We Are Review: Teases Rainbow Sundae, Serves Vanilla
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
When episode 12 of the Thai series “We Are” premiered on GMMTV’s YouTube channel, I was extremely confused while watching it, wondering to myself, “What are the writers doing? How can the last episode be so bad?!” Only to realize that unlike most GMMTV shows, “We Are” is a 16-part drama. Sure, my fault, I am stupid for not noticing this is a longer show, but that only confounded me further, because this unevenly narrated, laid-back college romance about a big group of friends does little justice to its extended runtime. And like I always complain in my reviews of overstretched GMMTV shows, “Moonlight Chicken” deserved a few more episodes, not this one.
Directed by New Siwaj Sawatmaneekul (A Boss and A Babe/My Only 12%/Between Us), “We Are” is based on a novel titled ‘We are… คือ เรารักกัน’ and follows a group of childhood friends, all of whom are in the same university but different faculties, and their romantic lives. So, essentially, there are four couples in the show, although the major focus is on the “enemies to lovers” development between art student Pheem (Phuwin Tangsakyuen) and engineering student Phum (Pond Naravit Lertratkosum). Last seen together in “Never Let Me Go,” the two of them look great visually, and even their chemistry is cute, but the director should’ve given other pairs more time to grow into the series too. For instance, college-themed drama “Only Friends,” which follows three romantic pairs, balances the runtime between its multiple leads more efficiently.
Episode one of “We Are” quickly introduces all its primary characters, led by talented art majors Pheem and his friend Q (Winny Thanawin Pholcharoenrat), who are busy painting new pieces, hoping to gain a spot in an upcoming exhibition. Their group of friends is comical, chaotic, and quite a handful. Over the next 16 episodes, the series explores their friendships and romances. Pheem’s love story starts on the wrong foot when rich, arrogant student Phum accidentally destroys his painting while playing football, prompting Pheem to kick Phum’s balls in anger. Phum incurs a hefty medical bill despite no real harm done to him, and then makes Pheem run errands for him as payment. As the two keep spending more time together, they fall for each other.
Winny Thanawin Pholcharoenrat and Satang Kittiphop Sereevichayasawat play Q and Toey respectively, the second pair in “We Are.” They didn’t stand out much as a couple in “My School President” (now that is a fun show!) and do not impress with their chemistry in this series either. Although they do have the cutest subplot. Winny’s character Q is Pheem’s friend, a talented, popular art major, and he is also a mentor to junior Toey, who has a major crush on Q. Unknown to Q, Toey and he have an interesting connection, and Q’s friends hilariously scheme together to help Toey win over their clueless artist buddy.
Aou Thanaboon Kiatniran and Boom Tharatorn Jantharaworakarn, who were paired in “Hidden Agenda,” get to play the most cringey couple in “We Are.” Aou plays Tan, Phum’s friend, who has a major crush on Phum’s brother Khaofang. Aou is always baby-talking with Kahofang like he is a toddler and behaves like he is in kindergarten. Even though Aou Thanaboon Kiatniran pulls off the role, a better-written character would’ve made Tan and Khaofang’s courtship a lot more likable. The creators simply fail to maximize the pair’s chemistry and reduce their romantic subplot to a comedic story that’s more annoying than funny.
Marc Natarit Worakornlertsith and Poon Mitpakdee are billed as main protagonists but are reduced to supporting characters. The creators could’ve just omitted their romance and retained them as platonic friends. Marc plays Chain, who is a “player” according to his friends in one of the earlier episodes of “We Are,” even though he is portrayed like a regular, friendly guy who isn’t much different from his other friends. Poon Mitpakdee plays the cheery Pun, who is always getting his friends to work in the university, and Marc’s crush on the clueless Pun gets the least amount of time in the series. Both look adorable when they stand side-by-side because they are attractive men, but do they have any onscreen chemistry together? I don’t know because they don’t get enough scenes, and the few that they do are more on the awkward side.
The first few episodes of “We Are” are quite entertaining, especially the friendship dynamics between Pheem’s group, who often hang out together like college kids, play games, watch movies, gossip, and stuff their faces. The most relatable bits where when the friends would simply line-up besides each other to sleep while having a stay-over or bicker over food. But as the plot keeps progressing, the disparity in the way some characters get way more screen time becomes too apparent and made me lose interest in the others. Why have four pairs if you are going to focus largely on just one?
To be fair, there’s plenty of sparks between Pheem (Phuwin Tangsakyuen) and Phum (Pond Naravit Lertratkosum) and their flirting phase is comically-sweet. However, even their romance begins to drag in the second half of “We Are”. The two kiss like a hundred times (okay, don’t get excited, it’s not as many, but at least more than twice) and even then aren’t sure whether the other person likes them. And it happens with another couple too, where they kiss and despite that, one of them is scared his crush has no romantic interest in him, even though it’s his crush who initiates the kiss. This series becomes a boring drag from episode 9 or 10 onward or maybe even before, I can’t recall since it gets pretty forgettable. The creators should’ve just ended it in fewer episodes or hired a better team of writers to tweak the story for its live-action adaptation.
If you’re looking for a simple, silly college romance featuring multiple couples and don’t mind them behaving like they are still in middle school, you might enjoy “We Are”.
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