Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey 2 (2017)

Watching this was a struggle.

GMMTV has done it again! Take a bunch of loveable characters from one series and turn them into despicable little sh*ts in another! First of all, I LOVED the Puppy Honey prequel. It's a very shallow story yes, but the characters are just too loveable. The power of this series obviously lies in its characters than in its plot, soundtrack, direction or acting. So if you make these characters despicable, then what's the point of writing a sequel? It actually took me two months to finish watching the entire thing because I am just too uninterested to continue watching.

First, what happened to Porsche? In the prequel, this guy is just impossible to keep down. He has so many silly antics up his sleeve, and there's just too much energy bubbling inside him. In Puppy Honey 2, Porsche took a 180 degree turn. He was mostly brooding and morose to the point that Korn looks like he's lost all interest in playing the part. From a lively entertainer to one of the most boring leads in a show. What a transformation.

Second, what happened to Emma? Emma's appeal lies in her unyielding motivation to get over her trauma and make peace with the canine species, so when she achieved just that at the end of Puppy Honey, the writers of the sequel apparently had no idea what else is there for her to do. So they turned her into a needy, grumpy b*tch. Such lousy writing if I ever see one. And what is up with her tripping all the time? It was too cliché and stupid!

Third, what happened to Din? In the prequel he never actually had any lines or only had two lines max, but to suddenly transform him from an innocent student devoted to animals into a complete psycho? My God, what are these writers smoking???

I think it is very apparent that this sequel was made just to keep the OffGun ship sailing at the time. There really is nothing to see here but a continuation of the PickRome story, which was ended all too abruptly in the prequel. But I am confused as to why Pick and Rome reversed their roles in this series. Pick, who seems disinterested in Rome in the prequel, is the one doing the chasing now. Meanwhile, Rome, who used to be very reserved and careful, became too forward and direct in the sequel. Pick actually had more chemistry with Porsche in the prequel, and with the large absence of Porsche+Pick interactions in PH2, Off's character seems to have lost his magic. Like Porsche, he just looked miserable all the time. The same for Rome --- he worked well with Emma, but in the sequel, these two never actually met until the last 2 episodes. He also lost his appeal when this connection was severed. I think I started with the wrong OffGun series, because as much as I love these two individually, I never saw their spark in the roles of PickRome. Probably watching Theory of Love would change my perspective.

There are also two new characters introduced in PH2 -- Night and Friend. Night was probably the most one-dimensional character in the series, a victim of bad writing. There was nothing interesting about him really, except for the fact that he was played by Krist? To attest to his one-dimensionality, he was simply disposed like garbage at the end of the series after he served his purpose (which is to drive a wedge between Porsche and Emma). And then there's Friend. I think she was the only character that I actually liked in PH2. In her we see a girl pulling a happy face despite all the wrongs that the world did to her. Despite being named "Friend," she was lonesome and scared, and I really loved how Namtarn pulled off such a part. There's no chemistry between her and Porsche, but still she was a delight to watch. Her sad backstory really pulls on the heartstrings, and nothing in this series has affected me much more than that scene where she realizes that her cat is gone.

And lastly, why is this titled Puppy Honey 2 when there are no dogs to speak of? Puppy Honey played around with the concept so liberally, and it was completely abandoned in the sequel. Should've gone with a different title then!

All in all, this show is for solid OffGun fans only. If you loved the four-person gang in PH1 and really wanted to see them get back together again, then I'd recommend you to skip the entire series and go straight to the last 10 minutes of Episode 8 to get your fill.

Leia Mais

My feelings on Season 2 are very mixed.

On the one hand, I loved that Pick and Rome got a whole lot more screen time, and watching their relationship develop was my favorite part of the drama. Pick getting jealous over Rome's club mate was definitely a treat, and I died each time Pick got protective over his baby (omg the last episode!! You'll know when you see it). Rome's sweet, more mature demeanor is such a good contrast to Pick's hotheaded, slightly immature one. This was the OffGun dynamic that I waited for in Season 1, and boy did they deliver in Season 2. I do wish that this series focused solely on them, however, because I think a lot could have been explored further, especially the elements of the plot that really tested the boys' relationship.

On the other hand, I got so incredibly bored with Emma and Porsche's story line. The drama between them was so contrived and disingenuous. It was like the writers wanted to cause friction between them but couldn't come up with something plausible based on what we saw in Season 1 (probably because there really isn't a basis for this season's drama) so they just threw something together real quick. Basically, Porsche takes an internship in a remote area away from Emma. Emma decides very early on that Porsche isn't spending enough time with her and she can't handle that so she breaks up with him. Uhh, excuse me?? You want him to choose you over his education and career? You can't handle being physically away from him temporarily (can still call and text)? Clearly she must not have liked him very much since she was so quick to dump him and start flirting with (leading on?) a new guy (Krist, i.e., Arthit from SOTUS, who has more chemistry with his SOTUS co-start Singto than he does with Cherreen). Bottom line: Emma became a very unlikable, unsympathetic character in Season 2, too needy and whiny, which contrasted noticeably with how she was portrayed in Season 1 (though Cherreen, the actress who plays her, was still charming in the role so I didn't find Emma to be completely despicable). Now, I didn't really stan this couple as I'm more of a BL junkie, so my heart wasn't broken over the drama. But because it felt so insincere, I found it really hard to get invested in their story and difficult to pay attention during their scenes. I also didn't like the message this plot line seemed to send.

I also felt like the pacing wasn't as good this season as it was in Season 1. Although this season had two more episodes than its predecessor, by the time we reached the final episode, I couldn't believe it. The climax for both couples came so late in the game, with the result that everything felt rushed in the final episode.

Final thoughts: Pick and Rome were the standout characters for me and if I were to watch this again, it would only be for their parts. If you're a huge fan of them and want to see more of their relationship, I would definitely recommend watching their parts. I think you can safely skip the rest of the story line without losing anything at all. If you're watching the series only for Emma and Porsche, you'll probably want to skip this season and stick with what was given in Season 1.

Leia Mais

Just to clarify, the Porsche and Emma storyline brought this season down, even though it was excellent for Pik and Rome.

Porsche has moved to a faraway(?) countryside veterinary hospital to do an internship that he didn't have to go to at all and for no reason. He can't tell us why he decided to do that, but he also has stopped answering his phone (which makes no sense later on) leaving Emma feeling frustrated and lonely which leads to their inevitable break up.

As soon as they officially break up, Porsche suddenly had hours out of every day to socialize with this other chick whom he has no romantic feelings for but decides to lead on anyway. Damn, if only he had all those fucking hours when he was not answering the fucking phone for Emma. Like, he meets Friend every day after her classes and takes her to dinner and walks her home - he spends like 3 hours with her daily while he couldn't find time to respond to Emma's texts. I'm not against him leaving - I think relationships should be respectful and allow for these kinds of things, I'm not for possessiveness in any way, but still - he legit neglected her and then found time for someone else. It's sketch.

Also, his character is different. He's depressed, which goes against everything we saw in season 1. He was the leader of a club, determined and tenacious and charming. So I don't know what's up with him, but their whole storyline was hard to watch.

Emma jumps into a new relationship with some rando named Night (WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE AND DOES KONGPOB KNOW WTF YOU ARE DOING?) and it's like, sweet, but also odd and a weird choice for the storyline. Although, (if he wasn't already taken by my sweet Kongpob) I would a thousand times ship them over this new, neglecty, depression Porsche situation. It's not healthy.

And now, the reason we are all even watching this show: Pik and Rome.

It's been an entire year and Pik and Rome have not figured their shit out. Rome knows what's up, and is forthcoming and honest, but Pik is kinda mean and won't acknowledge his feelings. Rome is casually intimate (like hand-holding, sweet words) with Pik, who accepts it, but still keeps him at arms length (although spends every waking moment with him). It isn't until... I forgot his name. Din! Psycho Din comes into the picture and makes his feelings for Rome clear, and Pik turns into a raging, jealous psycho. He acts completely insane on their camping trip out of jealousy, and when they get back it's all forgotten because he instigates a kiss. This show has a history of brushing over some seriously crazy behaviors from our cast.

Anyway, after that, Rome just gets more comfortable up until Din's diabolical plan almost works and creates a wedge between them. But then, it all comes to light and they SORT IT OUT and Pik confesses his love and they live happily ever after (or so we'll see in Our Skyy).

Rome and Pik's scenes are great. Honestly. Every single one of them. Their chemistry is amazing and their intimacy is adorable. I would re-watch their story alone. Actually, if they had condensed their story into season 1 and had two happy endings, it would be ten stars all the way.

Porsche and Emma end up back together, but I wasn't feeling their storyline, so whatever.

Leia Mais

In the first season of this show, I loved the story of all the characters. Porsche and Emma were absolutely adorable (I love Cherren) and Pick and Rome’s developing story was amazing. The second season was a bit of a let down because of the unnecessary drama and story line of Porsche and Emma. I love the couple, but it seemed that they just kept them in it because they had to. I wish they had a better guideline of their relationship because the parts with them in it were just boring to me unlike the first season. However, they did an amazing job on Pick and Rome’s relationship which helped the season a whole lot. Even though the main relationship was boring in this season, the show is still something I adore !

Leia Mais

There are some problems. Probably the actors are cute and good ones - specially Emma (Horvejkul Nutcharee), but the story lacks a real climax and well formed antagonists and villains. The supposed to be villain is Din (Cheewagaroon Harit), but he is too cute, with the right to fight for his crush (Rome), but the way he is punished by Pik produces more pity than solidarity with Pik and Rome. The scenes related with Emma and Porsche are slow and redundant . Night (the great actor from Sotus) lost the time here, being weak and not posing a real challenge for Porsche - just like a condescending and passive character... doing nothing to ensure the love of Emma.) The scenarios seem too artificial, a "perfect Cinderella world". too much make up, especially for male actors - you can see the red lipstick in Rome, Porsche and Night, looking almost feminine.

Emma's brother (an antagonist that was strong in the first season, but here is lost), could make a big plan with a more aggressive and intelligent Night (we know him from Sotus) to ensure that Porsche never would come back. Din could be real nasty, dominating, tricky, strong, ready to fight, trying to break any relation between Rome and Pik, making his own gang to face the hard character of Pik... That would make sense.

Leia Mais