Quaranthings (2020)

Quaranthings the series

Durante o período mais severo da pandemia de Covid-19, no mundo inteiro as produções artísticas foram afetadas. Com isso, as Filipinas trouxeram uma inovação, que foram as séries gravadas mostrando pessoas em confinamento, iniciando com a primeira temporada de Gameboys e seguindo com dezenas de outras produções, algumas de baixíssimo orçamento, com atores fracos ou medianos, e outras bem elaboradas,com bom roteiro e produção que fizeram bastante sucesso. Uma dessas últimas foi “Quaranthings the series”, que conta a história de como os mundos totalmente opostos de Rocky e Judah se encontram e se fundem.
Eu, enquanto expectadora, creio ser bem difícil conseguir um produto de qualidade diante das circunstâncias em que a série foi gravada, por isso eu não tenho críticas negativas a essa série. Apesar de não longa, a produção conseguiu fazer plausível a rapidez com que os dois rapazes se relacionaram, desde o primeiro dia, utilizando suas dores pessoais que já existiam antes do confinamento, que agora estavam agravadas pela solidão, pela saudade e carência, para fazer com que a aproximação fizesse sentido para os expectadores. Antes eles estavam imersos em seus problemas e sozinhos, agora podiam contar um com o outro e o resto (romance) foi consequência.
Recomendo a série, que além de tudo mostra a desconstrução do personagem Rocky, o famoso hétero top, que falava em ser gay como ser um alienígena, e aos poucos foi se permitindo, abandonando seus preconceitos até se entregar ao amor após seu árduo processo de auto-aceitação.

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Quaranthings: The Series (2020): An Underrated Top-Tier Pinoy BL Series

“Quaranthings: The Series” deserves a higher rating than its current My Drama List (MDL) rating. It’s definitely underrated. In eight episodes, it has consistently proven that it’s a top-tier Filipino (Pinoy) boys' love (BL) series.

In terms of plot/storyline, “Quaranthings: The Series” never lost track of what it's all about throughout its entire run. It’s about two boys from different class, economic, and educational backgrounds who developed love for each other while on community quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Personal and social contexts were clear with real-life issues like gender identities and sexual orientations, family relationships, economic difficulties, and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Class and gender, and to a certain extent, even religious consciousness were explicit on this series. Character background and character development for flawed characters Judah and Rocky were solid. Pace was terrific. Each episode contributed to the unfolding of the plot/storyline. And there weren’t any dull moments from this series. I did have some issues with some of the scenes (e.g. drunk sex scene) but all in all, I enjoyed most of the scenes. Most of the loose ends with regard to Judah's grandmother and mother, Rocky’s father and family, Kyo’s relationship with Glenn, and Kyo and Rocky’s relationship were resolved. Even with all the emotional rollercoasters throughout its season, in the end, we did get our happy ending!

Screenplay was relatable and well-balanced with enough cute, funny, and naughty lines and with sufficient dramatic and socially sensitive dialogues. There were relevant political commentaries as well. Highlighting its social consciousness, it had non-preachy socially sensible lines about being poor (“It's hard to be poor in this country;” “It’s easier to be true to yourself when you don’t have to worry about money;” “When you’re poor like us, there are so many limitations. There’s so much internal conflict”), homophobia (“Do you have some type of internalized homophobia?;” “Homophobia is so outdated”), sexual harassment (“I hate people who sexually harass others”), religious gay conversion therapy (“She was planning to send me to some Christian conversion retreat like I’m some sin that can be prayed away”), being gay (“Dad, remember when I said there’s someone very important to me? This is him, Dad. This is Judah. Dad, I’m gay”), etc.

Acting was generally natural especially the performance of Royce, who’s a magnificent specimen of a man -- really handsome and sexy! Royce never overacts. Everything’s just right with his acting. Kyo, a cute newbie, was alright especially in portraying an unapologetically queer character. He was on point in a lot of scenes but he was also flat in a few scenes. But he did improve a lot and towards the end of this series, he had very strong dramatic performances. Both Kyo and Royce made me shed lots of tears. They had good chemistry together. I relished the banter between them and I loved their intimate moments. The sex scene was tastefully done but I would have preferred less camera tricks on the kissing during that sex scene. The kiss during the finale was a bit tamed but it was sincere and heartwarming. The supporting cast members especially Karl and Jan were fine.

Production design, camera work, and editing were done using simple techniques but were executed cleanly. I love that there's an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez photo, Martin Luther King Jr. quote, and Thai BL series posters. I'm actually impressed with how they're able to make do with their limited budget. I’m still intrigued by the meanings of those phallus-depicting paintings in the living room though. Audio was uneven. I love Karl’s rendition of the soundtrack “Sansinukuban” (My Universe) and it was perfectly incorporated on the episodes throughout this season. The soundtrack “Ipu-Ipo” (Whirlwind) performed by Kyo also sounded good.

Overall, I would certainly recommend rewatching “Quaranthings: The Series.” With its solid plot/storyline, largely natural acting performance, and mostly clean production, it’s quite underrated. It’s a top-tier Pinoy BL series and I hope it gets appreciated for how excellent it really is.

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