Between Us (2022)

Flop

I waited two years for the most mid plot and homophobic acting help ……

The writing and script work was awful? I had to put the episodes in 2x speed and I still was frustrated with the pacing. The actors had no chemistry, every couple felt like they secretly hated each other (not sure if this is on the actors or directors)… none of the couples they tried to force down your throat for over 12 hours had me feeling any kind of way.. I’m actually quite sad I really enjoyed WinTeam in UWMA so this was a real let down.

I think in comparison with a lot of story heavy BLs with amazing acting and chemistry making themselves more well known, shows like this just feel very average and truly nothing special.

Would recommend this series for fans of WinTeam but not if you’re looking for a show with a good plot and well developed characters.

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A very bland scenario

The real problem with this series is that the scenario is almost non-existent. Considering the number of years they had to write one, it's very surprising that they're failing on this. Basically, we have a guy with a big childhood trauma and another guy who doesn't really know how to deal with his love feelings. The first one wonders if the second one is nice to him because he likes him or because he is nice to everyone. It's quite rudimentary but why not... for a series of three episodes. The constant mood swings within the couple in formation here are only there to last 12 episodes.

As for the acting, I have mixed feelings. I feel more like they were poorly directed and asked to whine more than necessary. Manow's character is a perfect example: as much as she was the funny good friend in UWMA, here she is just so childish that it's annoying. Samantha didn't start playing badly all of a sudden, so the problem comes from the direction.

To continue with secondary characters: there are way too many of them. I think it would have been better to keep only Manow and her boyfriend (who were already there in UMWA) and the ABC's who bring a little freshness to this rather indigestible story. The story of the older brother is useless and the love story between Prince and B is interesting but doesn't add anything to this series. They should have their own.

A detail is very revealing of the total lack of investment from the members of the series: the permanent mistakes in the dyeing of Win's hair. This is not normal for a series with such a budget!

In short, we are far from the very good UWMA! Everything is just an accumulation of lazy clichés to which none of the actors seem to really adhere. It's not a complete failure but it's very boring. What a shame for a series that should have been a real success!

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VERY boring

Prem and Boun are one of those couples who are better off-stage than on and that's why we wanted more for them than the little they got in UWMA. However, I wished we didn't.

This show was mostly boring and the side couples were far better and more interesting, though sadly they did not get enough screen time.
Episode after episode was the exact same thing for Win and Team. I am a person who loves sleeping scenes, but just like with My Only 12%, that was ALL they had. And I don't understand why. There was quite literally NOTHING keeping them apart. There were no obstacles yet they appeared magically. It shouldn't have taken them this long to get together. If they had gotten together earlier we could have had better scenes.

Also for coming from a show like UWMA, the audio mixing and osts were TERRIBLE! It was so bad and never seemed to be fitting the mood it was in. Like the whole orchestra piece on Waan and Tul's scene was CRAZZY.

Speaking of Waan and Tul, they deserved more scenes together because their setup was so good and interesting and they were a far better watch than Win and Team.

They still did Sammy dirty and they should have actually shown her relationship with Phruek and their development more.

Also, Prince and B were an unnecessary couple that didn't even need to be in the show, yet (like Waan and Tul) stole the show.

Lastly, Boun cannot act, he's really bad at showing emotions outside of the typical "bad boy" emotions. For example, when Team and Pharm were playing in the water, he was looking at Teak and Dean was looking at Win like "ooh you're in love!" No he wasn't. That facial expression looked like discomfort and daydreaming. Like when some old person is complementing you at church and you put a smile on your face to have them think you're listening and are grateful but you're really lost in your own thoughts and is waiting to get away. That was how he looked. I'm sorry, I know Boun is a nice person, but he cannot act.

I would not recommend this show, there wasn't really a plot and it was too melodramatic, the main couple was boring, and it was a waste of time. So very disappointing.

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Did I Love WinTeam's story? Yes.

Did I skip every scene involving the many side characters and their romances? Also yes.

(One thing to point out beforehand is that I have not watched UWMA before Between Us. So my experience may be very different from someone who has. I have not read the novel.)

But as you can tell, this makes rating this show a daunting task. While I thoroughly enjoyed WinTeam and thought they were absolutely lovely in every way--from the romance itself to the characters involved--I did NOT enjoy the countless side characters that either the original author or the production team for some reason thought should have their own romances.
I skipped Every Single Scene that followed one of the side couples. And despite this, by the end, I still got the gist of their plot arcs. Funny how that works.

Boun and Prem I adore as actors. Besides good chemistry and the sweetest of scenes given to them, their emotions felt real. I truly have a soft spot for actors who can cry believably, haha.

In the end, I wish they made a version of this show with only WinTeam's story, cause then I'd rate it much higher and would actually want to rewatch it. But the pain of manually skipping through the scenes with characters I frankly didn't give a fuck about lays in the way of rewatch enjoyment.

TLDR; If based only on what I enjoyed, ie WinTeam's plot and characters, I would've given this show a 9 or perhaps even higher. But it wastes so much time on side characters that I never managed to care about that I just simply cannot put it amongst my favorite BLs.

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Just so unbelievably boring

Like my review of Until We Meet Again, this comes with a great deal of frustration.

Between Us takes all the slow, reflective, aimlessness of its parent show's back half and turns it into an entire drama. Without even the interesting premise of Until We Meet Again, Between Us is just a formless mass of disconnected BL tropes with the odd scene where the writer seems to really want to examine things like feelings and relationships but kind of doesn't.

There's nothing in Team and Win's storyline that couldn't have been examined as the second story in Until We Meet Again (and boy would that have been better than the Lay's ads, which have not gone away unfortunately). It's definitely not enough to carry even half a drama. And so the writers pad again with even less interesting plotlines and boring one-note relationships between tertiary characters.

I admit to enjoying the relatively well integrated Pharm/Dean saga that is unfolding as per the first season but this time in the background (although I nearly turned it off in the beginning when Pharm started his damn crying again). But we also get the shallow and pointless B and Prince romance, the headscratching romance between Win's brother and his friend, Tul, AND the short afterthought that is Manow and Pruek. So I guess the promise of a woman getting a romance for once really came to very little.

Ignoring the tendency of BL shows to distract from their shallowness by throwing more and more romances at us, Team and Win's story has serious pacing and motivation issues. While Win is quite consistent and well developed (and Boun is still so so so hot, you guys. So so hot), the writer seems not to know who Team is or what he wants and so I don't either. Apart from supportive friend to Pharm and walking trauma flashback, Team doesn't have a personality or a motivation for half of what he does and when he does have a personality it's that of a five year old. Prem is not a good actor and this certainly doesn't help.

Because we don't know who Team is, we don't know where Win's interest comes from. What does he see in Team? We don't know and can't know until the writer works out who he is at all. The integrated common scenes from UWMA only add to the inconsistent characterisation. Team is an entirely different character in the original series and at various other points throughout Between Us. It becomes more and more jarring as the show goes on.

As with Until We Meet Again, my source of frustration comes from the show's unrealised potential (more so with UWMA than this admittedly). Between Us seems to want to genuinely grapple with issues of exploitation, consent and trauma; all areas where BLs have traditionally struggled. Instead its storytelling is all over the place. While Team's trauma is supposed to underpin the story, everything is told strangely from Boun's perspective with his family troubles and fear of commitment coming front and centre instead of Team's story. Although this is probably not surprising since, as I mentioned above, the writer doesn't know who Team is other than traumatised from his experience as a child.

Unlike UWMA I'm not sure what the successful version of this show would look like. It would probably be just as boring as a slow and reflective piece can be. But at least it wouldn't be pointless. Maybe we can imagine a superior version of UWMA with both storylines told adequately rather than two separate pieces that don't work.

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I feel a lot of people are being very harsh towards the series. It wasn't what we imagined but it wasn't that bad also to get anything below 4.
I will be honest this series did disappoint me as someone who waited 3 years but also read the novel (might I say just 15 chapters of the novel as Lazysheep then went on a break and said she would update only when the series was released. I waited 3 years for the series and 2 years for the novel and now both of them are complete). What won me about Win-Team was the pure relationship depicted in the book. Yes, their relationship started from a 1-night stand but after that Win rarely tries to sleep with Team unlike what is shown in the series. They don't become friends with benefits instead Win starts to take care of Team in the beginning because he feels guilty but later on because he starts caring and then falling for Team. The same goes for Team, torn between achieving his dream and his trauma. He finds peace in being with Win. Their bond is so precious in the book. The dialogues they share and the moments they have. Everything really precious.

That's the only reason why I wouldn't say I liked the plot of the series, so many precious moments and dialogues mismatched just because they needed a plot that could last for 12 episodes. I'd rather shorten the number of episodes and have them follow the novel.

Especially the pool scene and what happens after. It's a turning point in the novel. But it was very underwhelming in the series ... I'd prefer the short clip the studio released in between as a small trailer.

All in all, if you don't really know Win-Team I think you will like this series, I enjoyed it but only because of the actors. I'm being harsh but I really wouldn't be able to watch this series till the end if it wasn't for the cast. I believe both Boun-Prem as well as Win-Team deserved better. Weirdly I didn't think I would get sad when the series ended but I did, as this wasn't just a series for many of us. It was an era and it has finally come to an end.

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TREAT THIS AS A STANDALONE SERIES!

Don't compare this with other series since it focused on romance only. Normally, the plots of this kind of series are mainly centered at the relationship of the main characters which is very admirable and praiseworthy in Between Us.

Looking through emotional perspective, the main characters have given a realistic and consistent behavioral response. The inner struggles as a middle child of Win and the past traumatic experience of Team brought the uncertainties of their undefinable relationship. As we explore their relationship development, the relationship, which started from an unexpected sexual affection, slowly progressed into an emotional and romantic ride. The relationship of the other couples (except Tul-Wan) has given satisfying different flavors to the series. For Tul-Wan, their relationship is very promising at first but their abrupt confession is so disappointing (thinking back to how Wan was given emphasis as the storyline goes to Win's family issues).

I think this is my first time that I admire two main leads of a series with less appeals. Their emotional chemistry really proved me wrong to judge without seeing them act. I enjoyed watching this a lot. The casts are great. The music is refreshing and appealing.

Should I recommend you to watch this? Definitely, yes!

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I enjoyed this one so much!

As a person who is currently watching Until we meet again, which I started after being like halfway into Between us, I enjoyed this drama so much! I love how some of the actors displayed their character, I love how each of them has a different spark to them!
The only thing i didn't really like was that sometimes it felt like Win and Team couldn't talk and it seemed like they couldn't find their feelings as well. Overall I liked everything about this drama.

To be honest I'd be super happy if ManowPhruek got their own drama as well. I absolutely adore those two! They would be my definition of a healthy and free relationship. I really hope they'll get their own drama, I'd love to see more! (also I may be totally in love with Sammy for like a year now, but that's a different story)
Also I loved the development between Prince and Bee. They were so pure and so freaking adorable. I can't find a flaw on them. Their relationship is everything I ever wanted and they even got me dancing with happiness around my room like a total freak!

Overall this BL belongs now into one of my beloved favourites and it's not going anywhere else than that. I trully loved it so much!

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Team and Win are mature in considering whether they really want a relationship

It's sad to see so many negative reviews, this drama is slow but that doesn't mean it's bad. Also just because it doesn't have a lot of steamy scenes that doesn't make it unsatisfying.

The final confession was only made better by the wait and we could see how carefully the two main characters were thinking. It felt more real compared to other dramas where they don't consider whether to properly date or not. It's as if the characters aren't taught they are eachother's soulmate. They slowly work it out in order to not hurt the other person.

Anyway if you're looking for something you might find on PH this won't be for you, if you're looking for a sweet and caring relationship this may be it.

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Win makes Team feel safe

The storyline is… I don’t really know how to describe it without giving away too much, but I really enjoyed it. It’s a slow burn romance that starts as a one-night stand. I had an approximate idea of how the story will progress as I have watched Until We Meet Again before, but I didn’t really know or expected anything relating to Team’s and Win’s stories. We were not given any clues to it in UWMA, so it was really kind of heartbreaking to see, especially Team’s story.

I think the best place to start is the “ABC gang” as Win calls them. I think the three of them are so funny and a complete chaotic mess when put together. They had me laughing pretty much every time all of them were put together.

We do get to see quite a few side couples, and I felt like they were kind of taking up too much screentime away from WinTeam. But at the same time, I absolutely loved WanTul and BeePrince. I am kind of meh on DeanPharm, but seeing I didn’t really like them in their own series… PrukManaow were a bit too much for me too.

Wan & Tul: They are probably my favorite side couple. I love a good age gap romance (even though they are only a few years apart), as well as hidden identity story. I could really feel Tul’s pain when he realized he is in love with Wan, yet he cannot reveal himself without losing Wan. I think that the two had great chemistry. As for Wan, all I can say is that it’s always the quiet ones that surprise us the most.

Bee & Prince: I think they were cute. They were both unsure and they took their time exploring the possibilities. I really liked how they portrayed the struggles of being gay in the world of acting – we don’t often hear about the struggles and everything a person needs to sacrifice or hide to stay in the spotlight. Fans do tend to ship actors together, but reality is often not nearly as idealistic.

Dean & Pharm: I find Pharm annoying. I don’t even know how else to put it or why I feel that way. Dean is a bit more tolerable, but having seen him in UWMA, I am not his biggest fan. This does not mean that the actors didn’t do a great playing out the characters.

Pruk & Manaow: I get it, she is into the theater and all that. But the over reacting made it kind of hard to really enjoy her character. Pruk seems to be very down to earth and a calm person. I do think the two of them match really well, even if they can be a bit too much at times.

Win & Team: finally the main couple. I think the chemistry that the two actors have is amazing, that’s not something that can be denied. I really loved them in UMWA, so seeing them have their own series was really exciting. Their relationship takes time to develop. Win is a middle child and I really like how that is played into the series. The order siblings are born in can really impact their personalities. And while Win has the oldest sibling energy, his fears mostly go back to him being the middle child. It seems that his way of showing his love for someone is through taking care of them. Team is someone who needs a lot of support. I did find him a bit too silly at times though (e.g. the coffee ordering). He is battling his inner demons and he finds it hard to open to others. I am not sure that Pharm and Manaow even know his story. A lot of Team’s emotions and actions are due to his guilt that dates back to his childhood. Forgiving yourself is often the hardest thing to do.

I like how the main conflict between Win and Team was not jealousy or a third person. I think they could have communicated things in a better way and earlier, but with both of them being the way they are, it also made a lot of sense due to their personalities. They were showing they care about the other through their acts, but failed to say so out loud.

I think that both Boun and Prem did an amazing job when it came to portraying emotions. They really know how to make you feel what their characters are feeling. The series explores some very difficult topics and the two of them were on point every time it came to playing those scenes out.

And I cannot skip the topic of consent. It is something that I often comment on when it comes to different series. I think it’s important for the BL industry to move from romanticizing non consent. And Between Us really put consent into the center of the show. Win is in a position of authority, and he recognizes that. I believe that is why he wanted Team to show full understanding of what is about to happen and to fully consent to it. Team had the chance to refuse him, multiple times, with no consequences to his spot in the club. Win never intended to use his power to force Team into anything. And I really liked that. From first episode to the last, if there was any intimacy, consent was always clearly given.

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Disappointing

I was so looking forward to this, it started off so strong and good. The swimming/death story arc was good and drove the 1st part of the series. I didn’t like UWMA and dropped that half way (the incessant weeping of Pharm was such a turn off, I get the trauma and all but it was too much for me to endure), you have trauma but won’t go seek help from a professional so you cope by crying A LOT. So that wasn’t my cup of team so I didn’t care much about care much about Pharm&Dean here either. Could have done without their presence.
As for Win&Team, they were great until the last few episodes. Team now turned into Pharm with the incessant crying. The level of cringe that was the last few episodes was intolerable. So freaking disappointed with how they finished this.

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WOW

Spoiler Filled Review--You Have Been Warned.

Ok.

Ok.

There are 12 episodes in this series.

That's how many times I have seen this show.

12.

And counting.

So I've read both "The Red Thread" and "Hemp Rope"(waiting for the rest of the English translation about killed me, but there you go).

I've see UWMA(like a month ago so I didn't have to wait as long as everyone else for more WinTeam) and now I've seen Between Us.

UWMA BROKE ME (in a good way).

Between Us DESTROYED ME(in a good way).

How. HOW is it possible to tell such a RAW, EMOTIONAL, CHARACTER-DRIVEN story that won't get out of my head. HOW? Boun has an uncanny ability to act with just a flick of his eyes, and he makes me want to squeal, or hug Win, or strangle Win, depending on the situation. Prem tugs on my heartstrings and delivers Team's survivor guilt trauma to perfection. When the two of them are onscreen, the chemistry crackles. And yes, I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn't there before, but it UWMA, they were the side couple--the bad boy and the comic relief--but this time they are FIRE!!!!

We see almost immediately why Win has his bad boy mask, and Team has puppy face. Team's PTSD struggles and Win's "I don't want to love anyone because I don't want to lose anyone" issues perfectly balance and the flashbacks of Team's drowning and the revelation of Win's difficult home life helped flesh out why they acted the way they did. Both of them have adapted personas to hide what's really going on an that's so true to live that I LOVE IT! The way Win makes Team feel safe and Team makes Win feel needed makes me both squeal and cry.

Also, consent. This starts off as a Random Situationship, but even then, Win never pushes Team to do something he deosn't want to--even though it's a One Night Stand ("I'm not going to do this if you're drunk, or unconscious...Are you dating anyone?"). And when Team asks him about it from the beginning, it's there that this is relationship has consent("We're both benefiting, right? No one is being taken advantage of, right?" "Yes.") Win truly cares about Team and wants him to feel comfortable in whatever the situation is(just like Boun cares so much about Prem). So bravo for including that as part of a healthy relationship(which they have, even if it's complicated because they won't COMMUNICATE properly. It's fine, I'm fine.)

Some reviews have said this show is boring because there is no plot. But WinTeam ARE the plot. Neither of them are willing to confess their feelings out loud(because both are afraid to lose the other one) and so the relationship gets more and more complicated because they basically start word fencing("are you asking me to be your boyfriend" "if I say yes, then do you have answer for me" "did you really mean to ask me that" UUUUGH JUST SAY "I LOVE YOU "YOU STUPID BOYS) which, again, is so true to life.

The show also takes it's time with Win and Team coming to terms with their feelings individually and then as a couple(Team avoiding Win after their One Night Stand and then realizing he's in love after talking to Pham and ABC Gang--who I also LOVE; and Win basically running away from Team after saving him from drowning and then realizing he's in love and it's ok after taking to Dean/Waan)It's slow burn romance/relationship GOLD.

Whether you've read the novel or not, or seen UWMA or not, it is clear from the second you see these two how much Win needs Team and Team needs Win, and it was nice to see them taking care of each other, especially when:

1. Team breaks down over his winning of the gold medal and the first person he calls is Win, so

2. Win drops everything goes *on a two hour bike ride* to Team, consoles him while he cries *in the pouring rain*, takes him to a hotel to sleep(yes *just* to sleep) and then

3. Win gets sick from riding in the rain(I mean, who wouldn't, all he had was a WINDBREAKER and the WINDCHILL factor is real, even in Thailand) so then Team stays up most of the night to take care of him

I find the above sequence particularly beautiful because Win is someone who doesn't like to rely on anyone to the point where he almost passes out in Team's room rather than tell anyone--including Team--that he's sick, and when Team asks him why he tries to bravado it off even though he feels like shit but falls asleep as soon as Team tells him to lay down. The little scene of Team giving Win the meds and trying to bring down the fever has very little dialogue and it's a short scene but shows how much Team actually truly cares for Win, which I thought was a very nice touch.

Also, the fantastic scene about how to handle homophobia(and one of my favorite parts of the novel) was PERFECTION. "We can't control everyone. But we can choose not to care." Yes. SO MUCH YES!!! That quote is now on my wall.

The Confession.

OMG THE CONFESSION.

Yes, it took it's sweet time to get there and yes, it was in the second to last episode, but you know what? It was perfect.

I read this scene in the novel and I cried.

I saw the scene in the series and I was a blubbering mess(do you know how hard it is to get through emotional scenes when you can't see the screen--it's insanely hard)

I loved the songs, I loved the rollercoaster of emotion, and I loved that Team asked Win to confront his personal feelings before his romantic ones ("Do you even know who you are? You..help everyone...But I've always wondered, who takes care of you" open heart, insert dagger), and was brave enough to say "if you won't say it first than I will", and Win's "enough I love you, do you hear me". Boun and Prem acted the HELL out of that scene and it was truly a highlight among Love Confession Scenes.

Ignore the haters, go read the novel if you're unsure, and then watch this series. Then watch it again, and again and again, because you will never get sick of it.

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