TL;DR Version:
Pat and Pran escape their toxic families and go to the beach town they stayed at earlier. They remove their SIM cards to stay out of contact, but Pran is still constantly reminded of his mother. Despite that, he’s willing to stay with Pat as long as he wants. Pat knows the drinking on the beach can’t last forever though, and they return to their respective homes.
Recap:
Pat and Pran are on a bus escaping their toxic families. Neither of them thinks their parents will move on from the past. Pran believes they have to live with it, and Pat wants to run away and live together. Pran doesn’t think their parents will allow it. Pat thinks some people will support them. He urges Pran to rest against thim, and cries.
They’ve returned to the zero-waste town they went to earlier. Pat tries to trick Pran into tossing his SIM card, but Pran knows who he is dealing with. Still, they both take out their SIM cards so no one can reach them. They yell their anger with their parents at the ocean and then their love for each other.
They run into Uncle Tong, who seems a little foggy on who they are, but still offers them a room at his place. He feeds them and they learn that Junior is having his own mom problems, not wanting to go back to Bangkok with her.
Laying in bed together, Pat is happy and Pran worried. Pat sets up a game where whoever talks about their parents first loses.
The next morning Pat and Pran go fishing, which is their room & board payment. It feels like fishing PPL. They take their wages, a large fish, back to cook. They both try, and fail, to scale a fish and flirt over Junior’s head. Pran mentions helping his mom cook and gets sad, but the game doesn’t seem to be serious because Pat doesn’t say anything.
Afterward, Pat pushes Pran to play guitar, which he gave up. Pran starts to play and sing but stops, not done with the song.
The next day Junior runs away when his Mom shows up. She’s desperate enough to ask Pat and Pran for help. Pat goes after Junior and Pran gets insight into the mind’s of Moms as he walks and talks with her along the beach.
Later, they go to Yod’s bar. Pat bargains into being a server long enough to get free beers. Then he teases Pran into guzzling them down with him.
Pran is inspired to keep working on his song, but when he comes across Junior’s writing about his love for his mom he almost calls his own. Pat shows up to say they’ve been offered permanent serving jobs at Yod’s. Pran’s hesitancy upsets Pat and he walks off.
Pran finds Pat drinking and ready to litter on the beach. Pran compares this to the last time they were there, and how Pat made up to him. It’s his turn to make up, and he agrees to stay with Pat.
Rather than start work though, they drink together by the beach. Pat uses another competition as an excuse to ask Pran questions, and they talk about what they mean to each other. They kiss. It’s a nice kiss.
Nice enough that they seem to have slept together afterward, which Pat sleepily gives a 10 out of 10. Later Pat wakes up and finds Pran playing guitar outside. They then go to see a reluctant Junior off.
As they get ready to work at Yod’s Bar, Pat thanks Pran for humoring him. He knows they have to go back. Rather than spend the last night of their honeymoon working, he suggests they drink on the beach again.
With Tong. They ask him about striving against the odds and doing the zero-waste work despite everything against it. They apologize to Yod for bailing. Then Yod, Tong and Pat convince Pran to go up and play his guitar.
He sings a lovely song dedicated to Pat over a montage of their relationship. We also see Ink and Pa cuddling and Wai and Korn getting along.
Over them saying goodbye to Tong, we hear him explaining that he can’t change the world, but his work changes his attitude and the world can’t change him. Pat and Pran are back at home, facing their homes and fantasizing about how their lives would be if their parents got along. Pat cries as they wish each other luck, and go in.
Thoughts:
That’s a lot of drinking on the beach. And a wrenching ending and ominous preview. To be perfectly honest, while I don’t mind humor in my angst, I definitely prefer my comedy to stay light. So when I’m watching a rom-com and it dips into the “serious” moments I feel more dread than pleasure.
Objectively though, this show does the combo of angst and comedy very well. Pat’s boldness and Pran’s sensitivity provided a subtle tension even as they were non-stop drinking on the beach. It was nice to see Pat being so emotional and sensitive about Pran, considering that he’s been so oblivious to Pran’s feelings for so long. And it was nice to see Pran willing to be bold for Pat’s sake. The side-plot of Junior’s mom did a better job of making me feel sympathetic for Pran’s Mom than any scenes with her in them.
I understand there are all sorts of complicated and deep reasons why children don’t cut parents out of their lives, but as they stood outside their parent’s homes I really wanted them to turn around and abandon them.
Tong’s sentiments at the end of the episode may be one of my favorite non-romantic moments of this show. I was expecting the true-but-overly-used statement that you can’t save the world, but you can save one person. His response both surprised and deeply resonated with me. What a lovely reason to do something, for his own sake, and to prove the world can’t change him. I love that.