To Watch (or Not To Watch) Make It Right (2016, 2017, 2019)

SPOILER ALERT: This post already has a spoiler tag, and there are spoilers below. I will use spoiler markup only for content warnings.

With apologies to u/Virtual_Tadpole9821 and the amazing work they have done with the Thai BL family tree, when I think of seminal BL series the ones that come most quickly to mind are Love Sick, SOTUS, and Make It Right. The first two have been seen by millions and are well known and loved, but the third has issues. It is my guiltiest of pleasures, and this comes from a guy who loves Rainbow Prince.

The cast of Make It Right were found on Instagram. None of the leads had any professional acting experience and all were in high school, save Toey Sittiwat, who was a little older and had had a small part in Hormones. Boom Krittipak turned fifteen only a few months before the series aired. Thanks to this, the acting is quite uneven, especially in the beginning, though Peak Peemapol is a fantastic talent and did much to carry the show from the outset.

The setup is straightforward: Fuse (Peak Peemapol) believes that his girlfriend Jean is cheating on him. He posts a sad vlog, gets through a troubling day at school, and while partying with his mates gets really drunk. His acquaintance, Tee (Boom Krittapak), takes him back to his place, and there Fuse suggests that they have sex, which they do. The next morning’s clarity sparks the drama, as Tee acknowledges that Fuse was probably too drunk to consent, and both guys start to work out their feelings.

Nothing happens as it ought. Our second couple, Frame (Ohm Pawat) and Book (Toey Sittiwat), get together under icky circumstances, and that includes a dubcon scene that never should have been written. Fuse doesn’t break up with Jean, nor does he put a label on what he’s doing with Tee; he is, in essence, cheating on her, but the whole thing is a miasma of hormones and confusion.

The show is a mess because high school students are a mess. This is neither 90210 nor Euphoria, but rather juvenile fart jokes, nascent porn addictions, cringe sound effects, and never saying even approximately the right thing. But it is fresh, energetic, earnest, and daring. Fuse is the world’s worst boyfriend and that is why he is believable… he is clumsy, unsure, and horny, all at the same time, and Peak delivers the whole package. Ohm is just getting started as Frame, and you can see him grow into the role as he literally grows from one episode to the next. Like it’s pretty amazing to see him get taller in real time. Lookmo, Wit, and Es are clowns and a lot of fun to watch.

Reasons to Watch Make It Right

• See the start of so many BL careers: Ohm Pawat, Peak Peemapol, Boom Krittapak, Plan Rathavit, Mean Phiravich, Tonnam Piamchon, and Oat Tharathon got started here, more or less. Others would have success in other pursuits - Proy Pokvorachat would go on to non-BL success, Nice Vitchapol ended up in ATLAS (a boy band), Guy Jirapun fronts Ten Feet Tall, and director/actor Cheewin would go on to make such beloved series as Why R U?, Secret Crush on You, and Bed Friend. Toey Sittiwat would famously leave the industry, though.
• Peak Peemapol is awesome from the very first frame and I will die on this hill. There’s a reason Andy Rachyd has dragged him around to so many of his projects since then.
• Great chemistry shown by the two main couples. They’re awkward and eager.
• It’s a mess, in the best way. If you’re tired of essentially perfect high school students in shows like My School President, come watch the opposite of that!
• Season 1 theme song is super catchy.
• Now you’ll understand the reference in Why R U?.

Reasons Not to Watch Make It Right

• Brand-new actors. Everybody is learning on the job, and some are more successful than others. Boom, in particular, takes a while to come up to speed.
• Pretty dumb. Has that early-BL juvenile humor with copious sound effects.
• Fuse is basically cheating on his girlfriend for most of the series. He doesn’t break up with her until Episode >!9!<.

!OF THE SECOND SEASON.!<

• Dubious consent: one important incident that kicks off the entire story, and another that never should have been written.
• CW: >!Suicide attempt!< (season 2 only): it fits into the narrative, but that can be difficult for some to watch.
• Ick: These guys are underage, and director Andy Rachyd turns a lecherous gaze on them.
• Basically no kissing: Who had the genius idea to cast actors who were underage?
• Stories beyond the first two couples are uneven (but isn’t that always the case when a series attempts more than two couples?).

Season 2

Season 2 is… more of it. It opens with some seriously uncomfortable sexualization of Frame and Book, and then Fuse isn’t breaking up with Jean, and he is breaking up with Tee, and Tee is flirting with Cis, and Book is in crisis, and there is a (content warning) >!suicide attempt!<, and the season, while ending on a high note, lacks the lightness that made the first palatable. Also, they change Rodtang so much that you’d think he’d had a severe brain injury, and they recast Nine with an actor who is approximately half the size of the previous guy.

Make It Live: On the Beach

This is set three years after the conclusion (actually episode 13) of season 2. There’s nothing wrong with this season, per se, but it seems like a huge missed opportunity. Andy Rachyd didn’t work on this one, so it’s all Cheewin (with New Siwaj as a co-director), and the challenge he gave his actors was to improvise the entire thing. I can’t find a ton of sources here, so I’m basing this on a few interviews and the like, but Boom and Peak were given cues and told to act them out. What they delivered was heartfelt and in character, but a little boring… since the series was essentially pure fan service, they had the freedom to tell almost any story, yet they stayed very conventional. Peak handles the challenge well, but Boom less so… he’s less of a natural actor and asking him to work without a script may have been too much.

Series Time Frame

I found the time frame to be a little difficult to figure out. Season 1 happens over the course of only a few weeks, maybe even less than that, in the middle of what we would call junior year of high school if it were in the US. Season 2 takes place a few months later, near the end of that school year, until the episode 13 and 14 time skip to two months after that. Make It Live: On the Beach happens three years after that school year, so presumably they are in (or finishing) their second year of college.

How to Speed Watch Make It Right

I don’t know how to make a fan edit or I would do so, but it is possible to get all the good things out of this show in at least a third less time.

What to watch:

• All Boom/Peak scenes
• All Frame/Book scenes
• All group interactions with Lookmo, Wit, and Ess

What to skip:

• Absolutely skip anything Fing/Mook/Tan
• Season 2: Skip Fing/that guy who is hiring her
• Season 2: Skip anything related to Lilly
• Give Rodtang/Nine a chance but I recommend skipping

Maybe:

• Yok scenes - he’s boring in season 1 but the stuff with Lookmo in season 2 is cute
• Wit/Yok’s mother - really a lot of fun but I’m irritated that they chickened out and didn’t go full Mrs. Robinson

Where to Watch Make It Right

Everything is on YouTube, so search there. Cosocomo doesn’t exist and Line TV doesn’t do Thai BL anymore, so there’s nobody to decide what is “official” at this point. There are a couple of slightly different subs of season 1, and they’re not amazing; season 2’s GrayStag subs are excellent, as are Make It Live: On The Beach’s ItsJuzMe subs.

MDL: Season 1, Season 2, Make It Live: On the Beach

What happened to Toey?

You’ve made it this far! Here, have a slice of cake.

​

I'm searching for the metaphor and I think I'm getting really close