Only Friends (2023)

The Friends We Made Along The Way

There was one thing that annoyed me about this series once it started, I did not believe the core group of friends actually liked each other, if anything it felt like they only hang out together out of convenience but wouldn't miss an opportunity to belittle or mistreat each other.
But I think it was concise, since the story starts when the group starts to fall apart, when they reach the limit of what they can take from each other. It almost feels like a coming of age story where the main lesson is self love and worth.
The acting was top notch, while I think that Force and Book struggled with their characters and had a more lackluster performance compared to the others, at the start everyone still needed to break in their roles, Neo was the one that I felt was the most comfortable and ready for the challenge from the get go, Boston was probably the most different character he has played and it fit him like a glove, I was in awe by him. Khao had the hardest scenes to film and just like he did in Moonlight Chicken, he showed once again that he is one of the greatest actors in GMM, his character can give you a lot of mixed feelings from hate to pity, but it's certain that he will make you cry. While I think First bit a little more than he could chew with Sand, he still gives a strong perfomance, the chemistry he and Khao have is undeniable and allows the relationship between the characters to be believable and captivating even when it shouldn't. Mark was a pleasant surprise, Nick is a character to feel sorry for, with a lot of vunerability, I think Mark's performance was well done.
I feel that Cheum as the only girl of the group and the lesbian representation you rarely see, could have had more space in the drama, I would like to know more about her relationship with her girlfriend, while they treated her as the glue that keeps the group together, she seemed so out of the loop most of the time, her character was the hardest to relate to.
The story wasn't the best, but the execution justify why Only Friends got so much attention and praise, it is about people, about relationships, friendships, drugs, sex and betrayals.
I can't even say if it has a happy ending or not, because the end doesn't feel as a end, because life doesn't end after the credits roll, it keeps going, so I can only imagine that it will be the same for these characters, they will keep going and we will see Nicks and Sands and Rays and Mews walking around making mistakes and trying to get things right just like everybody else.

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Solid Acting and toxic relationships.

This was a RIDE!!! Kind of a guilty pleasure series filled with toxic characters and messed up relationships. But the actors did a splendid job. Since the series did not have a unique storyline or anything, the acting was holding it up. Display of emotions are done excellently and i am right there with them when the characters are hurt or heartbroken. I almost liked all the couples but i absolutely ADORED FirstKhao pair because these two were magical. And damn those smiles First had were the star of the show.

The character that took my heart and will hold it forever was Sand. I cried for him, fell in love with him and just whole-heartedly wished for his happiness. What he and Ray had was magic and the way he cared for broken Ray was worth watching.

Highly recommend!

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They're all idiots, your honor

This so clearly needs a second season.

I'll keep things vague but maybe add a reply with hidden spoilers below, but in general the comparison to The L Word is spot on. I love overly dramatic soapy shows, and this brings the DRAMA. The music is outstanding, everyone is beautiful and impulsive, the production values are pretty good but not perfect, and the connection to real world things like jobs and how many stripey shirts any one individual should own are tenuous at best.

AND. I finally get why some of the popular pairings appeal to fans, which I didn't before. I might even give A Boss and a Babe another chance based on watching this. I am now officially a Mark fan. I see you, GMMTV.

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Love the drama.

Love SandRay and the pool scene with Boing, this show is pretty much problematic people trying to put their shit together while being depressed and drunk I guess but still love it.

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BEST GMMTV series of the year?

STORY: I didn't expect a good story from a series that focuses on messiness & (let's be honest...) sex. But the story has some twists along the way. There are 1-2 magic moments that wows you in (almost) every episode.

ACTING: Khaotung as Ray deserves acting awards! He's (arguably) the best Thai BL actor this year. First as Sand supports him so well. FirstKhaotung is the Thai BL CP that shares a similar level of acting skills (which is rare).

Neo & Mark Pakin's acting are surprising GOOD! They need to be main leads in other series.

Book has 2 scenes that wows me. I was like "Book can act!"

Force is good at side eyes (which he does often in Only Friends.) He's also hot so he fits the character (Top).

MUSIC: The team has great taste in music (3 music types for 3 CPs). The music fits the scenes well. It helps you feel the characters' emotions.

Rewatch value: SandRay (FirstKhaotung) have MANY memorable scenes. Gonna watch them again some time.

At least 2 of their scenes should win (or at least be nominated) for BEST Thai BL scene of the year.

SUMMARY: Only Friends is Director Jojo & Ninew's BEST work so far. They should do a season 2 in the Only Friends Stay (hostel) setting. And add new main characters like Mix, GUN, & Earth...

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It had potential

In the first 9 episodes this series was addicting. After that, it became a little bit boring and I really lost any interest in Mews and Tops story.I think the last three episodes could been shorten into two or even one. Or they could written a better storyline with Boeing.

First of all, I didn't forgive Top and I don't feel like he actually redeemed himself enough, but maybe it realistic that Mew forgave him anyways. But I still felt really annoyed watching their cute scenes after they became a couple again.

Secondly, the Boeing storyline was really weird. It would have been interesting if he actually had wanted to date Mew, but instead he was a one-dimensional bag guy. Also, It was really unnecessary that he tried to get together with Sand. And why did Sand just accept it? I feel like this should have been resolved better, as it seemed like sand wasn't sure if he should pick Ray over Boieng.


Anyways, I still like Sand and Ray together, even though it was unrealistic that Ray suddenly became a better person and suddenly forgot his trauma. To be fair though it makes sense, as Ray is very impulsive and changes his mind easily, I still feel like him improving this quickly should have backfired.
Another "couple" was Boston and Nick. In my opinion, they were the best written couple, even though they broke up, which was the perfect end for them. Boston couldn't have changed that quickly and he didn't. Also, I liked watching Nick's character development!

Would I recommend watching it? Actually, I would, if you like messy drama. It may not be the best written story, but it sure was entertaining.

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Not what I was expecting

I hope this isn’t going to be the norm for GMMTV BL series now. Too mature. I love my sweet, cute, funny GMM actors. There was very little of that. The storylines for each couple was dark and intense. Lots of backstabbing and lies. Focused mainly on addiction. Alcoholism, Drug use, and Sex addiction. Some of it was resolved, some not. My heart broke for Nick and I was disappointed there was no happy ending for him. Hopefully he got together with his coworker. He seemed nice. I’m sure lots of people like this but I was too upset the whole time to enjoy it.

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One of the Best "Gay BLs' Ever Made

One can argue until the cow comes home as to whether it is a BL, but it is without doubt a solid and outstanding gay series, surprisingly. The whole series belabored the negative issues with each couple without concentrating on the thing that would have taken this series to greatness. It lacked human warmth. It tried to do too much to show us the issues that it lost sight of its humanity. What humanity it showed was ugly. What I did greatly admire about this series is that it is GAY. This represents the gay world. This is how the gay world is in reality. I am not sure if this series recognized what it had on its hands. I wish it would have gone just a bit deeper into what motivates these characters.
You can read my full review of this interesting and raw gay BL series at BLBliss.com.

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Bagunça!

Apesar da história ter como foco principal a história dos amigos que administram um hotel, ela não conta realmente a história deles. Isso pq logo de EP 2 o conteúdo se espalha e cada vez aquilo que deveria ser o foco se torna apenas pano de fundo.
Todos os personagens compartilham da falta de desenvolvimento, a série tem vários arcos importantes mas não traz impacto o suficiente pq os personagens não tem intimida com o público, não são apresentados da maneira correta para o público.
O casal protagonista (Mew e Top) também é apagado, não tendo química ou qualquer tipo de brilho eles acabam sendo ofuscado toda a série pelo casal secundário (Ray e Sand)
Apesar de ser um personagem que claramente foi feito pra movimentar o enredo, Boston ao decorrer dos episódios se torna o melhor personagem da série pois mantém sua veracidade, história e personalidade.

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Finally the real gay community

I was so excited to see the chaos this would be. I was so proud of GMMTv for the audacity. Realistic stuff always get me, it's a love-hate thing.
But let's go to the character analysis.
Everyone sucks. The only character who is an actual angel is Sand.
Mew: was descent until he became Harley Twink and turned toxic as well.
Force and Boston: both can't keep it in their pants. Except Force was willing to join monogamy at the end, but Boston couldn't, that's not who he is.
Nick: did some fucked up shit and was very colorblind when it came to red flags, but he was not a bad person at the end of the day and I'm glad he teamed up with the best person in the "group".
Ray: messed up, poor little rich kid... nah 'cause Ray fucking sucked and would make a scene out of every little thing. He definitely doesn't know how to deal with anything and that could be because he doesn't got a mom and a present dad but took him too long to even want to try to be a better person. He hurt too many people. Sand was a saint for pulling up with all that shit.
Sand: I think he is flawless, but he gave too many chances to Ray, also kinda colorblind. It went well at the end, thankfully.
Chuem: I was so happy that this actress would be gay in the show. Also was so happy that she was dating Nanon's sister. But damn, she was so annoying and had no own opinion. She would just believe anyone that came up to her and said like '"your girlfriend said "blah blah"'. She wouldn't even ask or talk about it, she would just come for the person. There was also kinda of a lack of chemistry between her and April tbh.
April: is only there to be Chuem's girlfriend, barely appears.
Yo and Plug: I wish their story had more screen time, cause they meant nothing to me (which is sad 'cause I love Jennie)
Atom: bro was filthy. I tried to understand that he was very confused and fell for the first guy he hooked up with right after he found out he likes men too, I was kinda sorry for him but he fucked up still.

We can see most characters are very well written and developed. I really liked that and the fact that everything was very real, like getting out of that romantic perfect bubble. I kinda wish the couples wouldn't end up together, because that could be like a lesson about real life: some things don't work out and that's okay. I loved that Nick and Boston didn't get together in the end, Boston tried but he was unable to be monogamous, so he should just try and stop making other people's lives miserable. Overall the drama was very nice to watch, chaos is very entertaining. Seeing our beloved actors getting out of their comfort zone and playing shitty characters was an experience.

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only grindr fans who hate romance

Firstly, this is a very watchable departure from the standard BL mode. This is both bad and good...bad that it wasted the actors on a hook-up culture that leaves little room for anything that resembles love or intimacy. And good in the sense that you have good-looking couples with chemistry stepping on and crushing the BL mode. It's great to experiment and change things up..this goes a little too far in the direction of only-fans or the opposite of a romantic comedy.

The story is basically each character getting out of their underwear to pass the time on conquests and cruel mind games with others. Toss in drama drama drama and you have a recipe for a hot mess. But, strangely if you get past episode two you can't stop watching. Like with most trainwrecks or messy characters, you root for them to redeem themselves or have fun yelling at the screen when characters do unnecessary bad things to other people.

In the end, I hope this opens conversations and expands future BL shows to show the many different sides of relationships. I tend to connect more with romance, and less trashy characters but maybe there's a way to do both or watch create watchable variations like is show...

but also that can give viewers hope that love exists.

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