Award-worthy acting

Unknown showcases the craft of acting with a cast that embodies their characters completely, and attention to detail behind the scenes.

I understand people's problems with the plotline but dramas are dramatic so I can ignore the faults in favour of the execution (cracks are how the light gets in). I happily paid for the express package, something I hadn't considered for any other drama.

Chris Chiu and Kurt Huang are amazing in front of and behind the scenes, and their commitment to the roles is evident in how seriously they embodied Qian and Yuan.

The whole cast felt "real" and the little moments were so good. Attention to detail in the lived in look of their house and bookcases full of internet programming books etc added verisimilitude.

I sincerely hope that Unknown gives the cast and crew awards and recognition. Both Chris and Kurt (especially Chris) deserve high profile roles off the back of this.

I hope that Qian and Yuan will cameo in a future BL series, it would be nice to see them further into their relationship. I think a second series would probably devalue this series though.

Despite its flaws, Unknown is an easy 10/10 for me.

Pros:
The acting
Commitment of cast and crew
Set dressing
Beautifully shot
Songs
Behind the scenes content
邱宇辰 Qiu Yuchen (Chris Chiu)
黃宏軒 Huang Hongxuan (Kurt Huang)

Cons:
Romance with "father figure".
Sister sidelined to the point she almost doesn't exist.
Editing that has children in flashback during an NC scene. Just no. (Watch the SP11 version instead of original).

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Love on the Spectrum

I have a huge soft spot for this series. Maybe it's because I'm an autistic adult but it makes me squee that Jaeyoung respects that Sangwoo doesn't like to be touched unexpectedly and warns that he's about to kiss.

Sangwoo is absolutely coded autistic. He needs routine to thrive, has a strong sense of justice, sensory issues, can fixate on one thing, etc. It's a relatively stereotypical autistic depiction, and yet it's not stereotypical to the point of getting it wrong.

Sangwoo is thrown by Jaeyoung but also adapts. He has fixed views, but is more flexible than he allows himself to be. He grows over the story and yet is still himself.

Jaeyoung was a complete dick to start with, but he realised he was a complete dick and tries to reverse this.

Jaeyoung and Sangwoo seem like an odd couple, but that's true of many real life couples. Perhaps I'm being too biased because I love this series, but it feels believable that they would grow close despite their differences. They complement each other.

Sangwoo's confession to Jaeyoung ("You're like an error. Bad personality and have no sense of time. You're also capricious and irrational.") is the sweetest and most romantic moment in any BL I've watched.

This gets 10/10 overall and especially for the three most standout scenes:
The drunk kiss
Sangwoo's confession
The end post credit scene

The post credit scene is the most realistic depiction of two people in a relationship. They are comfortable in each other's presence. Jaeyoung just leans against Sangwoo as the latter works. They're supportive of each other, even with disagreements. They sense each other ("We won't finish today if you keep looking at me like that.") The scene shows what a real non toxic relationship should feel like.

Semantic Error is my comfort watch series.

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Disappointing

The only reason I'm giving The Middleman's Love any stars is for Tong/Gus (Leo/Tai) who are the only characters worth watching this for.

As another reviewer wrote, this series feels nothing like Bed Friend. King/Nuea (Net/James) characters have been decimated. Their relationship should be strong given this is set over a year after them being together, and they're engaged. Somehow the office has moved location (I guess it's cheap to film in your own offices), which I think might have been vaguely referenced once but otherwise ignored.

Mai/Jade (Tutor/Yim) appear to have no chemistry and I didn't realise they were Nuer/Syn from Cutie Pie as they were so awful in this. Jade is written as the most annoying character and not suited to be a leading part. Mai and Jade have no reason to like each other. Mai must have something seriously wrong with him to have fallen for Jade instantly.

The only characters that kept me watching were Tong and Gus. Can they have their own series? Actually, just Leo and Tai as different characters. I guess I need to look for Forever Friend to watch. The comments on MDL look like other series they've been linked to wrong be happening. Oh well.

My overall rating is 7.5/10 for the tertiary couple, 0.5/10 for everything else.

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"I'm traveling. I'm getting mashed into pies."

In the special, the actors introduce themselves and their characters. My favourite subtitle: "Hello. I'm traveling. I'm getting mashed into pies." which is the intro for Pure Papawan who plays Pie.

This is such a mediocre series with no real story and stilted acting. But the English subtitles are so bad that it makes it a binge watch for comedy value.

On the plus side I now know that "Khon Prod" means "favourite person" and "Sroi" means "necklace" so maybe it's a good series to watch to learn Thai vocab (unless they redo the subtitles, which would just ruin the fun).

Watch on 2x speed and enjoy the ride.

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