*exhale* This post will contain spoiler and maybe a swear word here and there so readers’ discretion is advised.

Recently, I re-subscribed to Gagaoolala so I can watch MY RIDE the series without having to dig through the sewers of the internet trying to find it in a timely manner with English subtitles. Why, because the people who released it did so without English subtitles or a streaming service where international viewers can watch. Anyway, a different post for a different time.

I figured, since I have Gagaoolala now, while I’m waiting for my weekly episodes, I’d get my money’s worth and watch other things. I was on Tiktok and got to talking with another BL fan and she suggested In Between – which is a Filipino BL.

Now guys, you know me and I support the low budget BLs as well as the big budget ones. I love seeing new content coming out of new countries. But after watching this one – I am so mad.

It’s a mess – Let me break it down. Granted, it’s not half as bad as Rainbow Prince. But at least with Rainbow Prince you kinda know what you’re getting into.

Let’s break it down.

The Premise – Good premise. Amazing potential. I love a good Best friend to lovers story.
Scenery – They are right. One of the best thing about any situation is location, location, location. The views were beautiful. The greneries, the lightning storm in the distance, the night lights–gorgeous.
The Music – A+ for effort but they could have done better. That song during the surprise in the last episode wasn’t really a song – I’m not sure what that was supposed to be.
Number of episodes – 14. Why? They could have done this entire series in a one hour long movie. Each episode was anywhere from 22 to 24 minutes long. They use 1 minute and 30 seconds-ish for the intro. Then another 2 to 5 minutes rehashing the ENTIRE previous episodes. Then they start into the new episode but about 30% of it is flashbacks from the previous episodes. Sometimes they are telling the story from a someone else’s POV but other times (the majority of the time – it’s like, why bro? ).

Characters – Sweet baby Jesus.

The main characters are Otep and Taurus. We’re going to start with them. Now y’all know I LOVE chemistry between the lead couples. And I know not all characters can have the MaxTul feel, the ZeeNew feel. I get that, but these two–*massage temples* – I feel like the actors did the best with what they were given. I believe this series lacked a good script and director. There were moments when I saw the chemistry but for the most part it was a mess. Let me list some of my frustration with these two – and they are many.

These two dated (according to one line at the beginning) for over a year, yet still if Tau tries kissing Otep, either says no or pushes him away. They were together long enough to be LIVING with each other and a kiss is a problem? It wasn’t like Tau wanted sex. He wanted some sort of intimacy with his man and omg scandalous!
The definition of their relationship, aside from the lack of intimacy, there wasn’t a set moment where their relationship was defined. Even though it ended with a commitment ceremony, if you’re watching this series expecting any big “this is what you are to me” moment, you’ll be disappointed.
Emotion – Fake. I get it. We all know it’s acting – but fake. They kissed a couple of times, but even when they did, I felt nothing. I love the forehead kisses. And with those we expect slow and lingering. Sometimes I swear their lips didn’t even touch the foreheads.

Let’s move on to Ronin and Maks – If I hear the word pangs one more time, I’m going to commit a felony. Every line ended with Pangs – I am not kidding. And they tried getting us to think these two children are college graduates with jobs and you listen to them speak and think–that’s how my twelve year old nice talks. They are immature and I wanted to slap both of them. Now, I don’t know what Pangs means and I’m too angry to even look it up.

These two didn’t meet ONCE throughout the entire 14 episodes. Ronin spent the entire series keeping Maks a dirty little secret because he’s afraid to tell his friends. Which is a cop out on the writer’s part because the friends knew about Otep and Taurus and they were fine. Why would they all of a sudden become homophobic?

And even after all that, these two characters didn’t even hold hands – we don’t know what happens because fuck those guys!

Bianca and Jett – while this is a hetero couple, Bianca got on my damn nerves. She was so desperate and stupid – she THINKS her boyfriend is having an affair but instead of talking to him, she sits around letting it fester – and we don’t know what happened between them because again, fuck those guys.

Then you know, no BL is complete without the third wheel/jealousy/unnecessary misunderstanding. In like episode 10, in comes Ri, a friend of Taurus’ that seems head over heels in love with Taurus.

I can’t end this without talking abut the flashbacks. Oh gawd! I love an abstract story telling like the next girl. I love Shakespearean movies. I love movies that are told in intelligent, different ways. But this was a disaster and made me dizzy.

The rehashing and flashbacks were jarring and they gave you no time to get settled with a character enough to feel anything for the characters. It left the storyline feeling hard and superficial and that made me so mad.

I do not recommend this series. And this is weird for me because I’m the girl we found bright sparks in My Day the series while most other people were sitting in the back, scratching their heads thinking wtf?

Anyway, keep your eyes on the stars.

MoonOverStars