Review: Full House (Thai)

This Review of Thai Full House Contains Some Spoilers in the Form of Fangirl Squees

This show was super fluff and pretty darn adorable.  It was my first ever Thai drama and it opened a whole new world of dramas to me.  From here I watched several other Thair dramas and enjoyed them too!  You can see my intial thoughts on Full House here.  I liked it within the first few episodes and I continued to enjoy it throughout the twenty episode run.  I said this in my First Glance post, but I like to call these sorts of dramas the brain candy of the drama world.  It wasn’t too terribly complicated, a silly over the top plot concept, and pretty actors.  Overall I had fun with this drama and would recommend it if you are looking for something light!

What I Wanted:

1. A good gateway drama into Thailand dramas
2. Something with good chemistry
3. A happy ending!

What I Discovered:

With only a few Thai dramas under my belt I am in no way an expert.  However, I do feel that this was a pretty decent introduction to Thai dramas.  Though from my Sunbaenim Shukie I’ve heard that Thai dramas can get pretty intricate, crazy, and intense.  So in comparison to that description this one was really mild.  Regardless, I really enjoyed this show.  Going in I knew that it was going to be a pretty silly romp so with that as my expectation I wasn’t disappointed at all.  In fact I liked this well enough to watch a few more Thai dramas this year.  I’ve added quite a few more to my To Be Watched List as well, so all in all this was a good gateway drama.

Despite the quirky acting and bubbly story I was really impressed with the chemistry that the entire cast had.  They all worked so well together and their chemistry helped to bring me into the story.  The chemistry between Aom Am and Mike was great!  I mean really, they just sparked with chemistry and it was so much fun to watch.  From the first moment they meet all the way to the end.  There was a heat and intensity that added a level of intimacy to their scenes and I really liked that.  But also, the chemistry between Mike and Guy was fantastic too.  They had a wonderful bromance in the show and I do love my bromances!

If you’ve been around here before then you know that I prefer stories with a happy ending.  I actively seek out stories that I believe will have a happy ending.  Life has enough heavy emotions and tears that when I watch dramas I want to be transported into a fairy tale world with prince charming and my happy ending.  So when I was picking out my first Thai drama I needed to know that I’d get my happy ending.  The story did a really great time of wrapping up all the various story lines with an acceptable and happy ending.  It gave me the warm fuzzies with the last episode so I was very pleased.

Additional Observations:

This is your friendly neighborhood reminder that the rest of this review will contain spoilers!

Tidbits I Could Live Without:

The character of Aom Am was so painfully naive and innocent that it was uncomfortable at times.  I’m not sure if it was how the character was written or how the actress chose to portray her, but it was hard to watch at times.  I think perhaps the actress was young and inexperienced.  It wasn’t enough to turn me away from the show, yet it was hard to watch sometimes.  Especially her crying scenes.  She’d burst into tears much like a toddler and then nothing, like a switch being hit.  I desperately wanted to see her grow as a woman in this show.  Sadly, it never did happen.  She remained the same throughout the run of this show.  If she had grown and matured as a young woman that would have really made this show amazing I think.

On the topic of Aom Am, if my sister treated me like Oum did then I’d have raged and done something terrible to her or sued or something.  I mean Oum sent her to Korea without enough money, only two nights at a hotel for a four night stay, and then sold her house while Aom Am was on vacation.  Then!  When Aom Am is trying to call, desperately afraid since she doesn’t have money or a place to stay Oum doesn’t even answer her calls.  Seriously, how can this be ok?  I know, I know this is the whole premise of the entire show.  Oum has to sell the house so that Aom Am can enter into the contract marriage with Mike and live with him during the contract time period.  But that doesn’t mean that Oum needs to abandon her sister in Korea all alone without any money to her name!  Ugh!  That upset me quite a lot.

Oum herself wasn’t a bad character.  I actually liked her.  Other than the selling the house and abandoning Aom Am in Korea, she was pretty nice character, if just a bit selfish and greedy.  I think that Oum’s husband Pao was the reason that she did those things in the first place.  He was a moron and a tool.  I don’t understand what Oum saw in him.  I mean he spent the money that they needed for a very important test for their unborn child.  If my man did that I’d dump him in a heartbeat!  Seriously, if my man wasted the money we needed for our baby… yeah so not worth my time.

The last thing on my list of things that I wasn’t a fan of was how Mintra was treated by both Guy and Mike throughout the show.  Now, granted she wasn’t the nicest of characters.  She was pretty selfish, manipulative, and vindictive.  However, she and the guys had a friendship that went back years and in their own way they loved one another like family.  But they treated her as an afterthought.  She had to fight for their attention and time.  Instead of respecting her as their family they just used her for what they needed and then ignored her.

Tidbits I Loved to Pieces:

Even though Mike is a total spoiled brat and arrogant rich boy, there were glimpses of the warm heart within.  Even before he met Aom Am.  Those peeks into the real person were nice and kept a good balance against his haughty exterior.  As the show progressed he became less and less cold which I enjoyed watching.  One of the best parts of this show were watching Mike play house with Aom Am.  At first it was just to torment her and be mean, but as time passed playing house was playing at being in a relationship which led to true love.  During the beginning of their contract Mike is still seeing Min on the side, but when Guy shows affection towards Aom Am he gets adorkably jealous and it is the best ever.  The OTP moments were pure gold.  Aom Am were so cute together and their chemistry, as I said before, was just fantastic.  As they actually became a couple Mike was affectionate and caring and it was fun.  I believe the actors for Mike and Aom have acted together previously which helped to skyrocket their chemistry.  It makes me almost tempted to watch their version of Playful Kiss… almost.  We’ll see.  I loved them together in this so it is really tempting.

Throughout there is a bicycle theme.  It begins with Aom Am’s memories of her father.  He would often bike them around town.  She’d sit on the back and hold him laughing happily.  It was one of many good memories of her dad.  However, he passed away before he could teach her how to ride a bike on her own.  So bicycles remained only a part of her memory.  After their fake wedding the bike shows up again and Mike teaches her how to ride while they are on their honeymoon.  It is a dorky moment but utterly sweet and loving too.  Then at moments of high emotions, angst, and love the bike theme shows up again.  They bike through the park near the house.  Mike rides the bike in search of Aom Am after a fight.  She rides the bike to get away.  I loved the bike as a story telling device.

There’s a moment when Aom Am and Mike have gone their separate ways.  The moment of angst that the drama was steering towards.  It is in this moment that Mike sees his emotions for what they truly are.  He accepts that Mintra is not the love of his life, she is just a dear friend.  He accepts that Aom Am was his perfect partner in every way, but he’s screwed it all up.  Mike does some much needed soul searching.  Music is his outlet and he uses that to try and make amends for what he’s done.  But his musical career has hit a low point as well due to his drama with Mintra and Aom Am.  Still, he uses his musical talents to try and reach his love.   Let me tell you that the song he writes for Aom Am got me right in the feels.  Seriously, it is the sweetest love letter, apology, and confession all in one.  Plus the video he makes is of all the places that he went with Aom Am, all the places where he fell in love with her.  I have listened to this song about a hundred times, I’m not kidding.  I love it so much!  I love it so much that I’ve included it below because everyone needs to see this amazingness.  Though I loved the whole OST, it was just pretty.

I absolutely need to spend a few moments on Mintra.  She is my favorite character in this show.  I know that she’s the manipulative second female lead, but hear me out guys.  When we meet her she’s a rich spoiled brat who has pretty much figured out that she was going to marry Mike and live the life of a celebrity because she deserved it.  She is selfish.  She is greedy.  And yes, way over the top manipulative.  The sort of person that you would not want to be friends with or even have to deal with at all.  Mintra felt entitled to anything she wanted and then felt betrayed when it didn’t work out in her favor.  When Aom Am comes into the picture she is terrible person to  her, totally and completely mean to Aom Am.  As the story unfolds and she sees that Mike loves Aom Am she gets worse.  When Mike and Aom Am separate she’s pretty sure that she won.  But… then she sees the video that Mike made for Aom Am.  She realizes that she’s placed her heart in the wrong direction.  Instead of running to Guy and attaching herself there she sees that she’s been self centered and has really only loved herself.  She comes clean with Aom Am and tells her that Mike always picked Aom Am.  Then she decides that she’s going to be alone for awhile and find herself.  I mean seriously guys, how can you not like that character evolution!!!  She accepts the negative things about herself and understands that no man can change that.  Mintra takes control of her life without a boyfriend and focuses on herself to become a better and stronger and more confident person.  Yeah I love this character.

Final Thoughts:

Despite the few things that I could live without, this was a truly fun romp and I do suggest it!  Just go into the show with the understanding that it is pure brain candy and fluff!  Plus the music and scenery are gorgeous.  Not to mention the people, they are very lovely to look at.  All in all, this was a good time and I am really glad that I decided to give it a try!

Noona’s Rating

Overall	7.6
Story/Writing	7
Cast/Actors	8
OST	7
Sets/Costumes	8
Feels	8