“Theory Of Love” is another Thai BL series that I discovered during isolation. Aired from June until August 2019, the show follows the story of Third, a third-year film major and his close friends, Khai, Bone and Two. For almost three years, Third has had a huge crush on Khai but is not brave enough to confess, due to the fear that their friendship would potentially be ruined afterwards. Khai on the other hand is a full-on playboy and has no idea about his friend’s feelings.

What I truly love is the character development throughout the series. Third is my favourite character and he makes me cry every time he gets heartbroken. At the beginning of the series, he is a character I empathize with, but then again he is equally to be blamed for his misery. There’s plenty of reasons to move on from Khai, especially when Khai treated him like crap. But he doesn’t. But this type of character does exist in the real world and some people just have a hard time learning to love themselves enough to say “I’m better than this and I can find someone better than him.”

Third is often blinded by love; he always forgives Khai for ditching him and being a jerk. Yet he narrates the fact that he dislikes Khai for mistreating him although never explicitly mentioning it. However, as the story unfolds, we see Third let out his frustrations and anger towards Khai.

Khai is an unlikable character at the beginning. He’s narcissistic and arrogant – also a character that does exist in real life. For Khai, after realising his feelings towards Third, he tries to make amends to win Third’s heart back desperately – sometimes a little bit too desperately. He goes from being a completely selfish, spoiled playboy to discerning he’s hurt a lot of people. But most importantly, he learns the pain he inflicted on Third. By the middle of the series, I still don’t see what’s so great about him other than his looks, which, brings me to a bigger question: why is Third still in love with Khai?

Despite all of this, when reaching the final episodes of the show, Khai becomes a vulnerable character willing to do anything as long as it means not losing Third. So we have two characters dealing with emotional issues and fighting for love and not knowing if this is love. Khai’s character goes from only loving himself to entirely devoting himself to loving Third and changing his life to keep Third from leaving him.

Before watching the actual series, I watched a four-part review created by a Chinese YouTuber and that alone made me cry. I just love everything about it; I got excited when the first part of the review (episodes 1 to 3) ended, and I love all the characters because they are so real and familiar. Episode 11 brought me to tears because I can see how the character of Khai transformed into someone so loyal since he waited for hours in the train station and the moment Third had hugged him and he was in tears… I can’t, it’s just so painful to watch.

Now onto something more technical. I love the soundtracks. The wardrobe is cute. The acting is perfect! I love the message in the series and how it represents pain, love, and relationships romantically and platonically. If you like a series that’s dramatic and gives you heartache as well as headache, this is the one for you.

The only dissatisfaction is that I think they should have developed Un and Two’s relationship better. I mean they only have a hug in the last episode? Yes, it was cute, but I was expecting a little bit more from them. More story, more details, I don’t know.

Another point I want to talk about is that Theory Of love doesn’t have “intimate scenes.” I mean, all of us like dirty scenes *laughs* but I don’t feel it was necessary for Theory Of Love. The kisses are cute and charged with emotions, so even if there’s only one scene I think the plot and character development alone suffice to make this a good story.

This series is frustrating, and I promise it is not the typical fluff you’d expect. It’s also funny, engaging, and tears at your most basic needs when it comes to love – specifically unrequited love. I see another side of relationships: one that is unstable, one that isn’t just rainbows and unicorns, and sometimes a bit toxic or imbalanced.

Theory Of Love is probably one of the best series I’ve ever watched. I think the way it attaches you emotionally to the characters and how they experience different situations is marvellous. Having gone through a similar situation to Third makes me even more emotional while watching the entire series. I love the way it ends and that everyone has a happy ending.

I am grateful because this series actually helped me go through my shitty isolation way better, and enabled me to see a certain situation of mine from a different angle, and made me move on from this person who I’ve admired for a very long time. So I guess it’s now time to say “No more theory of love – let’s get it in practice.”