarrage difficile lors de mon visionnage, j’ai fini par apprécier suivre cette bande d’étudiants & de découvrir leurs joies & leurs peines mais également les travers de leurs différentes capacités. Cependant, je dois avouer avoir eu du mal avec la fin ^^’. (Le fait qu’elle soit ouverte n’est pas vraiment un problème quand on sait qu’il y a une saison 2 mais au départ, je comptais m’arrêter après la première x’D)
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Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Thai Series became more diversified!
Well, 2018 is the year where Thai series became globalized. We have many Thai series on Netflix now and GMM, before better known for light hearted and cheesy romantic comedies, dared to make an audacious decision: invest in diversified genres and try to open up to the international community. The Gifted is the best example of the good results that they've got so far.First of all, I have to congratulate the writters and the directors. The plot is smart, refreshing and stylish. The tensions and characters are slowly and progressively built, teasing the audience and making us keep watching. The season is divided in two parts. The first one introduces the characters and their habilities while the second portion focus on the secret of the school. Although I understand the reasons they did it, I felt that excepting Pang, Wave and Nantaan, the other characters almost devanished during the second part of the season. We know that all of them were there, but it seemed they became just secondary characters. Probably they were expecting to make another season and the development of those characters will happen on season two.
Speaking about the characters, I have to say that I loved them, specially Pang, Wave, Nantaan and Ohm. Pang is the classic good guy, the hero whose qualities include idealism, courage and morality; while Wave is the charming antihero who is lonely and seeks for friends. Albeit I loved both guys, I feel that they were more effective in creating Chimon's character. Wave's episode showed us his history before the school and made us sympathize with him. Knowing about what that teacher made to him in the past humanized him. Strangely, we don't have a single moment in this series where we can see Pang's life before or outside the school. Why is he so heroic? It is a mystery the show could unravel in the next season. Of course we know the school made Pang loses his best friend, which is a good reason to make him hate the school system, but it does not explain everything. Even before that, Pang was already idealistic and we don't know why. In order to humanize him a bit more, we should know about his past, his motivations, maybe the next season should explore his friendship with Nic when they were kids.
Some people even say that Wave and Pang could date. Well, I generally don't like when BL fans try to put BL plots in every Thai series. In this case, however, I would like to say that a relationship between them, although not a requisite, would be interesting. They made a really good team. During the first part of the season, I thought Pang, Ohm and Nantaam would emulate the classical Harry Potter-kind trio, where there is a male heroic protagonist, a smart girl and a playful boy (Yes, Pang as Harry, Nantaam as Hermione and Ohm as Rony). But after Pang and Wave made a deal, they became closer and I liked a lot their interactions. They could be a great couple if the story chooses a realistic approach instead of a cheesy romance. I would love to see WavePang and NantaamOhm becoming true, but I am OK if it does not happen. The story is good enough withou any romance.
Speaking about the acting, I liked everyone, but I have to say that the three best performances, in my opinion, goes to Bird Wanchana Sawasdee as the director; Katreeya English as professor Ladda; and Gun Atthaphan as Pun. They all made me deeply believe they were not characters, but real persons. Bird was able to be evil without stereotypes, specially when he was smiling. Khun Ladda, despite being a strict teacher, was charismatic in a strange way. I felt bad when she was fired like she was one of the good guys. Technically, she was not. But she was not evil too. Looking forward to see more about her in the future. I hope she will be back next season and we can see more about her past. Finally, Gun Attapphan deserved an oscar for his acting on episode 5.
About the potencials, although I realize that Ohm, Pang, Wave and Pun are the most "powerfull", Nantaam's potencial is my favorite. I am historian. The past is something alive for me. Having her potencial could make me discover so much things about the past. I could go to Egypt, touch the pyramids and discover how they were built! Can you imagine that? I could go to India, touch the Bodhi Tree and discover how Buddha's face looked like. Maybe go to Jerusalem and make the same thing with Jesus. I could discover who killed Kennedy! This would be fucking cool. I even have a heroine nickname for her: The Historian.
About the plot, I still wanna say that the school seems to me a metaphor of Thai society nowadays. The country is facing a military dictatorship for years and a small group of people rules all the nation from the top of the pyramid. For me, Pang is like the thai activists who wanna take down all the corrupted, unequal and authoritarian Thai political system and make everybody equal and free. Like the director, the Thai dictators persecute the ones who fight for justice. Chanon, the studends who got injured by the experiments and that girl who was killed by a gifted student; all of them represent many activists who have been jailed or killed by the Thai military. The school system separate students by their grades and force them to compete each other. The competition between the students is a strategy used by the system to distract them from fighting the unjustice. It is the same thing that happens in Thai society, where the struggle between Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts (if you don't know, google it) made the military dictatorship possible. At the end of the first season, we see that Pang left a video for their fellows, begging them to use their privileges to fight the system, not to collaborate with it. I see that video as a call for fighting against authoritarianism. It is a beautiful message of hope in a country needing it desperately.
There are more things I would like to say, but I think I have written too much. Thx for everyone who have read everything! See you next year!
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Let me begin that what I really like about this series is that it is fantasy, science fiction based story that didn't used Computer Generated Images or Computer graphics with blue/green screen behind. They utilizes editing, lighting and cinematography that can rival any sci-fi/fantasy series/movies out there. Even with a better with some movies/series in the same category.
What I also like about this is that the series was able to showcase a student's potential dedicating an episode for each, except of course ... I don't want to spoil, and culminates towards the end of the series. It gave depth and richness to each and every character.
The symbolism in each character's background and potential that you can relate to real life situation. Like Wave, being smart doesn't always make you to be on the top. One way or the other, you will need someone's help. Namtarn, no matter how hard to try to forget something in your past, there will still be a way to catch up with you in the present. Ohm, when the world seems to be against you, it doesn't hurt so smile and be happy. Punn, there's a demon in every one of us that we battle every day to keep it at bay and the strive to be the best in whatever field we want to. Claire, that we can not please everyone and people will drag you down on your way to the top. Korn, for some, it can be consider a gift but for others, a curse; and the risk of trusting someone too much that that person could actually hurt in you the most unimaginable ways. Mon, sacrifices are need to be made for other's sake.
It makes you wonder, given a potential, what are you going to do with it? Will you use it to better the system, the society? Or make use of it for your own gains and advantage. I will end this part for I will borrow Spiderman's line, "With great powers, come with great responsibility."
ACTING/CAST
I will review them on how they progress/mature by giving what series I HAVE WATCHED before and how did they do in this series.
Sing (Ohm) - Love Sick, Slam Dance, My Dear Loser.
For me is the most versatile actor among the cast but under-rated. I saw him in Love Sick how he potrayed a confused boy, unsure of himself. In Slam Dance, he is more of a serious, headstorng character. In My Dear Loser, showed his jovial, goofy and happy-go-lucky side. In this series, he took his acting on a different and upgraded level in the episode where his potential was focused. Still the joyful, happy-go-lucky, serious, angry and cried. His character in this series is not stereotype of being goofy, which by the way I like about him, but showed a serious side too.
Fiat (Korn) - Slam Dance, SOTUS S.
It feels like that he is being stereotype as being a longer, anti-social character as evident in the previous 2 series that I watched and as well as in this. But no way that he is less effective in portraying that character.
Chimon (Wave) - My Dear Loser.
One of the versatile actor of the series. In My Dear Loser, he was able to show how docile, vulnerable and gentle he can be. But in this series, his played a character that is way different. A laser focused, goal-oriented and confident character. And given these two series, I am definitely looking forward as he renew his role as Sun.
Jane (Claire) - My Dear Loser.
As I watched My Dear Loser, right there and then I knew that I can see her in a queen bee role. Admire by many, envy by many too. And I was not disappointed with her acting in this series as it confirms my suspicion.
Plumek (Mon) - My Dear Loser, SOTUS.
In her role as Ainam in My Dear Loser and in SOTUS are can be easily forgotten, perhaps she was not given enough airtime to showcase her acting skill. What I like her about in this series is how she looks. A boyish type of girl especially in her action and looks. After all, given the club she is in, it is a must. She was able to give justice with her role.
Victor (Pom) - Water Boyy the series.
When he appeared in the very first episode, I was really surprised and made me excited. Comparing his role as Min in Water Boyy where his role appears to be just chasing after girls. He was able to showcase a more matured role and was able to live up to it. Guiding the Gifted students to be the best in what they can be.
Lilly (Namtarn) - None.
I haven't seen any series she appeared before so I can only based her acting in this series alone. She played the role of Namtarn pretty darn good. A nerd, weak girl that is loyal to her friends that is willing to do antying for them.
Nanon (Pang) - My Dear Loser.
In his role as the dorky Oh that has the potential to be cool, ravishing and handsome guy in My Dear Loser. I am not surprise that he was able to carry the lead of the series. Charming, adorable and serious type of role suits his face and acting too. And his cry is credible enough for me to believe that he is actually hurting. An acting that "acts" like a glue for the Gifted class and that of a true leader.
What I am really looking for acting is not just how they deliver their own lines, but with the corresponding facial expression that gives you what their are really feeling that time. And every one of the cast was able to send those emotions across.
Lastly, all of them brought their acting skill in a new, higher and better level.
MUSIC
The opening score will definitely set your mood into something that you need to focus on. Every detail, every line they speak. I get this vibe that this is about mystery and not so much of suspense. The sound effects too is spot on, especially when Wave is using his potential.
REWATCH VALUE
Unfortunately, once you gone through the series, from start to finish, there is really little need to rewatch it, not unless you know that there will be a season 2 for this. Since by the end, you know all of the gifted's potential, and you can already anticipate the "surprise".
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Before I get into the cons (which I'm sure is what most people are interested), I will say that overall, I think it's solid and didn't regret watching it at all. It kept me interested and did not have any overbearing flaws, so although I will get into the cons, just overall do note I enjoyed the drama and would give it a recommend.
First, I think the story is nothing special. It's not bad by any means, hence the 6/10, but it's hardly anything to write home about. Actually, I think the episodic story-structure is very similar to most modern Thai school dramas, except it's a little bit more polished. Similar to many Thai dramas I've watched, you can pretty accurately guess the direction of the episode 5-10 minutes in, but unlike other Thai dramas, this one is supported by actual messages it's trying to send and keeps you decently hooked.
Second, I think the cast in general is poorly designed / utilized. Although they have well-defined personalities and great actors/actresses behind them, a lot of the cast is absent for most of the series (due to the episodic structure only focusing on the main characters + character of the story), and their abilities range widely in utility. It's very clear when you watch the show who has better abilities and whose abilities are too niche for much use. In particular, the main character seems too crafty and suffers from "protagonist knows more than he/she should", which kind of hurts the plot imo.
Third, and this may be my misinterpretation gone wrong, but I fundamentally disagreed with the message the show tried to send at the finale. Not because I thought it didn't hold merit, because it did hold merit and was shown before, but because I thought it was inconsistent with the characters. I just didn't believe the characters would make that choice in the end, and it left me feeling very unsatisfied.
Despite these flaws, I still give this show a recommend. A lot of my problems with it were only realized after I watched the show, which means during the show these problems shouldn't be too irritating.
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STORY: The story itself is really interesting and really enjoyable for everyone who is interested in supernatural stuff. I recommended it to my friend who is really into supernatural shows and she loved it a lot as well. Plus to the fact that the plot is interesting, it's pretty unique as well. If you succeed in portraying it in the right way then it's an amazing show.
ACTING/CAST: There are a lot of known actors from GMMTV and that's good cause it gets people interested in the show more, not just for the story but for the actors as well. There are also some that are not so known but then again they get as much spotlight as the others. The cast is something that's the most important to a good story. If the story and the script are great but you get some shitty actors, then the show is not gonna be great. For these series, in my opinion, the cast is one of the best choices.
MUSIC: Loved the theme song at the end and the dramatical music was just the right. I usually don't like when there's a lot of dramatic music involved cause in most cases it makes the whole thing seem cringey but since the shots were great, thanks to the director, the music didn't take away the feel but added it to the extreme.
REWATCH VALUE: The thing is...this is a show that is really fun to binge watch or patiently wait for a new episode every week but, at least for me, I wouldn't be able to rewatch it many times and still love it as much as I do after the first time. I still gave this a 10 cause it is really enjoyable and interesting and I will 100% rewatch it at some point.
OVERALL: All I wanna say is that this show is for sure something that you could recommend to your friends even if they are not interested in Asian drama series. The story is really worth it and it's enjoyable to watch. For sure the best series I have seen this year and the best series that GMMTV has produced in a long time.
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Though the show does take a slow start with each of the cast getting an episode to explore their character, it is by no means boring. These episodes for each character not only let us connect with the character, but also lays out the ground work for later episodes. I'll let you know now, that as the series progressed; I was edging closer to the end of my seat. There was not a dull moment, and at no time were my eye's not glued to the screen. The music only added to the suspense making it that much more intense.
The acting of the cast is truly incredible. The stand outs for me were Gun and Chimon. Gun's character of Punn really does showcase his 10 years experience with the particular role he has taken on (I would elaborate but no spoilers), while Chimon was a complete slap in the face. I have seen him previously in other dramas, but I have never seen him take on such a serious character before with internal battles. His betrayal of intensity vs vulnerability was exquisite.
Chimon's and Nanon's acting complimented each other well as they played opposite each other a fair amount of time. Their real life friendship and chemistry definitely evident on screen; though they were actually at odds for a fair amount of the show.
Overall I can only sing high praises for the series, I hope more people choose to watch this show. GMMTV is known for their BL series and have a large BL fanbase, but I do hope more people take the time to explore their other shows. The Gifted is such a rare hidden gem that it makes me sad to think that so many people are missing out on such a show. I'm crossing my fingers for a season two since GMM left the ending open to a S2. Let's all wait and hope for the best.
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Masterpiece!
If this series were English, I'd probably be international hit.I can't even think of anything bad about this drama. Like, it was 100% perfect.
In brief,
PLOT:
I won't say much about it, because it's the best when you watch not knowing anything. But I have to say that each episode is very interesting, it shows and develops many characters, so you won't be easily bored. And also be prepared for emotional rollercoaster!
ACTING:
It's also brilliant... If you are not familiar with Thai dramas you might find some characters pretty annoying, but it's just the way it is and I won't complain about it. There are also products placements, but Korean dramas have them too.
I watched it 2 times and I was enjoying it even more when re-watching...
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Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
MY CURRENT FAVORITE THAI SERIES!!!
!!spoilers are at the very end of my review!!okkkk get ready for a rant about how much i love this series!!!
STORY/PLOT:
- oh man! this series is just a whole rollercoaster ride with many twists and up & down moments! the plot is the key to it, it makes the series so intriguing and interesting to watch! to be honest, i'm not a big fan of thriller dramas but i have a big soft spot for supernatural dramas, which is the reason why i started watching this series. even if you're not a big thriller fan like me, you'll definitely enjoy this! the plot knows how to lure the viewers with its distinct way of telling the uniqueness of the story! i also love the way each character's ability are told, used and symbolize in their own stories!
ACTING/CAST:
can i just say something real quick? how are all the characters so likable even if they're not at the same time? like every single one of them is! ughh i just love all my babies so much!
Nanon Korapat Kirdpan as Pang (Mind Control) - alright...i'm not going to lie to you, but Nanon is the actual reason why i watched this series (i just love him so much uwu) and of course, he never disappoints me with his acting! whenever he cried, i also wanted to cry and give him a big hug! Pang's characteristics fit Nanon so well, sometimes playful and funny but mostly serious and cool.
Chimon Wachirawit Ruangwiwat as Wave (Electrokinesis) - even though, i love Nanon and his character so much, Wave has to be my favorite character! almost every character in this series went through character development, but Wave's character went through the biggest and i love seeing his development throughout! also, i am still shiook about how different Chimon can be in this series, it's so weird seeing him play a jerk-ish character after all the gentle and friendly characters he played!
Lilly Apichaya Thongkham as Namtarn (Be able to see the past of an object or person by touch) - oh yess, my second favorite girl (you'll see my first later on hehe)! she's such a nerdy and kinda badass girl, because she just isn't afraid and so brave, despite the fact that if she uses her power a lot, her health will weaken and she'll pass out. she's also loyal and seems like a very good friend who would do anything for them! and i also smell a bit of her having a crush on Pang...
Sing Harit Cheewagaroon as Ohm (Make thing or people disappear by touch) - this guy is basically one of those optimistic and goofy friends that every main character have, however more serious and a bit sentimental when needed. In which the actor portrayed very well!
Jane Ramida Jiranorraphat as Claire (Can see people's feeling by color) - yasss the queen is here! this girl is such a drama queen and i love it! Jane is an amazing actress, she always reminds me of a sassy drama queen like Claire and so this character fits her so well!
Gun Atthaphan Phunsawat as Punn (be able to copy others' skill quickly) - another one of my favorite Thai actor! in this series, Gun played Punn who has multiple personality disorder so he got the opportunity to show more of his acting skills and it is incredible! it's so strange seeing him plays a dark/mysterious character, but he is still adorable!
Puimek Napasorn Weerayuttvilai as Mon (Superstrength? she's excellent at every sport) - yeyyy it's my favorite girl! i love this girl so much, ok yea i'm a bit bias because Puimek is my favorite Thai actress, yet Mon is an amazing character too! Puimek never really gets to showcase her acting skill, but in this series, she got to and she did pretty well. if i have to be honest, her actions scenes are more memorable than her acting itself. however, i still love her and Mon!
Fiat Pattadon Janngeon as Korn (never get tired & heal fast) - i relate to him so much! he's such a nice guy that deserves the world but he always ends up getting hurt, i mean like mentally. i was like c'mon, he just want someone to truly love him! overall, i love his character and the actor!
JJ Chayakorn Jutamat & AJ Chayapol Jutamat as Jo & Jack (synchronization) - wELp the twin that gets no screentime whatsoever! maybe because their power didn't have much to elaborate into the story, but i would love to see their backstory and more about each of them.
Victor Chatchawit Techarukpong as Teacher Pom (Hypnosis) - his character plays a very important part in the story! i love seeing Victor plays a mature and serious teacher, unlike some of his past works, and which he also got to show a lot of his amazing acting skill!
Teacher Ladda - she is so badass and cool and scary too!
School Principal - i want to hate this guy so bad but i can't, i don't know why to be honest! he's so freaking awesome and so clever with his trick! he's mostly the person who create plot twists in the series.
MUSIC:
- i love how the opening song fits the theme, mood, tone, and concept that the series is going for! the sounds effect are on fleak! i don't really pay attention to the detail for music nor sounds effect so i'm not going to go into deep!
REWATCH VALUES:
- HELL yEah i will watch this again, every time i feel bored or if the season 2 is coming! i will recommend this to my friends, my brother, cousins, and everyone!
ok bai you can stop reading now...unless you like spoilers then yea sure keep on reading!
!SPOILERS!
- the ending got me so hype! the ending is so unique and isn't like your typical thriller drama where the main character that wants to make a change and did change it at the end, nope! in this series, Pang did not change the school system or win against the school principal because it is not what the series is about, it is about not giving up! in the end, you'll see Pang tried and failed, got his memories erased but when he got his memories back he did not give up! therefore, season two here we goooooo!
- if you're watching the series and is worrying about the characters being normal again after getting shots with the serum that can 'make their powers disappear' then don't worry! those are actually just vitamins hehe..because they can never get rid of their powers, it's actually innate!
here are the character's abilities details and their side effects, if you're interested!
Pang - control people's mind by touching them (took the longest to realize his ability)
Wave - control electricity by touch
Namtarn - Be able to see the past of an object or person by touch with the side effect of her health weaken
Ohm - Make thing or people disappear by touch with the side effect of nose bleeding
Claire - Can see people's feeling by color (every time she blinks)
Punn - be able to copy others' skill quickly but he has multiple personality disorder (one of them is evil)
Mon - excellent at every sport but her sweats are like drugs, makes people crazy
Korn - never get tired & heal fast with the side effect of not sleeping
Jo & Jack - synchronization, physically and mentally(kinda)
Teacher Pom - Hypnosis, erase memories but he can only use it when a metronome is present
School Principal - same power as Pang, mind control
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I have watched a lot of lakorn series and most of them if not all is always missing something, the characters are good for the most part but the immersion and the cheesiness at times are overloaded especially for bl series. This is a much less traveled genre for lakorn but I must say its one of the best, something that for me is almost in par with american series when it comes to production value. The cinematography, plot, acting, direction. Oh god I literally had my feet standing after the last episode.
I may not be an expert as much but this review is solely based on my personal judgment and taste. And I do have watched ample amount of series from different countries.
The first episode already made me hooked with it. The plot is interesting especially for lakorn series. I loved how they tried to explore each character by the succeeding episodes which helped a lot in understanding the students under the gifted program. Though on the latter part, most of them did not have much spotlight as it was already focused n the main plot which had Pang and Wave centered. I would say that Pang is the central key to the series as it was all his idealism that had created the conflict between him and the director of the school creating all those events on the end part of the story. One thing that I noticed is that the dialogue especially on the key events o the story is very well thought of there is a philosophical standpoint that you can see and evaluate from the major character. And its funny coz I actually had my thoughts about it I mean the concept of superiority and inferiority, the equality not having achieved that easily, as most do not want to lose their standing in the movie its pretty much applicable in the society that we have. having that privilege what are you suppose to do abut social responsibility and all. It makes you think about it as much. So Kudos to the writer for that.
When it comes to the actors OH GOD STANDING OVATION! The one thing that I like about american series is that for the most part the acting feels so organic that you don't even feel that they are acting at all I mean it just feel so real. That's exactly what the actors of this series made me feel, for most lakorn series I've watched it always feels that the acting is their but it doesn't feel as real and organic as this. I recognize that there are other determinants to be considered but its exactly where this one excelled the setup it created made the actors stand out and the acting organic. Best actors fro me would be Pun that episode 5 he deserves an award for that, Ms Ladda, the director, wave and pang .
The story-line some says that its dragging and slow but for me that's just because it wanted to introduce its characters well and its totally understandable. I loved how the director developed the story inch by inch making it interesting as you watch every episode. This is the only Thai series where I was able to discipline myself to not watch the ending part because of how great the excitement it creates as the story unfolds more and more secrets leading up to the last part of it. i loved how the plot creates multiple twists ass the story progresses. The ending part where the director and pang is like playing and using all their cards one after the other is just so amazing to watch. BRAVO!!
Special mention to the musical director: The music is very immersive well done.
Lastly, I am seriously hoping for GMMTV to consider creating a season 2 for this even season 3 and so on so long as the plot stays as amazing as it is . For me there are still a lot of exploration that can be made even extending the set up outside the school. There is a vast number of possibilities that can be created. For me this is a masterpiece from Thailand and I wish it would be recognized as such hopefully. looking forward for more quality series as this
Nobody may read this but series is worth the review for me.
KUDOS! to the whole production team, the actors. You have made an excellent piece of series worthy to be recognized.
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The actors are great, and a lot of them were already some of my favorites. This is what Backlist was trying to be, minus the supernatural side.
Something I did want to touch on is that one of the characters had Multiple Personality Disorder, and as someone who is Borderline, I think that it was portrayed very very accurately to what I've experienced. I know everyone goes through things differently but I was pretty amazed by the understanding of the disorder. It wasn't offensive or fumbled.
I definitely reccommend.
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"Ad astra sapientiam trans corpora infirmorum."
Back when "The Gifted" was first released in 2018, I heard many people raving about the series and recommending it to me. Although the general premise of the show did appeal to me, I put off watching it for a total of four years because I simply didn't think I would like it as much as everyone else and I didn't want to go into something with high expectations just to have them shattered immediately. Now that I have finally watched it, I am glad that I waited because I feel like if I had watched it back then, I would have undeservedly given it a worse rating merely because I would've been disappointed by it.Don't get me wrong, "The Gifted" is certainly a good drama and I didn't feel like I wasted my time watching it. But it was just not the 10-stars-worthy drama everyone made it out to be.
First of all, the anthology-esque narration style utilized in the first few episodes has both its pros and cons. On one hand, it allows you to dive deeper into each character's psyche and develop a better understanding of each of their potentials and their corresponding downsides. However, this kind of narrative only works well if all of the characters are equally compelling to watch, which they, at least in my opinion, weren't. While I thoroughly enjoyed Claire and Punn's episodes (Episode 4 and 5, respectively), I could barely get through Namtaan's and Korn's episodes (Episode 3 and 7). But there were also some episodes that I felt rather neutral about, such as Ohm and Mon's (Episode 2 and 6). So, what differentiates these three sets of episodes, and what makes some better than others?
Claire and Punn's episodes are immersive and engaging because they actually succeed in presenting a thoroughly crafted character study. The characters start out with very clearly defined characteristics and while they don't suddenly turn into completely different people by the end of their episodes, you can definitely see them grow out of the negative aspects of their personalities a little bit and learn from the drawbacks of their potentials. It makes you root for these characters throughout the rest of the series and not only makes you understand them but also their relationship to each other better.
While Ohm and Mon's episodes succeed in conjuring up an overall impression of the character, their personality and imperfections, and potential, they do fall a little bit flat in comparison to Claire and Punn's episodes, simply because their storylines are not as exciting to watch. In their episodes, you can easily tell where the story is going to go from the first few minutes and in Mon's episode, it's even directly spoiled at the beginning, which I wasn't really a fan of.
However, no episodes were as bad as Namtaan and Korn's. Their characters are so flat and one-dimensional and they don't change at all throughout their respective episodes. I quite liked the overarching storyline of Namtaan's episode and its mystery flair and it did end up being important for the overall plot but instead of making me sympathize with Namtaan, it made me annoyed with her and her reckless curiosity. The fact that her actress, Lilly Nichapalak Thongkham, is also easily the worst actress in the series and her expression never really seems to change, didn't make it any better. I understand that the actress was a novice at the time but so were most other actors in this series and she really did not sell the role well for me. As for Korn, while I did not have any real issues with the actor, I found his character to be insanely boring. He is depicted as kind and caring and a good friend in Claire's episode, which made me like him for a while, but the fact that he instantly turned his back on her after being rejected by her and his character did a 180 and turned into just a basic lonely, sad boy didn't sit well with me. His episode starts out with him being miserable and ends with him being just as miserable, essentially rendering his episode pointless.
I also don't understand why the show almost completely forgot about the twins, Jo and Jack. I'd much rather have watched an episode about them than Korn since their potential was barely explained besides them being synchronized perfectly and it seemed like it had the "potential" to be interesting.
Furthermore, I don't think the story is anything special and I also don't think it's particularly well-written. The concept of students being divided into different classes based on their intelligence or some supernatural powers has existed for a very long time in various iterations. At first, I thought the show would try to stand out from other shows revolving around the same trope by really taking its time and slowly building the conflict while primarily focusing on its character-driven narrative. But that never happened. In fact, most of the previously established characters ended up being pretty much unimportant for the finale. And the two characters that did end up mattering, Pang and Wave, had simply not been invested as much time in as they should've, resulting in two pretty shallow characters.
Especially in Pang's case, the only things we really learn about him are that he is academically ungifted but can somehow do the mental gymnastics to construct his plan for the finale and that he is driven by the ideal that all men should be equal. He is framed as this boy with an immensely powerful potential and the only one who could possibly defeat the evil director but it doesn't exactly take a genius to come up with a way to defeat both of them. The story should've at some point invested some time in developing Pang's potential to actually become stronger than, let's say, Punn's potential because as it stands, Punn could easily just copy Pang's potential and use it against both him and the director since technically, he doesn't have the same potential and they are therefore not immune to him. This could be easily solved by, for example, establishing that Pang's potential has developed in such a way that he can now also shield his brain from being manipulated by others or by simply not giving Punn the ability to copy others' potentials.
The finale also just overall felt very disjointed in the context of the whole show. I actually liked how up until around Episode 10, everything was decently predictable in the sense that it had been foreshadowed at some point before, making it so that certain plot points didn't just appear out of nowhere all of a sudden, but there was still enough kept hidden so you would be excited to see how all of the details would unfold. However, by the last three episodes, it had just become an amalgamation of plot twists stacked together in a huge messy pile, essentially resulting in a game of "I made this plan to overthrow you." - "Well, I expected you to make this plan, so I made this other plan to sabotage your plan." - "Well, I expected that you would expect my plan, so I made a counterplan to the plan you made in expectation of my plan." and so forth. The way every single Gifted character besides Pang and maybe Wave was also remarkably passive in the last three episodes and some of them suddenly acted completely out of character at the end, didn't make it any better.
I also felt like some plot elements were sort of unnecessary. Aside from Claire and Punn's relationship, which I really loved, all of the romance plotlines felt discardable to me. I didn't think Pang and Namtaan had good chemistry at any point in the series and I would even argue that whatever Namtaan and Wave had going on for one episode was slightly better, although I also did not like it very much. Unlike a lot of other viewers, I also didn't really see a whole lot of chemistry between Pang and Wave and the little bit I did see seemed very one-sided from Pang's side. Even Chanon and Pom's storyline seemed more romantic to me than Pang/Namtaan, Wave/Namtaan, or Pang/Wave. I cannot say I cared for Wave's tragic backstory either, it just failed to get me to feel for Wave and there were lots of other parts in the show that made me sympathize with him more than his weird middle school crush on his teacher. If these parts had been cut out and instead used to develop Pang, Wave, and the twins more, the story could have been infinitely better.
Overall, I just think "The Gifted" really suffers from having such large quality differences between different episodes that while some are really good and could be worth 10 stars, others are just so boring and poorly written that it really drags down the entire show's rating for me, which is why I gave it 7 stars. I can see why other people really like it and it's an enjoyable and lighthearted enough watch to be a good introduction into the paranormal/supernatural mystery drama genre but if you are already into this kind of stuff and have seen quite a bit of it, it just doesn't hold up as well in comparison.
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