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 3-4 of The Prisoner of Beauty. These episodes prove that the couple doesn’t even need to like each other for romantic, swoony moments to happen.
I also recapped episodes 3-4 of I’m The Most Beautiful Count. Our OTP won’t stop fighting, and this leads to a lot of kissing and a little spanking.
What did I watch this week? Well, I don’t like any kind of sport IRL, but I’ll take it in BL:
Knock Out – หมัดน็อกล็อกหัวใจ – 2025
Recently aired Thai Muay Thai BL with 12 episodes.
A young man fleeing his father’s debt collectors finds refuge at a Muay Thai gym, he also finds an attractive boxer there, too.
I thought I was signing up for an intense story of a desperate young man who finds purpose, family, and love at a struggling Muay Thai gym. And I got that, mostly, for the first half of the show.
Then things got weird. And the show fell into the common trap of adding more and more conflict because more = more better good.
It doesn’t. It means the plot becomes a giant katamari ball of things that engulfs the helpless characters and takes them on a strange ride no one was expecting.
Which was a little disappointing, but still entertaining
Let’s start with what I was promised. We’ve got a young man who seems ready to take on the world when his father suddenly dies. Not only does he have to pay for the funeral, but violent debt collectors think beating him up will produce the money his dad owed.
Enter a friend of his dad’s, who owns a struggling Muay Thai gym. One of the boxers there, a strong, silent, cold type, rescues our helpless young man from these debt collectors. After that, they take a shower together.
He may not be strong, but our unfortunate young man is smart, and he can put that to good use for the sake of himself and the gym. And he can use that cold boxer, because he’s a very good boxer. But his desperation leads him to make poor choices that piss off the cold boxer.
Nothing a few showers together won’t fix.
But every success only seems to lead to a new failure with bigger stakes, which is how escalating conflict in a story should work.
Enter: A Thai Secret Society
What is it with Thailand and Secret Societies of Evil Rich People? Not Me, Kidnap, Jack & Joker, The Bangkok Boy, Pit Babe…
With some of those shows, it fit the story. Here, it felt like it came out of nowhere, though I can see how they tried to foreshadow it. But it introduced a new story element that made me wonder if I’d missed something earlier. Then our unfortunate lead mentioned that he had no idea about the same stuff. So, it wasn’t me.
It also shifted the focus away from our character’s emotional journey into very external problems. They were too busy dealing with guys in animal masks to confront their inner demons.
The difference between a show like this and a show like Pit Babe, is that Pit Babe promised nonsense from the start. This show seemed to be going in a social realism direction before taking a hard turn into dark conspiracy theory land. In this way, it reminds me of Jack & Joker.
But by the time this happened, I was invested in our main couple
Our cold boxer warmed up really nicely in those showers, becoming a devoted, quiet softy in love with his clever partner. They understood each other well and sometimes solved things with sex in a way that felt real.
Though the sudden secret society took time away from developing our second couple and side characters, I liked what we got of them.
Another super important thing is that the show never stopped being fun. It was dark and violent in places, but it never lingered on those moments long. Despite my complaints above, I could see myself re-watching this if in the mood for a silly adventure, now that I know that’s what I’d be getting.
I think if you like stuff that’s more action-adventure oriented and less angsty-character-driven stuff, this would be great for you.
(Also, it has the little girl from Jack & Joker playing a cute little girl and the Dad from Wandee Goodday playing another boxer-father-figure.)
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