Not everything has to be top notch for you to enjoy a viewing experience. It wasn’t a perfect watch and nothing about this was truly unique or outstandingly mind-blowing, from the premise to the acting to its characters, but I have to say that this show felt unique to me from the get go. I’m can’t pinpoint it, though it may be that I’m still pretty new to BLs and Asian dramas in general, so it could be that this being more focused on a openly complicated plot, it having THAT much steam and romance not being the star of the show surprised me when compared to the other stuff that I’ve seen so far. But mostly, I felt like the people behind it had clear intentions and ideas going in, in ways making me think that, while wanting to try something new, they still didn’t do shit without a clear motive behind every shot or line of dialogue. It’s extremely admirable to me and I can honestly say there wasn’t a single second in this where I felt bored watching it. Of course this doesn’t mean that they were actually successful in making the product I KNOW they wanted to make. I do think there are a few issues that they need to fix going in into the sequel to make up for a confusing start. Before naming a few of them, I just want to be clear that by “confusing” I don’t necessarily mean the mystery behind the plot, and that I’m only critiquing the show out of genuine passion and excitement for what’s to come. What’s confusing to me is the script. I can see the ideas, I can see the potential, but then maybe the inexperience or the fact that they wouldn’t/couldn’t make this a couple more episodes long, there were moments where a scene would feel incohesive with the the previous or the next, as if they had to skip some content for them to be able to cram everything in an 8-hour long product. Mind you, I finished the last episode without feeling like I just wasted my time, so I’m sure they did the best they could with what they had. But then again, if the writing was somehow better, it would have benefited everything in here, especially with the characters. The main characters had some pretty fucked up things happening to them both in their backstories and their present, but with it being so plot-heavy and the writing having to make sure they didn’t leave anything important out, the character development itself suffered. Which leaves me feeling like they HAVE developed, but unfortunately I don’t get to see it in a satisfying way. That also means that, if the writing isn’t completely there, then the acting performance also suffers. The only case I felt where a character had a pretty much good arc is Korn, which felt pretty linear. The script did help the actor immensely with a pretty straightforward arc for him, and Bas is already a talent on his own, probably the best one out of the cast if I only have to judge from what you see in this series. That can partially be said for the actor and character of Ton Kla as well. I also KNOW Jes and Bible to be very good and expressive actors, and I did enjoy their performances, but unfortunately scenes weren’t written for them to shine and show their acting abilities.

In conclusion, yes, in a way this does feel like kind of a missed opportunity and there’s definitely some big room for improvement. But at the same time, this had remarkable photography, a pretty thrilling pacing, interesting ideas left and right and I had the best time watching, trying to guess all the possibilities and ways they story could go. I know it looks like I’m kinda bashing it, but I assure you, bullying is how I flirt. And I flirted a LOT with this BL. DEFINITELY worth a watch.

(EDIT: also, someone just reminded of the insane amount of ISDIN ads that were thrown left and right, it really did send me through the roof every time the camera sat for a few seconds on a bottle of sunscreen 😭though on a serious note, it surely aligns with my idea that unfortunately the people behind it needed the funding, so good on them if that helped with the production side of things!)