When last we left our cursed student and the man who is now helping him, they needed to keep Khem alive until midnight.
But first, how Paran and Kachen became friends
Kachen’s POV has him a hero, dramatically arriving to save a noble, self-sacrificing Paran from thugs. The true story is that Paran beat up his captors and waited for Kachen.
Khem wants to know if Paran was a thug, and the answer is basically yes. I want more, but these episodes are already long.
Later, alone, Khem shows Paran drawings he made as goodbyes to people, but are now hopefully a reminder of those who helped him. Paran back hugs him and comforts him that he’s not alone.
Who knew being into Thai BL meant watching so much car go?
To save Khem, Kachen teaches Charn to drive car fast. But Charn’s getting sick and not going fast enough. To help, Kachen makes sure Charn knows how long he’s known Jet and how close they are. In fact, he’s Jet’s “first”.
This contradicts what Jet told Charn that night at the hotel. Kachen offers to share details if Charn outpaces him. This gets Charn’s jealous aggression going. He races fast enough to get both himself AND Kachen sick.
But later, Charn tells Kachen he doesn’t want to know more. Jet’s past doesn’t matter to him.
Evil, powerful Ramphueng is not sweet, past Ramphueng
She watches our guys drive off in two different cars. Khem is in the white car.
Except, he’s not. Jet’s sister Jane has magicked items to trick Ramphueng. It looks like Khem is in the white car next to Charn, but it’s Jet. Still, Ramphueng’s spirits are after them. Charn drives fast, but eventually, they are blocked on a bridge by more spirits.
Jet-Khem has Jet’s bold attitude, but Ramphueng is too revenge-focused to notice and attacks him. In fear, Charn gives Jet’s name away. She strangles Jet to force Charn to reveal that Khem is back at the dorm, being protected by Paran.
Charn cries over an unconscious Jet, who gets zombie-ghost eyes, stands up, and pulls them both over the railing.
Khem and Paran aren’t actually at the dorm
It’s Jane’s magic illusions, with Jane holding a big candle and chanting at Ramphueng. Real Khem is currently invisible, sitting on Paran’s lap in a tiny car being driven fast by Kachen, worrying about Jet.
Charn and Jet are in the water, and Jet isn’t responding. Charn does the air-transfer-kiss, and we get the end of Da and Jin’s story.
Jin’s family forces her into marriage, and running off with Da would ruin her life. They promise to meet again and marry in a world that will allow them to be together. Jin promises that her heart belongs to Da in this life and every life to come. It sounds like the opposite of Ramphueng’s curse.
They have a tragic goodbye kiss, and we return to the water. Jet recovers, but now Charn is unconscious. Seeing happy, light-hearted Jet sobbing and doing CPR is awful. He wants them to be together in this world.
After waiting just long enough to worry us, Charn coughs up water. Kissssssssssing!
As planned, Ramphueng is wasting power looking for Khem
Khem, Paran, and Monk Kasem pray at Paran’s place. Paran has the sacred weapon given to him by Phuchong, but hopes not to need it.
Ramphueng arrives, and Khem and Kasem stay inside the sacred ring while Paran confronts her. Ramphueng can’t get through that barrier, and Paran freed every spirit in the area, so there are no wandering spirits close enough to help her.
There’s some magic fighting, but Paran holds her off until midnight. Khem is now 21 and alive!
But Ramphueng ominously says that “they’re finally here.” They’re spirits from a nearby battlefield. Ramphueng’s make-up is amazing. She’s visually more of an inhuman monster as she gets more powerful.
Also, Khem was born at 6 am
So he’s not 21 yet. The spirits attack, dragging Paran down. Kasem stops Khem from leaving the barrier and asks Ramphueng what she truly wants. He clearly wants her to think about it, but she’s single-mindedly set on killing Khem.
Paran uses the spiritual weapon. A very cool Naga appears behind him and obliterates the spirits. But Paran collapses.
Kasem pulls down the barrier, allowing Khem to sacrifice himself despite Paran’s cries. Ramphueng immediately gives him the whipping she received at the end of her mortal life.
In Khem’s past life, he let someone die while doing nothing, and he can’t let it happen again. He says goodbye to Paran before Ramphueng strangles him. She taunts Paran about not being able to do anything.
Grandma Si, Thong, Ake, and Yod appear
They chant, and Khem’s Mom appears, grabbing Ramphueng’s hand to stop her from hurting Khem. She tells Ramphueng she can’t let her do this, and as a mom, she should understand. With Grandma Si’s encouragement, Paran stands up and chants, too.
Ramphueng collapses, defeated. Paran will imprison her, but Kasem asks him to spare her. So she strangles Kasem, threatening to take him with her. But he wants to show her something.
In the dream forest, she’s asked again what she really wants. She hears her baby crying and then sees him in her arms, and comforts him.
Kasem calls her Mother
Now she looks like Ramphueng again, crying, because what she really wants is her son. She apologizes to Khem, but it’s up to him what they do to her next.
Khem understands she suffered, but she also hurt innocent people. He can’t forgive her that easily, but if he took revenge, karma would bind them together. He wants her to accept the punishment she deserves, and he hopes she reunites with her son in her next life.
Kasem hopes that when their paths cross again, she’ll let him take care of her.
There are some sweet final moments between our spirits, Khem, and Paran, but then it’s time for them to go too.
In the daylight, a battered Paran wishes Khem a happy birthday
He promises they’ll be together for the years to come, then collapses again. After all this, his magic is gone.
Everyone else returns to Paran’s. Charn helps us by asking Kasem why things had to happen this way. The monk’s answer is basically that they needed to push Ramphueng to her weakest, so she would realize her son was what she most wanted, and accept that Kasem is her son. Otherwise, she might have thought it was all a trick.
Kasem promises Paran will get his power back.
Paran wakes up to Khem watching him, and sweet cuddling. Khem has a good, cathartic-still-alive cry, and promises to replay Paran by taking care of him. Paran just wants to have him by his side and be a part of his new life.
Charn hasn’t actually let go of Jet’s past
But Jet is happy to explain. Kachen introduced Jet to many things, including giving him a business card for sex workers. But as to love and sex, Charn really is his first.
Khem’s Monk Dad visits to check on his son, and Paran accidentally gets cuddly with Khem in front of him. Monk Dad is fine with Paran as a son-in-law. He just wants to be sure Khem finishes school.
The villagers have leveled up their own powers, so they can take care of the village and Paran.
Later, Paran checks out his own bare chest in the mirror, and Khem arrives to check it out too. Since Paran’s not training as a Shaman, he can do things he couldn’t before, and invites Khem in.
Paran makes sure Khem wants to have sex, and they have sex. Hot sex. And hey, this show has a nice score.
Life goes on
Our students graduate, and Paran surprises Khem by joining him for pictures at a beautiful location by the river. They go to a festival, and we learn that Prim is getting married. Khem is going to work at the same school as her. Pong is chasing after some new guy. Jet introduces Charn to his Dad.
The villagers are so good at magic that they make instant rain, and we instantly learn Khem is wearing a thin shirt.
Our heroes visit a gorgeous temple with Naga statues out front. Paran is nervous before giving Khem a piece of paper with their wedding date on it. Then he asks him to marry him. This is backward, but Khem accepts.
Charn and Jet are happy to be groomsmen first, and have their own wedding later. The four of them hug and cry together.
In a cute extra, we see the marriage certificate and a certificate of adoption. Reincarnated Thong and Ake have been adopted by Khem and Paran. Paran is a good Dad, eating spicy food to make his kids happy. He figures it’s payment for how he treated Thong and Ake.
Khem and Paran are adorable and happy, sharing a cute, kid-interrupted kiss!
That was a good, strong ending
I like the “we did it, no wait, we didn’t” ending. That’s good pacing.
Not that I can’t nitpick. I want to know more about Sek and Paran’s Mom. The stuff about Shaman, sex, and love confused me. I’m not sure what happened with Paran’s powers. I wish Jet and Charn didn’t prioritize Khem and Paran over themselves so often.
Sometimes, I wanted a bigger romance. But these are not big-feeling characters. Paran is so reserved, and Khem so gentle. They remind me of the similarly quiet pair in Until We Meet Again. Paran and Khem’s love was deep and strong, not loud or flashy.
And they were busy. From Khem’s impending death to past Naga lives and possessed villagers. The show to well at weaving the various external conflicts alongside Khem and Paran’s love story. The show avoided the most common problems of ambitious stories, like dropped subplots or suddenly becoming a different show. It maintained the strong pacing throughout.
These two final episodes brought everything together in a satisfying way, involving the entire team, including the spirits. I even felt those earlier spirit attacks, from the first half of the show, were connected to Khem’s final choice. They illustrated how dangerous it is not to let go.
But it was satisfying because Ramphueng also wasn’t let off the hook. She still has to pay for what she’s done, but that’s it. Not more pointless suffering. It’s a fair ending for her.
It’s a little cute, but I’m happy to see a married gay couple adopting children, too. Is that a first for Thai BL?
I feel a little wistful that I have to say goodbye to Paran and Khem. But they can be reborn anytime I want to rewatch the show.
Leave a Reply