Pinoy BL Series
Thailand
It wasn't clear yet on Episode 2: First Dance, but as COVID-19 was described as spreading rapidly in the provincial and rural town, symptoms seem to point to Cardo as having caught the contagious disease. I just hope this isn't another Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series employing the bury your gay trope. Anyway, more than anything else, this episode was about Cardo and Nathaniel's domestic life together presented through conversation-heavy scenes. While their dialogues need to be more natural, they were generally ok. Gino and John Gil's chemistry still need work. But their intimate scene was alright though. Audio-visuals remained uneven. Sound wasn't always clear and some scenes were too dark. Notwithstanding these technical issues, this episode was mostly fine.
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Lust Never Lasts Episode 4
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I can confidently say that "Lust Never Lasts" is among the worst Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series that I've seen. Much like the previous episodes, Episode 4 was soapy with bad direction, script, and acting. Aside from incest, problematic stereotypes, not only of bisexuals and intersexuals but other queers, dominated its nauseating screenplay. It's highly regressive. It's as if it's written by someone uneducated on the issues of the queer community. Acting was awful. And production technicals remained poor. I hope this series ends soon.
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Love by Fehler Episode 2
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Episode 2: Katotohanan (Truth) was a weak episode. While character and relationship backgrounds were provided, the execution of scenes was quite uncreative. Script had unrealistic lines and whiny dialogues. Acting-wise, Elijah and James were alright but the supporting cast members delivered mostly tentative performances. Production technicals remained poor. Overall, this was a disappointing episode.
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In This Kaleidoscope World Episode 2
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Is the juxtaposed parallel narrative style working for this series? To be honest, I'm not sure yet. I'll need a few more episodes to gauge. Episode 2: Real Talk tackled sex work. Because the series' moral dilemma was still pretty evident, the discussion about sex work had cringy parts. Nevertheless, while there were motherhood and preachy statements, script was mostly fine. Acting was good. Production technicals were ok. But overall, this episode was a bit dull. Hopefully, the next episode will be more interesting.
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Worth the Wait Episode 5
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I must admit, the pairing of Aki and Solo on this series really grew on me. They looked cute together. On Episode 5, Ethon and Martin's relationship development didn't feel forced. I liked that there were still banters exchanged between them, most of which were actually funny. They have chemistry together. The plot/storyline was made a bit more complicated with Dane's scheme and Kyle's entry. I just hope these antagonists are given more character depth in succeeding episodes. While there were corny lines, the dialogues were mostly ok. Some of the jokes were quite effective. Acting was alright. But production technicals regressed. Set designs for the production shoot and press conference were substandard. Regardless, overall, this was a good episode.
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While I'm still looking for a bit more complexity in terms of plot/storyline, at least there were some movements on Episode 6. Alex and Gino spent more time together. Also, Derrick and Alex separately confessed their love for Gino. I swear, going shirtless each episode was part of Migo's contract for this series, lol. By the way, congratulations to Migo for winning the male pageant Mister Friendship International (2021)! For this episode, script was alright. Acting was fine. And production technicals were ok. On the whole, this episode wasn't bad at all.
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Saan, Sana Tayo sa Himig ng Musika Episode 4
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Other than insinuating Gerald and Joshua had drunk sex (which I hate), nothing much happened on Episode 4: Guessing Game. It's really a guessing game where the plot/storyline of this series is heading. I'm all for deep conversations but if they lead to nowhere, they're actually wasted, which I think was the case for this episode. Besides, script got quite boring on this episode. Again, Drei and Gus are good actors, they act naturally, but they're artistically crippled by the poor material. Production technicals were better though. Sound was clearer. Camera shots, angles, and movements were mostly ok. All in all, I hope next episode's more interesting.
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Stuck on You Episode 4
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Episode 4: Bare Naked had cute and funny scenes as well as dramatic and sad scenes that all the more made this episode a satisfying watch. Of all these scenes, the face reveal scene at the beginning and the hug scene at the end were my favorites. On this episode, I learned more about JM, as he slowly let his guard down, and Reb, as he shared about his life, music, and work. The death of Reb's friend was a relatable reminder of the state of the world we all live in. Script, with a mix of Filipino, English, and Taglish dialogues (just a note, lots of Filipinos with middle to upper class background normally speak this way), had adorable lines ("Have you fallen in love with me yet?," "On your... lap?," "Hug me," "It's okay... you're okay... everything will be okay"). But there were also some controversial statements ("...there's nothing wrong with sex work because it's a legitimate and respectable industry"). Yes, there's nothing wrong with sex work per se, but contextualizing it in Philippine realities, it's certainly an abusive industry borne out of exploiting the poverty of (and therefore, the lack of choices for) most Filipino sex workers. But at least this series doesn't shy away from challenging the demonization of sex work in the country. Acting-wise, Iyo and Yves were consistently solid. Their portrayal of their roles felt quite natural. Production design, cinematography, musical scoring, sound engineering, and editing were all good. The soundtracks "Naghihintay" (Waiting) and "Orasan" (Clock), both by Iktus, enhanced some of the important scenes from this episode. On the whole, this was a wonderful episode.
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Paano Kaya Kung Tayo Episode 3
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Episode 3 reminded me of some of the issues I had with One Day Pag-ibig. Like One Day Pag-ibig, this series had too many secondary characters without clear character background, depth, and development. This episode had male characters displaying machismo, female characters flaunting toxicity and/or vanity, and queer characters exhibiting shallowness as comic relief. Instead of merely showing how Sef continuously picks on Andrei, this episode would have been better spent improving the characterizations of the supporting cast members. Some of their dialogues were cringy. In addition, the delivery of lines of the supporting actors portraying these characters wasn't natural enough. If it weren't for Allen, Ivo, and Clark, I would have really hated this episode. Audio-visuals remained weak. Overall, this wasn't a good episode
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In terms of plot/storyline, Episode 1: Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut) didn't reveal much. The conflicts and tensions within the plot/storyline weren't clear yet. Be that as it may, some character backgrounds for Cardo and Nathaniel were provided. Apparently, they have different economic backgrounds. Cardo's poor while Nathaniel's a bit well-to-do. They worked together as seafarers. And they've been lovers for six years now. They're on a provincial and rural setting that was seemingly far from the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic. There were curious scenes that didn't quite fit yet like the scenes wherein Cardo was recording an instructional vlog about cooking "pakbet" or "pinakbet," an indigenous Filipino (Pinoy) dish made from mixed vegetables sautéed in fish or shrimp sauce. Screenplay was generally ok. While tentativeness was evident on some scenes, acting was still largely fine. Chemistry needs improvement though. Production technicals were a bit uneven. There were good camera shots and interesting color grading but lighting on the whole wasn't that good. There were scenes that were too dark for my liking. But overall, this pilot episode was alright.
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In This Kaleidoscope World Episode 1
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I know I missed watching Jules act but other than that I don't know yet how I feel about this series. In the context of conservative Philippine society, it's obviously brave to tackle three-way relationships on Episode 1: For Him For Her. While not surprising because of the writer-director's theater background, the use of juxtaposed parallel narrative style in presenting the stories of the boys and girls side-by-side was quite interesting. I'm not yet sure if highlighting similarities among them is a good message to convey. I'll just have to see where the plot/storyline goes. For the most part, screenplay wasn't conversational. Acting was a hit-or-miss. The boys were better than the girls although Zoren had off moments too. The making love scenes were quite awkward. Audio-visuals were largely uneven. Editing needs work. The soundtrack "Kaleidoscope World," originally written and sang by the late great Francis Magalona/Francis M ("Father of Pinoy Hip Hop" and "King of Pinoy Rap") was unmistakably awesome but the cover by Jenzen Guino was just ok. Overall, I'm still on the fence on this one. Hopefully next episode is compelling enough.
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My Chinito Prince Episode 5
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Episode 5: Hallucination was a bit dragging. Actually, not a single scene from this episode resonated with me. Even Chito's shirtless scene felt forced. Aside from Rain freeing Niko (which wasn't really shown), nothing new was revealed on this episode. Screenplay wasn't interesting enough. Although the fight scene between Prince and Rain was alright because it seemed natural, acting in general was mostly off. Audio-visuals need to get better. On the whole, I hope succeeding episodes are more exciting than this episode.
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Lust Never Lasts Episode 3
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This series' backslide continued on Episode 3. Alden found it difficult to accept Johnny's intersexuality. He also cheated on Johnny with Kim. The general message of this episode about bisexuals was highly problematic to say the least. Screenplay had numerous senseless lines. Acting was still very bad. Audio-visuals remained weak. Given the minimal dialogues, at times this episode felt like an extended music video of a not so good soundtrack. On the whole, this was another poor episode.
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While there's movement in terms of plot/storyline because of the focus on Algiro and Monsour, Episode 6 was replete with substantive and technical issues. Algiro and Monsour's relationship development didn't feel natural. Support cast members were even more annoying on this episode. Screenplay had awkward lines and corny dialogues. Acting felt scripted. Chris John and Joshua lacked appeal and chemistry. I miss Aizen. Production technicals remained weak. This episode had noticeable issues with background noise and sound volume. Overall, this was a poor episode
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Stuck on You Episode 3
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With JM and Reb starting to get to know each other, plot/storyline progressed on Episode 3: Lights Off. The simplicity of the conversation scenes was commendable primarily because it helped focus on the characters and their views about life and love. The two of them revealing their real names and shaking hands at the end was a nice touch. While on the surface JM and Reb are opposites, in some ways, they are the same -- both are relatable characters with their need for love. Screenplay had simple yet sensible lines ("...we all deserve love or at least a proper hug," "love comes with pain," "...but our brokenness doesn't mean it's the end; there's always room to rebuild and be whole again"). In terms of acting, Yves and especially Iyo, were consistently on point. Audio-visuals were mostly ok. New additions to the series' Spotify playlist like "Agwat" (Distance/Interval/Space) by Bryan Termulo and "Balang Araw" (Someday) by Silent Sanctuary were really good. With this generally subdued episode out of the way, I hope to get more drama and excitement on the next episodes.
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