Interminable (Thai Series)

This Thai BL leans hard into the reincarnation trope, and it's got all the usual suspects, a scheming female villain, a love story that crosses lifetimes, the same sprawling mansion I swear I've seen in like ten other shows by now, and honestly as a viewer you can pretty much predict where it's headed. That said, I'll give credit where it's due, the execution is solid, the leads have real chemistry together, and there's enough mystery woven in to keep you watching. My issue is the plot just drags in way too many spots. With twelve episodes running over fifty minutes each, this is a real time investment.

The story bounces between two timelines, looks like early 1900s and mid 1900s, with basically the entire cast from the past life getting reborn into similar roles and relationships in the present. In the current day we meet Kaewta, who's struggling financially and lives with his mom. Out of nowhere two men show up claiming he's a distant relative of Khun Yai and that he's inherited this massive house. Confused but going along with it, they move in, and slowly Kaewta starts sensing someone else in the house, something he can feel and sometimes even glimpse, though he's never fully sure it's real. That presence turns out to be Khun Yai's ghost, and through scattered flashbacks and conversations we learn Kaewta and Khun Yai were lovers in a past life, except Kaewta has zero memory of any of it, and something unresolved from back then is keeping Khun Yai's spirit stuck instead of moving on. Kaewta's best friend Ruedee is terrified of her older cousin Sophie, and it turns out everyone in this circle is tied together from that past life. Eventually Kaewta gains the ability to actually see Khun Yai, though why he's still lingering in the house stays a mystery for a while. With guidance from a monk they've been making offerings to, Kaewta gradually pieces together their shared past. Back then Khun Yai came from a noble, high status family while Kaewta worked as a traditional dancer, and Khun Yai fell for him hard, a love that was forbidden on two fronts, both because they're both men and because of the massive class gap between them. Sophie, who's always been into Khun Yai, gets it into her head that he actually has feelings for Ruedee in that past life and tries to have her killed, which is exactly why present day Ruedee lives in fear of her cousin. There's a lot more woven in, but basically it comes down to Sophie not being able to handle the fact that the man she loves is in love with someone else, a man no less, so she has Kaewta killed. In response Khun Yai vows to wait for him forever, stops eating entirely, and eventually dies too, but his soul never manages to move on, which sets up the two of them finally finding their way back to each other in the present.

The constant back and forth between timelines doesn't build tension or add any real depth, it just leaves the story feeling scattered and hard to follow. Instead of feeling mysterious, a lot of it just feels like it's circling the same ground repeatedly. It wasn't so much confusing as it was just repetitive honestly. Everything they were trying to convey could've been told in way less runtime. That whole subplot about a conspiracy to kill the king in the past life felt completely pointless and added nothing to the bigger picture. What bugged me most was how Kaewta's character was handled. He spends what feels like four full episodes just being confused with barely any real development, and the same emotional moments keep getting repeated without moving anything forward. A bunch of scenes are basically recycled too, shown once in full and then again later shortened or from a slightly different angle, which just drags the pacing down instead of giving us anything new. One character I did enjoy was Khun Yai's loyal servant, always quietly there for him and secretly carrying feelings for Ruedee, plus there's this fun detail where his son, now older in real time, calls him dad. That added a nice touch. The opening episodes actually did a good job building suspense and tension, but once it hits around episode six and dives into the past life details, it takes a full six episodes to lay it all out, something that honestly could've been tightened into just one. You basically need to watch this at double speed to stay engaged. Both lead actors do a solid job and fit their roles well. The actress playing Sophie though, your classic over the top female villain, was almost comically dramatic in both timelines. The romantic and sex scenes between Khun Yai and Kaewta were genuinely sensual though, no holding back there.

Bottom line, it's a decent watch if you've got time to kill, though I'm increasingly convinced these Asian BLs need fan made cuts so people like me don't lose twelve hours watching something that could've been a two hour story. (6/10)