Affair (2024)

The funniest thing happened to me with this drama. I watched the first trailer when it dropped some time ago and was not impressed, I read the synopsis and decided that this is not for me, yet I still jumped into the first episode as soon as it got realesed and fell in love instantly. I was looking forward to every single episode completly capitvated by the sizzling chemistry of Sonya and Lookmhee. They just got something that kept my interest till the end, even though the plot started to crumble down in the second half.

Wan and Pleng's chemistry is stellar. Sonya and Lookmhee can act restrained desire and sexual tension like it's nobody's business. I think this is the first GL pairing that works so well for me. Usually I think that one person is doing better than the other when it comes to romantic or intimate scenes and is overll more "into it", but LMSY are so comfortable and natural with each other, they totally won me over. I could believe their tears and saw sparkles of feelings in their eyes.

I've never had a problem with anything that happened in the first half of the show. Self sabotaging petty schemes, tumultuous unresolved feelings, irrational actions - it all makes a very compelling depiction of teenage angst where nonsense makes sense. Both actresses did a very good job, their natural and intense chemistry added another layer to this complicated relationship. Pleng's reserved nature and Wan bold personality makes an interesting combination - one always hides her feelings and feels like she doesn't deserve the other, when the other doesn't hide it at all to the point that her love becomes an obssesion.

The thing is, the characters don't go beyond that. We have a time skip of 13 years and they both are the same as they were as teenagers, even though the circumstances are vastly different this time. The push and pull and jealousy never stops and it doesn't make much sense later in their life. I've been told that this type of running in circles is a Chao Planoy's modus operandi but it's such a lazy way to keep the conflict going. There are some valid points that make this "affair" a bit more complex (Pleng's psychological issues due to her past, the guilt that she must felt for basically throwing Ek in the middle of their petty drama, Wan obsessive behaviour that went so far that she didn't even care that she and Pleng could be potentially related) but they are left to our interpretation, instead the show is more focused on Ek going psycho and Pleng going back and forth with her decisions.

The last two episodes got me thinking that perhaps I was just blinded by the main actresses' natural charm all along. It exposed the flaws of the script that I was able to ignore up to that point. The penultimate episode was supposed to be the height of the angst, as the major plot point got revealed, but for some reason it mostly focused on men and not the main couple. It basically showed that there is always a man waiting to lierally save the day whenever woman is struggling. The notion that women cannot deal with their own problems, with their own relationships, without a man stepping in rubbed me the wrong way. Especially because it is a wlw relationship and this type of heteronormative chivalry is not necessary here. Now, the last episode was simply all over the place. Introducting a new character and semi-new conflict in the last 30 minutes of the show is just dumb. Also can we stop giving the last minute redemption arcs to people who showed no remorse before? We need more character development, not sudden changes of heart.

It's not a terrible show but I'd say that the level of enjoyement will realy on how much you like the main pairing. The writing is not the best. I think we need to put Chao Planoy's Universe to rest and get more original scripts or adaptations of other people's works, because hers are just too shallow and overcomplicated. This drama is solely carried by the main actresses. I enjoyed it a lot more that I could possibly imagined only because of them. My rating is a reflection of that fondness, if I tried to be more objective it would be lower.
8/10

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Unpopular Opinion

Okay unpopular opinion here- but I’m not too big a fan of this series.

First off- I want to acknowledge that the cast is excellent- their acting is brilliant, and the production value, music etc everything is really good. That’s why I had such high hopes.

Unfortunately my experience is not too good- primary reason being the storyline. The plot feels just way too twisted. But more than that- Pleng’s character bothers me. Again I don’t think it’s on the actress- rather the story or the screenplay. The whole burden, effort, personality and action all exist in Wan’s character- and Pleng is just someone ‘along for the ride’ She doesn’t seem devastated when leaving Pleng- in fact she comes across as a very self- absorbed and afraid- a character lacking any opinions or motivations. She is also quite horrible to Wan many times- who is obviously head over heels from the get.

I don’t know how different the novel is- I will read it soon- but Pleng’s character just put me off from the show. It feels like a one-sided love story to me.

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