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Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat.  The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
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Big Boys: Season 2 (UK Series)

By Golu
I loved season 1 of the British show Big Boys and I am so so happy that the makers came up with a follow up season of this because I could definitely use more of Jake and Danny and all the people around them. The season 1 handled two simultaneous coming-of-age stories. On the one hand, Jack, coming to terms with his life as a gay man, and on the other, Danny opening up about his experience of depression. This Channel 4 show continues from there on, with the shenanigans of these two with their friends Corrine and Yemi.

The 4 friends are now looking for a flat to live together but eventually end up going back to the blue shed as their home. Jack is now out and young and proud and trying to get laid but is still struggling. Corrine has started dating another guy leaving Jack behind but he takes in everything in his stride. He is getting over his depression and with Jack's mom and her family accepting Danny into their own, he has come a long way. We do find out a lot more about Danny's background in this season. With short snippets in the beginning of every episode, we find out the stories behind Danny's sunny exterior. There is a man who has ben deeply hurt. We also see more of Corrine and Yemi, trying to come up within fashion show and continuing with his sexual escapades. Jack's cousin Shannon gets pregnant this season because of her one time encounter with a delivery guy, and a lot of show's time also goes into that story. The show has one of the best funny yet very emotional finale with Shannon giving birth in the same hospital where Jack's dad passed away.

As I had mentioned in the season 1, it's an ambitious, tricky balance to maintain in writing, navigating the fine line between tear-inducing laughs and tear-inducing sorrow in ways that are painfully true to life. But somehow the real life Jack Rooke, who also is the writer for this show inspired form his life has done a fantastic job. The show's already-confident grip on loss and mourning goes even deeper in these six chapters with more ambitious swings that face grief head on. And the supporting cast in addition to Jack and Danny , they all get to shine in their respective parts. They all add a lot of warmth, hope and love. But at the core of it all, this still stays the story of friendship between Jack and Danny. The love they share is touching and affirming and also quite unique still when it comes to TV, even if friendship between straight and gay men is actually more common in real life than some people might think.

Men’s mental health is often clumsily handled in mainstream culture, but in Big Boys it’s explored with a captivating authenticity and all thanks to Jack's superb writing and brilliantly performed by its actors. Shannon and Yemi got most of the big laughs in these early episodes with perfectly delivered punchlines. Some of the lines that Shannon delivers are just hilarious especially her addiction around shopping. Jack's voice is heard at the periphery of every episode, nostalgically recalling events with the benefit of time and hindsight. We hear his personal story with every time him referring to Danny as "you" and somehow that connects. We also do get to see the real Jack at the end. The whole life circle of life and death has been so brilliantly handled in the series finale. I really hope this show doesn't get cancelled, but it somehow feels that this may have been the finale. I am personally not yet ready to let go off these characters. This show deserves to be seen much wider and I wonder how much this could have been popular (as much as Ted Lasso) if this was released on one of the digital platforms. I really want more and more people to watch these 2 seasons of six epodes each. Trust me, we all can use love, hope, friendship and family in our life. Do not let it go. (9/10)
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