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 ...
This is one of those BL series where the story is a total mess and the characters make zero sense most of the time. Honestly, it’s a total guilty pleasure because the focus was clearly on showing off skin, hot bodies, and a ton of sex, with just a tiny bit of plot thrown in. When you mix in some pretty bad acting, it’s entertaining in a "so bad it's good" way here and there, but overall it’s just not great and drags on way too long. There are 10 episodes that run about an hour each, plus a special episode, and yet the creators still didn't seem to know how they wanted to wrap the whole thing up.
The story follows a young guy named Kyle who moves back to his hometown to take over his family’s sardine business. He’s basically hiding out from a financial scandal in Manila and trying to get away from his ex-boyfriend/business partner. Kyle is pretty distant from his dad, so he tries to stay under the radar by working at the company. That’s where he meets Andre, this incredibly hot fisherman who works on the boats. Andre is supposed to be a humble guy with a pregnant girlfriend, but for some reason, the show just has him acting horny and touching himself constantly. Most of the show is just Kyle and Andre seducing each other until they finally hook up. We also get the typical trans best friend character you see in Filipino shows, who starts her own fling with another fisherman. Just when Kyle starts feeling settled, his ex, Bill, shows up to threaten him and expose his secrets. Kyle is terrified of everyone finding out he's gay, so he has to decide if he’s going to keep running or finally face the truth for the sake of his new relationship.
You really have to turn your brain off to get through this one. It’s super predictable, and the only real draw—which the creators definitely knew—is the endless supply of shirtless guys with six-packs and tight pants. It actually gets funny after a while, like when the housekeeper is just walking around the house shirtless with his pants unbuttoned for no reason. The dialogue is full of cringy lines about things being "so big" or "so tight," especially during the six or seven episodes set on a boat that only exist to show off sex scenes. I’m starting to realize that anything from this production company, Oxin, is always the same: just non-stop sexual innuendos. It’s a shame because the setting of a fishing town and a "boss meets worker" romance could have been cool, but the directing and acting were just bottom-tier. A nice body can only keep you interested for so long. Kyle was the worst part for me—both as a character and an actor. He makes the dumbest choices, like having a random threesome with his ex and the housekeeper just because of some weird blackmail plot that made no sense. And don’t even get me started on Andre just ditching his pregnant girlfriend!
The ending was a total blur, too. It looks like Kyle might have died in a boat accident, but who knows—they’ll probably bring him back if there’s a second season. I really hope they don't! The side couple with the trans friend was also super cringy; every time the show tried to give them a heartfelt moment, it would just dive back into awkward sexual dialogue. Look, the guys are definitely hot, but they seriously need an acting workshop and a much better script.
It's a messy, logic-free series that prioritizes steaminess over actual storytelling, leaving you with a lot of hot visuals but a very empty plot. (3.5/10)
Comments