Not Me (2021)

#NotMe #NotYou #NotGramBlack

So I waited until the week episode 11 premiered to begin Not Me. Once it started, I could see why it was so popular, even without OffGun, I really enjoyed the humor, the mystery elements, the politics and class consciousness and queerness of the series, and what I thought would be this big reckoning when Black woke up/White figured out who hurt him.

I feel like the first half of Not Me was doing a lot of set up and tension building and creating all these possibilities and the last arc, for me, just didn't meet those expectations they set. The Tawi plot is not resolved/offscreened. The gang spends most of the series operating outside the system and then offscreen surrenders themselves to the system. And I'm still wondering what the point of the GramBlack scenes/hints were if it was also leading to nothing.

I think the plot on paper and the strength of Gun's acting for Black and White is what has kept this series relatively high for me. I like that it's more mature and that it has a political/class conscious POV. I feel like it the back half could have landed the plane better Not Me could have been a top series for me. But I don't think it will have a lot of rewatch value outside of Black's scenes because the plot set up of the first episodes is not concluded well.

I like this series, I thought I would love this series, but the last arc was a bit of a letdown, outside of Gun's phenomenal portrayal as Black.

Lire davantage

Good Enough

Thai Drama "Not Me" has an enjoyable soundtrack and a brilliant main lead.

On that note, the music was excellent and just right for the story, without having one song being repeated throughout the whole series. Rather, there was a variety of songs and all of them feated the mood of the drama. As for the leading actor, he did an excellent job transitioning from Black to White, in which he proves his dynamics as an actor. The rest of the cast did a good job as well.

Unfortunately, the drama had not a smooth pace and the last episode just conveniently and rushly concluded everything. There were a few questionable decisions of the characters as well, some of them even got annoying after a while.

So, overall, six out of ten.

Lire davantage

Orginal plot, but messy plot.

Gun's performance always outsells. We expect and he overdelivers. We can clearly see some improvement in Off's acting, which I'm totally here for. Gawin's acting was and continues to be terrible. Honestly, I have yet to see a decent performance by him. Mond was good! Everyone else was ok. The plot was interesting and original, but they made it messy as hell. Coulda and shoulda have been better written. Definetly hoped for more black/white interactions than this. And would have loved to see the development of sean's and black's relationship after they became "family". Yok and Dan's relationship was terrible from beggining to end. And i liked yok's character, although he was clearly too naive at times. (and a lil stalker, tbh).

Lire davantage

Nothing is easy, but this was easily a 10

Everything about this was well-thought-out. From the clothing, lighting, props, and music to the dialogue, line delivery, and message.

It doesn't paint its protagonists as always right. More often than not, their points of view are challenged, often by each other. And, there is no easy answer. Peacefully protesting is a great way to speak out but does not guarantee a solution. Many companies are happy to wait it out until the public forgets about it. Acting illegally but nonviolently to expose deep-seated corruption is another way. But you can be arrested and/or have the public turn against you. For many, the end does not justify the means. And, if the law can be so easily disregarded, what is the point of it? Removing one person in power doesn't necessarily make the root of the issue go away; someone else will take their place.

None of it is easy. Even though this drama ended, it wasn't the end for the characters. They won the battle, but they're still fighting the war.

Our protagonists, while working together, aren't even on an equal playing field with each other. I think this is best shown through White's internal dialogue about growing up privileged and ahead of others and how unfair that is reflected by what he sees around him and what others say.

This wasn't a cash-grab romance drama with "brownie-points" material thrown in. This was a genuine attempt to portray working-class people being taken advantage of, discriminated against, and still fighting for equal rights.

Lire davantage

Hey that’s my button!

Very, very good. If you're debating watching, don't even read my review, just go watch it.

This story is incredibly captivating! Honestly, I’m not sure I need to write a review on this one because there are so many already but I do have a few thoughts on some things that I am a little confused about. None of these are drama-ruining, just thoughts.

1. White's Dad. What happened to that dude? White was like "I'm out!" and his Dad was just like, "Yeah okay *shrug* Have a nice life without me.” We literally never heard anything about him after White left. I guess both parents are just really uninterested in being parents.

2. I don't fully understand who took the picture of the van and how there came to be a full-on protest that intercepted the van...

3. Todd - Why so wishy-washy? Are we trying to kill Black or nah? Why did Todd let Black go after almost drowning him when he almost had him killed before? Later he says that he can't kill him because they're friends but then why beat Black within an inch of his life before that? If all he wanted to do was lure White to help him, why not kidnap Black and tell White he needs to go undercover to find out who took him?

While there are some spots when this drama feels a tad slow with the side stories, looking at you Eugene, and other times where production seems to have messed up what time of day it is, it’s morning in one place and midday in another. At one point it was an entirely different day in one scene but still the day before in another. DESPITE those production errors, the main story is really compelling. Sean and White are adorable and watching their relationship unfold was really a ride. This drama really delivers angst without being terribly uncomfortable. It's just the right amount to keep you on the edge of your seat unable to stop yourself from needing to see what happens next.

Don’t hesitate on this drama. It’s worth the watch.


Would 100% Recommend
Would 100% Re-Watch

Lire davantage

This drama is like a baby taking its first steps…

a bit wobbly and can hardly be called walking, but it’s such a big achievement it’s worth celebrating.

A straightforward criticism of the capitalistic world and social structures that exclude everyone not willing to act according to unfair rules. While some scenes might have felt preachy, the message was loud and clear, and sometimes this is exactly what is needed. You could feel the passion of youth in this project.

What the drama does phenomenally is making you care for this bunch of young people. Realistically speaking they should have been either dead or arrested by episode 4 at best, but against all logic, you just want to see them succeed and get out of it alive.

The acting! GMM truly decided to cast their best in this one. We all know Gun and Off have natural chemistry, but it was great to see them shine next to each other as individual characters, rather than just a couple. First was so good, at times I felt like he was too good for this script, or too good for this small part of Thai entertainment industry.

Production wise I loved quite a few shots. The use of different sources of light made some scenes extremely beautiful. Shots of two Guns were well edited - yes, if you know the actor well, you can see how the double used for some scene is different, but one has to be really nitpicky to make it an actual flaw.

All that said, the whole show was so serious and unserious at the same time, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about it. Motivated to make a change and tackle social issues? Rolling on the floor laughing about poorly executed fighting scenes? How unrealistic the production was took away from how realistic and serious the issues they tried to present. How am I supposed to see baby faced Gun take down a few professionally trained highly specialized security guards of the millionaire villain? Him boxing once a week with his teen buddies must have been enough for training I guess.

Not to mention the frequent PPLs. I know the drama needs founding, but taking into consideration the anti-capitalistic themes in the show, it just stood out in a painfully negative way.

Then we have the flying parkour, Sing being completely miscast, the lack of closure - no, this is not how you are supposed to do an open ending or any ending. The power imbalance between the good and the bad guys that I was supposed to just accept as realistic, when it made little to no sense…

Overall, it’s hard not to like it. It gives all the right messages, delivers great entertainment, a variety of characters and point of views. Leaves enough space for the viewers to make their own mind. The acting was amazing, visually it was pleasant to the eye. It just did not feel polished enough - the passion should have been used a little bit for the good old planning, practice and production. Maybe some script rewrites here and there too.

Lire davantage

Less Rhetoric and More Stories

I was excited about this series. It looked dark, and dingy with A+ actors such as Gun and Off, but I walked away very disappointed. I have been to Thailand and I know about the political protests, but in my opinion, there was way too much moral grandstanding and preaching. I felt like the writers took 1960's American talking points and wrote a story around it. To me, this is an example of the elites, grooming other elites to be "revolutionaries," but who will probably be authoritarians themselves when they take power in the future (e.g. look at the leaders who imposed pandemic lockdowns, travel restrictions, freezing bank accounts of protestors, throwing protestors in jail without bond, etc). They missed opportunities to present problems that poor Thais face (except for Yok's mom), and chose to use rhetoric instead. In social science classes, we are always reminded that by sitting in a chair at university, we are by definition elite, regardless of where we start in life. Yok is the only member where you see a person living in poverty with a disabled single parent. Since this is fiction, of course, he is probably on his way to becoming a famous artist, and he saves himself (successful artists become rich) at the end by describing proletariats as a state of mind, not SES, or class. Instead of white savior syndrome, it's university educated syndrome, reinforcing that a formal education is the only pathway to a meaningful future. This is just my amateur opinion.

The acting was top notch, and I could see a difference between Black and White, that's how good Gun's acting was. I think that Gun deserves many acting awards for this role. I enjoyed seeing him paired with women partners too. Off has really grown as an actor as well, and he has gotten over his awkwardness when he has to do intimate scenes with Gun. I especially liked that they didn't use the normal filters, so we could see the actors' pores, blemishes and lines on their faces. The sets they used were just as gritty and grimy, fitting with the tone of the story. I felt that Black and White disowning their family was another 1960's cliche, and it made it seem like, all people working in government and the legal system are morally corrupt people.

I'll only rewatch if I fast forward through all of the rhetoric. Had they spent less time on rhetoric, and more time focusing on the characters (Yok's mom could have used more screen time) and people who are really struggling, I think that I would have enjoyed it more.

Lire davantage

It's very good, but that ending...

The acting in this is superb - all the actors did an excellent job, even all the minor parts. Some of that is good directing - there are actors in this that have been mediocre elsewhere that were fantastic in this. Standouts for me were Off, who had way more star power than he has in the past (and he's gotten mighty fine, I must say). There's a scene with Gawin that's an 11/10 - you won't be able to breathe (although some of that is beauty). Gunn has always been good, so no surprises there.

The Music is pretty good. It didn't really stand out to me very much, but it avoided tired cliches, never got in the way, and supported the story.

The story... this is a tough one. With the number of plot threads introduced, I kind of expected some of them to be dropped, but not ALL of them. The ending of this wasn't an ending - it just stopped, and it was way, way too happy for the story. It even ends with the tired cliche that this series had avoided up to that point, the triple-take kiss, which made me LOL it was so silly. I don't like sad endings, but come on. The only thing it was missing was a rainbow and unicorn. What was the point of Todd's character? He never did anything that was important to the plot, except for one thing before the series starts, and we never find out why he did it. He never does anything of consequence again (except look sexy).

The 2 BL romances were good, the straight ones just chewed up time and had nothing to do with the story. There's a lot of violence in this - a lot of it is necessary, but there's a lot that's just eye-rolling machismo and wasn't needed at all. For example there's a scene where someone hurts someone emotionally - it would have been a lot stronger if it was all words and not lots of punching. In another, a decision is made by an actual physical fight between the two viewpoints. This is never done again despte there being a huge number of times there was no consensus, so why that one time? There's another case where a character deliberately beats someone into a coma. How on earth do you calculate how much beating to administer that leads to worse than unconsciousness, but not quite death? Dumb and unnecessary.

All-in-all, this was a refreshingly different series - I just wish it could have been more nuanced than rich=bad and poor=good. Evil powerful people tend to be wealthy because evil poor people don't have the means to gain power (except in revolutions), not because rich people are inherently evil. Although to be fair the ending was so abrupt that it's not entirely clear even the main villain was a villain. In any case, you don't get points for including social issues if you having nothing to say.

I guess the secret to enjoying this is to not take it very seriously. Let's face it - this is a story about a law student who replaces his evil twin in a marxist motorcycle gang. (I know Black isn't evil, but he's definitely not the good twin). In the end, it contains some really good romance with great chemistry in both couples, and that's what saves it from it's total lack of plot. (Before anyone says it - consider a rope ladder. If you use excellent materials and fashion it with skill and artistry, but you never hang it up, is it a ladder, or an expensive pile of rope?)

I don't think I would rewatch this, but there are scenes I might go back to - there were several that were in the top handful in all of BL.

Overall: 8. It would have been a 9 or 9.5 if it had an ending.

Lire davantage

Not perfect, but a very promising path for GMMTV BL shows

I’ll try to be straight to the point, because with a show like this you can end up extending yourself too much cuz there’s so many things to talk about. But I think this one was pretty much almost impeccable in a few aspects, especially regarding its production quality. Well, if we ignore a few special effects here and there, where it felt a bit too amateurish. But it’s easy to ignore that when the rest is so on point. Art direction, music, acting by pretty much all the cast. The fact that we could finally see skin that looks like skin!!! That’s important too.

The social commentary theme is also a breath of fresh air in BL shows (and it’s brave too considering the political context in Thailand!!). It’s often too on the nose, but I think as a show that’s targeted at younger audiences they have to uncomplicate things for better and broader understanding. There’s also the writing conveniences which are mostly done by making the boys’ gang act clueless. Their plans are a mess! But I also think that it’s important to show those characters as far-from-mastermind individuals. They’re super young, after all, and they’re mostly moved by their emotions. Especially Sean. But honestly, all of them with the exception of maybe White, who seems to be the most rational character.

As far as the actual BL parts go, I must admit I was never that into SeanWhite as a couple, despite me thinking that the OffGun chemistry is perfect. What I was invested in, though, was the side couple DanYok, which kinda pulled me in even before I started watching the show (just from seeing Twitter/IG clips). There was something that felt magical in how the storyline began and proceeded to develop for majority of the episodes. Chemistry was fire. But then I don’t understand why the writers/director decided to make them so chaste? Like, Yok looked like he wanted to eat Dan with his eyes. And Dan looked like he was willing to be eaten. And then those two guys end the series with a hug? I’m not saying they should be having wild sex on screen (but I wouldn’t complain if they had)!! Not at all! But they barely kiss. And kissing is not a problem in this show, clearly. See, in the one scene they had in episode 13 they are there having a moment, a heartfelt conversation. The intimacy is visible just by the way they talked and looked at each other. Then Yok looks into Dan’s eyes and gently touches his face. His eyes move to Dan’s lips and that alone was sexy as hell. And then Yok proceeds to touch his lips on Dan’s for about half a second. And then sexy time is over. I don’t know whose decision it was to “nerf” this pairing like this, but it was very tasteless.

Anyways, despite the underwhelming finale (not just because of the DanYok hug, but as a whole), this show was a pleasure to watch and follow weekly. I hope other thai BL directors feel inspired by the work done here because after this the standards are gonna be high.

Lire davantage

A story that goes beyond BL

Wow just wow!!!!
Not me was a new bl everyone was excited for since its announcement and especially since offgun was leading. The show itself did such a good job of balancing the bl aspect and non bl storyline to the point were u couldn't pick which you enjoyed more.

Beautiful performance from all the cast especially Gun like that boy definitely showed how great of an actor he is under gmm and even in the thai acting industry. The switch up between black and white is so insane u just cant picture gun being like that, but he pulls it off effortlessly.

DanYok the bl side couple that did something most bl side couples lack and that was pure PASSION. Fluke my husband did a splendid job and im really proud this show gave us a different side of him especially since gmm doesn't seem to respect hes worth.

Overall acting 10, storyline 10 also the pacing for this show is amazing definitely respected them for not dragging the stories out. Definitely gmms top bl id recommend everyone tap in and u won't be disappointed

Lire davantage

Not me! No, I was not disappointed at all!

Overall, the show had a few flaws here and there, but I was not expecting such a bl to be produced. The concept of this entire show is just incredible and kept me wanting more at a few episodes. Notice how I said "few"? That is because sometimes, they spent too much time trying to justify the gang's ideology that I felt like it was such a drag. This aspect did make me skip a few parts throughout the show as I was simply uninterested. However, the scenes that deprived the story of the element of the gang did move the plot, but I don't think it made much of a difference. After it ended, I went, "now what?" because it was just incredible. 100% WATCH IT! It's worth it! Trust me. Other than this criticism, this show is just MWAH. The central character development is so visually understandable, and you can see the shift in the change of personality of the main character. Fantastic acting and a good story pacing for this type of story! WATCH IT IF YOU LIKE violence and gangs mixed in with some unique love story.

Lire davantage

Satisfying In All Aspects!

(No spoiler until the bottom of the review)
This is the most fulfilling series! The acting, script, cinematography, music, production value, everything! The show is not 100% perfect, but it still FEELS like a 10/10. The mood it set, the tension that was built, the deep bonding between characters... it hooked me immediately and kept me enthralled throughout. I didn't fast-forward through anything, it was all worth watching.

Everyone is perfectly cast! Gun especially did a fantastic job as the two twins White and Black. His energy, the way he carried himself, and the look in his eyes were so distinct between them. Phenomenal acting. All the characters, even the secondary ones, felt like fully-fleshed people. The script, acting, and directing all supported this. I became invested in almost all of the characters! And I loved the different group dynamics.

I loved how this was done: It's hard to describe but it felt like the focus was on the slowly built bond and trust between White and Sean, NOT on the romance of it. Yet when it did become romantic, it was immensely powerful because of how carefully their connection had been built up. It felt so real/realistic and filled me with warmth, happiness, and satisfaction.

The politics of the story was interwoven very well with the plot. I appreciated that it often gave arguments from opposing viewpoints and mostly didn't feel too heavy-handed or preach-y. Instead it was easy to invest in the group's goals and root for their cause, even if they had disagreements amongst themselves (or with others) on the best way to go about it.

Most of the time I wasn't conscious of what the background music was doing. I like that because it means it was an effective support and not a distraction. Whenever I did notice it, it fit perfectly to enhance the emotions I was already feeling.

I already know this is a show I will watch again and again, at least once a year. It has filled my heart full of feelings and prompted some thoughtful thinking.

GENERAL SPOILER on the ending:
I liked the ending. It felt like a natural lull in a story that would continue. A time when our beloved characters are in a good spot even though their fight is not over. They still have goals they want to accomplish but we are able to be hopeful with them. It felt like a satisfying end to the show but didn't feel like an end to their story. Beautifully done.

Lire davantage