Magister of Misery

Not really a review because it's mostly me screaming about things lmao

So I binge-watched the thai drama Kinnporsche the Series this Sunday/Monday, and I'm hooked. Especially by the secondary VegasPete ship, gifsets of which was the reason I ended up checking out the drama in the first place.

The Premise

Heir to the main mafia family Kinn hires reluctant bodyguard Porsche (who has debts to pay and no way out). Shenanigans ensue as they clash and fall in love. The other two ships are Kinn's brother Kim and Porsche's brother Porchay (just called Chay), which is more a high school summer romance "I'm in love with my idol" vibes (except Kim is lying to Chay about Things); and one of the main family's head bodyguards Pete having an enemies-to-lovers torture-to-BDSM dark romance with the heir to the minor family (the antagonists) Vegas. CW for dubcon in both early KinnPorsche (I think it happened in ep 4? 5?) but also VegasPete's whole set-up. (More about this in the spoiler section)

First Impression

It took me a long time to warm up to the main characters, Kinn and Porsche. I had an easier time growing attached to Pete and Vegas, although to be fair, I knew some of their upcoming backstory already going in so that was easier. But Vegas especially just swept me off my feet with how charismatic he was being and how strongly his actions contrasted with his antagonist status, it kept me trying to guess what was really going on, knowing his goals motivated him even when he seemed genuine. Lots of fun double guessing! All the actors did a decent enough job, but it took a while for me to buy into most of them aside from Vegas - and one other noticable exception. Chay (acted by Barcode who was 17!!! at the time of filming) was frickin' incredible. That level of acting skill, the emotionality, it all sucked me in instantly.

The vibe of the whole drama is very fanficcy self-indulgence. The mafia setting is more of a dressing, and the plot is only important in that it maneuvers the characters into positions to make important choices and to check off tropes, which I hear is pretty common for thai dramas. The characters themselves develope a fascinating depth, some of them more subtle than others. However, I had trouble figuring out when the characters were acting in a certain way intentionally, and when it was just done for comedic timing or similar reasons. For the most part, the characters are very consistent, but certain aspects tend to fluctuate for plot convenience. This is especially obvious with the skill levels: in the first episode, when Porsche needs to rescue Kinn, Kinn is pretty much helpless in a fight; but later when he's recruiting Porsche he suddenly developes fighting skills on par with Porsche's. Similarly, Porsche's fighting skills (the reason he's being recruited!) suddenly vanish in a later scene when the antagonist needs to escape.

Spoilers under the cut.
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All in all, this was a very fun watch and the characters won me over. You'll probably find me writing a litany of VP fic after I've finished my guardian_wishlist fills :') I've already started three of them.