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...
Da Yeol is school athlete and part of the school archery club. He could secure a spot in national team if he wins an upcoming match but he has a stiff competition from a schoolmate. To get his friend's shoulder injury checked, there is a misunderstanding where he sees the class president Tae Hyun in a suggestive position with his friend. When he tries to leave the room he accidentally trips and falls on Tae Hyun's body. They are both reprimanded for discipline which makes Da Yeol annoyed but Tae Hyun continues to antagonize Da Yeol with various pranks and taunts. Many incidents continue and Da Yeol is always unsettled by his bully's fearlessness, till one day he sees Tae Hyun's aunt come and accuse him of killing people. When he doesn't show up in school for few days after the incident, Da Yeol volunteers to visit him and this action starts to open up their friendship slowly leading to some kind of bromance. But Da Yeol feels like thinking about Tae Hyun will impact his game, so he backs off without talking to his friend, who is of course surprised by his behaviour. They do end up talking but then one of them decides that enough is enough and decide that it's better if they are not together. Two years pass by and Da Yeol suddenly comes back in Tae's life one drunken night, giving him hope that maybe there is a future.
The plot was really rushed. Like I didn't even know when did Lee Da Yeol felt that archery was exhausting to him and he wanted to quit it. It felt out of the blue when he said he wanted to quit. Tae Hyun felt disgusted of Da Yeol in one scene and in the next scene he is running to him making up the most bizzare excuse. It started well where two lost teens, in their own way, come together after a few fights and find a common ground to be with one another. The show covers it nicely with their personalities, backstories, and introspections. But then show started going all over the place. Suddenly our friend realizes that there is more to life besides archery and just gives up his dream. Just like that. Likewise, Tae Hyun goes on an emotional journey as he confronts grief, remorse, and loss. Anti makes sense, but then thats it. It is not really used properly in the overall context. The production quality etc of the show is nice and polished and the actors do a good job but I think the plot lets you down. Despite the sleek presentation, the storytelling falls short. The final arc thrusts the couple into tiresome melodrama, undermining their romance. The epilogue suddenly pivots to random relationship fluff, which doesn't feel earned; an honestly that was frustrating. I mean, truth be told, it was not outright bad, but honestly we have seen so. Many similar shows about enemies becoming friends, I can't separate one from the other. This one also just joins the plethora of many many BL shows that leaves nothing memorable to remember for its viewers. (4/10)
Comments
Most of the time I felt the story lacked... something. I don't know... detailing? nuances? Those little things that connect the bigger things. I only guessed the story behind Da Yeol quitting archery, I don't remember it being explored that far on the screen. He may have realized that it was not his own dream, but his parents' - or he may have come to a conclusion that he had been focusing on becoming a top archer without liking archery as a process. (Again remembering Jane the belly dancer who sorted her beginners into two categories: the ones who want to become belly dancers and the ones who want to learn belly dancing. The first ones quit pretty soon, the latter ones kept dancing, learning and performing.)
I know you're waiting for what background stuff I noticed :D I absolutely loved how well the natural light was used, down to the point that it was almost possible to tell time when the outdoor scenes were filmed. (Actually there's one other Korean series that does the same thing - "Love Mate"). And I also thought about the well thought through title of the series. They both became each other's safe place, someone who's there when the shit hits the fan, someone who matches the other one's efforts and supports their important decisions.
Then I learned that the 2 actors were part of the same Kpop group! So I imagined this could be one of the reason why they wouldn't kiss? 2 points here: or you make it a bromance, or if you don't want to kiss, don't act in a BL...
The best part of this show for me was actually not from the show itself but from the Kpop part. Out of curiousity I went to watch their video clip and that's where the fun begins : try to find both of them in the video clips. You know the "where is Wally" books where you have to find the guy amongst so many other people? Well welcome to Kpop world lol! Honestly it is crazy how impossible it is to recognize them with so much make up, crazy clothes and different hair colours and style. It's just like they are totally different people (I'm still not sure if they were participating in all video clips given how much I couldn't find them at times). As an (amateur) dancer, that also led me to a brief but intense Kpop passion watching Kpop dancing and training choregraphies. As much as Kpop is not necessarily my kind of music, when it comes to their dancing skills I can't help but be in total awe. Being so perfectly in sync is beyond incredible (and suggest a hell number of hours training). I want to be in a Kpop group lmao!!
What was missing n the show was character built up and empathy. We are just not given details around why certain decisions are being taken, what thought process etc is going through. it was a bit mechanical. I do agree that the archery scenes were FAB !!