Ron Does Stuff

The latest episode impressed me, not gonna lie, so I’m looking forward to what it has to bring me in episode three. And yes, I know this is a lot late, but for some reason WordPress blocked my IP, and it was days before it resolved itself. But we’re over that now. Let’s go, because now I’m two episodes behind!

As we found out in the previous episode, the first kink in Win’s plan to get the band together is the fact that his sister(?), Bew, had a less than congenial encounter with the person who was supposed to be their bassist. How are they going to get their band together now?

At the start of this episode, we see Win’s band’s drummer — or at least fated to be drummer — Aek, get asked to drum for another band, because that person whose hand got stepped on in the previous episode was the drummer for this new person’s band. I actually thought it was Win whose hand got stepped on initially because the camera focused on it, but I guess I was wrong!

Aek agrees to be the drummer, but the gig goes wrong because I think he suffered from stage fright? He stops playing the drums mid-song twice, and ends up walking out. I gotta say, the way they shot that scene? Totally unconvincing. Sorry! Anyways, Aek is not in the best state of mind when Win and the gang invite him to join a band, and he promptly shoots down the invitation.

While the gang is dejected, Win remembers how Chai — the bassist! — would do anything for liquor, and uses a bottle of nice liquor he made his dad buy for him to bribe Chai’s mom. Chai also provides the show’s first shirtless scene!

The bribe sorta works! Chai’s mom convinces him to join Win’s band, but Chai still wants to know if Win’s band is any good before he fully commits. He takes them to a bar to play, but it turns out that he’s made a mess at this bar before with his other band, and the owner is already very hostile to the idea of him playing again. And seeing how Chai performs? I don’t blame him! He may have the bod, but a band leader he is not. Win steps in, and I guess this wasn’t a self-composed song because the transition was pretty smooth, and they actually get paid. A paid gig! It’s enough to convince Chai to join them, so at least they now have a bassist.

Getting Aek to join the band is harder, because he doesn’t even talk to them. It’s made even harder by Nut beginning to feel unwell, which we don’t know at this point if it’s just regular dizziness or the harbinger of death. Nut isn’t even considering going to the hospital, which frightens me a little because if all of this ends with him still dying anyway? Well.

Over at Aek’s house, we find out that he’s ~rich~. There are maids in uniform, there’s a fancy-schmancy family portrait, and when his parents hear that he wants to be in a band, the dad immediately brings up building him a bigger music room than the one he had before. Talk about permissive parenting!

The day after, Win wakes up early and cooks breakfast for his family, as well as Nut’s meals for the whole day. He packed them and everything! However, he doesn’t take it ~all the way~, so to speak, and tells Nut that he only did it because he wants him to be able to play guitar, and not because he was worried about him. Win, baby, if you’re serious about Nut‘s nut, you have to be upfront and just say what you feel!

When Win finally gets to his own school, he invites Bew to go for a run later in the evening, ostensibly because they as a band need to be physically strong, but of course, we know it’s so Nut can be ~healthier~. But all the running in the world’s not going to save you if you’re battling a disease like cancer, for instance. I don’t think the show has fully come out with what illness struck Nut, but I gotta think it’s something that requires more than just running, if Win really wanted Nut to stay healthy.

And it looks like that running’s only exacerbated whatever it is that Nut has. He’s out of breath by the time he catches up with the guys and has to be helped by both Win and Chai to remain upright. Should we set up a countdown clock to when he dies again?

Because of him almost fainting after the run, Win finally convinced Nut to visit the hospital. At first, the show makes us think this is not the day Nut talked about in his diary from episode one, because aside from advice to take some rest, Nut says everything’s fine. However, his face changes when he’s not facing Win, which does not bode well for his health. Again, this better end with both of them surviving.

Later that night, Win calls Nut via a landline and tells Nut that he should sleep early, and that Win’s going to keep cooking meals for Nut and Win sounds like Jimin to Jungkook in that one Run BTS episode.

The next day, it’s not just Win with a packed lunch for Nut. Nut’s packed a lunch for Win as well, but unlike the lunch Win packed for him, Nut’s nut is saltier. Win swallows it anyway, because that’s what you do with nut.

Things finally start to turn around for the band this day, as Aek shows up and tells them that he’s allowed to join the band now. And while Aek doesn’t immediately gel with the band, Chai helps him adjust and is that sexual tension I’m seeing. After band practice, Chai looks longingly at Aek as he leaves in his fancy car, and I can’t figure out if Chai longs for Aek’s riches, or he’s just longing for Aek.

Chai arrives home and finds his mother passed out. He rushes her to the hospital and the gang visits him at the hospital the next day. It’s all very awkward since Chai indirectly says that this is what happens when his mom’s given liquor, and it gets even more awkward when he has to pay the hospital bill. Now, I don’t presume to know more than actual Thai citizens, but don’t they have some sort of subsidized healthcare over there or something? It’s been close to two decades I think since I was last in Bangkok, but during the time I was there I got an allergic reaction to something and I got sent to the hospital in Bangkok and they didn’t ask me to pay for anything. And I’m not even Thai!

ANYWAYS, it’s while Chai is worry about the bill that Aek arrives, and when Chai says he’s ~hungry~ so he can get away from Aek, Aek looks at him as he goes and I say again, is that sexual tension I’m seeing. The Rough Trade x Rich Kid pairing is a classic trope, so I’m not complaining at all if this is where they’re going with this.

After smoking outside, Chai walks back in and asks at the counter if he can pay the hospital bill in installments, but as it turns out, Aek has already asked his parents to pay for the hospital bill since Chai ~takes care of him~. OH I BET HE CAN TAKE CARE OF YOU.

Chai insists on paying Aek’s parents back, so they tell him that the band can play at an event they’re holding. They’re dressed all fancy and then this happens and oh my goodness I am more invested in this secondary couple than the main one, I’m sorry.

I MEAN THERE’S A REASON WHY THE ROUGH TRADE X RICH KID PAIRING IS A CLASSIC.

The band plays, they sound great, Lin makes her first appearance in this new timeline, and the dad from Love of Siam sees Nut playing the guitar, and he’s not happy about it. What I’m not happy about is we’re not getting back to the Chai and Aek storyline because THAT. IS. WHERE. IT’S. AT.