Want To See You (Vietnamese Series)

Another one of those Vietnamese series which has all kind of toxic traits, stereotypical characters, predictable storyline and you , as an audience keep wondering why was the series made. The plot is outrageous, most side characters are despicable and totally hate-worthy, not that our lead character is any better; and worst of all the editing of the show is so bad that at many places you just keep wondering what and how did that random scene pop in between. Also at 14 episodes of about 20 or more minutes each, this is stretched beyond it needed to.

Thach is a wealthy restaurant owner who lost his eyesight in accident. His ex-girlfriend Linh checks up on him and pretends to show concern. However, she only cares about going after his fortune, especially his restaurant chain which Thach vehemently refuses. She then hopes a caretaker Phuc, a university student to take care of him (so far sounds like a recent Thai series that I saw, but trust me, the similarities end here). Phuc has a lousy first impression of his employer, who is sullen, stubborn, and prideful. Thach tends to walk around naked, with attitude and the duo dont get along. Despite their spats, Phuc is good at his job, attending to Thach's needs responsibly. The two slowly start to warm up and out of nowhere Thach starts to flirt with Phuc on all sorts of way. His younger brother comes to live with him and then another girl, who apparently is in love with him but he treats her as a sister. She plays all kinds of weird mind games other than first get Linh out of house and then later forces her love on Thach. But by now, for inexplicable reasons Thach is totally into Phuc. It is never clear if Phuc is also into his employer but somehow after 10 episodes they do end up sleeping together. This is when Thach's mother intervenes and asks both of the guys to go their separate ways, since Thach father is a politician and his son being gay will not go down very well. Thach moves to us. 6 years later, he gets surgery, gets his eye sight back. Now he is looking for Phuch whom he has never seen, but is also right in front of him. Finally, he figure out that Phuc is the same guy whom he fell in love with and despite their previous rocky relationship dynamic, the lovers reunite (now that the mother is no more).

A love story with a blind protagonist is a bold, intriguing concept but sadly the show just doesn't utilize the premise properly. When the shows focuses on Thach's newly found life of being unable to see and getting use to his new routine, including his work, hobbies, and romance; the series shows promise. But instead, it decides to focus on trashy subplots. Gold digger ex-girlfriend, a girl plotting all her moves carefully since she is almost obsessed with Thach, despite his younger brother longing for her. By the way, I also cannot figure out when the younger brother can clearly see how manipulative this girl is, he still decides and wants to be with her. This is one of the worst decisions any human can make. Also, not very imaginative slurs are said against gay couples and that was also odd. Thanks to the extremely shoddy editing, each episode is messier as its previous one. Thach and Phuc have decent relationship moments, sharing sassy banter, sweet exchanges, and sexy encounters. The actors also have chemistry and make an attractive couple. The problem is that Thach comes across as a raging asshole. I tried sympathizing with him because of his condition, but this guy is belligerent, condescending, and disrespectful. He doesn't treasure his love interest or treat him as an equal. Phuc deserves somebody better than him. The actor playing Thach, I have seen him now in a lot of shows, but its Phuc whose handsome face, and smile caught my attention. But all this cannot save the fact that there is so much of melodramatic nonsense in the show and it makes no sense. Its like a series was made just for the sake of it and I'm sorry, the is unacceptable in todays time. Despite upscale and good production values, the series just doesn't manage to hold your attention. (4/10)