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talkingbl · 2 years

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The Good and Bad of Unforgotten Night

SPOILER WARNING.

The Good

The trope was well-executed. Mafia stories RARELY miss for me, and this one was no exception. This show had some of the more realistic mafia plot lines and portrayals I’ve seen in BL. I really enjoyed how competent Kamol and his people were. Kamol felt like a natural mafioso and in the mafia-related scenes, his people acted with the same level of professionalism you’d expect from the right-hand men of a powerful mafia don.

The relationship between Day, Itt, and Kim. I thought it was really cool for the show to twist the scorned lover trope on its head. Yes, Kim started off jealous of Itt, but it was only as a result of the natural progression of getting over a heartbreak. Once we were past that, it was clear that, despite the awkwardness, Day was not going to leave or cheat on Itt with Kim just because Kim is our hot lead who is shacking up with Day’s boss. There was never any dramatic 'let’s get back together just so I can ruin your current relationship and have it all be for nothing’ plot from Day toward Kim and Kamol. It was actually a very realistic and mature portrayal of what happens after two adults break things off and decide to be friends.

Head Bitch in Charge, Kim Kunanon. Hands-down the most intriguing part of this story was the dynamic between Kim and the rest of the mafia family. The moment Kim became a target of Kamol’s affection, Kamol ordered his people to obey Kim’s word as if it were his own. Kim became an extension of Kamol in this very real and tangible way. On Kim’s first night in Kamol’s house, after he meets everyone, Kim starts making friends as if he’d been there the entire time. He takes Baiboon under his wing, tries to start making changes around the house re: everyone’s roles, and tells his security to go find hobbies lmao. Even more, he defies Kamol in front of the entire inner circle. Now normally things like this would take me out of the story. After all, a powerful mafia boss isn’t going to let anyone disrespect him in front of his subordinates. But what makes Kim’s actions work for me is that there is always this underlying feeling that everyone perceives Kamol as in complete control--that Kamol is simply allowing Kim to make orders and change Kamol’s plans. And it’s not that Kamol is abusive in this way--quite the contrary. He’s allowing Kim to do these things out of love and respect. He understands that there is a give-and-take in relationships and that this is one relationship where, despite having control over the situation, he must give Kim space to control the environment in order to receive the gift of Kim’s presence within the environment. I love this dynamic. This simple touch elevates Kim’s character in the story and it makes Kim an active, rather than reactive character (something many mob boys and wives in these stories often succumb to). It signals to the viewer that not only are Kim and Kamol equal in the relationship, they are, in essence, one voice. Another thing I love about this dynamic is that it implicates Kim in the mafia business. He is, in many ways, more powerful than even Kamol in the business. Think about it like this: the enemies are at the subordinates’ beck-and-call, the subordinates are at Kamol’s beck-and-call, and Kamol is at Kim’s beck-and-call. Kim is the final boss that everything must go through. We see this most clearly when 1) Kim tells Kamol not to kill the enemies and 2) Kim tells Kamol to quit the mafia life. Immediately, Kamol complies with everything Kim requests, even if he does so while claiming he’ll only “consider it.” At the end of the day, we all know that Kamol is going to do whatever Kim tells him. This makes Kim the most powerful character in the story, despite often being the character that lacks the most direct control in the story. Yet another aspect of this that I find interesting is how this dynamic affects Kamol. As I mentioned, Kamol is like putty in Kim’s hands. At every moment you can tell that he is holding back from his original nature because of Kim. You can also tell that he wants to share everything with Kim. In fact, one of my favorite lines is when Kamol says to Danil: “Kim is my lover. My house is his house.” This is only one of many times throughout the story that Kamol either insinuates or flat-out says that what is his is also Kim’s. Yet it feels distinct from the idea of “what’s mine is ours.” It feels like Kamol is actually saying, “no, what’s mine is literally only Kim’s.” It’s the idea that there is not “sharing” in the traditional sense. Instead, everything “shared” ultimately becomes Kim’s, because Kim’s thoughts, feelings, and well-being are the ones that Kamol is concerned with--not his own. This is an incredibly subtle, powerful, and intriguing character expression from Kamol and character dynamic between him and Kim.

The redemption of Cherry. After setting her up to be the bad guy, I am so glad she came out on top and that Kamol never disrespected her and she never got chased away. We need more BLs where men and women are true friends--it’s just more realistic that way.

Kamol asking for unconditional consent during sex scenes and only proceeding once he has it. That’s it, that’s the post. (Now there is some debate over whether Kim could consent in some scenes but honestly, it looked 100% like he could at each of the moments I can remember).

Kim as nurturer. Oh boy, where do I start? From Kim and Baiboon to Kim and Salmon, and even to Kim and Danil, there is so much character development on Kim’s part as a nurturer. When he moves into the house, he immediately wants to relieve Aunt Nee from her duty so that he can cook and be the caretaker of the house. When he meets Whipped Cream and Kemo, he wants to feed them and care for them as if they weren’t 300lb wild beasts with their own caretakers. When he meets Baiboon, Baiboon automatically fills a younger brother/son type of role. In fact, Kamol says at one point that Baiboon is Kim’s son. And then, there’s Salmon. Kim automatically connects with this child and seems so taken with him as if he was interacting with his own flesh-and-blood. Even toward his enemy: Danil, Kim reads this man like a book and instead of fighting fire with fire, he tries to get to know Danil and comfort him. He steps into this very empathic and supportive role that is just never seen in BL. But what’s more interesting than all of these acts of care and kindness, is just how much Kim wants a family. Not only does he sometimes have to take care of people, he actively wants to care of someone. And more specifically, he wants to take care of a child or a childlike figure. He wants someone he can baby and pamper, cuddle and nibble--like a parent with their child. And this is not just in the subtext. In many scenes, he is outwardly jealous of people who get to do this. In fact, perhaps the most telling moment showcasing this (and probably my favorite moment of the show) comes in Ep. 7 after Kim has spent significant time observing Day and Itt with Salmon, he says to Day and Itt “You guys are like a family.” Itt responds, “How could we be a family? I’m a man.” To which Kim says, “So? You’re Day’s boyfriend. [. . .] I like the familial moments between you guys. It’s cute and lovely.” I also want to note here that though the translations all say something like this, with my limited Thai, the literal translations feel even more direct... (Kim literally says “You guys really are like father, mother, and son.” And after Itt responds that he’s a man, Kim says something like, “It doesn’t matter that you’re a man...you’re his lover, right?”) That moment was so incredibly special to me and very telling about Kim’s character. I mean, throughout the show there’s these little nuggets hinting that he wants a nuclear family and it is so incredibly different from anything I’ve seen in a Thai BL. It got to the point where I was literally yelling at the screen: give this man a baby!! He wants a baby! Let him have someone tiny and squishy to call his own!!! It was so very well done and refreshing, and I wish we could see this type of characterization more in BL.

The Bad

Shoes and outside clothes on the bed. Now this isn’t super rare in BL but it’s gross and takes me out of it every time I see it.

Sometimes the acting was too soapy or even stilted.

Cartoon supervillain Danai. I mean it would’ve been okay if he weren’t so over-the-top dramatic (see #2) or so unrealistic as a mafia boss. Worst part of the show for me hands-down.

The intimacy and the sloppy portrayal of BDSM lmao. It wasn’t that they did anything improper, it’s just that it was so incredibly unsexy. And while I’m not in the camp of people who think Yoon and Ton have anti-chemistry, I do think that there’s something about the way they were (or perhaps weren’t) coached in intimate scenes that made them so painfully bad. Like the kiss seemed dead, the so-called sex had no actual (? is that the right word lmao) sex, and the BDSM was like someone read 50 Shades of Grey and decided to cram all the worst parts of the already poor exploration of BDSM into 2 minutes of sexy time. I’m left wondering how much better this show would’ve been with LITA or KinnPorsche level sex scenes (the answer is: much).

All-in-all I honestly enjoyed this entry. So many people hate-watched it and would report back with OTT complaints about the lack of chemistry and the acting. Naturally, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and was a bit shocked when I got so hooked so quickly. The show wasn’t nearly as bad for me as others found it and those saying Yoon and Ton have “anti-chemistry” are reaching lmao. Could they have done better? Hell yeah. MUCH better. But they were good enough for what the story was giving and honestly were better than some of y’alls favorites 👀

Anyway, bye.

#unforgotten night #yoonton #kamolkim #thai bl boys love #ton saran yoon phusanu

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