Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...
In season 1 we see how a mono Yeon-Woo finds his soulmate in Yoo-han after this mother's disappearance. This season starts with Yoo-han also being kidnapped and is disappeared and both Yeon-Woo and his aunt are still looking for answers for his lost mother. Yeon-Woo begins a personal investigation. Soon a classmate Sehyun joins him, who we are later told has feelings for our lead. Turns out that eye's sister was also a mono and had died under mysterious circumstances. They soon find out that there is a secret organization who are trying to experiment a probe surgery on monos and if that succeeds monos will no longer need probes to complete them. They lure monos for this experimentation, but a lot of people have died so far in this experimentation. The evil guys are trying to make money. With independent investigation by Yeon-Woo and Sehyun and also by the aunt, the secrets are revealed and we finally understand what had happened to his mom who apparently had also disappeared choosing for probe surgery. Yeon-Woo and Sehyun eventually shared kiss towards the end.
One interesting thing that I found about this show was that how seamlessly they introduced the character of Sehyun and made him part of the story. His chemistry with our lead was good, and he is really good looking too. There was an interesting power balance between the two and an unsaid sexual tension too. But just like the first season, everything felt so rushed. As viewers you are just not given time to process as to what the hell is going on. The sister's death happens too sudden and out of nowhere them finding the details of secret organization was way too convenient. I mean, come on, they are supposed to be students of 11th grade. This was again just scenes put together. And of course, just like season 1, there are way too many internal monologues. Too much of those. And the jarring background music does no good to anyone's liking. Yes, yes was mystery and desire on the overall show, but this sequel neither made me complain more or feel cheated when compared to season one. The fighting sequences were joke and a lot felt amateurish. For me, they are both disappointing, although this season tries to offer lot more in terms of content, but their technical team need better cohesiveness on how to put the entire material together. (4/10)
Comments
It definitely has its flaws like the messy beginning, bad fighting scenes, and convenient outcomes. But as a whole I'm really looking forward to see the 3rd season.