Synopsis (BL couples)
There is a pool party. The boys celebrate that the school won the match. How do they celebrate? Drinking alcohol! Earn is still upset that Noh never showed up to give him drinks during the match. “I waited for nothing”, he notes. Is there something weird going on between Pete and Earn?
Noh runs into Om, and him and his friends are all drinking. At the party Noh also sees his friend Golf and they talk briefly. Golf used to go to Friday College (he probably got kicked out for not being gay enough). Noh gets a call from Yuri. In this scene, we get a glimpse of Michael Kiettisak (Oxygen).
Golf asks Noh if they can talk somewhere private. Once alone, he shows Noh a video of Aim and some other guy having sex.
Golf says to Noh, “You should tell Phun”. Noh decides to drink instead. To show us how drunk he is, director Andy decides to do this weird sequence in which Noh sees a frozen Phun and he draws a smile on his face. It’s really strange, though I think drawing the smile on Phun’s face may have a deeper meaning (see Analysis below).
We see Aim showing up at the party. Noh starts accusing her in front of Phun. Aim and Noh fight, and eventually fall on the swimming pool. Noh realizes it is not Aim but “Hippo”, one of the girls from the Angels gang. EVERYONE LAUGHS. Phun reaches out to get Noh out of the swimming pool and we get some romantic music. Drunk Noh pulls Phun into the pool.
Wet Noh gets out of the pool and then falls over and him and Phun end up on the floor. I love the framing of this scene. Captain makes a funny drunk. Phun carries him home.
Pam and the rest of the girls are having a girl’s only night at Phun’s house. Pam is chatting with Pop, but the other 2 girls don’t know it. When her friends find out, she denies anything is going on between her and Pop. Her friends get upset at the mere suggestion that Pam is getting between Pop and Shay. These girls are hard core shippers. Phun gets home with Noh and the girls get all excited. We get a weird (and often criticized) “fantasy” sequence: The boys are all dressed up (except for sneakers, why are they wearing sneakers?). Noh, the Uke is in pink. Phun, the Seme is in blue. The girls fantasize about how Phun and Noh met, and even consider the possibility they are brothers and can’t be together.
Noh falls asleep on Phun’s bed. I so want White to cuddle me like that. They are about to kiss, then Noh throws up and has to run to the bathroom. Phun decides that Noh needs a bath.
Phun takes his clothes off then he takes Noh’s clothes off except for boxers. Weird.
The girls go in to steal Phuns clothes….? And the comforter, they also lower the AC? (and my guess is they take the remote).
The boys come out of the bath and they are cold and can’t find their clothing or the comforter. Phun offers to go get a comforter from outside the room, but Noh stops him. Phun suggest they hold each other to keep warm. We get another “fantasy” sequence that references Brokeback Mountain. The whole sequence is ruined with Captain smiling all the time, like he just couldn’t stop laughing with how ridiculous the whole thing was. How much money they had to spend on silly stuff?
The boys sleep half naked with a dirty blanket that Phun found in the room. Noh tells Phun, you are a nice guy. Phun kisses Noh on the forehead and says, this is enough for me, then he holds his hand. Ohhhhh!
The filler stories
Mo is making a cake. It looks like no one told Mo, you can’t put metal on a microwave.
Mo and Moan argue. It is their anniversary, and he forgets. She leaves and he races down the corridor to catch up with her. He shows her that he didn’t really forget. They go back inside. Moan seems so honest and loving… Moan tries to hide something in his phone. Mo asks if she can check Moan’s phone. Apparently, she can’t find anything Mo and Moan hugging is the cutest thing. Moan tells Mo he can’t promise to love her forever, but he loves her right now. Mo replies, “you are horny that’s why you said all those things”. Moan acknowledges that this is true.
Golf gets to Mo’s apartment. He calls her. She is too busy doing the same kind of things to Moan I would do with White. LOL
Quote at end: “Care about each other’s happiness while there is still a chance”
Analysis
This episode has many cute moments and some beautifully shot scenes. For those who watched this as it aired, and for those of us who waited between watching this season and having finished season 1, this felt like the wait was worth it. The bathtub scene, the pool scene, and the scene with the two boys in bed, are all pretty good and unforgettable scenes. I especially loved the scene where Noh and Phun end up on the floor laughing. It is very cute. After almost two years working together, you could tell that the chemistry between Captain and White was strong. Season 2 benefits from this chemistry.
The extensive use of fantasy sequences was dropped after the first episodes. Rumor has it that the producers dropped this because of the negative fan reactions, but I also wonder if the production company decided it was too expensive to do them. Either way, the fantasy sequences are completely unnecessary, and it is mere presence in the show is proof that the series had a significant bump in the production budget from season 1 to season 2. It also makes you wonder why they didn’t use the extra money to hire a better sound producer.
This episode marks the beginning of a very important plot arc in the season as Noh struggles with the decision to tell Phun about what he knows about Aim. That Aim is unfaithful to Phun, makes it conveniently easy for Phun to choose Noh over Aim. In Thai BL, woman carry the burden of being imperfect and flawed: Aim is not good enough for Phun because she is unfaithful and superficial, while Yuri is not good for Noh as she is blissfully ignorant and seemingly selfish.
Phun on the other hand, is honorable. In this episode, Noh remarks that Phun is too nice because he is not taking advantage of him. Noh is also thinking of how terrible Aim is and how Phun is “too nice” for her. The bar is set very low when a guy is “nice” because he is not taking advantage of his semi-naked and drunk friend. Regardless, Phun is indeed sweet to Noh, even when he almost throws up on his bed.
It is sad that Noh throws “Hippo” into the swimming pool after fighting with her. He never apologizes and it seems no one at the party cares about the poor kathoey. It is slightly disturbing that everyone laughs and even the Angel Gang chants “Hippo”. No one offers to help the poor (and wet) kathoey.
The quote at the end of the episode gives us a very good idea about what is the main theme tying the different storylines together: “Care about each other’s happiness while there is still a chance”. Mo tries to make Moan a cake for their anniversary. Moan tries to be loving and tender to Mo. Phun is very loving to Noh, while Noh tries to tell Phun the truth about Aim but ends up just being cute and sweet with Phun. Mo cares for Moan happiness but we suspect Moan does not genuinely care for Mo’s happiness. Noh cares deeply about Phun’s happiness (that’s why he tries to make him smile during the fantasy sequence at the pool party) and Phun cares about Noh’s happiness. Most importantly, we see both of them laughing on the floor at the party, when drunk Noh pulls Phun to the floor.
Episode Rating:
Overall, this is a strong episode with good cinematography and pacing. Mo and Moan story is interesting. Phun and Noh have some great moments. The Kathoey falling into the pool is not funny and the way the series treats her is disturbing. We learn that there is video evidence of Aim being found out as a cheater. Noh and Phun get in the bathtub together one more time. The fantasy sequences are a waste of production money. Sound quality still suffers.
The looking glass 