Only Friends has a great beginning, but I can't lie that the incline to it being great crashed somewhere and just started getting rather tedious to watch. And don't get me wrong -- the plot, the acting, the romances -- everything worked like it was supposed to, except, still something just didn't work towards the end of this for me.

Let's Dive In.

Jojo knew what he was doing with this series, specifically with these pairings too. Putting a bunch of hot people in one frame and having them get into some heated mess -- okay yes, of course, I'm seated. I absolutely adore the concept of this BL, which I don't even know if I would label it a BL. This felt more like a genuine queer messy-gay series with no specific yes on a pairing and everybody was just kissing and sucking and fucking one another. It was about friendship and love and betrayal and hatred and loss and it worked perfectly with these actors. They put on a brilliant performance, and I can't wait to see what's lined up for them in the future from here on out.

Now, onto specific characters/pairings: I'll be honest, I would've loved a RayMew endgame. Of course, Ray and Sand worked well together too, but I'm a sucker for friends to lovers and we can't pretend like the moments that we did get between them weren't so fucking cute. Anyways, passed my wrecked ship, I'll start with Top and Mew. I absolutely hate that they ended up together. I really wish that Mew would've moved on, which might be my own bias because I can't imagine staying with someone that cheated on me, and even worse, cheated on me with my best friend. Also, yes, Boston is like a terrible human being, but if Mew can't find it in himself to forgive his friend but forgive his partner when they were both in the wrong, then Mew is being a bit of a hypocrite -- is he not? But skipping past before Top cheated with Boston, I was all aboard the Top Mew train. But initially Top only got with Mew to fill Boston's bet that he couldn't be the person Mew loses his virginity to, so now that I'm remembering that, I actually still didn't really like this pairing much. And I get it, he realized he actually did have feelings for Mew, but the intentions were still there. In reality, I give their relationship 5 months until they end for good.

Onto Sand and Ray, the only couple that I'm okay with. I liked Ray's character development a lot, which is why I can actually see this relationship lasting. They had a lot of ups and downs and honestly, the only real one I can recall is Ray still having feelings for Mew. I think they also complement each other so well that it just works. The rich with the poor, the spontaneous with the calculated, the party animal with the quiet musician, the boy who yearns for someone to love them with the boy who yearns to be loved. It was all so good. Again, I think Ray and Mew would've worked better for me, but I can see why this pairing does too, so I'm not mad about it at all.

Moving onto Nick and Boston -- thank god they didn't end up together. I hated seeing Nick just up and give Boston chance after chance, especially after they actually get together and Boston screws up again. He's just an all-around terrible person, who needed no redemption arc but was still given one (slightly). But again, Neo is so charming, so handsome, so perfect, so I can see why Nick would *shrugs in understanding*. But Nick deciding to work on himself to find the key to loving himself was a perfect ending for his character. Poor dude passed up Gumpa, so he really must've been hurting.

Mond being in this was so random and yet everything I needed and more. Dude is so pretty, so perfect, so everything. I couldn't even be mad that he was put in to add conflict at the last minute, because gosh, I mean just look at him. And the glasses too?? I'm no better than any of these characters tbh.

So what I think went wrong with this series: For me, there were a few times in which this just dragged on. Seeing Mark be hurt over and over again, Ray and Sand going back and forth, Top and Mew playing a game of cat and mouse -- and then it goes on for episodes and episodes. By the end, I was watching this at 2 times the speed. This is me being completely nit-picky and everyone else can disagree with me and that's fine, but how come we never see Ray/Sand and Top/Mew NC scenes as intensely as we saw Boston/any-boy-within-a-two-feet-radius-and-Mark? Maybe because they wanted to put an emphasis on Boston being sex crazy, but it felt weird to incorporate something for one character but not the others.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - Overall, it was good. Kind of repetitive and a little bit draggy, but it still worked well and was on theme throughout.

Acting: 9/10 - I got to see Mond and Force shirtless (which has nothing to do with their acting, but they sure did show me a good performance so..). Anyways though, and for real, everyone did a phenomenal job. Again, I'll have to give most of the kudos to Khaotung who just hits it out of the park each and every time. But Mark also stood out and so did Neo too.

Music: 8.5/10: Like usual, I didn't pay much attention, but I would like the sudden shock on my face when I heard an English song playing. I don't know, it just shocks me sometimes. Also, the theme song is so very good.

Recommendation Value: 7.5/10: Watch this because the actors are gorgeous and they are kissing at least 1/2 of each episode -- and the plot is wonderful. I give it a low score because I think this would've actually worked out better had I binge-watched it. I just saw all the hype and had to watch, but having seen what I've seen, I could've definitely waited to binge-watch it.

Also, Mix coming in at the end almost felt like they were building up to a potential 2nd season?? I mean, just imagine it. And you know if Mix is there I'm also there. We shall see once the final GMMTV 2024 line-up comes out!