Bad Buddy: Watch Diary, Episode 7

Time Skip

Time skip? Time skip! That was probably the biggest twist in this episode. We jump to the beginning of Pat's and Pran's second year at university. Pa now goes to the same university and shares Pat's dorm room. And most importantly, it's been months since Pat and Pran started their competition to make the other one confess his love first. That's a lot of time.

And I need to express my disappointment with this at least a bit: a time skip should serve a purpose. It should preferably happen in one of two cases: either after a big turning point so we see its full impact with all consequences in full swing, or to skip past a mostly boring segment without any major changes. We're obviously dealing with the latter here. By the end of episode 6 the boys started their dating competition, by the start of episode 7 it is still ongoing.

However, this is where my problem lies. Is it believable that they kept their game on for several months without any major incident? No fight, nobody found them out, nothing? I honestly doubt that that would be even possible. Throughout the episode they stumble from one awkward moment to the next, several times they barely avoid being found out. But they managed to keep the charade up for months? It doesn't make much sense. The time skip feels like it should belong in the first category, but ends up being part of the second category instead.

In the end, the skip happened simply because the writers wanted them in their second year for this segment. I don't think it ruins the plot, but I think it should have been handled better. They probably just wanted Pa to join the crew at university.

The Love Story

The episode begins with Pat sending Pran a text if he wants to "take my passenger seat, baby?" which causes Pran to spit out his drink. It's hilarious, I love it. During the same scene Pran's parents even emphasize once more that he is allowed to date any man or woman he likes, but not the neighbors' kids.

So this episode is dedicated to the basically-already-boyfriends teasing each other until one of them breaks and confesses his love. That leads to a whole bunch of hilarious moments between them. Pran asks Pat to come over, but it turns out he wants him to fix his printer. In one scene, they sit at different tables, Pat with Ink and Pran with Wai, and try to make each other jealous by flirting excessively with their friends until Ink tells him to stop. One scene has Pat shirtless for … reasons. And Pa walks in on them teasing each other even more. It's funny how a dynamic that I would absolutely despise if it was one guy harassing the other becomes hilarious when it's symmetrical. When Mork was annoying Pi with his fake girlfriend Bam in Fish Upon the Sky, it was painful to watch because Pi was trapped in a nightmare and couldn't escape. But if you make it symmetrical and give us a sign that they both actually enjoy it and like each other, it's the funniest thing in the world.

Then we get back to the jealousy. Even though Pat already confessed his feelings to Pran in episode 5, the feelings of jealousy at Pran's friends and at Wai in particular never really went away. When Wai returns Pran's guitar (calling back to the corresponding moment when Pat did the same) and acts all flirty with him for a moment after Pran decided to help him out with the stage play, Pat is an involuntary witness and he is once again struck with the realization: All the things he does with Pran, the acts of kindness, the teasing and flirting, all of that is indistinguishable from a mere friendship. And Pat doesn't want to be Pran's friend, he said as much at the end of episode 5. He wants to be his boyfriend. That's what ultimately fuels his decision to end the game and confess his love for Pran for real—albeit in an unconventional way.

Romeo and Juliet

They don't actually play Romeo and Juliet, but rather the Thai novel/movie "Kwan & Riam" or "The Scar" or "Plae Kao" (as it is called on Wikipedia) that is essentially the same story. To my dismay I realize that I never put an allusion to Romeo and Juliet into any of my prior essays even though it crossed my mind literally every time. The lovers from rivaling families trope is ancient and the parallels to Bad Buddy are undeniable. Though I obviously hope for a happier ending this time.

They "modernize" the story by turning it into a male-male love story instead (because of course, but I'm not complaining). And then a big chunk of the episode is dedicated to the preparations. When Wai tells Pran the synopsis, Pran is immediately reminded of his own story with Pat and can't stop smiling even though the story is supposed to be tragic and dramatic. Pran has no interest in joining the theater crew, he only wants to be some small tasks to help them out. Pat on the other hand would love to join as a lead actor, but ultimately doesn't get the role because he is an engineering student.

However things don't go as planned. Wai initially took the sound mastering role of the play, but has to quit because he also joined the university's football team. So Pran has to fill in for him. Meanwhile one lead actor is a great fit for the role, but completely unreliable, so they fire him and someone has to fill his role. Pran wants to ask Pat and is even willing wo end the game so he will take him seriously. But then Pat keeps teasing him until Pran walks off—still without an actor.

But later Pat turns up anyway. And that leads us to the most beautiful part of the story: Pat didn't want Pran to lose. First of all, Pran was in a disadvantaged position. Pat wouldn't feel like a winner if Pran loses because he must rather than because he actually wants to. But more importantly, losing a silly game and helping when you're needed are things you do for your boyfriend. Pat lost their competition because just this one time, losing was the winning move.

They rehearse a piece of dialogue between the couple that just so happened to perfectly mirror their personal emotional state at the time. They're tired of pretending to hate each other.

New Ships Making Port

It did not pass me by that Pa and Ink are getting a lot of screen time this episode. Pa had in the past already expressed that she likes Ink a lot. And Ink had never expressed any sort of romantic feelings for a guy despite at least one of them trying really hard for a while (during high school, not during episode 5). So I can certainly see why one would think that they're headed to become a couple.

In another scene, Wai bumps into Pa and immediately has a crush on her. But she just runs away upstairs before he can ask for her number. Then from the same direction, Pat's friend Korn (played by "Drake" Sattabut Laedeke) walks past and only looks at Wai for a moment. And shippers seem to think that that's a sign. To be honest, I noticed the parallel pretty early on: a secondary couple made up of Wai and Korn would compliment the relationship between Pat and Pran. But they had so little interaction the past episodes that I can barely imagine something developing there. Pa and Ink still have a realistic chance though.

(:(

They refuse to include the emoticon in new ways. It's just this door hanger over and over again. This time it was a surprise to see it in the sad position though. There was no concrete incident that would give Pran a reason to feel sad that moment, but he still consciously determined that he was feeling that way. I'm losing my hope that it will have any deeper symbolic significance.

Conclusion

I'm honestly blown away by how good this episode was. No stupid conflict driven by stupid choices. Just a lighthearted comedy with many emotional elements. Apart from the writing choice to include a time skip, I can't really say that I disliked anything.

I'm just amazed how this most blatant example of an enemies-to-lovers plot turned out to be the most emotionally complex story and that the couple turned out to be one of the most relatable and believable couples over all. The series really convinces you that they are falling in love with each other.