Bad Buddy: Watch Diary, Episode 10

The Cliffhanger

The previous episode ended with Pran bumping into Pat's family on his way out of the hospital. This episode resolved that tension pretty anticlimactically. Pran just greets them and leaves without them reacting at all. And when Pat's father asks Pat what Pran was doing there, Pat simply tells the story about the video footage of the gun that shot him and that's it. I could complain about a refusal to escalate again, but honestly, unlike the ending of episode 8 where it seemed like shit was hitting the fan for real, this cliffhanger was a lot more ambiguous. So a more low-key resolution doesn't pull me completely out of it. Also, Pat only delays the escalation somewhat because he says "that's all" when he clearly keeps it a secret that Pran is his boyfriend. Things definitely escalate later in the episode.

The University Conflict

Two scenes are of note in regards to the university. In one scene Pran's mentor (some random guy we never saw before and never see again) confronts Pat in front of a huge crowd of architecture students. He demands Pat to prove his love to Pran. And he does. Pat lists a plethora of things that he knows about him and confesses his love. It's a pretty lighthearted scene. Pran's mentor says that this is the only couple between architecture and engineering faculties he'll allow, but it's quite obviously not in a serious tone.

The second moment of note is between Wai and Korn. Up to this point they have been huge rivals, but after Wai kinda became Pat's friend in the last episode, they need to make up their differences, too. Korn is pretty chill already, but Wai still needs to overcome his hard feelings. However, he direction is clear: They will be fine.

I'm a little torn between loving and hating this development. On the one hand it's a nice story beat that not all obstacles that Pat and Pran saw before them turned out to be so difficult. Sometimes it's nice to learn that the world doesn't suck quite as much as you think. The major focus was always the family feud, so contrasting it with the easy "coming-out" to their peers at university makes sense. On the other hand certain characters—especially Wai, but also Pat's and Pran's friend groups in general—were set up for more drama than that. I already explained my issue with the way Wai's change of heart was handled in the previous episode and don't want to reiterate too much. What I'm saying is that there is a discrepancy in how prone to conflict and violence the characters were in the early episodes and how peaceful they are now. It feels like there is a missing link in this development.

Side Couples

Since Wai is no longer Pat's enemy, his crush on Pa is rekindled and promptly extinguished again. Instead the relationship between Pa and Ink is taking off. Last episode was flirting, this episode is an outright confirmation.

I love how when Pa is unsure if Ink actually likes her and asks Pat for advice, Pat simply repeats the advice she gave to him. She should look for the four signs: response to eye contact, response to physical contact, interest if she has a partner, and if she can't be herself around her. So Pa tries that, but Ink doesn't show a lot of signs. Meanwhile, Wai tries to flirt with Pa as well and shows the signs so obviously that it's painful to watch. I'm honestly happy that we get to see this side of Wai again. It's still hilarious.

Needless to say, Wai has no chance. However the relationship between Pa and Ink has some difficulties to get going because they communicate rather poorly about it. Instead of asking each other directly they engage in these subtle acts of flirting that always leave room for interpretation. It goes so far that even when Pa is already sure that Ink likes her back, the mere info that Ink is just her mentor is enough to put it into question again. Though by the end of the episode they finally speak it out loud. So it's not one of those stories.

There is a small scene between Pa and Pat when she tells him that she likes a girl. That's the closest to an actual regular coming-out the series had so far. It obviously doesn't cause any issues with Pat, so it's just a cute little scene that shows how close they are.

In all honesty, I don't care much for the couple. I'm not sure what is the reason for it. It may be my personal bias (that I relate more with relationships between men than between women) or it may be because the plot is so thin and the acting is not very convincing. It may also be a combination of all three. It's not bad, it has some cute and funny moments, but it is a side story that is more or less just paddling along and it doesn't add much to the experience for me. I remember being more excited for their ship before I watched it play out.

A Change in Perspective

In my post on the very first episode, I alluded to the possible plot twist that the reasons why the families hate each other may turn out to be false. I connected it with Pran's "(:(" emoticon and speculated that a shift in perspective might resolve the conflict. It turns out that I was partially right about that. The reasons that Pat and Pran think are the cause of their family feud—in particular Pran's family hiring one of Pat's family's employees and Pat's family outbidding Pran's for some business deal—turn out to be not what Pat and Pran thought. They were neither shady business deals nor the original causes for the conflict at all. That's just what their parents told them. However I was wrong in thinking that the parents themselves were enemies because of those misunderstandings. They knew very well that they were lying to their sons to instill their prejudice into them.

A large fraction of the series is dedicated to Pat and Pran working together to investigate what is actually going on between their families. They learn that their fathers were actually friends in university and that Pran's mother was close friends with Pat's father in high school. But that raises only more questions.

Things begin to escalate when Pat acts all cute with Pran in public and is caught by his father. He reacts extremely angry going as far as physically attacking both Pat and Pran. Pat in the heat of the moment shouts out the truth that they are boyfriends.

Then there is a scene between Pran and his mother Dissaya. Dissaya is angry at him for engaging with Pat. Pran first tries to avoid her by saying that Pat is not his friend (technically not a lie). When that doesn't work out, he immediately turns around and says that they are boyfriends. This makes Dissaya furious because she expected Pran to hate their neighbor family with the same passion that she does. Which in turn leads Pran to accuse her of being guilty for him being "different". It's not clear what he means precisely. There are a few things that are different about Pran: he has few friends, is quite sensitive and gets easily emotional, is extremely orderly and has an eye for details ... or it may be his sexuality, but I wouldn't bet my money on that. Pran tells her that she should clear things with Pat's father instead of loading that burden onto her son.

And then she does that, walks straight to him and shouts out the things he did to her for everyone to hear (which in this case means Pat). Pat's father was close friends with Dissaya, but then he suddenly betrayed her to get a scholarship for himself that would have gone to her otherwise. It's kinda awkward how she shouts those things at the man who already knows them, but that's beside the point.

What I find surprising about this reveal is that it directly contradicts one of my assumptions about the conflict: that both sides are at fault in some way. If there is no further plot twist that can put this betrayal in perspective (Pat's father may have been unaware that he was hurting her), then there is a clear culprit to be found on one side and one side alone. In that case, Pat's father carries the majority of the guilt. It doesn't excuse offloading that conflict onto their children, but it definitely gives a far more relatable side to Dissaya's actions and to her distrust in the whole neighbors' family. You can understand her fear that Pat might betray Pran the way that she has been betrayed.

Pat and Pran in All of This

During the whole investigation segment, it is extremely pleasant to see them work together and tackle the problem as a team. It really emphasizes how well they work as a unit. There is this scene when they go back to their high school and Pran plays the song he wrote for the music contest and then didn't use. It's just so refreshing to see a couple that actually communicates. You can see that they relate to each other, that they understand each other, that they care about each other.

During the confrontation with Pat's father in public, Pran tries to step in when Pat's father gets physical, but he is violently pushed aside and drops to the floor. After Pat sent his father off, he wants to comfort Pran, but Pran sends him after his father to make things right. What stands out to me in that moment is that Pran is not some emotionless conflict-solving machine. He is shedding tears and sobbing and just barely manages to maintain his composure. He is acting the way a real human would in that moment. He is traumatized.

When Pran talks with his mother, his voice is so weak and apathetic. Only halfway through their conversation he begins to talk with a louder and more angry voice and shows some emotion. And even in that scene it is abundantly clear just how close he is to a complete breakdown. On the verge of removing himself from the entire world. After he is done fighting with her he runs out again.

Pat fares somewhat better during his conflict with his father, but it also takes a toll on him. After he learns what he did to Dissaya, he is disgusted in him.

You really get the sense that the world is falling apart around them. After everything else went so well, the university makes no troubles, their friends are fine with it all, the conflict with their families goes so insanely wrong.

At the end of the episode, Pat finds Pran on top of their student dorm, their secret hideaway. And Pran falls into Pat's arms and breaks out in tears. And then Pat says "Let's get away from here." It may go over people's heads just how important this last scene really is, but it is a touch that puts the series above so many other BL stories. Pat and Pran find themselves against their families and everything seems to fall apart. And in this moment of highest tension, they choose each other. They are willing to leave their families behind and live with who they really belong to. Instead of bouncing back to the question if they will get together, the series tells us: they stay together. The true conflict is not getting together, but to take on the world that wants to tear them apart. So many other series have their couple separate at this stage of the story. But this is a good series, so they actually do the right thing instead.

Also I cannot overstate how much I love this emotional side to Pran. It may stand in conflict with his depiction in episode 1 when Pran was an experienced brawler who could take on 3 enemies at once without feeling phased by it at all. But there is so much more to him. When his mother caught him playing in the high school band, when he got jealous of Ink, when Pat confessed his feelings for the first time, those moments all showed a far deeper and more emotional Pran.

The "(:(" emoticon and all the smiley faces in Pran's room are testament to his emotional side as well. And this also leads me to an alternative reading of the symbolism behind that emoticon. Initially I interpreted it as "Whether you are happy or sad is a matter of perspective." But it could just as easily mean "In every smile there is a hidden frown." The "friend/unfriend" shirt would complement that sentiment as for every beginning there is an end and every friend who enters your life will leave it at some point. This reading gives a much more ambiguous side to his character whereas my first interpretation was kinda optimistic.

In episode 6, Pran actually talks to Pat in a similarly soft and apathetic voice as he does with his mother in this episode. A testament to how overwhelming emotions quite easily lead him to distance himself from the people who cause them.

When Pran breaks out in tears at the end of the episode it is not just him crying for one scene. It is all the emotions that built up during the previous scenes and throughout his whole life catching up with him. It's not simply that his emotions are understandable. He is acting the way I would be acting in his situation. He is so infinitely relatable, he may very well be becoming my favorite character in any BL series for this.

Conclusion

To hell with the "refusal to escalate". The final scenes of this episode finally deliver something great. I can barely put into words just how much I loved it. This is how it should be done. This story is a "You and me against the world" not a "Let's part ways and cry until things get better." It's amazing.