When we last left our destined duo they had tried turning their relationship off and on and were back in the off position. They’d also just solved the case of the shirtless murderer and were on a special assignment.
But enough of that, because…
All the Sudden we are in a Mystery-Of-The-Week-Show
An artist named Art pours paint on the ground while moody violin music plays. His lover, Kao, shows up for a final roll-in-the-paint before getting married. At this point, they switch to opera music.
The night ends how all nights like this end: Art sobs in the shower and red paint — or blood — washes down the drain.
Back to our intrepid Special Investigations Team. Tharn is looking for the man he saw earlier, Art, to prevent him from murdering someone. Yai objects. He didn’t become a cop to save lives.
The Special Guest they are guarding is a Minister Montree. He’s possibly a dirty politician involved in drug dealing. He’s possibly involved in Tharn’s parents death.
Everyone watches Art do shirtless performance art. Shirtless is a theme with this drama.
In Tharn’s vision, Montree says something to Art and Art stabs him with a pen. In reality, a bodyguard and screaming woman prevent the stabbing.
The woman is Kao’s fiance. Kao’s missing and she thinks Art killed him. There’s a scuffle and Art cuts the fiancee with a pen. Violin music plays over dramatic, arty camera moves.
The Investigation Starts and I have Questions
The Commander hands out orders and talks about ‘evidence’ like we’re in Pit Babe. Like Pit Babe, things are very unclear. What are they investigating? The physical assault was witnessed by everyone and should be dealt with in court.
If it’s the disappearance, do they know for sure Kao disappeared? Where was he last seen?
The Doctor, who used to be Art’s doctor, calms him down with some creepy touching. Then he implies Phaya is mentally ill. Tharn and everyone else is cool with all of this.
The next day Phaya apologizes to Tharn. He hit the doctor because his dreams make him afraid of losing Tharn. He doesn’t mention the terrible things the doctor said.
Tharn forgives him without asking for more explanation. So, no one learned anything.
The Doctor has a conversation with the Commander about mental illness. What he says could describe Phaya. But we know Phaya is not having a mental health crisis, there’s something supernatural going on. So what’s the point of this scene? Will the Doctor eventually convince everyone Phaya is dangerous?
Tharn and Phaya are Talking Again at Least
But they’re at Art’s place and I don’t know why. Because Art nearly assaulted Montree? Because Kao’s fiance accused him of murder? Is that how this works?
Tharn believes Art and Kao were more than friends. So they figured that out. They also find blood on the painting that matches blood on Art’s pen.
After that, Yai reports Kao’s last known location was Art’s place and they connect the physical assault to Kao’s disappearance. Isn’t that why they’ve been investigating? What is happening?
During the police interview with Art, we flashback to Art and Kao fighting over Kao selling Art’s art to Montree. Kao grabbed at Art, and Art accidentally slashed him in the neck with a pen. Art denies killing Kao and we get more opera music.
Tharn believes Art’s innocence. He touches the pen and sees what really happened. Which is everything we just saw all over again, except that Kao walked away, still alive.
The taxi that Kao left in is discovered with a blood stain in it. How did they not find this earlier? Kao was dropped off in the middle of some road somewhere.
Is this all just about love?
Art and Kao’s tragic relationship inspires Tharn and Phaya to talk about love. Tharn understands lovers forced to separate, Phaya does not. Later, Phaya and the Doctor make use of police meeting time to argue about similar ideas. If I were in that meeting I’d be wondering what on earth is going on.
After work, Phaya brings Tharn back to the Unforgotten Night home. They chill by the pool, and Phaya asks Tharn if he thinks this is all a coincidence. Tharn doesn’t answer. I would like to know his answer too.
Phaya confesses his love but Tharn still resists because he’s afraid of losing everyone he loves. Phaya promises not to go anywhere. That’s enough for Tharn, and they have sex.
Back to the Supernatural Story
Phaya is attacked by an evil spirit in the night that chokes him. Luang Por talks to the disembodied voice again, urging it to stop and not destroy itself with selfish desires. Tharn wakes up and puts the amulet back on Phaya. He needs to keep it on at all times.
Tharn, remembering all that Luang Por has said that he’s ignored, calls him. Luang Por gives vague warnings about the future and also — keep Phaya away from the river.
So their investigation takes them right to the river
Because that’s where Kao’s wallet was found. Tharn, looking adorable in Phaya’s oversized clothes, finally takes Luang Por’s advice and warns Phaya.
So now it’s Phaya’s turn to ignore the advice. He promptly follows a vision of Tharn into the water with no one else noticing. It’s creepy, and I like it.
There he meets the older sister of Wansarat, the woman he’s been dreaming about.
She tells a Romeo and Juliet style story of a Garuda, him, and a Naga, Tharn/Wansarat. Despite their people being at odds, they fell in love. The ruler of Naga City, Doctor/Chalothon, would not let Tharn/Wansarat go. This of course, echoes the love stuff from earlier.
Eventually Tharn/Wansarat and Phaya are killed together by Doctor/Chalothon.
Phaya is confused, because he loves Tharn, not Wansarat. But they’re the same person. The amulet is the soul of the Naga that Tharn/Wansarat gave him, to protect him so they could be together in a future life. But Doctor/Chalothon keeps showing up to ruin their chances of love.
Will the real Wansarat please stand up?
The Tharn versus Wansarat issue is an interesting one. The woman Phaya encounters in his dreams who has been called Wansarat is played by an actress. But the Wansarat in these flashbacks is played by Tharn’s actor.
It is an odd choice. Why have one actor play all the versions of himself and not the other?
I wonder if there’s more to learn about Wansarat. Maybe the woman in the dreams isn’t who we think. The way Phaya keeps getting dragged into the water by them certainly seems dangerous.
Or it could be an odd creative choice.
Meanwhile
Kao’s body is found in the water with the same kind of bindings as Lieutenant Tam. Tharn sees a bad guy and chases after him. The man has a tattoo on his wrist that Tharn’s seen before.
The man gets away. Tharn has a sudden vision of Phaya and runs to save him. But once he gets Phaya out of the water, he can’t wake him up.
And Finally
This recap has already gone long so I’ll keep this short: Clearly the writing of episode 7 was messy. I dislike how it caused the characters to behave illogically.
At the same time, I still like what the show is trying to do. The thematic overlap between the cases and the past lives. The strange implications about Phaya’s sanity. The scary way the past is holding onto them. I like them in their fantasy outfits by the river. I really admire the show’s ambitions, if not always the results.
Meanwhile, Phaya and Tharn are together for like a minute before Phaya gets himself drowned! Boo! Let’s quickly get them back together again.