When I first watched the trailer for "Be My Favorite," I was delighted to see Gawin Caskey in another BL. At this point, I'm indifferent to Krist, as I've never watched SOTUS nor will I ever watch it. It's just not my cup of tea. I know Krist had a homophobic scandal, which, depending on whether you're a SOTUS fan or not, will impact your feelings. I don’t have any interest in Krist like I do with Gawin as a Not Me fan. I just needed Krist to be good in this series.

The premise of the series revolves around Botkawee, who's in love with Pearmai. However, his unrequited love is hindered by Piseng. His life changes when a broken musical crystal ball is repaired by a strange old man, transporting him back in time to the age of eighteen. Everything turns upside-down. Instead of fulfilling his hopes with Pearmai, Botkawee somehow ends up in the arms of Pisaeng. Thus begins their cat and mouse game, with Pisaeng chasing after Botkawee. However, old feelings for Pearmai become a detriment to their blossoming romance. Enraged, Botkawee keeps twisting the crystal ball in an attempt to get desired results, leading to unexpected consequences.

When the series started from episode 1, I wanted to literally punch Kawi in the face because I thought he was a selfish prick who only thought of himself. As much as people hate Not, this is how much I hated Kawi. I didn’t get why people were fawning over him. There was nothing cute about anything he did. Kawi was a judgmental prick who blamed everyone for his miserable life of his own making. The only reason he is nice to Pearmai is that he likes her. If he didn’t have feelings for her, he would be his usual prickly self. He and Not are cut from the same cloth in this respect.

Piseng is just the nicest guy Kawi had the fortune of meeting. Piseng was being a good friend to his childhood friend, Pearmai. Overall, he is very kind and sweet. Piseng is such a people pleaser to the point of being annoying when Kawi takes advantage of him again and again.

Max is truly the MVP of Kawi’s life. He helped Kawi with his self-development as a person. He wasn’t as fleshed out as I would’ve liked, but it was good enough for a BL series.

Pearmai wasn’t a typical female trope, and I feel so bad for her. Always being the pretty girl everyone thinks has it all, but in truth, she didn’t get Piseng, her childhood crush. She didn’t get Kawi because of her childhood crush. Then to be knocked up by Not as a backup marriage plan after her failed relationship with Kawi. I’m glad she had her happy ending and resolved her childhood issues.

I didn’t like Kwan for two reasons: first, for going along with pranking Kawi and Pear on the trip. Like no! Second, for having such low self-esteem to allow a lowlife like Not to use her as a side piece. But she got her just desserts when she cleaned house of being Not’s side piece.

Not is so not doing it for me. He’s a total piece of trash that isn’t worth recycling. He's trash left out in the basking sun for too long that not even dung flies want to swarm around him. The only redeeming arc I want to see. Not to lose all his friends and hit rock bottom for years before he gets the realization that he’s the problem like Kawi did. Then he changes to become a decent person.

Let me just say the relational relationships with the parents of each main character were so good. From Kawi letting his father know that he did the best he could to raise him as a single dad, that he doesn’t need to compare himself to other parents because Kawi loves him for doing his best. Plus, that speech about how there isn’t a set standard of how to be the perfect parent. It’s true. Kawi turned out okay in the end despite his hard circumstances. He isn’t Not, who I'm sure had more affluent and supportive parents, and look at how he turned out as a person.

Then Pear, being raised by her single dad because her mom wanted her own selfish goals to matter more. It really was eye-opening for the mom when she thought her success should be celebrated at the expense of her daughter’s resentment over being abandoned. Even the dad, who has forgiven the mom, but didn’t understand that asking a kid to be understanding of being abandoned by a parent isn’t right. When Pear said she felt expected to be perfect, it shows adults don’t always get it right. I'm glad the dad told Pear she’s entitled to change her opinions and feelings as she grows.

Piseng’s mom, while verbally supportive, lacked the actions to show him the support he needs. Sometimes what we say and what we do are in direct contrast to each other. I’m glad Piseng called his mom out on it.

I love how each parent is shown to be flawed, and they don’t always do the right thing or know what is best. You just need to listen to your kid as they are becoming adults and knowing their own minds. I enjoyed the parents in this series. They were shown to be flawed people too.

I was a little mixed about Kawi’s hesitation to be romantic with Piseng. I’m not talking about intimacy or sex, but just the fact that they are in a room together, he won’t allow Piseng to hug him or kiss him. I mean, he was fine with Pear kissing him on the cheek when he walked her home. It’s annoying that he asked Piseng out but they can’t even hold hands or hug each other. Like I get he was self-identifying as heterosexual but when you knowingly get into a gay relationship and you can’t even hold hands or hug, it’s just not doing it for me. However, the uncertainty of Kawi having sex with Piseng for the first time is beautifully portrayed.

I started to dislike Kawi or Krist after they got into a relationship; their chemistry was so awkward to watch in that episode. (Krist stans, I don’t give a damn if you disagree or think I’m a hater just because I didn’t like his performance here. If you see I did praise his acting in other areas so zip it.) I can’t help but wonder if Krist is just uncomfortable doing these kinds of romantic scenes, or it’s just GMMTV unwilling to show viewers what a healthy romantic relationship looks like. I’m fine with the Director skipping sex than putting in scenes that are disappointing because they look so awkward. At the bare minimum, I expected plenty of hugging and kissing, as Piseng is just that type of guy. It wasn’t like Kawi was opposed to it.

The ending was near perfect except for Not showing up. "Be My Favorite" is easily my favorite series from GMMTV this year.