Ron Does Stuff

I actually found this series on Netflix while looking for something else, and seeing that I had the opportunity to watch it as it airs, I thought why not? It’d be nice to watch something along with other people for a change! So let’s go!

The show immediately starts out with a direct attack on me as we watch Po apply for a job and have the three-year gap in his resume be questioned. Po had to go back home to help out, while I had the global pandemic to contend with, okay?

Po says he’s ready to work now that he’s broken up with his partner and the prospective employers look at each other with this revelation and I would too. I don’t need to know that! BUT AT THE SAME TIME, that’s not a reason to not hire someone, I think? BUT AT ANOTHER TIME OTHER THAN THIS ONE, the interviewer does have a point when she tells Po that he didn’t have to tell them tidbit about himself to begin with.

After that failed interview, Po goes to his favorite food truck — I’m assuming since the guy knows him and all — and gets some career advice from the vendor that sounds suspiciously like my parents when I was in high school: “Why don’t you do what this guy is doing?” The guy the vendor is talking about is someone on TV pimping a video editing app, and since the app guy is handsome I am assuming that is the partner that Po broke up with.

We get back to Po’s home and for someone who’s been a bum for the past three years, that’s a pretty nice and pretty huge place. Is this kinda like the K-drama thing where the poor lead still somehow manages to score great real estate or is real estate more reasonably priced in Thailand? We also get confirmation based on the mugs on the table that app guy is indeed Po’s partner, Earn. Is this a Mark Zuckerberg/Eduardo Saverin situation where Po helped Earn develop the app and now he’s left out of the profits?

The next day, Po gets a call from his mom asking about the job interview and he lies and says he already got the offer. Honey, that never works out for you! And his mom immediately figures out that he’s a lying liar who lies because he says that his first day at work is on a national holiday. His mom does send him some money, though, which I guess explains how he’s survived the past three years. Also, yes, okay, he’s been working in a suit shop, I know he said this I just forgot immediately.

Po gets a call from who I assume is a friend for a job that requires his full focus and for a moment I thought this account executive is using him to do her work for her but turns out it’s just him making a powerpoint about her favorite T-Pop group. Which I think is totally valid and if he’s getting paid to do this I’d do it myself!

Like any decent fangirl would do, this account executive — they haven’t said her name yet! — asks Po who his bias is or who his bias would be since he doesn’t seem to be into the band and how convenient that he likes Thame and the show is named ThamePo Heart That Skips a Beat. I wonder who his bias is going to be? He says he doesn’t have a bias but he sure does like looking at that picture of Thame!

Po is a little miffed that he’s been reduced to making T-Pop band decks for Baifern — the account executive friend — but he better muster up some gratitude because it looks like she’s going to get him a gig as a documentary director. That the gig is directing the documentary of her favorite band Mars is just a happy coincidence.

I gotta say I’m starting to get a little irritated with Po being picky about this possible new job directing the Mars documentary because unemployed people living off of their parents don’t get to be choosy! Suck it up and take the job! And since the two of you are going to get paired up I’m sure some sucking is going to be involved further down the line!

We get a flashback to Baifern drilling info about Mars and their entertainment company into Po’s head and I wonder if Mars and its members are actually part of a group? San and Wee from Century of Love were part of one and since the “music videos” of Mars included in the show look good I wonder if they really are a group outside of the show, maybe with a different name?

We find out that Mars also has a golden maknae in the form of Nano and did somebody say Golden?

Turns out that Baifern may have educated Po a little too well because now Mars’ manager is wondering if he’s just a fan wanting to get into the company to get closer to the band. I am guessing he’s about to get a lot closer to at least one member of the band further down the show. Anyway, Po manages to get himself out of that pitfall and gets employed by the company. Congrats!

The next day, he tells a woman with a group of girls with her to enter the office ahead of him and even calls her “mom” and I just know that is a recipe for disaster the same way I said a long time ago why elevators had Braille when blind people don’t get on elevators and there just happened to be a mom with her blind kid on the elevator. I wanted to die but also I deserved the lashings that I got. I was young!

The “mom” is Pemika, the company CEO, and she explains to Po that the documentary is meant to be the highlight of their last concert since the group is disbanding. Awkward. What’s Baifern gonna do now? Send a protest truck?

What’s even more awkward is that Po, while getting the stuff he needs to do his job, gets to witness an argument between Pemika and Thame. Thame doesn’t want to go to a charity event and Pemika is pushing him to do it because it’s going to be good for his image. There’s even a mention of Ice and do they mean Ice Paris from Bad Genius: The Series? No, no it’s not. It’s an actual character play by Joong Archen who I only know because Twitter and Instagram is awash with his shirtless pics.

Anyways, Thame sees Po with a DSLR and thinks he’s a sasaeng — don’t the Thais have their own word for this? I don’t know! — and it doesn’t look good for Po because Mick took his employee ID to get some free coffee and he technically took photos for a fanbase that one time. All of this does set up some hate-to-love trope situations so let’s see how this pans out!

Now that she’s got an inside man, Baifern is making full use of Po’s access to find out things about Mars. One thing I do find out is that ticket prices in Thailand aren’t that far off from the Philippines! I also find out that Po is a good friend because he doesn’t spoil Baifern’s fantasy of Mars staying together as a group for a long time.

During the concert press conference, Po gets to film inside the band’s dressing room and the atmosphere is tense. It seems like the rest of the band has a problem with Thame? Also I find out that Mars is a band! They’re Lykn outside of the show and the members of Lykn are also the members of Mars. I know Korea used to do this but maybe they should do this again, at least for web-only shows or something if they’re scared the idols won’t be well-received as actors on broadcast television.

After the performance part of the press conference and the announcement of their big concert, Thame teases the crowd that they have a surprise for them at the concert and I literally said out loud “This is nasty work” because I know that surprise is the news of their disbandment. Don’t do that to the fans! I’d pitch in money for a protest truck!

It also looks like they’re pushing Thame as a solo artist and good golly has this entertainment company not learned that it’s possible to push all the members into solo work and still have them keep the band together? BTS is an obvious example but GOT7 also gets to do it! It can be done!

Now we find out why there’s tension. Thame is the star of the group and apparently, a Korean company wants to sign him to them. He said yes, and since the company doesn’t trust in the other four enough, they decided to disband them instead. Damn.

Po goes into the interview with this in mind but one thing he didn’t have in mind is Thame remembering him from that one time he took video of them for a fanbase. A fanbase named Baifern. Thame did some detective work of his own and managed to find photos in support of his claim. Damn. Then he blackmails Po and tells him to resign or he shows the photos to the management. Damn.

But other than that juicy tidbit, we also learn that Thame still very much cares about the band! He wants Po fired because he doesn’t want Mars’ reputation to be ruined and now I can see the story that’s going to be told moving forward.

Po, however, is a homosexual who has had enough. Even after he’s handed Thame his company ID, he tells him that even if he wasn’t there, Thame was already going to ruin the group’s reputation anyway. He’s the one leaving for Korea after all. Po tells Thame that it’s not the group’s reputation he’s worried about but his own and Thame is gagged. The fact that Po’s drawing from his own personal experience with his ex Earn does help!

Thame gags him back though — they’re just gagging each other at this point wink wink nudge nudge — by saying that it hurts just as much for the one who leaves as well. The fact that the two of them are talking about entirely different things is something we shall gloss over.

Now I don’t wanna be naming names but at least these two act a little better than another couple I watched? I almost teared up when Thame was crying over the footage of his members having fun. Also Po did that one tear down the eye thing that I always fall for.

And then we get to see why Thame remembered Po from before — he was kind and helped lift up a young Mars fan so she could see the boys. So we’ve got the seeds of admiration there that will bloom into full-blown homosexuality, I assume. It definitely starts now because Thame has stopped being abrasive and has even praised Po for making him see his members in a new light.

As Thame is about to leave, Po grabs his hand and inadvertently delivers a great pick-up line: “If you want me to stay at this job, the person I want to get to know the most is you.” Damn.