Second Chance (2021)

Short, light and not unhealthy BL

Basically, it is a light plot, almost straightforward. Story develops a little too easily, but given it is a 6 episode long series, that is almost inevitable. Neither flawless, nor ridiculous. Plus points for lowkey light thrown on toxic relationships.

Acting did not seem too good initially, but as I kept watching it grew on me - most characters have an individual personality and the actors/writers maintained it throughout. Initially, few actors did seem either over top or too bleak, but they were easier to like once it was almost established as the basic nature of those characters. (if that made sense)

The whole show is not premium rewatch material imo, there might be scenes that stay with you.

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Innocent and sweet even if it's nothing special

This series is a good example of how a BL can be average in most ways and yet still manage to be a satisfying watch. There is nothing special about the story, but at least there is coherent and properly structured story. There are three BL couples, and they get roughly equal attention. This makes Second Chance way better than some BLs with meandering plots that don't go anything and multiple couples thrown in perhaps just for the sake of attracting viewers with quantity rather than quality. Second Chance manages to do everything quite decently within just 6 episodes while some series (like Brothers, which I recently reviewed) hardly go anywhere after 10 episodes. The storytelling can be surprisingly economical without being confusing (for instance, the brief flashback to the scene when Tong Fah's father passes away).

It's very easy to like the generally innocent characters. They are young and perhaps not that mature, but they are also not silly and childish. Their insecurities and impulsivity are sensitively portrayed. The main characters may do wrong or do things they regret, but they aren't toxic characters whose toxicity somehow gets forgiven (like in Tonhon and Chonlatee)--in fact, this is why the series is about second chances. It is a story with happy endings for all the couples, but we also get the hint that second chances are not always available. I'm not too sure about the advice about love that the series dishes out (perhaps a tad too didactically) but at least it has a point.

There are series with more interesting starting points that end up failing in so many ways. This series is different. The story is standard fare that just happens to be executed quite well. It's like a simple pot of porridge that is satisfying because it is cooked well, which makes it better than some dishes that tantalize but end up disappointing because they have been marred by a bad cook.

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Ok, here's the thing

Ahhh, I am conflicted. I liked the show but at the same time, I disliked it. I didn't like Paper from the start, with that opening scene(I'll get back to that) making me angry on TongFah's behalf. After that, I couldn't really like him. Then his overly harsh rejection of TongFah just added more salt to the wound. So I was kind of hoping TongFah would get with someone else. Then there is Clear and that cafe guy. How old is that guy? Clear is still in high school and he is never refered to as being over the age of 18. Idk about Thai laws but to me, a boss and his high-school aged employee just didn't sit right. But the show is saved by Chris and Jeno. When Jeno rejected Chris, my heart broke and I was so sad. Chris is so fun and great but I understand why Jeno would reject him at first. He was scared of going through what he went through with Arthur all over again. (screw Arthur btw, he should be in jail). When they got together in the end, I was super happy.
Now, another gripe I have is where the fudge is that pool scene? I watched the official english subbed version but I didn't see it so did they cut it out? Also, what happened to TongFah? Why was he in the hospital? What happened to him that put him in that multiple days long coma?
Overall, watch this if you want but I don't think it is a must watch. There are better ones that you could occupy your time with.

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Second Chance Needs A Third Chance

So "Second Chance" both exceeded my expectations and fumbled in its execution. I don't know how that's possible lol but it happened with this! Some things were done extremely well, like if they had carried on with those things this could've been top tier material! But there's crap in between that kinda needs to be skipped while viewing and that's never a good sign.

For example. Every scene with those 3 girls made me want to scratch my eyes out and skip. They were so annoying! I don't know why they were even necessary at all. That time could've been used to further develop the couples! The 2 leads (Paper & Sky) were so freaking sweet and the side couples were adorable. Though the amount that I hated that his name was Paper....my lord lol. Also if you're trying to make me think Paper is in high school it ain't happening lol. I like the actor a lot but he does not look like a highschooler lol. Dudes literally almost 30. He is the best actor though in the series! He's such a good emotional actor and who would've known! TharnType didn't give him too much to work with.

I liked the whole idea of the one brother (Near) not knowing its his cafe boss who he's going out on a date with. That was interesting. The 2 brothers were hard af to distinguish sometimes I swear. I thought they were the same character for a hot minute. Especially because I don't think they share one single scene together until the very end! Which is weird.

The other couple are from TharnType too (Chris & Jeno), along with Paper's actor. That was funny to see them actually do couple things and be actually really upfront! Rather than play characters that are offbeat roommates. I liked the kinda plot twist of the bully being the ex. Some super internalized homophobia there. Though the bully didn't need a redemption tbh, there wasn't enough time in the show for that.

Moving onto the chemistry. I appreciate an actual kiss! A really good one from Paper and Sky! Lowkey was expecting to be a peck or some crap. The breathing was A LOT too, like hello close-ups. Their second kiss was just as good too, loved it. The secondary couples kiss during the dance was good too! I wish we had more time to develop stuff! If I've learned anything from BL's its that many of them either don't utilize time well enough or lack episode length. There are few that successfully developed everything 100%, ITSAY included. So I hope series take a page from that. Pretty music in this, like really pretty! I need the soundtrack. Again too short though, 6 eps isn't enough to get super invested. Such a good ending to this, in the acting and set up. The underwater scenes at the end were really nice too. Check this out but don't expect anything too crazy!

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Cute and Engaging

In this refreshingly altered state of reality, boys are nice to each other and can even cry over a broken bromance. Ok, there is a bully in their midst but even he sheds tears at the end and is comforted by his bros. There are girls here, but they seem to be sort of asexual cheerleaders to the boys in love. The basic plot elements we've seen before, but they seem fresh here. Mawin Tanawin Duangnate is the standout as Chris. His character seems to be the glue that holds all of these bromances together -- and he has the acting chops to pull it off too. If I were just rating him, I'd give him an 11. But the other actors are giving it their all too. "Second Chance" doesn't get too distracted with the cultural taboos of same sex romance, but we still get a bit of the male gender role discomfort of displaying any kind of affection. "Second Chance" also spares us from the girly-man stereotypes -- all of these guys are handsome, masculine and even play sports! Wow! Thailand continues to set the gold standard for BL dramas. "Second Chance" is beautifully photographed and the direction is right on point. I regret I can't give it a full 10 score because we never get past kissing with these couples, but that seems to be as far as audiences (and the straight boys who play these roles) are willing to go. But, we're making progress.

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This series is incredibly infuriating to watch

There have been some amazingly well done series recently with truly remarkable performances from many new actors, which makes this series infuriating to watch.

OVERALL:

If you can ignore everything wrong with this series and just focus solely on the performances of the cast, it's worth watching being that it's only 6 episodes long. If this get another season, they really need to put all of their focus on improving the writing, directing, and especially the editing.

WRITING / DIRECTING / EDITING:

The writing, directing, and editing of this series is like knowing a gruesome accident is about to happen right before your eyes, knowing you should look away, but you can't. Please don't get me wrong, there are some really well done moments throughout the series, but more times than not either the writing, directing, or editing really let it down. If a more experienced team were given the raw materials from this series and they added about 2-3 episodes length of new material to it and completely reedited it, this series could easily have been one of the best of 2021.

Much of the series is more like a collection of disconnected scenes rather than something that flows together to weave a story. Something will happen one moment and then the next it's like the last one didn't happen.

The other major issue with the series is there's no real substance to it, the most we get are a couple of glimpses of what it could have been, but it never really breaks the surface.

CAST:

The majority of the cast and their performances are the only real reason to watch this series.

The biggest misstep with the cast would definitely have to be with Nice Pitayut Orsuwan and his character Arthur. The character might have been a "support" role, but his actions played a very large part in shaping a good majority of the overall story of other characters. Unfortunately the character was never fleshed out more than he did and action which caused this reaction and that was it, which is so frustrating because it was obvious that Nice Pitayut Orsuwan has real talent. If they hadn't wasted so much screen time with the three girls and instead dedicated that time to giving Arthur a backstory that would have given some insight into his behavior it would have drastically changed the series for the better. I really hope Nice gets the chance to really shine in another series and show what he's capable of as I really think he has the potential to be an amazing actor. The writing, directing, and editing of the series may never have developed anything for the character, but Nice portrayed a level of pain, sorrow, anger, and regret even just in his facial expressions that it's easily the one thing from this series that you'll remember.

The other standout performance would definitely be from Mawin Tanawin Duangnate who played Chris. I personally think that Chris was the most developed character of the whole series and it was obvious in the performance from Mawin. He was able to take what he was given and really give a performance and a character you connected with and really wanted to root for. Here again just like with Nice, Mawin really needs to be given the proper opportunity to really showcase what he's capable of and hopefully he'll get that chance.

I personally think if Nice and Mawin were teamed up together that with their talent they could play off each other remarkably well.

STORY ARCS:

Tong Fah x Paper: This is probably one of the oldest stories in the book, two long time friends end up developing feelings for each other....eventually. Of course it wouldn't be a teen / young adult self discovery and declaration of love drama series without the use of alcohol to give one of the characters the "courage" to finally make a move. Yes it's not uncommon for that to happen in real life, but it's so overused and there's many more creative ways it could have been done. There are easily 2-3 major scenes missing from this story arc that not only would have allowed it to flow better, but given it so much more impact.

Chris x Jeno: This one is just kind of all over the place thanks to poor writing and editing. Sometimes there are reasons why you develop a very close personal connection with someone or fall in love with them and sometimes you just do and there's no real singular reason why. In this arc there's multiple things that are thrown in but never really properly developed or flow in a way that really portrays their journey into loving each other. As I've said many times before, the editing really muddled this up.

M x Near: Honestly this series could have done without this whole story arc, and that's nothing against the actors themselves. It comes across as something that was just thrown in as an after thought and again is a jumbled mess throughout the series. They are both gamers who meet online in a game, become virtual boyfriends, and then realize they know each other in real life. Of course nothing can be straightforward in a drama series like this so they decided to complicate things by one of them knowing who the other is in real life, cue the misplaced anger when Near finds out that M is his virtual boyfriend and never told him, even though Near doesn't come out and tell M when he figures it out either. Then cue a series of disjoined scenes of them arguing back and forth, which ultimately leads to "Hey let's be real boyfriends" suddenly in the end.

The 3 Girls: Of course it wouldn't be a stereotypical BL genre series without a group of girls that serve no purpose other than wasting screen time that could have been better used with the multiple story arcs going on. Yes we get it, there is a large portion of the BL/Yaoi fandom that is extremely toxic / obsessive / compulsive / even dangerous, but really does it have to be thrown into every series and so over the top.

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Três histórias que envolvem perdão, limites entre amizade e romance e, bem, segundas chances

"Certo, vamos dar aos atores secundários de TharnType uma série", foi o que eu imaginei ter acontecido quando vi o cast de Second Chance. Fiquei muito muito animada com MawinRun porque senti que o desenrolar de KhluiSeo em TharnType merecia um pouco mais de atenção, esse casal realmente me cativou e fiquei muito feliz em poder ver um pouquinho mais do trabalho deles nessa nova série.

O primeiro cenário de Second Chance fala sobre o Sky, um estudante do ensino médio que é apaixonado pelo seu melhor amigo, Paper. Os dois tem uma relação bem próxima, um cuida do outro e etc., eles até tem algumas colegas fujoshi que shippam os dois, mas isso não parece interferir na amizade nem deixar eles desconfortáveis. A segunda história é sobre o amigo de Sky e Paper, Chris, que se apaixona por Jeno, o irmão mais novo de uma das colegas da sua sala. O Chris é uma pessoa bem direta e aberta, não tem medo de se expressar e demonstrar carinho, já o Jeno ainda está tentando superar seu relacionamento passado e não parece muito confortável com as investidas de Chris. A última história é de Near, que trabalha num Café e tem um superior super compreensivo, mesmo que ele seja meio estabanado. O Near é bem quieto pessoalmente, ele só consegue se abrir de verdade com seu "web namorado" que ele conheceu num jogo online. Ele é bem apegado a essa pessoa, mesmo nunca tendo conhecido ele de verdade. A conexão entre as três histórias é que todos esses relacionamentos vão passar por problemas e cabe aos garotos decidirem se darão uma "segunda chance" aos seus pares.

Em questão de crítica, eu não me apaixonei por Second Chance como normalmente me apaixono pelos dramas tailandeses. Imagino que, depois de ter devorado todo catálogo BL da Tailândia, eu tenha me cansado de histórias "comuns demais". Porque não, o drama não é necessariamente ruim. A atuação é boa, a filmagem também, o roteiro não tem muitas falhas irrealístas demais, mas é só isso. É só um drama bom, ele não é estonteante, nem fascinante, nem cativante. Eu não tive muitas espectativas quando comecei a assistir Second Chance, mas tampouco cheguei a sentir um gostinho de "quero mais" no final dos episódios. Nem mesmo as interações MawinRun, que eu estava tão ansiosa pra ver, me surpreenderam como eu gostaria que tivessem.

Ainda assim, não deixo de recomendar a série. Ela tem só seis episódios e é boa pra assistir quando você não tem mais muito que fazer na quarentena rs.

Lire davantage

the perfect bite-size story

this series is right up my alley. its main focus is that romantic tension and buildup to becoming a couple.

the story was really enjoyable considering how short it is. i was addicted from the first episode. the relationships are beyond healthy. thai dramas are known for their over-the-top editing, but this series was calm and sweet; really different from some of the other recently produced shows. i was definitely more into the main couples than Near and M; their story felt rushed and last second. though it was still entertaining, i wish they would've scrapped this third couple and spent more time on the other two.

i can't stress enough how happy i am that the female roles weren't obnoxious or in the way. all of the women were supportive; especially jeno's sister. i really liked their characters; they were all very unique and true to themselves. i didn't mind the fact they were loud or semi extravagant. i think it fit all three girls really well. they didn't fetishize or monopolize on any of the relationships in the story. they were there to support all of their decisions, and lead them to making the right ones.

i also love how nobody is afraid to own up to their mistakes. there's no beating around the bush with these couples; there's always something going on with one of them, and it keeps the story interesting with each episode. i really like how being gay and/or having crushes on guys isn't a big deal whatsoever. nobody gives it any special type of treatment. that's what makes it feel so natural.

i would absolutely recommend this series. it's sweet and healthy. it'll have you hooked from the beginning.

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Well it was what it was and I don't regret watching it

I don't even remember why this was in my plan to watch list but hey here I am. Now I don't think this is gonna win any awards. Didn't really break new ground either. It was its very own thing and just did what it had to do to drive the story. It felt a little cluttered at times but still somehow squished in all these storylines into six episodes. it was wholesome and healthy, a bit ridiculous but in a good way. It was a show about the life of teenagers going through teenage stuff and dealing with difficult feelings and it doesn't pretend to be anything different or grander.

Was it fantastic? Nah. Was it an enjoyable sweet watch? Yeah I'd say so. I wasn't bored at any point and always wanted to keep going to see what happens next.

Recommended for if you need some down time or just something to put on and relax.

Lire davantage

Definitely recommend it. It's short and sweet.

I didn't wanna watch it at first but so glad I decided to give it a try. Loved it a lot.
First, the music was GREAT - Normally I don't notice music in series but this was Very calming and matching to the situation.
Actors - I can't believe they are rookies, they did very well, better than some of the top-tier actors.
Story - Nothing out of the ordinary, a little confusing but not boring. The ending was a little rushed but very sweet.
Had some of the best kissing scenes.
Definitely want to rewatch it v soon.
I want to see ChrisJeno and SkyPaper in more series.

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Friends to lovers

I have a real soft spot for the Thai BL pulps and this is probably the best pulp of 2021 (for Thailand, Vietnam is nipping at the heels). It brought us back into the high school sphere and YA angst in a big way. I happen to love this setting and these tropes (what can I say, blame my early days of Love Sick and Make it Right).

All three couples had good chemistry (half the main cast was already comfortable with BL) and while there wasn’t much story, the acting and production values were decent. Considering the last few years, I’m disposed to be very pleased with this offering.

Is it poor on post production, small cast, and terrible script? Sure it is. Is it weird that the Sirorattanaphanit brothers look like twins but this is never acknowledged? Yeah, it’s weird.

But the boys are charming. CHARMING I TELL YOU.

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