How far would you go to keep memories of your crush fresh in your life? Would you collect the dust they walk on? Or the trash they throw in a bin? Save up a piece of crab-leg just because they served it to you? Or drops of alcohol they mixed for you? If these ideas feel stalker-ish and borderline crazy – welcome to the world of 2022 Thai series ‘Secret Crush On You’. Where the protagonist is so obsessed with a dude, it’s more on the creepy side than comedic. Maybe ‘Cringe-but-entertaining-comedy’ should be a genre, because even though this series has a lot of cringe content, it also serves up some relatable teen romance moments through its main protagonists and there are enough people with unique obsessions in the world after all.
Seng Wichai Saefant plays protagonist Toh, and needs to be awarded for pulling off the weird ‘teen boy mooning over a hot senior’ role. The best bit about this series is the hilariously cute gang of close friends Toh hangs out with – Khojao (Surprise Pittikorn Siripornsawan), Daisy (Nutt Witsarut Khakham) and Som (Looknam Orntara Poolsak) – who love him despite all his bizarre activities. The four of them do everything together and are some of the most supportive onscreen friends. Billy Patchanon Ounsa-ard plays the other protagonist Nuea, who happens to be the object of Toh’s excessive affection. However, Toh does keep his distance and believes Nuea is way out of his league for anything concrete to happen between the two. How these two end up together forms the plot.
There aren’t any villains as such and the plot focuses on the insecurities and emotions of its primary protagonists. Nutt Witsarut’s Daisy was a nice change from the stereotypical effeminate characters used in other dramas for plain humor. While there are a lot of exaggerations in the show, I liked how Nutt Witsarut’s Daisy is sensitively portrayed as a kind friend, who isn’t just a random side-kick with few scenes to serve a quick laugh.
Spread over 14 long episodes, ‘Secret Crush On You’ is a little too long for the cringe-comedy genre, but it’s just the kind of mindless teen romance series that you could watch without investing too much of your mental faculties in it. After a few episodes, I thought I might lose interest in the show, but watched it till the end.
It’s a 6/10 from me.
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