REVIEW: Golden Blood the series (Golden Blood: Love Enormously)

Image (c) copyright WeTV Thailand 2021

 THIS REVIEW IS COPIED AND PASTED DIRECTLY FROM MY FACEBOOK SO IF IT LOOKS ODDLY FORMATTED, THAT IS WHY.

REVIEW of 'Golden Blood the series', aired on WeTV Thailand and available to international audiences via YouTube and Viki. 8 episodes premiered every Wed night from June 23rd - Aug 11th, 2021.

Golden Blood the Series.

Director: Mike Phontharis Chotkijsadarsopon

Main & Supporting Cast: (not a complete cast list)

• Gun Napat Na Ranong as Sky
• Boat Tara Tipa as Sun
• Tenon Teachapat Pinrat as Bank
• Sugus Buntawit Tragulpanich as Pitch
• Jane Jaytiya Naiwattanakul as Toktang
• Apple Lapisara Intarasutas as Juno
• Oat Voravudh Niyomsapas as Phupha
• Thanayong Wongtrakul as Sakkhee
• Limkasiddej J-Dai Setthasitt as Chin

Spoiler Alert. 

This review contains major spoilers for the series, 'Golden Blood: love enormously,' DO NOT READ if you don't want spoilers. 

So, the series wrapped up last night with Episode 8. Overall, I would give 'Golden Blood' 3 of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐

Premise: Sky is a wealthy only son of a Mafia boss who falls in love with his bodyguard Sun, who was adopted by Sky's father because Sun and Sky share a very rare blood type. At first, Sun hides his feelings for Sky (not very well...) because he feels it is inappropriate to get involved with his employer. But eventually love wins them over after Sun is shot and nearly killed protecting Sky. Unfortunately, Sky's father disapproves of their relationship. Drama ensues. 

The good: 

- original plot idea: the "golden blood" plot hook is creative and something not common as the premise for main characters meeting in a BL, especially one that takes place in the most common setting for BLs, a university. 

- well done trope: (just because something is a trope does not make it automatically bad) the master / servant love affair is done very well by this show. There are no consent problems, and the feelings between Sun and Sky are mutual from the beginning.

- pacing was good: the story advanced every episode, and the pacing of the plot keeps you engaged. Not a lot of wasted time on unrelated or unimportant side content / fluff to get to the 45 min mark for airing. 

- secondary couple: Pitch and Bank, the secondary couple in this series are fantastic. Their relationship is sweet, and the attraction / tension between them is palpable on screen, they develop into a couple in a believable way, and compliment the main couple in the plot. 

The bad:

- main actors very uncomfortable with gay scenes: the kissing scenes between Sun and Sky are painful to tolerate. It was very obvious the actors were very uncomfortable kissing each other. That's just bad acting. Get over it. Close your eyes and picture your gf. It's called ACTING for a reason. (And for contrast, Pitch and Bank kissing gave me some embarrassing stirrings down south... ahem.)

- female cast way too oblivious: the female characters in the show play it like they are totally blindsided by the gay relationships that are clearly developing right under their noses, between people who are supposedly their close friends. Come on. You certainly can't miss the obvious attraction between the secondary couple, Pitch and Bank, and the blatant jealousy Sky feels when anyone comes between him and Sun. Really, come on, now. Let's try a little realism.

- premise doesn't hold up: I say the premise is good because it's very creative, and it is. However, the premise itself that Sky's blood type is so rare that his father had to search out and adopt an orphan with the same blood type and train him to be a seasoned killer while also donating his blood for years on end -- and somehow also never met Sky until they were in their 20s --  does not hold up realistically at all. 

The ugly:

- stupid ending: at first I thought I was going to like the ending. It looks like Sky's father is going to execute Sun and instead it turns out he fires the gun away from Sun and reveals it was just a test to see if Sun would really let himself be killed rather than accept life without Sky. Beautiful ending, I had the tissues out, OMG it's love!! Then... the ridiculous ending they tacked on for whatever stupid reason: oh no, that was just the "first test" -- because being on your knees with a gun to your forehead ready to die rather than be apart wasn't proof enough of his love... Oh no, now Sky has to go away to school abroad for 6 years, without Sun (so much for having a bodyguard I guess...?) AND they have to agree to zero contact all that time, then if they are still in love after all that, then MAYBE Sky's dad will consent to them being together. And they do. So stupid and unrealistic and just lame. There is absolutely no way any of that works. First of all, what about the Internet, cell phones, airplanes (Sky is a rich kid after all...) There is just no way those two would have had no contact with and no knowledge of each other for 6 years then suddenly everything is just beautiful and perfect again. Why???? They ruined an extremely well done ending by adding on this ludicrous BS, when the ending was already suspenseful, dramatic and emotional. Yuck. 

Overall:

Honestly, overall, Golden Blood was a mediocre series. It is fairly short with only 8 episodes and there are some serious issues with the believability of the plot. However, it is also creative and entertaining with some nice side story and unique settings. The secondary couple makes up for the shortcomings of the main leads in chemistry. And, the series left room for a follow up season or a spin off for Pitch and Bank. #GoldenBloodTheSeries #SUNSKY #PitchBank #review