Xika93
Wisconsin, United States
A great concept that fell flat
I was excited to see Drag, I Love You this year. After reading the initial concept, I thought it would be a good blend of drama and drag. While the initial episodes lived up to a higher standard of plot and directing, later episodes really fall by the wayside as the plot goes around in circles by trying to be a RomCom.
The premise of DILY is actually pretty good. A drag nightclub doubles as a front for illegal drug smuggling, ok I can get behind that. In the early episodes, this plot point was done very well; most of the scenes took place in the Mambo Cabaret and we got a glimpse of the art of drag, if maybe slightly eschewed. We also get a theme of challenging gender roles and sexuality. Captain Prabsuek is a “man’s man” who solves all his personal and professional problems with toughness. However, he must recondition himself to go undercover as a drag queen at the Mambo Cabaret, which is also the whole point of drag in the first place. Having actual drag queens as part of the cast gives the story more natural humor in the early episodes and had me hooked.
However, I think the biggest critique of DILY is that it just…KEEPS…GOING. Every week was a guessing game of whether this show was going to be 10 episodes…12?...15?...22! There was just so much filler by the time we got to the final weeks. As a result, some of the plotlines get tiring and over-the-top. The undercover plot becomes unrealistic, like really the police chief is going to let Prab continue to be a drag queen without producing any results? The whole RomCom aspect that develops between Noona and Prab is also dragged out to the absurd. And, unfortunately, the whole what is gender and what is romance becomes pointless when you already can see what’s going to happen in the end. In short, this series could’ve been a lot better if it was, well…shorter.
My award for top acting actually goes to Namtan. Having come off The Player, where she played a scheming socialite and to go to feisty tomboy was seamless, she is a versatile actress. Guy as Decha was also amazing. It was enjoyable to watch his transformation from suave businessman to insane and desperate crook. This, of course, leaves the main cast. The main couple did nothing for me. Grace was at times whiny and full of herself and is quick to throw stones, in a drag hall, about what other people’s sexuality means to them while she’s a woman pretending to be a trans woman. As for Luke, at times he’s leaning a bit too much into the gay man stereotype and he just seems to be overacting as Patty through much of the later episodes.
Ultimately, this show isn’t bad, some of the absurd circumstances are genuinely funny, but you can tell the director transitions to use drag and gender as a gimmick to create forced and over-the-top humor. This story just doesn’t have any moral takeaway and when you try to find one, it’s undermined by falling into LGBTQ stereotypes. It’s hard for me to recommend DILY because the early episodes are really good, but if you manage to stick around for all 22, you will get tired of it. So, I guess watch at your own risk?
The premise of DILY is actually pretty good. A drag nightclub doubles as a front for illegal drug smuggling, ok I can get behind that. In the early episodes, this plot point was done very well; most of the scenes took place in the Mambo Cabaret and we got a glimpse of the art of drag, if maybe slightly eschewed. We also get a theme of challenging gender roles and sexuality. Captain Prabsuek is a “man’s man” who solves all his personal and professional problems with toughness. However, he must recondition himself to go undercover as a drag queen at the Mambo Cabaret, which is also the whole point of drag in the first place. Having actual drag queens as part of the cast gives the story more natural humor in the early episodes and had me hooked.
However, I think the biggest critique of DILY is that it just…KEEPS…GOING. Every week was a guessing game of whether this show was going to be 10 episodes…12?...15?...22! There was just so much filler by the time we got to the final weeks. As a result, some of the plotlines get tiring and over-the-top. The undercover plot becomes unrealistic, like really the police chief is going to let Prab continue to be a drag queen without producing any results? The whole RomCom aspect that develops between Noona and Prab is also dragged out to the absurd. And, unfortunately, the whole what is gender and what is romance becomes pointless when you already can see what’s going to happen in the end. In short, this series could’ve been a lot better if it was, well…shorter.
My award for top acting actually goes to Namtan. Having come off The Player, where she played a scheming socialite and to go to feisty tomboy was seamless, she is a versatile actress. Guy as Decha was also amazing. It was enjoyable to watch his transformation from suave businessman to insane and desperate crook. This, of course, leaves the main cast. The main couple did nothing for me. Grace was at times whiny and full of herself and is quick to throw stones, in a drag hall, about what other people’s sexuality means to them while she’s a woman pretending to be a trans woman. As for Luke, at times he’s leaning a bit too much into the gay man stereotype and he just seems to be overacting as Patty through much of the later episodes.
Ultimately, this show isn’t bad, some of the absurd circumstances are genuinely funny, but you can tell the director transitions to use drag and gender as a gimmick to create forced and over-the-top humor. This story just doesn’t have any moral takeaway and when you try to find one, it’s undermined by falling into LGBTQ stereotypes. It’s hard for me to recommend DILY because the early episodes are really good, but if you manage to stick around for all 22, you will get tired of it. So, I guess watch at your own risk?
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