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 5-6 of Reset. After the exhaustion of time travel and relationship conflicts, Tada and Armin spend a bunch of time on the beach.
I also recapped the final episode 13 of Pit Babe. It was… A ride. (Why did everyone go to the roof???) There wasn’t enough Kenta and Kim. The full series review will be below.
What did I watch this week? A lot. Not that I feel like I’m catching up. But I’ve managed to introduce more BG romance into my diet (not too much, don’t worry). Here are three full series reviews, starting with a not-BG:
My Sweetheart Jom – หวานใจผู้ใหญ่จอม – 2025
Recently aired Thai countryside BL with 12 episodes.
A young man who keeps getting into trouble is sent to the countryside and put under the protection of the village chief. Romance ensues.
Like my love of MeenPing (sighs*), I cannot explain my fondness for Idolfactory shows. It started with Secret Crush On You, then GAP, and The Sign (which I recapped and reviewed), and I’m going to watch The Loyal Pin any minute now.
And now, this show. It’s got all the usual Idolfactory tropes. It’s silly, the humor is Three Stooges-level stupid, the side characters are annoying, Heng is in (usually ill-fated) love with one of the leads, the villains are evil-bad just ‘cause, and horrible family members are redeemed despite no meaningful effort on their part.
I guess it’s just that they’re kind of unique
Not the story in this case. We’ve got a high school student (aged up by dropping him out for two years) sent to the countryside to keep him out of trouble. He does not want to be in the countryside, but as usual, the fresh country air and kindness of the people will grow on him. And he’ll fall in love with the unusually young village chief.
Also, there are kidnappings, multiple hospital visits, gunfights, chases, bicycle rides through gorgeous Thai countryside, a spicy grandma, high school hijinks, evil land developers, love rivals, festivals, lotus ponds, and kissing.
I think that’s why I like this show. It’s a wild adventure that’s unserious and fun. Dumb as the humor is, it keeps the show light. No one is in the hospital too long, no one gets hurt in the gunfights, repeated kidnappings don’t leave anyone with any emotional scars, and spicy grandma never gets sick and never will.
And while Idolfactory shows aren’t unique in the way their endings often fizzle or crash, I thought this show’s was better than usual. The last-minute drama didn’t lead to prolonged scenes of crying, just more ridiculous adventure.
I also really like our lead couple
At first glance, it seems like the delinquent high schooler, Yo, and the village chief, Jom, would have nothing in common. But his real problem is that he doesn’t back down when he sees an injustice, and won’t let the rich and powerful abuse others.
Jom, though he is a sweetheart, has the same stubborn need to help others. He’s also not afraid of using a gun when needed. It’s why he’s the village chief, even though it’s unexpectedly dangerous and his family disapproves.
Initially, the overly energetic Yo and more cautious Jom don’t get along or understand one another. But gradually, they recognize their similarities and how to support and learn from each other. It’s a slow burn, with a long time spent becoming friends who occasionally end up in inappropriate skinship. But eventually there’s kissing.
I also like that it’s YoJom, not the other way around. IYNYN. If you don’t, don’t worry about it.
But like MeenPing, I know that this isn’t going to work for everyone
It’s silly nonsense with a lot of time spent on annoying characters. The couple is sweet and cute together, but they aren’t heart-fluttering.
It’s here for you if you want to go on a ridiculous adventure through the Thai countryside and watch one character get repeatedly kidnapped.
* The MeenPing ship is no more. I’ll be okay. I will.
And now for something completely different, I watched:
Marry My Husband: Japan – 私の夫と結婚して – 2025
A recently aired Japanese fantasy-revenge-romance with 10 episodes.
A woman trapped in a miserable marriage is betrayed and murdered by her best friend and husband. Then, she goes back in time 10 years. This time in Japan.
I watched and reviewed the Korean version last year, and enjoyed it until it fell apart in the second half. The Japanese version is shorter and fixes many of the problems with the Korean version.
The setup and characters are mostly the same
Our female lead lives the same selfless life before dying horribly at the hands of her husband and best friend. Inexplicably, she’s sent back in time and gets to do it all over. The universe demands sacrifice, and if she’s going to live, someone else needs to take her fate.
Along the way, no longer devoting her time to her husband and best friend, she gets to know her coworkers. Including the heir of the business, who keeps showing up when she needs him.
I liked nearly all of the changes made in this version. Because it’s shorter, it feels more focused. An annoying mini-boss villain was eliminated. A vile character never turned into comic relief. There was less boring business stuff. A cat turned into a turtle.
And the female lead’s emotional journey was clearer. She’s aware of the cruelty of passing her fate to someone else. Even if her husband and best friend are the worst, she’s not, and it’s not easy to let go of her kind-to-the-point-of-being-a-doormat habits. Nor is it easy to let go of the feelings she once had for them, whether or not they deserved them (they didn’t).
In particular, I liked what they did with the ending. Again, because it was shorter and less was going on, it flowed better from everything that had happened. But it was still dramatic, and part of it took place at a closed theme park for Some Reason.
But this is a Japanese show
Like Japanese shows in general, it has a more muted and naturalistic feel. The villains are horrible, but they’re life-sized and less caricatures. There are highs and lows, but they don’t have the dramatic intensity that you find more in Korean shows. Though the male lead here is arguably a better actor and has an amazing smolder, I missed the imposing stature of the Korean male lead.
For my tastes, this was the better adaptation.
And finally, what we’re all here for, my unfiltered feelings on:
Pit Babe Season 2 – พิษเบ๊บ 2 – 2025
A recently aired Thai no-longer-omegaverse racing BL with 13 episodes.
Pit Babe, his babe Charlie, and all his friends are back. And guess who else is back? Tony!
The first season of Pit Babe set a high bar, with child trafficking plots that had to stop for racing, and a selfish male lead with little emotional growth. How can another season 2 top that kind of storytelling?
It doesn’t, it’s kind of disappointing, but I still enjoyed it
The biggest problem with this season was how much it repeated from last season. Tony is back. He’s got someone interfering with Pit Babe and X-Hunter. Again. A third party interferes with Charlie and Babe’s relationship. Again. It’s not Way, but Way is back, only now he’s Chris. Again kinda. Racing happens. Again. Superpowers seemed cool, but were not used much. Again.
And those things that were new were a real mixed bag. A character who tried to murder Babe is brought back to work with the team, because why not? I really liked Not-Way/Chris and his sassy eye rolls when dealing with all these idiots. Alan got back problems and took his and Jeff’s relationship down with it, making them less fun to watch. Not-Way/Chris would have rolled his eyes if he’d known about it.
For the first half of the show, several of the secondary couples got more on-screen time and interesting developments. By the second half of the show, that fizzled into nothing.
In general, the first half was stronger than the second half. Interesting conflicts and character dynamics were set up. Jeff struggled with his powers. Babe struggled with what happened to Way, and this new Way showing up. Charlie was caught between Babe and racing, and his desire to find a drug to nullify alpha skills. Racers kept quitting on Alan. A mysterious new character was introduced.
Then in the second half, more stuff piled on, burying all that interesting stuff rather than doing anything with it. It was a lot, and most of the characters even seemed to stop caring about what was going on. Except Kenta and Pete, of course.
And the final episode was a beautiful disaster
Short, spoiler-free version: There was no way to wrap up everything that was going on. But whatever, that didn’t stop them from bringing it all to an end. If you want all the glorious details, read my recap of the episode.
I enjoy these characters and couples, and I’ll watch them do whatever. Extra points go to “Pavel” Naret Promphaopun for taking Babe through some kind of character growth and doing some great acting.
For this reason, I’ll recommend this season to anyone who enjoyed Season 1. If you didn’t enjoy it or didn’t watch it, this is unlikely to win you over.
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