Love By Chance
Thai BL series Love by Chance was hyped well before it was finally broadcast in late 2018. Controversially, this is allegedly due to a postponed release date enforced by the show's creators, whose new executive team has apparently purged all gay content from its productions. If this allegation is true, it's a devastating policy reversal from the creative team behind BL classics such as Love Sick and Make It Right. (Check out blogger Queer Fudanshi's take on the scandal here.) So it's very fortunate that Love by Chance was picked up instead by GMMTV and Line TV and released at all, because this series is BL gold.
Summary: timid, naive university student Pete is from a wealthy family. He's secretly gay and has had terrible luck dating guys; most of them have used him solely for his money. One day at university, he is accidentally knocked over by handsome soccer jock Ae riding past on his bicycle. Kind-hearted, decent Ae takes Pete to get medical attention, and over the next few weeks, he continues to look out for Pete and worries about someone taking advantage of his naivety. Pete is instantly smitten by Ae and his unaffected kindness to him with no ulterior motive. He is open with Ae about his sexuality and both of them are very happy for a trusting friendship to develop. When Pete is subjected to some horrible violence and blackmail, Ae bravely steps in and defends him. Pete and Ae now spend so much time together that Ae starts to experience some very odd, unfamiliar feelings.
Now THIS is how you do Thai BL! Sure, it's unoriginal, predictable and generic, but it uses the Thai BL template better than any other similar BL drama. It certainly helps that the two leads have great chemistry. The focus is largely on the main couple and a few of their closest friends. The story is paced beautifully; it's so romantic and gentle, almost languid in places, and its use of slow-motion is heart-meltingly pretty. It also has comedy and dramatic tension spread through the story at just the right moments to offset the sugar high. Its narrative is linear, easy to understand and fully aware of its own limitations. There's almost nothing here that will challenge viewers or make us reflect on what we're watching, and I've come to realise that's not always a bad thing, as long as it's well-made. (After having just watched the hot mess that is 'Cause You're My Boy, the difference is like night and day.) It's a real pleasure just to sit back, relax and let Love By Chance cast its simple magic spell on you.
The boys couldn't be any more different, but their journey to love is much more convincing than the usual 'opposites attract' scenarios, such as those of the main couples in Uncontrolled Love or HIStory: Right or Wrong, for example. The credit lies entirely with the excellent direction and well-written screenplay, especially through the series' middle episodes. Unsophisticated, blunt Ae likes his discussions and explanations direct and to the point, and has the sort of stubborn masculine pride that never asks for help or expresses emotions other than anger. Dignified Pete brings a quiet sense of purpose to his personal relationships, as well as all his emotional intelligence and experience as a gay man. This dynamic between the two men, and the dramatic tension and misunderstandings their different personalities produce, give us some fantastic BL drama. It's the show's ultimate irony that by trying to help each other, they inadvertently create utter confusion for themselves. Traumatised Pete tries to shelter Ae from the reality of being gay and the impact it has on daily life, which causes him to withhold the truth and withdraw into himself out of shame. Ae protects Pete but he cannot understand or cope with complexity, so he gets angry and frustrated with what he sees as Pete's falsity and evasiveness. They constantly struggle to understand each other, but in trying to do so, they soon start to see admirable qualities in each other and form a much stronger bond than friendship. Perversely, it's Ae's crass, porn-addicted roommate Pond who sees the truth first and ends up playing a valuable translator role between Ae and Pete to help them sort their misunderstandings out - and, like a sex-obsessed version of Cupid, to push them towards consummating their love. With his help, Ae and Pete realise that first love can be beautiful and romantic, but it works even better with open and honest communication.
One of the series' greatest strengths is that it doesn't rely solely on the build-up to - or the inevitability of - the boys' relationship. Once the boys are together, the programme opts instead to show them falling even deeper in love with each other, simply by being honest and happy together exactly as they are. This happens without resorting to the usual BL dramatic tactics of fights, crazy ex-girlfriends or the dull cycle of splitting up / making up. I can't emphasise enough how much this screenplay decision contributes to the effectiveness of Love By Chance and its well-deserved success. It's the best kind of 'happily ever after' possible in BL. The progress of their friendship then relationship is modestly and naturally pieced together, at an untaxing pace that presents nothing too ugly or controversial (although Pete is involved in one shockingly violent scene). They are adorably cute with each other - there's no other word for it except 'cute' - but as the mutual admiration, compliments, cheek squeezing, loving stares and abashed smiles mount up, so does a surprising amount of sexual tension. Even Pete beings to show signs of sexual frustration. This is catnip to die-hard BL fans, and you'll definitely find yourself squealing with excitement as the series progresses. (Check out some of the hilarious reaction videos online, as fans watch the raunch factor ramp up in 'real time'.) It starts out as the purest and most virginal of BL romances, but lighting some sexual fire under the diabetes-level sweetness is a perfectly judged move, full of mischief. "I'm a man, and a man has needs" is a sentence I never anticipated hearing from shy Pete. One of the hottest scenes in the series involves a frank sexual confrontation in Ae's dorm room with Ae in full dominant mode that would give even the coldest heart palpitations. The fact that there's no indication whatsoever in the initial episodes that a sex rampage is coming makes it all the more astonishing when it hits the screen like a sledgehammer.
Love By Chance has flaws, but they are tough to find. The worst that can be said about it is that it lacks originality, but that's hard to hold against it because it's not trying to be anything other than what it is - a simple, unchallenging BL fantasy with an unpretentious heart that's full of love to give. There's some gentle bending of the rules, especially in the final few episodes, but it never dares to take it beyond the point where it might spoil fans' expectations. The program's other most noticeable weakness is its poor choices regarding characterisation. It's one of this series' strangest decisions to go to all the effort of giving many of its characters genuine, credible motives for their actions or personalities - in itself, a very unusual step for a BL series - but then doing almost nothing with them. One of Thailand's most popular BL actors Earth Pirapat is criminally underused, even though he plays the most interesting character of the series, the loyal and sympathetic soccer team manager (and openly gay) P'Type. He's one of several fine-in-concept characters that have minimal development and barely any screen time, but who really merit their own separate series to develop them properly. Secondary BL coupling Tum and Tar are the most obvious characters in this same category. Their very serious narrative of trauma arising from sexual assault and rape is poorly developed and mishandled badly by the writers. (Will there ever be a BL series that doesn't mishandle the theme of sexual assault and rape?! Seriously, it's just depressing.) There isn't enough time to focus properly on any of the secondary themes and subplots to do them justice. It's admirable that the screenwriters went to the effort of creating several great concepts for their secondary characters, but doing nothing with them of value is almost as bad as never having created them in the first place. As a result, they become nothing more than glorified padding, which is one of the worst sins a BL narrative can commit, in my view.
There are a couple of other subplots that don't bring much to the story; they're also given minimal development when compared to the central couple's. The most interesting subplot - and the best - involves Pete's magnificently handsome, wealthy but morally bankrupt friend Tin, and Ae's neurotic, childish soccer teammate Can. Once Ae & Pete have settled into their relationship in the latter part of the series and their story tapers off, the screenwriters - in a game-changing decision that succeeds far better than expected - focus almost entirely on the unlikely romance between Tin & Can. They have a very silly 'hate turns to love' story that doesn't amount to much. But they have a lot of fun moments together, thanks mainly to a star-making performance from Make It Right alumnus Plan as Can, who overacts with great flair. They also get the funniest scene of the entire series, when Can's mother and sister tell Tin a cute story about a certain melon fruit, much to Can's embarrassment.
Aside from these four central characters and P'Type, the other character that really stands out in this series is Pond. As Ae's roommate, Pond can be annoying to begin with, but bear with him, because he gains depth as the writers look for more interesting ways to bring him forward. He's given an endearing hetero subplot with beautiful, intelligent student Cha-Aim (another wonderful but neglected character), and no one is more surprised about it than Pond himself; she is way out of his league and he knows it. His manipulative 'sexual pervert' comedic foil to Ae's chaste seriousness is often laugh-out-loud funny. It's very unusual for his BL character type to be anything other than a superficial clown (the template, to my mind, being Noh's best friend Om in Love Sick), so it's such a bonus that he manages to scrape together a decent personality and become interesting beyond the clichés. It's safe to say we'll be seeing a lot more of the actor playing Pond, Yacht Surat, in the future. He has a fantastic screen presence, and his portrayal of Pond gives us all of his repulsive vulgarity without hiding his true good nature.
Love By Chance is a series its creators can be proud of. It's easily the best-directed Thai BL series I've watched, and clearly demonstrates the value of a firm guiding hand at the helm, especially one who knows how to direct uncertain young actors. It has decent production values, tolerable acting, and a gentle, well-written 'BL fantasy' narrative that never loses its sense of fun and mischief. It holds huge appeal for dedicated BL fans, and is equally one of the best introductions to BL a newbie could possibly ask for. It's wonderful to find a Thai BL drama that uses the typical tropes so well and so intelligently. It's so well-made and so popular, it's virtually guaranteed to get a sequel.
And to think that it almost never got made...
Rating: 15 out of 20
Ending: happy
Best scene: from a BL perspective, Ae's "first kiss" scene in Pete's car is a straight-up, A-grade classic. But, to be honest, I LOVED the very funny lunch scene where Can's sister Lemon and their mother openly mock Can in front of Tin about a melon.
Another great reason to watch this series is that its co-producers, GMMTV and Live TV Thailand, are using it as a testing ground for subtitled international BL releases. Living in a world where more Thai BL dramas are subbed by their creators with an eye to appeasing their global fanbase is something to appreciate and support, so please get behind it and watch it on legitimate channels where you can!
Summary: timid, naive university student Pete is from a wealthy family. He's secretly gay and has had terrible luck dating guys; most of them have used him solely for his money. One day at university, he is accidentally knocked over by handsome soccer jock Ae riding past on his bicycle. Kind-hearted, decent Ae takes Pete to get medical attention, and over the next few weeks, he continues to look out for Pete and worries about someone taking advantage of his naivety. Pete is instantly smitten by Ae and his unaffected kindness to him with no ulterior motive. He is open with Ae about his sexuality and both of them are very happy for a trusting friendship to develop. When Pete is subjected to some horrible violence and blackmail, Ae bravely steps in and defends him. Pete and Ae now spend so much time together that Ae starts to experience some very odd, unfamiliar feelings.
Now THIS is how you do Thai BL! Sure, it's unoriginal, predictable and generic, but it uses the Thai BL template better than any other similar BL drama. It certainly helps that the two leads have great chemistry. The focus is largely on the main couple and a few of their closest friends. The story is paced beautifully; it's so romantic and gentle, almost languid in places, and its use of slow-motion is heart-meltingly pretty. It also has comedy and dramatic tension spread through the story at just the right moments to offset the sugar high. Its narrative is linear, easy to understand and fully aware of its own limitations. There's almost nothing here that will challenge viewers or make us reflect on what we're watching, and I've come to realise that's not always a bad thing, as long as it's well-made. (After having just watched the hot mess that is 'Cause You're My Boy, the difference is like night and day.) It's a real pleasure just to sit back, relax and let Love By Chance cast its simple magic spell on you.
The boys couldn't be any more different, but their journey to love is much more convincing than the usual 'opposites attract' scenarios, such as those of the main couples in Uncontrolled Love or HIStory: Right or Wrong, for example. The credit lies entirely with the excellent direction and well-written screenplay, especially through the series' middle episodes. Unsophisticated, blunt Ae likes his discussions and explanations direct and to the point, and has the sort of stubborn masculine pride that never asks for help or expresses emotions other than anger. Dignified Pete brings a quiet sense of purpose to his personal relationships, as well as all his emotional intelligence and experience as a gay man. This dynamic between the two men, and the dramatic tension and misunderstandings their different personalities produce, give us some fantastic BL drama. It's the show's ultimate irony that by trying to help each other, they inadvertently create utter confusion for themselves. Traumatised Pete tries to shelter Ae from the reality of being gay and the impact it has on daily life, which causes him to withhold the truth and withdraw into himself out of shame. Ae protects Pete but he cannot understand or cope with complexity, so he gets angry and frustrated with what he sees as Pete's falsity and evasiveness. They constantly struggle to understand each other, but in trying to do so, they soon start to see admirable qualities in each other and form a much stronger bond than friendship. Perversely, it's Ae's crass, porn-addicted roommate Pond who sees the truth first and ends up playing a valuable translator role between Ae and Pete to help them sort their misunderstandings out - and, like a sex-obsessed version of Cupid, to push them towards consummating their love. With his help, Ae and Pete realise that first love can be beautiful and romantic, but it works even better with open and honest communication.
One of the series' greatest strengths is that it doesn't rely solely on the build-up to - or the inevitability of - the boys' relationship. Once the boys are together, the programme opts instead to show them falling even deeper in love with each other, simply by being honest and happy together exactly as they are. This happens without resorting to the usual BL dramatic tactics of fights, crazy ex-girlfriends or the dull cycle of splitting up / making up. I can't emphasise enough how much this screenplay decision contributes to the effectiveness of Love By Chance and its well-deserved success. It's the best kind of 'happily ever after' possible in BL. The progress of their friendship then relationship is modestly and naturally pieced together, at an untaxing pace that presents nothing too ugly or controversial (although Pete is involved in one shockingly violent scene). They are adorably cute with each other - there's no other word for it except 'cute' - but as the mutual admiration, compliments, cheek squeezing, loving stares and abashed smiles mount up, so does a surprising amount of sexual tension. Even Pete beings to show signs of sexual frustration. This is catnip to die-hard BL fans, and you'll definitely find yourself squealing with excitement as the series progresses. (Check out some of the hilarious reaction videos online, as fans watch the raunch factor ramp up in 'real time'.) It starts out as the purest and most virginal of BL romances, but lighting some sexual fire under the diabetes-level sweetness is a perfectly judged move, full of mischief. "I'm a man, and a man has needs" is a sentence I never anticipated hearing from shy Pete. One of the hottest scenes in the series involves a frank sexual confrontation in Ae's dorm room with Ae in full dominant mode that would give even the coldest heart palpitations. The fact that there's no indication whatsoever in the initial episodes that a sex rampage is coming makes it all the more astonishing when it hits the screen like a sledgehammer.
Love By Chance has flaws, but they are tough to find. The worst that can be said about it is that it lacks originality, but that's hard to hold against it because it's not trying to be anything other than what it is - a simple, unchallenging BL fantasy with an unpretentious heart that's full of love to give. There's some gentle bending of the rules, especially in the final few episodes, but it never dares to take it beyond the point where it might spoil fans' expectations. The program's other most noticeable weakness is its poor choices regarding characterisation. It's one of this series' strangest decisions to go to all the effort of giving many of its characters genuine, credible motives for their actions or personalities - in itself, a very unusual step for a BL series - but then doing almost nothing with them. One of Thailand's most popular BL actors Earth Pirapat is criminally underused, even though he plays the most interesting character of the series, the loyal and sympathetic soccer team manager (and openly gay) P'Type. He's one of several fine-in-concept characters that have minimal development and barely any screen time, but who really merit their own separate series to develop them properly. Secondary BL coupling Tum and Tar are the most obvious characters in this same category. Their very serious narrative of trauma arising from sexual assault and rape is poorly developed and mishandled badly by the writers. (Will there ever be a BL series that doesn't mishandle the theme of sexual assault and rape?! Seriously, it's just depressing.) There isn't enough time to focus properly on any of the secondary themes and subplots to do them justice. It's admirable that the screenwriters went to the effort of creating several great concepts for their secondary characters, but doing nothing with them of value is almost as bad as never having created them in the first place. As a result, they become nothing more than glorified padding, which is one of the worst sins a BL narrative can commit, in my view.
There are a couple of other subplots that don't bring much to the story; they're also given minimal development when compared to the central couple's. The most interesting subplot - and the best - involves Pete's magnificently handsome, wealthy but morally bankrupt friend Tin, and Ae's neurotic, childish soccer teammate Can. Once Ae & Pete have settled into their relationship in the latter part of the series and their story tapers off, the screenwriters - in a game-changing decision that succeeds far better than expected - focus almost entirely on the unlikely romance between Tin & Can. They have a very silly 'hate turns to love' story that doesn't amount to much. But they have a lot of fun moments together, thanks mainly to a star-making performance from Make It Right alumnus Plan as Can, who overacts with great flair. They also get the funniest scene of the entire series, when Can's mother and sister tell Tin a cute story about a certain melon fruit, much to Can's embarrassment.
Aside from these four central characters and P'Type, the other character that really stands out in this series is Pond. As Ae's roommate, Pond can be annoying to begin with, but bear with him, because he gains depth as the writers look for more interesting ways to bring him forward. He's given an endearing hetero subplot with beautiful, intelligent student Cha-Aim (another wonderful but neglected character), and no one is more surprised about it than Pond himself; she is way out of his league and he knows it. His manipulative 'sexual pervert' comedic foil to Ae's chaste seriousness is often laugh-out-loud funny. It's very unusual for his BL character type to be anything other than a superficial clown (the template, to my mind, being Noh's best friend Om in Love Sick), so it's such a bonus that he manages to scrape together a decent personality and become interesting beyond the clichés. It's safe to say we'll be seeing a lot more of the actor playing Pond, Yacht Surat, in the future. He has a fantastic screen presence, and his portrayal of Pond gives us all of his repulsive vulgarity without hiding his true good nature.
Love By Chance is a series its creators can be proud of. It's easily the best-directed Thai BL series I've watched, and clearly demonstrates the value of a firm guiding hand at the helm, especially one who knows how to direct uncertain young actors. It has decent production values, tolerable acting, and a gentle, well-written 'BL fantasy' narrative that never loses its sense of fun and mischief. It holds huge appeal for dedicated BL fans, and is equally one of the best introductions to BL a newbie could possibly ask for. It's wonderful to find a Thai BL drama that uses the typical tropes so well and so intelligently. It's so well-made and so popular, it's virtually guaranteed to get a sequel.
And to think that it almost never got made...
Rating: 15 out of 20
Ending: happy
Best scene: from a BL perspective, Ae's "first kiss" scene in Pete's car is a straight-up, A-grade classic. But, to be honest, I LOVED the very funny lunch scene where Can's sister Lemon and their mother openly mock Can in front of Tin about a melon.
Another great reason to watch this series is that its co-producers, GMMTV and Live TV Thailand, are using it as a testing ground for subtitled international BL releases. Living in a world where more Thai BL dramas are subbed by their creators with an eye to appeasing their global fanbase is something to appreciate and support, so please get behind it and watch it on legitimate channels where you can!
Comments
I'd also like to see my favourite character P'Type and his boyfriend get their own storyline next time.
In my (frequent) rewatches I simply skip over the unfortunately handled subplots of the step-brothers and (even worse) the stalking of Techno. I must admit to shipping Techno with his bestie, the wonderful Type. :) While unfortunately it seems like there won't be a second season, at least Type will get his own show, although sadly not with Earth in the role.