femslashedtires
usa
first does not mean best, and that's fine
I'm watching GAP for the first time in 2024, with two Idol Factory GLs in the pipeline (one in partnership with the Thai government), 23.5 airing on GMMTV, and a FreenBecky movie about to hit cinemas--not even to mention the other GL projects from smaller companies cropping up every day. And I think it's important to acknowledge that all of this owes something to GAP, even if GAP isn't very good. The first doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be made. It's got to be fun and get people excited, and I think GAP did that well. Even though this will never be a favorite for me, I still very much respect the effort and look forward to what this team has coming up next.
-The Full Review-
STORY:
It's not controversial to say that GAP has... a lot going on. And most of it questionable at best. It's not that it's "unhealthy" or "toxic" or anything, I like a good dark romance just fine. But this story was sloppy and didn't bother to earn most of it's emotional moments. Sam and Mon rarely talked about anything real and it was difficult to see what they even found to love in each other. The back third of the show in particular continually seesaws on the character development, leaving everyone rather pale and two-dimensional. It's a real shame.
That said, the script managed to scrape together some fun scenes. Sam and Mon's friends and coworkers are always a delight, injecting much needed humor and life into the story. Sam and Mon also excel when they are funny and most of their early flirtation is genuinely enjoyable to watch. Most of the characters, at least the ones who are not evil, are charming and loveable and kept me going through the slog of some of the worst of the melodrama. Enough, at least, to convince me to give the author a second chance.
ACTING:
The acting here... isn't great, but I'm not sure how much of that is a result of the shaky story versus the actors skills. Both of the lead actresses had some really lovely moments in their acting... and some really stiff/awkward scenes. With such inconsistent storytelling, I imagine it was difficult to craft a comprehensive character. That said, while some of this was due to the style/tone of the story, it was not often balanced by enough true connection to make the jokes land well. The ensemble was particularly weak, with the exception of Looknam and Heng.
Despite this, I did enjoy the chemistry that Becky and Freen created. Even at their stiffest and most intolerable character moments, they played off each other well and had a believable attraction. In their best moments, it was enough to truly start getting excited about future projects with better scripts and productions. I think it's very likely that one day this show is looked on fondly as the fumbling first starts of a young cast and production company that grows into something much better.
PRODUCTION:
On one hand, I really loved so many of the costuming choices. They were insane, but they were really fun and sold the type of story being told here. The wedding outfits alone were so good we almost forgave the episode for all it's previous sins. While some of the locations have been used to death already (how many times must someone cry about their engagement on the death stairs lol?), the production design and lighting was decently good, if sometimes a little random.
What really was Bizarre was the musical choices. I'm not quite sure why they chose to reuse themes the way they did, but it was not an effective way to create an emotional response. At the very least, they should have used different versions of the same songs to differentiate between tension, sadness, and sex scenes. It was all a little ridiculous. Along with the frequent fumbles in sound quality and visible mic packs... sound department has a lot to answer for here.
INTIMACY:
For the positives: I do enjoy that the girls didn't get doomed to hair braiding and were allowed to be sexual beings. I think that Becky and Freen served a really excellent performance that expressed true desire in their sex scenes--I don't think any of the weirdness is their fault. However, the scenes were blocked.... oddly! I'm not sure what SCOY looks like, but coming to GAP from having watched The Sign, it's odd how abbreviated their sex scenes are and how frequently they are... let's say taking turns? Instead of having a moment of mutual pleasure.
I don't care what other reviews say about "the male gaze" and "fetishizing" because it's all stupid! I am a lesbian, GL is *for* sapphics. I want GL to be treated equally and to be allowed to have as much much hot, weird, kinky, awkward, and unfounded sex as they want. GAP was a great step in the right direction, but it's still holding back. QL has a long way to go in this regard.
In all, I am not upset that I watched GAP, but I probably won't rewatch it any time soon. I think it's worth watching because of the history it brings, and I think it's worth watching because it can be fun and Becky and Freen are genuinely quite good. But I am also not going to pretend that I am satisfied with this series or even particularly enjoyed it. It's a start, and I'm looking to see what comes next.
-The Full Review-
STORY:
It's not controversial to say that GAP has... a lot going on. And most of it questionable at best. It's not that it's "unhealthy" or "toxic" or anything, I like a good dark romance just fine. But this story was sloppy and didn't bother to earn most of it's emotional moments. Sam and Mon rarely talked about anything real and it was difficult to see what they even found to love in each other. The back third of the show in particular continually seesaws on the character development, leaving everyone rather pale and two-dimensional. It's a real shame.
That said, the script managed to scrape together some fun scenes. Sam and Mon's friends and coworkers are always a delight, injecting much needed humor and life into the story. Sam and Mon also excel when they are funny and most of their early flirtation is genuinely enjoyable to watch. Most of the characters, at least the ones who are not evil, are charming and loveable and kept me going through the slog of some of the worst of the melodrama. Enough, at least, to convince me to give the author a second chance.
ACTING:
The acting here... isn't great, but I'm not sure how much of that is a result of the shaky story versus the actors skills. Both of the lead actresses had some really lovely moments in their acting... and some really stiff/awkward scenes. With such inconsistent storytelling, I imagine it was difficult to craft a comprehensive character. That said, while some of this was due to the style/tone of the story, it was not often balanced by enough true connection to make the jokes land well. The ensemble was particularly weak, with the exception of Looknam and Heng.
Despite this, I did enjoy the chemistry that Becky and Freen created. Even at their stiffest and most intolerable character moments, they played off each other well and had a believable attraction. In their best moments, it was enough to truly start getting excited about future projects with better scripts and productions. I think it's very likely that one day this show is looked on fondly as the fumbling first starts of a young cast and production company that grows into something much better.
PRODUCTION:
On one hand, I really loved so many of the costuming choices. They were insane, but they were really fun and sold the type of story being told here. The wedding outfits alone were so good we almost forgave the episode for all it's previous sins. While some of the locations have been used to death already (how many times must someone cry about their engagement on the death stairs lol?), the production design and lighting was decently good, if sometimes a little random.
What really was Bizarre was the musical choices. I'm not quite sure why they chose to reuse themes the way they did, but it was not an effective way to create an emotional response. At the very least, they should have used different versions of the same songs to differentiate between tension, sadness, and sex scenes. It was all a little ridiculous. Along with the frequent fumbles in sound quality and visible mic packs... sound department has a lot to answer for here.
INTIMACY:
For the positives: I do enjoy that the girls didn't get doomed to hair braiding and were allowed to be sexual beings. I think that Becky and Freen served a really excellent performance that expressed true desire in their sex scenes--I don't think any of the weirdness is their fault. However, the scenes were blocked.... oddly! I'm not sure what SCOY looks like, but coming to GAP from having watched The Sign, it's odd how abbreviated their sex scenes are and how frequently they are... let's say taking turns? Instead of having a moment of mutual pleasure.
I don't care what other reviews say about "the male gaze" and "fetishizing" because it's all stupid! I am a lesbian, GL is *for* sapphics. I want GL to be treated equally and to be allowed to have as much much hot, weird, kinky, awkward, and unfounded sex as they want. GAP was a great step in the right direction, but it's still holding back. QL has a long way to go in this regard.
In all, I am not upset that I watched GAP, but I probably won't rewatch it any time soon. I think it's worth watching because of the history it brings, and I think it's worth watching because it can be fun and Becky and Freen are genuinely quite good. But I am also not going to pretend that I am satisfied with this series or even particularly enjoyed it. It's a start, and I'm looking to see what comes next.
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