Hello and welcome to Big Gay Energy.
I'm Caitlin. And I'm Fiora.
Come along with us while we dive into the fun and nuances of
queer media. Representation matters, and
we're. Here to talk about it.
Cheers, queers. What's on the big gay agenda
today, Fiora? Today we are talking about a
very anticipated topic, which is Gap the series apparently.
I'm a little excited. I'm sorry, I just love that you
name this our outline. Gap the series.
The Outline. And with the acronym GTSTO.
And why would I do something like that, Caitlyn?
I'm assuming it's because of the last show we talked about, which
was High School Musical The Musical, The Series.
Just so many words. How to say the whole thing?
Though anyway, yes, that's what I was making fun of just for you
Caitlin. It was a little call back but
today we're talking about Gap the series.
So wanted to shout out first and foremost Monsters Inc Oh I
forget your numbers handle on Twitter who has been like like
tweeting at us for like a while. I mean like can you guys cover
Gap the series. Can you cover Gap the series and
like this came out or like not came out but became like a big
international success during the Warrior none era.
So we were if you've seen our content, very tied up in Warrior
none and unable to get this while it was going.
And also a friend of the podcast, Nancy, We love you,
Nancy, who also has been wanting us to do so.
This is for you guys and I wanted to thank everybody who's
I mentioned this show because honestly it was very fun and
we're happy to be here talking about it.
If you haven't seen Gap, the series, that's OK Like stick
around for the first like little bit of our episode, this
particular one where we'll give like a little synopsis, A
spoiler free review of the show as a whole, and then we'll dive
into all the spoilers. But we will give you a warning
before we get there. But before we do that, is there
any housekeeping we should address Caitlyn?
We should all be used to this by now.
All right, let's see how quick I can get through it this time.
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Woo. Hoo, one day I will do that
without no mistakes. I mean, it's with more organic
with mistakes. All right, let's get into Gap,
the series. Where can you watch it?
Theora. So.
Yeah, you can watch it all for free on YouTube.
There's 12 episodes total. It's like a one and done season,
which is so lovely because then you're not like campaigning for
a second one because it's all wrapped up nice in 12 episodes.
The show itself is like a telenovela style ROM com that
takes place in Thailand, so if you don't speak that language,
subtitles will now be your best friend.
They were mine. Did you?
Write I didn't write this part. Natural synopsis.
Who wrote those? Google Ever since Sam came to
her aid years ago, Mon has always considered the former as
her role model. When Mon graduates, she decides
to apply for a job at Sam's company.
No, this has always been the goal anyway.
Yet Sam's distant and icy exterior surprises her.
The closer Mon gets to Sam and the more of Sam's barrier she
breaks, the more Mon's feelings gradually change from idolizing
to love, and Sam's world becomes brighter.
However, between them lie many obstacles such as gender
barriers, the eight-year age gap, company rules and social
class, as Sam is a descendant of royalty.
So that's your spoiler free synopsis of basically what the
entire show is about. I found this interesting too
when I was researching it. Apparently it's a live
adaptation of the novel that's called Gap Yuri, and I've
included a picture of the actresses holding the book.
Wait. A minute.
It's called Gap Yuri, yeah. Which is interesting that.
Is interesting. Yeah, so I I assume I can't read
it or find it. First of all, I can't find it
for purchase 'cause I don't live in Thailand and I'm pretty
confident it's not in English, so I don't know if the names
changed, but that's the name of the book.
So here we go. I wanted to add something else
too from friend of the podcast Nancy Who gave a bunch of like
context to the show. Also I kind of wanted to talk
about so the two actresses, Becky Armstrong and oh crap, I
don't remember the other exorcist name.
I all I know is their their ship name or whatever is friend Becky
I think. I feel like I'm gonna butcher
this name. So, Serosha I.
Think I. Think she uses?
Friend though. That's her middle name, I think.
Is that it? OK.
Sorry I didn't hear it spoken about.
So hold on. OK, apparently the two
actresses, so they have, they have a bunch of projects they've
done together which is actually crazy.
So they met on the, I think it's called SCOY project when Becky
was 17 and Frein was 21. So they have a 4.5 year age gap
and they found this really unique bond with each other and
they've been doing projects together pretty much like
non-stop since then. They have a movie that they shot
called Uranus 232423, something like that again where there it's
like a sapphic like sci-fi movie where they're like the lead
romance. I watched the trailer and I'm
dying for this movie. It's it's right up my alley.
It sounds amazing. And they have a new series
coming out called The Loyalty Pin which is also based on like
a Thai book where they again play like love interest.
So they're like basically carrying Sapphic Media on their
backs and they must be pretty tired from doing that.
But these two are like an international kind of like
Sensation and this show Gap apparently like they they made
like a pilot for it and it didn't do really well.
And then they kind of like changed things and shopped
around and found Idol Factory, who that's who hosted on
YouTube. And they didn't really know it
was going to blow up, but apparently it like blew up and
it became this like international sensation.
And so these two women are just like all over Thailand and all
over the world kind of like, I don't know, making things happen
for media. So very exciting, very fun.
And this this show is honestly like really great and it's I I
I'm happy that it's accessible on YouTube because otherwise,
like I wouldn't be able to watch it like and it had such a big
impact all over the world, which I think is really cool.
I want to bring up something real quick.
You mentioned Skoy. I believe that stands for Secret
Crush on you. OK.
Got it. Yeah, I think.
I think Nancy said The two of them were like a supporting,
yeah, characters, but their chemistry was so insane.
They made them leads in something else.
Cool. Good for them.
So good acting partners. All right.
So before we kind of like actually wait, let's, I just
want to give you a disclaimer before we go any further.
So if you're new here, hi, welcome.
And if you're not, you'll already kind of know this.
But all hosts in attendance today, it's me, Caitlin and
Cole. We are not fluid in the Thai
language. We are not members of this
culture, nor are we residents of the part of the world where this
television show took place and was filmed.
Therefore, as a disclaimer, we are limited in our perspective
of this piece of media and cannot analyse it without our
Western life experiences. And so therefore that is going
to kind of bias what we're going to say about this.
But we did our best to research Thai culture to put this show
into context. But again, we are not experts on
this topic and we wanted to be very transparent about that
going forward. So we were very much going by
the subtitles that were given to us like so we're we are going to
miss things and we're going to look at this through an American
lens because unfortunately that is where we grew up, for better
or worse. And that's.
Our bias to deal with. What we were taught in school
and trying to learn as much as we can, now that we're out of
it, yeah. So we're going to be skewed.
We are going to miss things. And if we do, like, please
correct us in the comments, please like help us.
We're we try. We are trying.
OK. So just, I want to be very
transparent about that. Yeah, So with that being said,
spoiler free review time. So what did you, if you guys had
to like, give a quick summary of like, your thoughts and feelings
on Gap without spoiling anything, what would you say
this? Question is literally in or
outline, yet we have no answer for it apparently.
Yeah, it's in that one. I would say a slow burn that
lasts years for one of them. A lifetime.
A lifetime, one might say. Really great queer friends,
drama with family who cannot relate to that, and a really
sweet love story. I would say a stalker has an
aggravating relationship with a superior all.
Right. In a cute way.
That's cute. Don't worry about it.
Oh man, that's good. I would say this is a love story
that bridges many gaps. Just throw the.
Title into it. OK, throw the title.
In there mention as many gaps and in one season it tells a
complete story from start to finish of this Sapphic couple,
which for me is not normal. Usually we're side characters or
that's not really the main plot but they are the plot from start
to finish and it tells a complete sorry like end to
harken on everything you guys says it's a slow burn.
I think it's fun and funny like honestly it's it's cheery for
the most part but there is there is drama with a capital D
happening there but keeps things interesting.
So overall I super enjoyed it and thought it was a very good
show. All right, to close out the
spoiler free section, the best way to kind of give people an
idea of whether or not they should watch it or invest their
time in it is to rate it on the big A energy scale.
So on a scale of one to 10 or whatever you want, this is an
informal rating system. How much Big Gay Energy does Gap
the series have, Michael. So much call to leave I.
Was thinking about this that I it kept me up last night, so I
didn't ask. Caitlin.
Absolutely. Going through numbers of my
head, like literally analyzing this because it's scientific.
I. Think I'm going.
To give it an 8 1/2. Yeah.
Because do we give a reason? I forget.
Yeah, give reasons. We're.
Trying to. Entice people because it is
quite it's quite queer, but there's not enough multiple
representations. Like you see things, but they
it's not like focused on see like heart stopper.
They have a bunch of different. Plot lines, yeah.
Plot lines representations in it where this one is mainly focused
on the main couple and like Sapphic love basically so.
But they're they're in it the whole time.
They don't forget that they're. I mean they.
Don't die. They don't.
Yeah, nobody dies. Spoilers.
Queer. That's.
Queer. Oh, yeah, I guess that's Never
mind. A queer was harmed in the making
of this show. Like trigger a warning.
Yeah, OK. That's good.
Cool what you got.
How much big gay energy would you Get Get?
Oh, I mean it's very gay. Like, it's almost like it's very
gay. Like there's I don't, I guess my
rating I would say on a gay scale.
It's very gay. On a would I watch it again my
my numbers. That's a different that's a
different scale. Yeah.
So. Would I base off the this?
Is Big Gay Energy the? Hydrate lesbian, yeah.
That's the end, OK. OK, OK.
So I I mean well we do have. OK.
So yeah, I would I would go with like an 8 or a nine.
So I'll probably have the very similar, a similar score like
rating for like just eight point gayness.
Yeah, just on the the gayness. And it was the lack of diversity
in the queer community, and I don't think that the whole
relationship was that great. So that's why I knocked it down
a little bit. But overall, very queer.
Theora, what is your score? For me, it circles the globe.
That's how gay it is. So honestly like yeah, I think
that it's it's almost like red, white and royal blue because
it's like it's a ROM com style that focuses on the the ROM com
couple. So I understand that it's not
going to be hard stopper where it goes into different plot
lines. It's literally just focused on
the two leads as again they go from the start of a relationship
to the end. And so I thought that was fine
for what it was trying to do. And I do appreciate the fact
that there there is a, there's a variety of queer people in it.
And it's not really addressed or discussed.
It's just part of what this is and it was normalized.
And like there's another queer relationship that happens during
the show and the course of the show and it's never commented
on. It just is.
And so I enjoy that about it. And I think they do talk about,
you know, queerness in the context of that culture,
particularly like as the old guard is passing, you know,
power onto the new guard with like the older, more
conservative people to the younger people.
And in the context of, like, what's going on in Thailand
politically when it comes to queer rights, I thought this was
an incredibly important television show, not just for
depicting queerness, but for like kind of like having a
conversation about like what is going on in that country right
now through the lens of this show.
So for me it breaks the scale because I think this has the
impact to like change culture. So I thought it was huge.
Whether or not like you like it as much as other pieces of
career media, that's a whole another story.
I think that this is incredibly important piece of career media
and the fact that it has taken off across the world is so
important for just representation.
So the value of the show in my mind is just uncalculable.
I think it's fantastic. And the actresses that are in
this are very good public figures and very positively and
well received. So again, like the real world
impact of this particular show is so huge, which is really what
representation media is all about.
So it breaks the scale for me. So circles the globe.
All right, she's gays and they's and everybody in between.
We have reached the spoiler section.
So if you do not want to be spoiled and you haven't seen Gap
the series, turn this off and go watch Gap the series.
It's free on YouTube. Just dedicate half of a day.
It's 12 hours. You can binge it all.
It's fine. You won't regret it or maybe you
will tell us in the comments. I don't know.
But when you're done, come back and listen to this.
And if you've seen it or you have it and you're just like a
spoiler hoe, there's no slut shaming on this podcast.
Keep listening, because we're about to dive into quite
literally all the things about Gap, the series, including all
of the Super gay stuff. Woohoo, woohoo.
All right. So before we jump into like
scene by scene kind of stuff, we'll do like a general spoilery
overview of what we thought. So what were your general likes
Dislikes of Gap the series like overall as a show?
I I just started with a few. Dislikes because most of my
likes will be like when we talk about the show overall.
So I just want to talk about Mon's obsession with Sam,
because I just feel like it's it's a stalker behavior and I.
She's basically stalking her for. 13 years and like, yeah, I
get idolizing someone. But she made sure she went to
the same college and then got the job at her company.
Like she's trying to do everything the same.
She's trying to become Sam, basically.
And that's like when the I feel like the creepy stalkers, like
they're trying to like become their that person and like take
over their life, You know, like those types of storylines.
I mean, we know that mine's not like that, but like that was
like the kind of level that I was getting.
I don't know if you have a different take, but there's a
lot of photos. I mean, to me it kind of felt
like when you're a teenager or something and you have
celebrities up on your wall, like pictures of celebrities on
your wall and that's that's kind of end what's if we find out
later you you find out about like what she knew wasn't
actually Lady Sam. Like what she knew about Lady
Sam wasn't actually who she was. It was like a curated version of
her like like the media portrays and stuff like.
All celebrities. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. No.
Yeah. That's fair.
It's just. The following her, the.
Following her part is where it treads into stalker behavior.
I agree, Caitlin, but whatever. Works on.
Me. Yeah, it is a little stalker,
the. The the issue that I had mostly
was just like literally trying to do every single thing that
Sam did, Yeah, yeah. And then wind up at our company.
I mean, on the surface it reads that way, but from on I think
it's more like she, you know, she's like Sam is such a good
person. I want to be as good, like a
good person like that. Not necessarily be her because
it's not like she tries to dress like Sam, like because it's
commented that like from all the interviews or whatever.
Like she's like, oh, Sam's favorite color is red and mine
never was red. It's not like she's like trying
to, I don't think she's trying to be Sam.
I think she's trying to like be like her and be successful and
be a good person and put good out into the world because that
was the impression she was left with, get stuck with her.
But on the surface, yeah, it's it's, it looks like stalker
behavior, a little bit, little bit there, man.
Just. Need some red string and it's
like turning into like a. Yeah, no, Like, that's literally
what I pictured on the board, you know?
Just turning into some like. Oh.
Criminal Minds type thing I. Did forget about that aspect,
which I would think is why I like the second-half better
because I stay get rid of the I am obsessed with you as much
because they literally, we'll get into it later.
In the second-half, Bond gets to actually know Sam.
So it it goes away from like I'm it's what I can find about you
from researching you to like I'm actually spending time with you.
So it's a different the relationship changes from like
observation to like an actual interactive thing.
And so I'm sure if you were to interact with your celebrity
crush in real life for like months, your relationship and
your view of that person will obviously change because you
don't know celebrities unless you're actually with them.
Like this show is demonstrating I.
Mean I would love to figure that message, so I think.
More people need to get that message through their heads
about celebrities. Oh yeah, of course.
It's all fake. They make money off of your
clicks even. When they're like fully honest
on social media, like it's not their whole life, you.
Cannot be fully honest. There's no way.
It's all curated. I will say I like the show so
much that I decided to method podcast.
And so when we were doing our reaction videos, I had Sam here.
Now I have here. And also I wore Gray for Sam
today. So let's get into this.
I love you, Fiora. OK, so I'm going to just jump
right into my next dislike because I wouldn't be me if I
didn't bring up something that had to do with the filming.
So they use Dutch angles, which is basically the tilted angle in
every scene. And it makes no sense, because
the show is generally shot very well and beautiful.
Like there's some very beautiful shots, but the random slanted
shots make no sense because these types of shots are meant
to be used to invoke uneasiness and tension in the viewer.
But since it is so overused and incorrectly most times because
it to be fair, the only time it really made sense was when mom
was trying to scare Sam. Yeah, that doesn't.
Make sense? But it so it loses its meaning.
And then of course, I have to bring up that they're a
crossface and basically every single.
Scene You would meet Kayla if you did it.
And I I was. I was.
Writing this as I was watching it, so I said.
But I'm working on getting over it.
I I feel like this show show we watched together was glamorous.
Where they over you. They overdid the the lens flares
and I feel like this was, which is another queer show.
Like, if you haven't seen it, go watch it.
But I feel like this was all aesthetic, no meaning behind the
actual like technique that they were doing with the exception of
like, OK, so one aspect I do like about the show is that it
was romantically shot, which I thought was important because
literally it's a romance story. So the fact that they were
conscious of that when they were filming it to me adds to it.
And so they would do a lot of like, I don't know if it went or
like they would do these like positioning of them with like
light and like showing all these things.
And it was very well done. And I feel like that hit the
nose of what they were trying to go for.
But then some of these other things I think was just like an
aesthetic they were going for and it had no meaning
whatsoever, mind it like the touch ankles like you're saying.
And the crop fades were showing the passage of time, but it
would be like 2 seconds. And so again, it has doesn't
have the same effect, no? There are sometimes where they
would just transition into, right?
That's what I mean. Like, practically.
Oh, technically it passed. Like, you know what I mean?
Oh, it's like that. Movie when they're like doing
all those crossface and I'm like, it was literally like 30
minutes, right? No.
Oh my God, the Christmas movie. Yeah, a New York Christmas
wedding. Yeah.
No, exactly. That's what it gave me this vibe
for. I'm like, it's been 10 seconds
and they're like crossfading. So technically time pass, but
not a a significant amount where you would need a crossface.
It's not a good. Enough reason.
Another thing is that it's it was really hard to tell the
passage of time. Like we knew that there was like
a month time because you had like the deadline.
Yeah, the deadline was like you have a month to get this done.
That was a. Long time for like a month like
I thought the month passed. Seriously.
Yeah well that's what I'm saying the the time was so non existent
kind of and like if they were trying to use crossfades as like
a change or like a a passage of time passing of time, it did not
match the actual time frame that they were.
Yeah, that's true. Yeah.
I I kind of like forgot space on time.
And then at one point, they'd be like, it's been 2 days, man.
I'm like, it's been 2 days. It's been like 5 episodes.
What do you mean it's been 2 days?
Yeah, I saw him with you about that because I think like in the
beginning spent a lot. It's if I slow burn, I mean,
like the beginning is like 3 episodes of just like day one.
And then think, you know what I mean?
So yeah, the the pacing is interesting.
Funky, That's a good way to put it.
Yeah. So positives, I've mentioned
this already, but I will say it again, I think this show has
high cultural representation value.
It is a, you know, a show shot in Thailand with like women of
color, like the whole cast like, which if this was shot in
America that would never happen. So I think it's really great and
I think it's, it's good to show, you know, at least for me as a,
you know, somebody born in America who's lived here
forever. I think it's I like seeing
queerness in other cultures. And like, to me this really gave
me a, a different lens to kind of look at, you know, how queer
women specifically as they had believed, kind of navigate that
in this different kind of culture and in this kind of
like, you know, parallel time that because it's a modern time,
it's not like this was like 100 years ago or something.
It's like takes place now, quote, UN quote.
So it's a modern take in a different country, which I
really, really enjoy. And the plot, the plot of the
show is literally the sapphic couple.
Like that is they are the plot. And to me, that's usually my
favorite thing. That's why I loved killing Eve
so much. Because it's like those two
women are the plot. Everything else that happens
around them literally doesn't matter.
The company, by the end who knows what's happening with the
company. We don't know.
It doesn't matter. That was the McGovern to get the
two together to like tell their story.
And like while sometimes I'll make fun of that, honestly, I
love, I don't care what's happening with the company.
Like I want to see them And so I really like that because I don't
think like Sapic women like ever get that enough.
Usually we're side plots. There's something else going on
like, so I like that it's and I I do enjoy that.
It's almost like a mini series in a way.
It's like 1 and done like the complete story is told by the
end. Like, yeah, I would love to see
more of them, obviously. But like, I feel like the story
is told. I I don't need to campaign for a
Season 2. I don't feel unsatisfied.
Nobody got pushed into a portal to another dimension and like,
you know what I mean? I was like, what the fuck like
and the story's going to do, apparently.
That is very common in Thai media, which honestly at the
rate we're going let's. Do it.
Wait one season, right? That's.
OK. Just just making.
Sure I'm on the same page. Like telling a complete story?
Yeah. And having 12 episodes and not 6
not. Six.
Like, so it's basically like two seasons of American TV or like
British TV. Yes, give me more of this.
I want miniseries. Like I want to be satisfied at
the end and just tell me the story like you know you.
Know I I would be fine with these two actors doing another
show as the leader. They are.
Yes. That's.
They are. Yeah.
That's not. Exactly.
But like that's that's what I want.
I just want the two good chemistry, Like people together.
They can. It doesn't matter what show
they're on. It doesn't have to be the exact
one, just the two of them being new characters.
Be like, who cares? Yeah, it's just doing something
else. For me it's like more.
It's like, it's like fanfic AUS. It's like, give me the AU where
they're in space. Oh, that's the movie they did.
So, yeah, exactly. I'm with this.
Like, I'm here for this. Sorry, Caitlin.
It's OK. I.
Wasn't I'm not. What I say it's not important
anyway, yes. It is.
Tell me no. What are you going to say?
Caitlin, Caitlin, Caitlin, I think, I said.
My hydrate. I think it's AI would have
trouble getting used to them being different characters.
I mean, honestly, are they going to be different characters?
They could just be themselves. Who cares if there's just
another story? I'm just here for the sci-fi
couple. I don't.
It doesn't just like what we were talking about before.
The background, the actual story does not matter.
Maybe they're back. At the company, who cares what
is the company? It doesn't matter.
That's. Fair.
Yeah, I love it. OK.
I do want to know more about the company though, but that's just
because I work. I work in that area so I'm like.
I can help you. Honestly.
That is the one thing I'm unsatisfied with with the show I
was like. What?
Happened. There was high stakes invested
in the company and then it just disappeared completely.
I was like, what happened anyway and.
Also, what the hell did mom do to get 50?
500,000 I need mom to come on the podcast and tell us what she
did. I would like 50,000 followers,
not 5500. Sounds like a drink, she.
Posted one thing and got 50,000 followers.
Yeah. I don't.
I don't understand.
I will get up later. Continue, yes.
OK, so. Something else that confused me
at the beginning was the title, 'cause I was just like Gap.
The series. I'm like, am I?
Is it a translation thing? And I don't understand it.
But as you mentioned in your like Google synopsis Caitlin,
there there is a bunch of, like things that separate the two
protagonists. And so I finally come to realize
that like literally, it's like people who are have gaps between
them and like, the love bridges the gap, so hence the title.
So once I figured that out, I was like, so I was like, am I
missing something? Is that a translation thing?
But I get it now. I get it now.
They're so different, yet so similar because of love.
All right? Chemistry, OK?
I thought the telenovela style was fun.
I know somebody who watches or has been exposed to a lot of
like telenovela, soap opera, Y kind of like media.
So at first I was like, this is a little weird, 'cause I'm not
used, not in a bad way, just I wasn't used to it.
But once I kind of like got used to like the style, like the
comedy style, the way they shot it, the dramatic music, which is
probably one of my favorite things.
The placement of some of the dramatic music makes me laugh so
much. My favorite instance is when for
what episode it is, and I'm sure I'll comment an hour later when
he basically like, he's trying to make Sam jealous, Like,
'cause when when is that not happening?
But like takes Mon out for prawns or whatever and like,
posts a photo and then Sam shows up and gets out of the car to
confront them. And it's just that like final
boss dramatic music is playing as she's just walking like 2
feet. It's it's one of my favorite
things. So like.
Drama that it adds just because it's ridiculous, I thought was
very. Fun.
And it made it funny, even when it was supposed to be dramatic.
So I like that overall. My only experience with
telenovela style is Jane the Virgin, which is also another
great show. I recommend it for everybody
because. Loved it when he got.
Queer did not expect it one bit. Anyway, I wanted more of that in
the middle because I felt like it kind of went down and like
just was like nothing and then went back up.
But I just wanted something else to catch me off guard.
I will say that's fair. It is like when you're not used
to it, it does like you're like, oh OK, but it is fun.
The only thing I thought, I think that was consistent,
whereas like the soapy telenovela feel wasn't there
consistently. What I thought was very
consistent was the romantic cinematography we talked about.
Like they're just so many shots where they did a lot with
playing with positioning of the two of them and like light and
the way they would kind of like across the camera so that like
they were bathed in this like light.
And it was just it made the moments feel like more magical
because a lot of this is them staring at each other.
But like we do there's so much staring and I've I've since
watched other Thai like Sapphic shows.
I will get to the gay ones soon. There's a lot of good ones out
there, but I've noticed that this, this, the whole like them
staying very still and just like sitting in the moment is like
seems like it's very quintessential to this type of
media like this ROM Comi type type of TV show.
So I think that's a staple. But this show plays with the
lighting on a in a way that the other shows really don't and
just like it just captures you in that moment and makes it
fantastical, magical. And I I thought that was very
consistent like kind of like as they went on with the show and
as like their relationship progressed and all that stuff.
For me, every time I saw the light, because it was so
prominent, I was just trying to figure out the lighting source.
And like sometimes you could see literally the light that they
used. But that's because I learned
that in school and I just know this you, it ruins media.
For you, it's a little bit. But like lighting is such an art
form though, and I think I hated nailed it.
Yeah, they did. Lighting is difficult.
Yes, it is. So like kudos everybody that
direct the director for like frame all the framing and
blocking and whoever did the lighting wow just like it was it
was very stunning to look at as a as a overall as a piece of
media I. I like the the use of the colors
in it also like I thought that they played a lot with like
almost like they used yeah they played a lot with like light and
dark kind of thing of like very like monochrome with Lady Sam
and then lots of color with with Mon and then even addressing the
like Co workers at the building being like no you can't wear
that color because it hurts my eyes.
Like you love that? Part.
And just like you have to change right now because you can't wear
that colour and so like everyone in the office kind of wears like
muted tones as well. And so I think that's really
neat. And then just the.
They. Almost.
It's not like they they don't blow out the colour, but they
make the colours very like pale but bright like of the of the
whole show. It's just very overexposed.
Overexposed. Yes.
Thank you. So and I think that's an
interesting choice that they that they that they did and it
makes go ahead no I. Don't want to cut you off?
No. No, no, I I that was that was
it. OK.
So I feel like if they're when people go for overexposed, it's
supposed to be more like dreamlike.
So it's probably like this is mom's dream and Oh my.
God, does she dream. We're all a daydreamer.
Good Lord. Well.
Sometimes, well, that's that's a very good, that's a very good
point. Sometimes it was hard to tell
what was dream and what was reality because the entire show
was just a little bit too like overexposed.
So there wasn't as hard, like definition between dreams,
dreamlike scenes and what's actually happening.
Why we? Thought Sam was a singer for.
Most of the show, the first episode, yes.
But like, isn't that what falling crazy in love is?
Like though, it's hard to be like, is this real or is this a
dream? Because it's very overwhelming.
So I think, yeah, maybe that was the choice.
What? Might have been interesting,
though. Was like having the light, like
the overexposure, depending on if we're looking from Mon's
point of view versus Lady Sam's point of view, or like seeing
things from one or the other, having it change.
And then like, I don't know, I think, I think it was the entire
show was, in my opinion, too overexposed so that when certain
things happened, you miss. They could have used the.
Nuance of it. Yeah, OK Something else that was
consistent that I really love was the soundtrack.
It's been stuck in my head like for days, like the freaking
theme song, because in in you on YouTube it's broken up.
Like the whole episode is not there as a whole episode.
It's like broke up into parts because like YouTube and so.
But every time the the theme song starts that has been stuck
in my head for days just. Days but I.
Love it. And then I found out that, like,
the two actresses sing it. Yeah, really.
I didn't know that they have a music video.
It's really cute. And in front of the podcast,
Nancy told me that they sing a lot of the music in the show.
Actually, it's them. Oh, cool, which is pretty cool.
And they have a. There's a.
Sorry. Go ahead.
No, go ahead. I was gonna.
Say there's a music video of like The Pink Theory, that's
like the theme song that they did.
And it's also it's very cute. And so when I watched it, I was
like, oh shit, that that's actually them singing.
That's because, you know, when they do a music video, it's like
a cover. Like you could tell.
And I was like, this is the same fucking song.
I'm like, shit, it's them. So it took me a hot minute to
figure that out, but. Yeah, they're they're credited
in the the the show as the singers of the song.
Oh yeah. So we also missed.
That random person in the credits that was only in that
picture I missed. It's your phone.
Yeah, I don't. I'm glad we finally figured out
who he was. But I'm glad, boy.
Did it out. Yeah.
We It was you. But I'm, I'm glad that there was
a resolution to that. But man, he got like credit
through the entire show. I'm pretty sure.
Like for being in one episode at the end, he got credit from the
very beginning. So good job the.
Credits are very complete. Even the dog is in the credits,
so I appreciate it. Dog play 2 characters?
Yeah, dog play two dog in two roles.
The very distinct dog. Anyway, all right, Last thing I
had was there. This obviously was made for
queer women, with queer women in mind because there's so much
case staring. Like 90% of their interactions
are just salmon mods staring at each other and then face
caressing. So, like, obviously queer women
were in the room where they're like, how do we do this?
And I'm like, listen, let's do these two things and you'll,
you'll sell this in five seconds.
And so I appreciate that. I'm like they knew their
audience is what I'm saying and I appreciate that.
Yeah, I mean it also adds to the like slow burn of the show as
well, like just staring from across the room and like barely
touching or like just, you know, it's, it was good.
It was good. It was a good use of science.
Time. Yeah.
Thank you. More things like that.
Please, America, take notes. Yeah.
And but please, like, have them kiss like America, Take notes,
but have them in a relationship because we get.
We. Get all of that gay staring from
across the room, but it's always in a historical drama and no one
ever touches or kisses or like or it does, but it's behind
closed doors and it's just not good.
And then someone dies. So.
It's not a Canon ship. All we had was staring to begin
with. And anyway, just pay off is what
we're saying. There is so much pay off in the
show. I was not expecting.
I was like, OK, this show. Yeah, there was some episodes
where I'm like, I'm glad that this is not the one that I'm
watching in a room full of people, 'cause there was an
episode that I had to watch, and I was like, oh, thank good.
I think it was like the episode right after the one that I
watched in front of people. Thank you Gap the series
creators. Well done, well played.
I was. That threw me off.
I was like, damn, I was expecting like romantic period
piece type of stuff. That is not what they they gave
us. So thank you.
No. And then they are also like this
they they did the they they did the what is it the teaser
trailer or something like that which is the which was
completely different than how the pilot the teaser pilot or or
trailer pilot. I don't remember how they worded
it, but the IT feels like when they redid the first like
episodes, it's very similar to the first episode it.
Was it was a pilot? Yeah.
They they redid that one and it was very muted with the like
interaction between the two of them and then it's like they
just threw their changes out the window by call.
Calls new Caitlyn with their camera.
If you've been here that long that you remember, yeah.
Leave a comment please, I would be.
Very interested to know who remembers by Caitlin.
I don't remember where I was. Oh shit.
The pilot pilot trails compared to it was muted.
I read it. They they they like, they like,
muted. And then they just kind of threw
their changes out the window. And we're just like, no, we're
going hard on the game. Like we're going hard on the
interaction. We're going hard on the like
the, the, the queerness and just 'cause it it.
I don't know if you guys noticed that, but it just kind of felt
kind of like they were worried about how it was being
perceived. And then in like the first
episode, because I know the changes were like that, people
were saying that it was too for the male gaze in the first, in
the the the, the pilot. Was too aggressive too.
Aggressive but that so then when they went into the first
episode, the first real episode, it was super like they barely
interacted really and it was very kind of muted.
And then they also had a shift in their like colour scheme as
well. And then after two episodes or
so, it just seemed like they kind of threw that change that
they made from the pilot to the first episode and just went for
it again. I like.
The wardrobe changes that they gave from on 'cause I was like,
oh, these are definitely better than the clothes that she was
wearing, yeah. What Nancy said was that
basically that pilot you're talking about was the first
thing they shot and they were trying to shop it around to get
picked up. And basically it did it.
They said, like the the comedy of it was like too much or too
broad is what Nancy said. So they had to like focus it
when they re shot it. And that's where you got like a
different feel where it feels more muted and kind of things
like that. And Idle Factory picked it up
once they had that made those changes.
So. And Idle Factory has a bunch of
queer content. So I think once they had that
particular company, like, yeah, make it queer, we don't care.
So that's why it's a the original thing you were looking
at was that's what they were shopping with and it didn't shop
well. So the changes were great and
like thank you Idol. Factory.
Yeah. Make more.
Yeah. Make more stuff.
There's a ton of stuff on there, like there's like a bunch of
queer content. I'm excited.
I've started watching other Thai shows on there.
It's very fun. I was trying to watch their
their interviews that they've done with Frine and Becky, but
they're not in English. There are no subtitles, there's
no nothing. And I know that they've.
What you? Should have to look at their
faces and go. That's what I'm interesting.
I know that's what I was doing for like 20 minutes and I was
like, I want, I like the behind the scenes stuff and I know that
they were talking about like how it was filming certain things.
I know at one point she was actually asleep in the bed when
they were filming her snoring because.
She was so. Tired that it's like I want to
know that information and I'm so annoyed that but I like.
We're basically experiencing with the rest of the world.
Oh yeah, experience with our content, of course.
Of course I I yes, yes. So I guess the one of the things
that I really did like about this show was Lady Sam's friend
group. I thought it was pretty well
diverse of like, I mean it was all, it was all female, but
they're all gay and they're all like, if they.
Weren't I'd be very. Surprised.
All of them. Oh my.
God or or like queer in some way like the just 'cause even the
the one friend that was was pregnant with.
Jim. Yeah, was.
I love Jim like. Jim like Jim.
'S. I wanted to fuck Sam.
And it's like he just got married.
Yeah, you have a baby. I.
Know it was so not. Shy about that, I'm like, Oh my
God. And, like, her pregnancy was
like the time frame of the entire show.
It was like the only way to tell how much time was passing was
how big her. Like how like, how was.
Yeah. So that was, that was pretty
funny. I love her.
And then it was like, yeah. And then so I mean that was I
just really like showing queer friendships and showing queer
like supportive friends that are there for them, even if their
family might not be or if other people in their lives aren't.
And so I just, I really, really like a strong chosen family type
situation in a show. And then one of the things that
I actually didn't really like in the show was the scenes with
Auntie Me. So Auntie Me was the what would
we call the maid of or like the the like the housekeeper kind of
thing of the she cleans or. Yeah, Auntie Me cleans the
office, but like the maid is is what it says in the subtitles.
Oh, it. Said maid.
OK, yeah. And so I I just, I don't know
how to like word the feelings that I have about that.
Cause like I understand in the the show and in like, 'cause I
did some a little bit of research on like how like, gay
men are in or like shown in media and stuff and they tend to
be like the butt of jokes or the.
What do I have? Here it's the.
It's very. Hay is code Z.
Yeah, and it's it just, it makes me feel uncomfortable and I'm
trying to see it in not a like American view, 'cause I know
it's an acceptable way to portray this type of character
in Thai media and stuff, but it was just a uncomfortable because
it's it's how it like, I don't know, 20 years ago, gay and
lesbian characters were portrayed in media in the United
States. So seeing it again in something
that's more new is just odd. To me, I guess I.
Don't know. Yeah, I mean anti May is very
much like, I mean loved in the office like nobody like or like,
you know, Hazel's anti may or anything.
Anti May is very like and the name is like it's some like
proverb where like anti May is like the gossip that knows
everything, like that's what the may means.
And so it's very over the top acting and it's very like hyper
emotional and the butt of the joke.
But it Andy Mae's like made to be the Comic Relief in the
office while serious things are happening.
Like Sam is breaking HR rules trying to fire everybody.
So like, yeah, the levity of the office falls on the shoulders of
Andy Mae. He was like the lowest employee
there 'cause like Andy Mae's the maid, right?
To me what it looked like, it looked very like he is cozy a
little bit. That's how it read to me.
And if you don't know what that is, basically that's the what
dictated television content in like the McCarthy era and all
that kind of stuff. Because puritanic values are
just the worst and cannot escape America.
And so queerness was only allowed to be portrayed on in
media like visual media, TV movies.
If the queer person was evil, if the queer person died at the
end, if basically they were portrayed as a way that showed
you that it was wrong. So like basically that's why.
Like, your gay is such a big thing.
Like that's the only way you could have queer people.
So it was a cautionary to be able to see if you're gay,
you're going to go to hell, you're going to die because
like, that's what the code said that you were allowed to do.
That's why if you look at a lot of, like Disney villains for
back in the day, they read as queer.
And that's 100% on purpose because that's the only way you
can kind of put it in there. So for Auntie May, what what
Auntie May reminds me of is as it's kind of like the opposite
of what's going on with tea, where you have a, like a male
person. It's not discussed, but this is
just my read on it. You have a male person who's
female presenting essentially Auntie May, you know, dressed as
like a woman. I don't know Andy May's trans or
anything, but it's not discussed.
But this is my read. So Auntie May is a male
presenting with female presenting males, my take on it.
And so I'm in a culture where, like masculinity, patriarchy is
prized above all things, a rejection of masculinity.
It's like a big no, no and so very frowned upon.
And and it is the butt of all the jokes.
So, like, to me it's almost like an embodiment of that cultural
aspect. It's kind of like my read on it
a little bit. It was kind of like that in
other ancient civilizations that were very like highly
patriarchal, like a rejection of masculinity was like the worst
offense you could ever do. And so you were the butt of all
the jokes and things like that. And it kind of, it just reads
like that to me. But to take all that negativity
away at the very minimum, like Auntie May is like the Comic
Relief in the office. So like, I understand, like what
you're saying. And again, like these are just
our takes on it. I don't know what the, how
prevalent this kind of thing is, but yeah, that was kind of my
read on it to me. Yeah.
Thank you for putting more eloquent words into that 'cause
I just have like little feelings, but thank you for the
the the description of what I was.
I have a feelings interpreter. It's fine.
Just put them out there. I do my best.
OK, so Speaking of of queer queerness in the show, let's go
into the How was the queer Rep in this section?
So as we've mentioned, the plot is literally Sapphic love.
That's the whole plot. So yay, I'm happy about that.
I love it. And there's just there's a lot
of queerness in it like you've discussed, even among like Sam
and Von. Sam and Von, They're friend
groups, which is lovely. And then we have T, who's
another really interesting character.
I don't know that the cultural context of this, but I can make
a bit of an assumption. His T looks to me like the
opposite of anti May a little bit where it's like a female
that's male presenting is kind of my read on T And to me that's
the in a cultural aspect that's like the you know living
masculinely and like T very much dresses exactly like a man would
dress. Acts a little bit like a man
runs, runs their own company like is very like if you see tea
with like Yuki very like courts her the way like a man would
court a woman. So it's like the acceptance of
masculine. So like in that culture like
that's more accepted than like anti you know anti may who's
like rejecting masculinity. So like it's my understanding
that like masculine lesbianism is like oh more accepted and is
okay kind of in that culture. And my frame of reference for
that is Sailor Moon. So I used to watch that as a
kid, and we've talked about that when we talk about our favorite
ships episode, Caitlin, where like, you had Sailor Uranus.
It was exactly like tea. It was like a a lesbian living
as a man, basically. And that was totally fine.
Like no one bathed an eye at tea.
It was like the whole issue with Sam and Ma is they're both
female presenting females. And that's where everybody's
like, but you're both women. Like, you dress like women.
Nobody's the man. So I think as long as you have
like a man and a woman, like internal gender be damned, and
nobody cares. So, like, that makes sense to
me. But the fact that, like, Sam and
Ma are both female, presenting thin women, that's where
everyone's like, I don't understand this, Like, what do
you mean? And so it's more of a big deal
in like classic society, which is represented by like her
family and her grandma and things like that.
So even like America. That's not right people.
Are like, I don't get it, who's the who's the man?
You know what I mean? Like, it gives me those vibes.
Whereas with tea, everyone's like, oh, I get it, There's the
man, there's the woman. This makes love.
Makes sense now you. Know, but tea is like smooth
like my. Just God, so good.
Oh my God. Oh boy.
Want the spin off about? Yeah, tea so badly.
I actually want to spin off of every single one of Sam's
friends. Tea spin off is called What's
the Tea? Oh my God, I want it so badly.
You know what I do want more of the they do a dance at that at
the wedding. I think it was.
I just want like an episode of them all practicing and trying
to learn this dance. How many?
You'd have to take a drink every time they try to kill each
other, cause like you know that that's not I'm doing this at
home, that's. Why They had a video and they
learned it all their Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Oh my God, yeah. So I I love them.
I love all the queer friends. I thought the queer friends are
great. I'd mentioned that again, this
is an important piece in Thailand because of kind of
what's going on with LGBTQ rights in Thailand.
And so I kind of wanted to cover that because this is something I
learned and and why I think this particular show is so freaking
important. And the fact that it had such a
big, you know, international response that was positive is
huge, so very quickly at this point in time.
So right now it's 2024, February 2024 when we're filming this,
that the time actually matters. Why I'm saying it because it
could change by the end of the year.
But at this point in time, queer people have some rights but not
the same as CIS hat people, which is, you know,
unfortunately kind of the norm. But the attitudes towards queer
people has really shifted a lot since the 1990s, kind of similar
to America a little bit. In 2024 there was a report put
out by 2014 Sorry thank you 2014 report by United States Agency
for International Development and United Nations basically
said that LGGL GB T wow, I can't acronyms.
Queer people still quote face discrimination affecting their
social rights and job opportunities and face
difficulty gaining acceptance for non traditional sexuality
even though the tourism authority has been promoting
Thailand as a gay friendly country.
So like and I feel like the tourism and the fact that they
have to conform to tourism does shift perspection, especially
when younger people who are like well I see that it's fine like
kind of thing versus the other people who are like pretending
for money kind of thing. But what's different about like
America versus Thailand is like there's more discrimination that
can happen like legally than there is here.
Not that there isn't, but like that sets us apart.
Just teeny type it. At this point in time of this
reporting, Thailand does not recognize same sex marriages,
civil unions, domestic partnerships or any kind of like
combination thereof. So like there is kind of no
legal binding for like two people to get married that are
of the same sex basically. But the opinion polls amongst
the Thailand people are constantly favoring the legal
recognition of same sex marriage.
So there's a lot of public like support amongst the citizens for
this, even though it doesn't currently exist right now, which
is what brings us to kind of current times.
There is a same sex marriage law that is currently undergoing
review by the Thai Parliament and this was as of November
2023, so like a couple months ago, which is why I'm stating
what time we're recording this so that that could go for a vote
maybe this year, maybe soon. So there is a piece of
legislation that that that's getting high up and very close
to like coming for a vote. So like maybe it will pass very
soon. So the fact that there is
something being written is really exciting.
And so that's why I think this show coming out with such a big
like kind of like public support thing is helping making this
kind of like legislation happen. So it could kind of change lives
in America, lives for these people.
But you know, there are some laws that exist that protect
against discrimination, but you know, it still happens just like
America and really nowhere is perfect in the world.
But the general trend kind of everywhere, including Thailand,
is it like progress is happening as time passed.
Which is why I think a show like this at this particular point in
time is huge, because it's helping gain more public support
and like that's translating into actual legislation that can
actually change people's lives. So just wanted to bring that up
because I thought that was really great and exciting and
like things are happening right now, which is very.
Cool step in the right direction.
Stepping in the right direction. OK, Go backwards, America.
Yeah, America. Like, yeah, those rights.
Fuck that. It's like, you know, those
rights that we gave you a few years ago, let's just take them
burn. Them.
Oops. That's not what the founders
wanted. When the founders didn't know
any of these songs, they just didn't have YouTube.
They didn't have Google. Well, they don't know what's
going on. Come on, I.
Think that's also been something.
I can't remember if you guys have like are going to mention
this or not, but YouTube was banned for a little while a few
years ago. Yeah, so, like, yeah.
I had that later, OK. You do, but you now go for it.
Yeah. No, I mean that's that's about
it. Like, I mean YouTube was banned,
so like AI think it was between 20/14/2017 ish.
I think it was and. I believe it's because it was
like 1 video that was, yeah, that they trained.
The Tyrel family? Badly.
I'm gonna have a whole section about the Tyrel family when we
talk about Sam, but yeah, that. Yeah, but like so but for in
this in this in this case of things being able to being like
starting to change and and what not.
There's it seems like there's well now they have YouTube and
there's now more access to queer videos and a lot of stuff is
being not closed, captioned or translated and like there's just
more access than people actually care about access for other
languages and other cultures and stuff like that.
So I I think that's also helping change minds.
In a way, it's Hooray. For accessibility, yeah.
So what we're saying is thank you YouTube.
You may not be. Perfect.
But you're helping. You're watching this in another
country. Thank you.
Say thank you to YouTube. Yeah.
All right. So we will continue our Gap
series, starting with the scene by scene breakdown in the next
episode, going from episode one all the way to episode 12.
Thank you for coming along on this journey.
Do you have a secret word for the I?
OK, so you know, like 30 minutes into this episode I realized I
didn't have one. So I was going to go with
something that Cole said, monochromatic.
That is the word I explained him getting into it.
That is the word that I would like you to spell without
looking up. This was not as hard, but in a
comment on the YouTube video or in a review for the podcast,
just naturally put that word in there without explaining why and
try to spell it without looking it up.
Just be happy I didn't give you kookaburra again.
Maybe that'll be in the next one.
Spoiler Well, I guess if you want to see if Kookaburra is the
next word, you're just going to have to keep listening to our
next episode. So until next time I drew it for
Lesbian Jesus and Gate. Up all over the place.