“2gether” Drama Series+ Movie Review

I have mixed feelings about this series. 2gether was a journey with its ups and downs. Sometimes when the downs hit it seemed impossible that any highs would come, but it still managed to climb. Not to a high, but it was doable. This is a review of the first season, the second special season and the movie of the 2gether franchise.

Let’s start with the first season. Simple yet cute plot. Tine (Win Metawin) receives a mysterious love note which he assumes is from a girl. Turns out it was from Green, who is in simple words obsessed with Tine. Tine does not reciprocate any feelings for Green and he tries his best (not his best) to tell Green that he is not interested. So, as a final resort, he thinks that the only person who could help him is the most unapproachable person on the entire campus, Sarawat (Bright Vachirawit). Sarawat is the most handsome person on the campus and also the most popular one. Mysterious and with a dark personality, Sarawat has his own personal fan group. ‘People’ like him but he clearly does not like ‘people’. And although it seemed stupid to me as to why he was entertaining Tine as the series progressed we got to know the answer. The first couple of episodes were good. Serving to the hype and almost killing me the iconic dialogue, “I would kiss you till you drop”. But with the advancement of the story, the plot started making less and less sense. Hear me out, the first couple of episodes were really good, there was chemistry, there was excitement and there was the chase. There was drama, but good sort of drama.

Remember the episode where the music club was playing the games and Sarawat and Tine were stuck together. There was the classic pocky eating game. They had many tender and funny moments together. Then actual feelings start getting involved in fake dating. It was clear that love was in the air. There was a cute confession scene as well, full of angst. But things went a little south when they made their relationship official. The plot started developing unnecessary drama. The fight between Sarawat and Mil did nothing to contribute to the plot. There were unnecessary insecurities and just when it couldn’t get any worse they introduced the ex-crush and jealousy trope.

How could they have made it better? Well, Tine who seemed happier when he was fake dating should have realised that something is wrong with the relationship. Sarawat should have acknowledged his boyfriend’s insecurities instead of going to sleep and being nonchalant; he should have sat Tine down and had an actual sit-down-listen-to-me-you-cute-fool-there-is-nothing-wrong talk. It seemed peachy and cute from the outside. Of course, they were the hottest couple, but inside they did not seem that happy. The problem with their problems was that they were avoidable. It seemed that they were forcibly making those problems. Not the directors but the characters themselves. Like the plot was forcing them to make problems. These problems did not deepen their chemistry, which I believe was the intention. Instead, it felt like they were growing further apart. Soon it started feeling like they were best friends or even siblings, forced to live together. Another problem was that they never came out and resolved their issues, they just let them float in the air. In their relationship, they even lost their physical intimacy. I am not saying that they should kiss all the time but they were dating and many other forms of physical intimacy can be shown. Although the little scenes when they initially moved in were good. But after that, it all seemed to disappear. They also moved in too soon. The initial dating days were not shown at all. There was chase, acknowledgement and confession and then bam, they were living together.

The plot development of the side characters on the other hand was much better. Man (Mike Chinnarat) and Type (Toptap Jirakit) as well as Phukong (Frank Thanatsaran) and Mil (Drake Sattabut). Although Phukong and Mil did not get their happy ending in the first season their relationship development was still somehow better. Even though Mil bro-zoned Phukong they still had better chemsitry than Tine and Sarawat.

This brings us to the second season, Still 2gether. I don’t know why I always read the title as a question rather than a fact. But jokes apart, these special episodes were much better than the series. It was an attempt to save the original series and honestly, it did save it. ‘Still 2gether’ was a redemption from the makers. Like they were accepting that they knew the first season did not work out and they made this just to make us happy. The chemistry of the main characters was much better and they seemed like a mature couple in this. There were no unnecessary problems and drama. And the real-life issues they faced in this series were resolved with understanding and conversations, instead of jumping to conclusions and bawling your eyes out and breaking up. This means that they will survive real-life problems. It was not just Tine and Sarawat who got their happy ending but all the other side characters as well. Mil finally confessed his love for Phukong, just when Phukong almost gave up. The script focussed on all the things that the audience loved watching. Romance, comedy and chemistry. There were so many cute moments that they could just melt your heart. Tine missing Wat, Man understanding Type and them actually working the long-distance relationship out. It was super adorable when Tine and Wat met after two weeks and just stared at each other from across the road. That one moment had more appeal and intimacy than the entirety of the first season, to be honest. Even Boss and Pear get their cute ending. We can assume that Still 2gether was a penance for the makers and yes, we shall accept it and forgive the first season.

Now about the movie. The movie is ninety per cent the same as the series. Just giving a background rehash of Tine and Sarawat’s story. How they got together and how they overcame all the hurdles. If you just want their story and you do not want to watch the series you can follow the movie. But there is nothing about the side characters in the movie. They just end up being together. So, you will miss out on their story and their storyline is also very interesting, especially Type and Man. The movie is made for people who have already watched the series and now want closure. I like the ending of the movie. (Spoilers of the movie ahead). I like how they did not go over the top and included a wedding scene. Just a promise to be together forever. According to me, that was the perfect ending for the series. I did expect we would get to see much more of Sarawat’s perspective about when he first saw Tine, which was not given. But we got to know the story with the voiceovers. We get to listen to their narrative which was a nice touch. Even in the ten minutes of the new shots which were in the movie I had some favourites. Like Tine’s father including Sarawat in the group photo and Sarawat and Dim’s secret hand gesture. That was really funny. The movie felt more natural. I would have loved it if they included some more new scenes and explored the plot a little bit more.

2gether feels like a road trip, mixed with awesome songs. First, there is happiness and excitement. Then as the journey starts to get to you, there are petty arguments and needless bickering. You are just ready to throw hands over the littlest of things. Then comes the anger, sometimes over nothing, sometimes over big things. There is also a little bit of brawl. But then as you get more comfortable with yourself and the other person(s) you realise just how beautiful the road is. How important the other person is and how important your relationship is. Then you find your happiness in that person and in that road that you are travelling on. Road trips have that motto. It gets better. I believe 2gether had the same motto. Just be patient, give the characters time and drive-in. You will eventually find your happiness. Just like the characters did.

Rating- 3.5 out of 5

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