Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
A lot of actors would’ve made Armin, the protagonist of ‘Reset’, feel like a raging annoying nutcase, but Pond Ponlawit Ketprapakorn makes you cringe, laugh, and LOVE his character anyway. It’s hilarious how severely he suffers from ‘Main Character’ syndrome, although, ironically, of course he really is the MC. Because Armin travels back in time after dying (suspected murder) and is a wrecking ball, constantly talking about the future and going short-fused on people who have no freaking clue what he’s on about.
Directed by A Natthaphong Wongkaweepairod, ‘Reset’ spans 10 episodes, starring Pond Ponlawit Ketprapakorn as successful super star Armin, who wins a big award, finds out his longtime partner is cheating on him, gets into a fight with the rival, and dies during to the scuffle. But he is actually poisoned. Instead of going to the afterlife, Armin wakes up in the past, when he was still a single struggling nobody in his early 20s. Almost everything is the same, except that he runs into the mysterious handsome Thada (Peterpan Tadsapon Wiwitawan), a fan who helps him rise to superstardom faster than his previous life.
If you don’t take into account the bad haircut he wakes up with, Armin is a gorgeous train-wreck in ‘Reset’. He is suspicious of everybody, making aggressive remarks against people over incidents that are yet to happen, confusing everybody into thinking he is off his rocker. “His melodramatic acting is so passe,” a rival actor says after Armin has an emotional breakdown during a photo-shoot. This comment is hilariously meta, indicating that the creators are well aware how ridiculously neurotic they make Armin out to be.
‘Reset’ is an overtly theatrical, Lakorn-style (soap opera) romantic-drama, with laughably caricatured antagonists and a lead who is almost always seconds away from an emotional breakdown. At first, Armin’s sole focus is to ensure he doesn’t repeat the mistakes that will lead to his doom in the future, which includes steering clear from his cheating future-boyfriend Charlie (Shell Thakrit Chaiwut), and Sam (NJ Dangpan Thomsen), a friend who betrays him. But as he gets closer to the charming Thada, Armin starts to treat his second shot at life as a second shot at having love.
Despite its flaws, ‘Reset’ works as a series due to the electric chemistry between the wealthy, handsome, overprotective Thada and the beautiful Armin. While Pond Ponlawit Ketprapakorn seemed lost in his last show ‘Fourever You’, he stands out in this series, becoming increasingly likable through the episodes. From expressing maniacal paranoia to being a soft heartthrob, Pond captures all shades of Armin entertainingly, and the camera sure loves him.
Peterpan Tadsapon Wiwitawan’s Thada is the ‘over the top’ romantic hero, constantly making grand gestures to woo Armin. There are points when Thada feels excessively obsessed with Armin, but since Armin doesn’t seem to mind the attention at all, it makes their romance click. Their relationship growth is cheesy cute, sweet, and steamy. Although Armin’s rising fame, increased media scrutiny, and rivals intent on bringing Armin down, complicate their love story.
Of course, despite the ‘second chance’ theme of ‘Reset’, Armin continues to face hurdles in his fresh start, beginning with a shady manager named Lily (Namyard Yardpirun Poolun), who, instead of promoting him, tries to sabotage his career. First, Chalongrat Novsamrong plays Ren, a snooty, jealous rising star who actively tries to derail Armin. However, the biggest antagonist in the show is Thiwthit (Bom Tanawat Uthaikitwanit), Thada’s younger brother – a scheming, greedy, envious brat. Kicked out of their entertainment company, Thiwthit begins to plot against Thada and Armin, and instead of being menacingly evil, he is comically exaggerated in his tantrums.
The finale of ‘Reset’ was unintentionally comedic gold, built around a dramatic face-off between Thiwthit and our lead couple. Thiwthit goes full meltdown mode, flanked by a squad of goons, and I couldn’t stop laughing. But then the camera would land on Peterpan’s Thada and Pond’s Armin, and I’d go from belly laughs to soft smiles, they just look that good together and pretty much drown out all the noise in the series. Honestly, their on-screen spark is reason enough to tune in. If you’re drawn to the posters and have liked shows such as ‘My Stand-In‘ or ‘Top Form‘, you’ll fall for Pond and Peterpan here too.
Watch ‘Reset’ on iQIYI.
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