We’re in Thailand-of-the-past! Our leads are already looking at rings, so it tracks that a dark, mysterious figure shoots at them.
They run into the forest, where Phop wants Klao to stay while he confronts their attacker. Klao doesn’t want to be parted, but Phop says they’ve parted many times and always find each other. He’ll come back to him again.
They almost kiss, but then the gun aims at them again, things get blurry and dramatic when–
Time to birthday party like it’s 2023
Nakun, who looks exactly like Klao, arrives at his party late, dirty, wet, and with a broken umbrella. Next, his dripping hair puts out the birthday candles, he gets a bloody nose, his phone is broken, a bird poops on his head, and he’s splashed by dirty water.
Nakun might have bad luck.
A month later, he catches a thief, only to be mistaken for the thief and punched in the face.
His friend Thee forces Nakun to visit a fortune teller. It doesn’t go well at first, but then the fortune teller asks an interesting question: What promise did you make, and to whom? Because someone in the past awaits fulfillment.
The fortune teller also tells their third friend, Pun, to release the grudges he holds to break the cycle.
Finally, he tells Nakun his Mom will call on Friday, he needs to bathe in the moonlight and wear a bracelet he forces on him. Nakun doesn’t want to do any of this, but leaves the bracelet on.
Let’s talk about whether Time Is Real
Nakun is in time travel literature class, which I would have loved, but Nakun doesn’t. He thinks believing in multiple lifetimes is just a way humans cope with loss or things they can’t explain. They blame things on past lives instead of underlying societal issues.
Nakun prefers logic, but the teacher warns that logic can be a way of avoiding dealing with underlying feelings. Like fear. Nakun says he has no fear, but the professor isn’t convinced.
It’s a lot. And so is watching Thee hit on Pun and get rejected. No grudges released yet.
Nakun sees someone who looks like Phop, then his bracelet vibrates, and he almost, but doesn’t, get hit by a truck and some scaffolding.
The truck has an Ayutthaya license plate, which is where he goes next, to get abandoned by his mother for the night. Alone, he discovers he failed his history test, gets drunk, and yells at geese. Then he gets hit by a shooting star.
He wakes up in the forest surrounded by shirtless men
Everyone is calling him Master Klao. His head rings, and he hears random dialogue about how Master Klao will never prosper.
Sticking with logic, Nakun thinks he’s wandered into the filming of a period piece. Somehow.
Lord Phop arrives, who looks familiar to Nakun. He explains that he’s not an actor and must have been very drunk. Then, he runs.
He’s dragged, screaming, into a bedroom. Chuay, a servant, is upset that Nakun doesn’t recognize him. Nakun now wonders if he’s been kidnapped for ransom, and tries to leave.
But Lord Phop blocks him. He recognizes a birthmark on Nakun’s arm as Klao’s birthmark. They argue about him being Klao or not, until Nakun shoves him out of the way and runs.
Out in a historic village, he recognizes a building from period dramas. He runs into it, interrupting a family sitting to eat and asking them how to get out of the film shoot.
They ask “Klao” where he wandered off to, and Nakun runs rather than let Phop get him again. He’s still trying to figure out what’s going on, because it CANNOT be time travel. But maybe it isn’t a set, and when he hurts his foot, he knows it can’t be a dream.
He jumps into the river. There, he remembers the teacher explaining how time travel can just HAPPEN when you fall asleep, have an accident, or die. If he died now, would he go back to the present day?
When he doesn’t surface, Phop goes in after him
Flashforward to Nakun dozing in time travel literature class, while they discuss drowning as a way to be transported into a different body in a different era. Sleeping or getting knocked out could also work, and seem like safer things to try.
But Nakun tries drowning. He shoves Phop away until he passes out, and Phop can save him. Nakun is disappointed to wake up, still in the past, being patted dry by Phop. Pretending to be asleep, he panics when he thinks Phop will strip him naked.
Suddenly, he’s in… the upside-down? His ears ringing as he hears voices.
Then he wakes, again, in new clothes, and is confused about what is real and what isn’t. But his foot hurts from earlier, so this is real. He’s almost admitted to himself that he’s back in time, and drowning didn’t help.
Of course, Phop changed his clothes and is upset that he’s a stranger to “Klao”. He puts his hand on Nakun’s, wanting him to talk to him about anything wrong.
Nakun pulls his hand away when he hears the doctor has arrived.
The doctor looks exactly like his friend Thee
Nakun decides Thee did this, somehow, and chases the man around. The doctor, Jom, blames “Klao’s” delusions on his own actions. With the help, he pours something in Nakun’s mouth.
While Nakun vomits, Jom promises Phop that he will recover. Phop thinks it’s strange how adamant Nakun is about not being Klao.
No longer throwing up and back in the bedroom, Nakun remembers being struck by that star. He wants to go back into the forest, but is locked in with Chuay. Chuay suggests Nakun is delusional because of opium, which may be what Jom was talking about earlier.
Nakun fakes a stomach-ache, so Chuay gets the doctor. This takes hours, giving Nakun time to tie fabric together and escape out the window.
As he leaves, he runs into Pun. But of course, it’s not Pun. And when Nakun grabs him, Not-Pun calls for Jom.
Nakun knows that Pun would never deceive him, so this really isn’t Pun. Very upset, he yells at Phop that he’s not Klao and stomps off.
Much later, Phop finds Nakun depressed in the forest
Because of course, stars don’t just fall all the time. Phop sits by him, trying to calm him down, but startles him by touching his hand.
Nakun finally asks when and where he is, but the names and dates mean nothing to him. He failed his history test. Phop tends to Nakun’s injured knee, and Nakun notices he’s handsome. But also, 400 years older than him.
Halfway to accepting he’s traveled through time, Nakun tries to understand why HIM. He wonders if Klao is a past version of himself, but still thinks it’s impossible. Regardless, he’s stuck as Klao for now.
The next day, Nakun learns to live the historical life
A woman named Sai makes his breakfast, and is Chuay’s beloved. Suddenly worried, Nakun wants to know if he has a beloved. Thankfully, he doesn’t.
Then he asks about Phop, who is the perfect lord, but not married and not interested in women. Nakun immediately guesses he’s gay, but Chuay and Sai don’t know that word.
Phop has some kind of official, security duty, safeguarding the population. Nakun guesses he’s too busy for a partner. Sai explains that the only person Phop shows concern for is Klao, especially since he’s gotten these delusions.
Proving that, Phop asks Jom to do anything he can for Klao. We flashback to them all as kids, already paired up, and Jom already a little bit of a jerk. Klao has no mother, and Phop looks after him.
Adult Jom scolds Phop for indulging Klao, who has been drinking and spending time with women.
Chuay helps Nakun get dressed for a meal with Phop’s family. As usual, his modern speech confuses everyone.
Some of the family members aren’t nice, but Phop’s Mom is kind and invites him to visit the temple with her. Phop’s Dad orders him to move in with them because he promised Klao’s deceased father he would take care of Klao.
Phop is pleased that with Nakun closer, he’ll be able to keep an eye on him.
As Phop looks sincerely at Nakun, he wonders if….
Maybe he’s guessed that Phop is in love with Klao? Was Phop in love with Klao?
There is definitely some overlap between this and I’m The Most Beautiful Count, and that makes me happy because I like that kind of story. A fish out of water, a modern person with a modern, progressive viewpoint, suddenly back in the past, certain they are on a film shoot.
Most of these two episodes were spent with Nakun as he really goes through it. In a way, not much happened except Nakun being in denial, running, and frantically trying to get back as fast as possible without thinking things through carefully.
But I like that we got to spend this time focused on his emotional journey. He’s a quirky character who doesn’t seem to let himself feel his feels, like the professor suggested. But when he got that moment in the forest, he really FELT his feels. I’m hoping for more of that, and curious what Nakun in love will look like.
We barely know Phop, except that he’s devoted to Klao. I’m ready to learn more about both of them.
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