Welcome to my Saturday blog post, where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week, I recapped episodes 19-20 of Pursuit of Jade. Changyu is busy quarrying rocks, and Yan Zheng sneezes a few times.
I finished recapping ClaireBell with the final episodes 7-8. You can check my recap for my detailed thoughts about the ending, or read below for my full series review.
For Funsies I am sharing commentary on the latest BoatOat omegaverse nonsense Knot over on my Patreon! If you feel like supporting me and reading my deeply insightful comments about Oat’s shorts-and-bite-mark fashion combo, they’re there.
What did I watch this week? This week’s theme is GL in institutions. The institution of corporate work and the institution of prison. Let’s start with the former:
Enemies with Benefits – ลัลล์ไม่ชอบไวน์ – 2026
Recently aired enemies(or not)-to-lovers Thai GL with 10 episodes.
The new Head of Sales finds herself navigating a friends-with-benefits relationship with the prickly but adorable Head of Accounting.
As I wrote about in my initial review, despite the title, this really was a Golden-Retriever-Black-Cat romance.
The plot wasn’t amazing or revolutionary, but it worked well enough. I really liked our main couple, I appreciated what it was trying to do, and I wouldn’t warn anyone away from it.
I liked it even though a lot of the external conflict involved… work
If you’ve read my reviews, you know I prefer workplace stuff at a minimum. Conflicts in meeting rooms where the client didn’t receive the latest bid are not my thing.
This show had conflicts in meeting rooms where the client didn’t receive the latest bid.
But this is what the show promised from the beginning. The setup is that they’re lovers at an office where No Dating Is Allowed. At least it isn’t a bait-and-switch where a show about life on a tea farm turns into a tale of corporate espionage.
As the show went on, these work conflicts became more serious, reaffirming my belief that working in an office is dangerous and terrible. The villains were cartoonishly horrible, which, unfortunately, I don’t find unrealistic, just unpleasant. It also focused on real-world issues of power and manipulation, and how bad guys can get away with it.
And very importantly, it was tied into our character’s internal conflicts. Our Black Cat character had dealt with a lot of terrible in her past, and it was part of why she was so skittish and flighty.
Re-introducing this trauma was, er, traumatic, but it allowed her Golden Retriever partner to show off her protective instincts and help her move forward. With her Golden Retriever’s support, our Black Cat found her claws again.
I could have done with a lot less crying at the end. This is a frequent complaint of mine. I know it doesn’t bother others the same way.
To be fair, if I have to be fair, this show was never a fluffy comedy, so it’s less of a tone betrayal when the crying montages started. Once they got over that hump, the ending was tropey but sweet. It was fine.
Oh, and the secondary couple was cute too.
If you want Golden-Retriever-Black-Cat and don’t mind client emails and crying, give this a try
This show frequently reminded me of Duang With You, a recent favorite with the same romantic dynamics. Replace the leads there with Adult Women with Jobs and a Little More Baggage, and they’re nearly the same in places. If you enjoyed that, maybe give this a try.
But if you need something even MORE traumatic, let me wholeheartedly recommend this show to you:
ClaireBell – ClaireBell คลั่ง/รัก/นักโทษ – 2025
A 2025 women-in-prison Thai GL (maybe sorta) with 8 episodes.
A 2025 Thai GL about an innocent, naive woman who goes to prison and grows close with the most dangerous inmate there. GL ensues.
This is the kind of show I can recommend to just about anyone who likes a strong story and good production. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and life-affirming and all those good things.
But it’s also got some hard stuff, so be careful if that’s not what you want to watch.
To get this out of the way, to me, the first genre category here isn’t GL
All GL are romances that involve two women together, but not all stories with romances between two women are GL. To be a GL, first and foremost, romance has to be the center of the story.
Don’t get me wrong, the romance between Claire and Bell took me through ALL the feels, from giddy to heartbroken. It’s not that the romance isn’t strong. It’s just not the main focus.
The main focus is the strange, surreal, removed-from-reality world of life in prison, and surviving it long enough to get out. Claire and Bell are the central characters, but there were episodes where a half dozen other prisoners, the warden, and his son got equal screen time.
So, like how I might call Goddess Bless You From Death a thriller split with BL, this is a Prison Drama with a strong GL element.
This really doesn’t matter, EXCEPT if you go into this expecting GL tropes (falling into each other’s arms, wiping food off each other’s faces, petty jealousy, etc) and instead get Prison Drama tropes (ruthless beatings, solitary, gang power struggles), you might get a little traumatized.
Nothing is treated casually or just as character motivation for the leads, but it is hard stuff.
But you SHOULD watch this, both for the prison drama and the GL romance
To be absolutely clear, I am not a big fan of prison dramas. I’ve avoided nearly all the popular Western ones of the last several decades. The lack of freedom, the powerlessness, the confinement, I just don’t want to think about it.
For me, this show managed to touch on all those things and have some truly sad moments, without ever becoming too bleak for me to bear. Alongside the tough, hopeless scenes were scenes of hope and connection. It is far, far from a light show, but it’s not all pain and suffering.
And a big part of it being more bearable was the beauty of Claire and Bell’s relationship.
Bell is naive, but she’s not stupid. She’s made the mistake of trusting someone who seemed to care about her and want the best for her. It’s not her fault that this person turned out to be a weak coward.
Now in prison for something she didn’t do, she meets Claire, in there for murder and called Rabid Dog by the other prisoners. I love Bell, but I may be IN love with Claire. She’s got this thick mop of hair and a very intense gaze. She wants to be left alone, but when people mess with her, she’s brutal.
Despite the whole “Mad Dog” thing, Bell quickly recognizes that Claire isn’t someone naturally violent. It’s just that in this weird, horrible world, where people will beat you over a minor infraction, Claire has been forced to adapt in certain ways.
Again, don’t look down on Bell for being trusting and holding onto her values in a place where that can be dangerous. Watching her growth and how she survives the ugliness and becomes stronger, without losing her core self, was maybe my favorite part of the show.
As a lover of romance, I didn’t mind the time spent away from it
There was still a lot of time spent on love, even if it wasn’t always romantic love. Nearly every prisoner has someone they’re fighting for, something that’s important to them and worth fighting to protect.
It wasn’t just about enjoying seeing their stories play out. It was about getting to watch these actors play these more complicated characters. There were really good actors and really good performances here.
On that note, Pond is here! No, not that Pond, but this Pond! I always enjoy seeing him. Here, he’s not kissing any other men, but it’s a real pleasure to see him lean into a different type of character than he gets to play when he’s kissing men.
And the production is excellent.
While I don’t care about production values TOO much if I’m getting to see people fall in love, considering the amount of time NOT spent watching people in love, it was important. The coloring, the camera angles, and the fantasy sequences were all beautiful. It would be easy to get bored spending so much of the show in the prison setting, but the production kept it interesting.
As long as you’re up for some hard stuff, go out and watch it
And if you’re worried it’s going to be too hard to watch, go ahead and read my recaps to see if it’s for you or not.
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