Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
When the trailer for ‘Only Friends Dream On’ was unveiled, it promised to offer a messier version of its predecessor, the 2023 series ‘Only Friends’. And while the 2026 show might have a more talented cast, the plot is surprisingly safe.
Directed by Ninew Pinya Chookamsri (‘Only Friends’, ‘The Warp Effect’), this 12-episode drama follows the romantic lives of six college students, all of whom are working on a campus play called ‘Romeo & Romeo’.
Mix Sahaphap Wongratch leads the ensemble cast of ‘Only Friends Dream On’ as Dean, an aspiring actor, campus diva, and still madly in love with ex-boyfriend Jack (Earth Pirapat Watthanasetsiri), who also happens to be directing the big college play. Dean is determined to bag the lead role and win over Jack, but faces some competition from Raffy (Boom Tharatorn Jantharaworakarn), a nepo kid in love with Jack.
The Dean, Jack, and Raffy triangle is further widened when Raffy hooks up with a DJ called Rome (Aou Thanaboon Kiatniran), who turns out to be Jack’s stepbrother. A total co-incidence, but obviously inserted to add some sibling drama in the tale. Raffy freaks out when he learns about the familial connection and asks Rome to keep their one night stand a secret, however the DJ is interested in pursuing Raffy seriously.
And the final romantic sub-plot of ‘Only Friends Dream on’ focuses on Dean’s best-friend/flatmate Tua (Gawin Caskey), a budding designer, also in charge of the wardrobe for the play, with a major crush on his handsome friend Arnold (Joss Way-ar Sangngern). Tua encourages Arnold to audition for the role of the second Romeo in the campus play, hoping it would bring them together, but unexpected sparks fly between Dean and Arnold when they are cast as romantic leads, making Tua nervous about their chemistry.
And well, in the few moments that Mix Sahaphap Wongratch and Joss Wayar Sangngern do share the screen, they look great, and have electric chemistry. So when both Tua and director Jack begin to feel insecure over Dean’s proximity to Arnold, both on and off the stage, it is amusingly convincing. Besides, it was refreshing to see a fresh pairing in the making, since actors Mix and Earth have already established their romantic chemistry in shows like ‘1000 Stars’, ‘Moonlight Chicken’, ‘Ossan’s Love Thailand’, so watching them together felt almost routine.
In one amusing little subplot, Dean begins making videos with Arnold not just to promote the play, but also to intentionally queer-bait audiences into shipping the two of them online in order to gain more followers. It’s a nice meta and playful dig at fandom culture, social media marketing and also the Thai BL industry itself.
That said, ‘Only Friends Dream On’ is nowhere near as chaotic as some of its first trailers had promised. Fans might be satisfied with the spicy scenes between various characters, but the emotional turmoil the students face aren’t as impactful as some of the sub-plots featured in the original ‘Only Friends’. And Earth’s Jack is mostly just sighing through the show, struggling to run his play as everybody is chasing their crushes and own personal agendas. Financing the play is least of the director’s problems.
Except for the ups and downs Dean faces, all the angst, confusion, and heartbreak the rest of the group experiences isn’t all the emotionally interesting. It also steams from the fact that they’re all in ‘situationships’ that aren’t serious. For instance, Raffy makes it evidently clear that he is mad about Jack, yet Rome tries to win him throughout the runtime.
Aou Thanaboon Kiatniran is casually cool and likable as the bisexual Rome, while Boom Tharatorn Jantharaworakarn isn’t too convincing as a scheming rich brat obsessed with his senior, he comes off as more vulnerable and gullible than the role demands. And while he is extremely ambitious in the first half of ‘Only Friends Dream On’, the script waters down his determination as the second-half approaches, making his supposed rivalry with Dean lose its bite midway through the show.
Gawin Caskey’s Tua is grounded, simple, shy and cute, however, his blossoming romance with Arnold feels slightly awkward and un-interesting. Which is weird, because Gawin Caskey and Joss Way-ar Sangngern had sizzling chemistry as the lead couple in vampire romance ‘My Golden Blood’, even though the script was formulaic as hell. They do manage to be cute in ‘Only Friends Dream On’, but their story progression lacks punch.
Fans of the original Only Friends will probably enjoy the constant cameos (I found them to be unnecessary) from the older cast, since ‘Only Friends Dream On’ takes place on the same campus, with the previous protagonists now appearing as seniors. Neo Trai Nimtawat reprises his role as Boston, who had moved to New York City to work as a photographer by the end of the first show, and has now returned to help Jack with the latest theatre production. Boston is nowhere near as gloriously toxic as before, though he still cannot resist stirring up trouble for some of the newer characters.
‘Only Friends Dream On’ ultimately belongs to Mix Sahaphap Wongratch as Dean, the highly ambitious aspiring actor, charming and soft when he needs to be, but also devious when threatened. Mix entertainingly plays the jealous ex-boyfriend who cannot stand Raffy or anybody else giving Jack any attention, at the same time, he shows his adorable side while playing cupid for best-friend Tua.
Visually, the show is as glossy as any typical GMMTV production, and the creators frequently use scrapbook-style photo transitions between scenes. The editing instantly reminded me of the sticker transitions in Thai series ‘Gel Boys’, but while that show used them in a way that felt energetic, stylish, and perfectly suited to its exuberant characters, ‘Only Friends Dream On’ mostly just throws random photos onto the screen without adding much personality to the visual storytelling.
Overall, ‘Only Friends Dream On’ is decently entertaining, but doesn’t deliver the kind of messiness, excitement, or emotional high points of the first show.
Only Friends Dream On is available on YouTube.
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