Hormones: The Series (Season 1)

Hormones follows the lives of several high schoolers. It can be considered the Thai version of Skins. The second season is coming out this summer. I have heard end of June from several sources. I am not sure that anyone will be subbing season 2, but hopefully someone will 🙂

Let me start by introducing the characters

Win: The Rebel

Rules?! Win doesn’t care about them and why should he bother following them when the people putting them in place can’t justify them? All he wants is to create trouble and get girls.His family life (Or the lack of) might be behind his behavior. Win’s father seems to be a womanizer and we don’t know much about his mother.  At school, he is quite a catch. Every girl is interested in him. He is trendy, charming, and daring. Swift change when he starts to be slightly interested in Khwan. He gets involved with her personal life and more precisely her family matters. Their friendship develops but is ruined by his recklessness. Let’s add that Win manages to get a professor expelled from school…

Let me not wear an uniform today and defy rules

Khwan: The Model Student

She is perfect on the outside: model child and model student. Good grades?! Tskkk that’s not a big deal. Family?! Her family is quite adorable but that’s until she starts wondering why her dad is often on business trips. Trouble arises when she discovers that her mother is a mia noi (minor wife or mistress). Khwan, who had everything together, is shocked and hurt by the discovery. She feels betrayed and even turns to her nemesis for help and comfort – Win. Khwan is the proof that perfect doesn’t exist.

Phai: The Trouble Maker

The perfect example of a troubled teenager. Drugs, alcohol, fights?! He does it all. His little gang and him are always down for a fight. His parents don’t understand how to handle their son and his father is clearly losing patience. Sprite is the one who brings change in his life. The relationship between them was never meant to be since Sprite used to date someone that Phai considered his older brother. Phai can’t help his feelings for Sprite and choose her over his friends. It seems like Sprite is his first love. Yet, can Phai control his jealousy knowing Sprite’s past relationships? Phai also realizes that his ways might hurt the ones he loves. What happens when his family gets involved in a gang fight? Can Phai break up with his past and start anew?

Sprite: The Free Spirited

Sex?! What’s the big deal about it? It’s just something enjoyable that everyone should  be able to enjoy without worry. She is personally my favorite. Sprite does what she wants to do. She doesn’t care about people judging her. One problem: She likes Phai but their relationship is suffering because of the lack of trust he has in her. Phai thinks about all the other guys she’s been with and that can be disturbing.

After having xxx in the bathroom…

Phu: The One Coming Out of the Closet

He is in the school’s marching band and everyone knows him. He is friendly and open to everyone. He used to date Toei, but now it seems like he is not into girls. Or is he? Slowly, he starts being attracted to another guy from the marching band. Things get heated and make Phu realize that his sexuality is not what he thought it was. Phu is confused and fears that he will be rejected by other school kids and his family. Phu is also not sure how he feels about Toei. Does he still have feelings for her? His confusion causes him to hurt the ones around him. By the end of the show, I still wasn’t sure about who he really liked.

Love is love after all… Who cares if it’s between a man or a woman? Or a man and a man?

Toei: The Bullied One

For her it’s easy to develop friendships with guys. Is that a bad thing?! Not really, but we all know that in high school girls tend to be jealous and the worst bullies. Toei’s friendship with guys causes her to rack an underseved reputation as an easy girl. Girls that were supposed to be her friends start bullying her…  Toei had one guy friend, who she thought she could always rely on – Tar – but when she needs him the most he turns his back on her.

Tar: The Complexed One

Tar is going through a phase experienced by most teenagers – dealing with body image. His height is not what he wants it to be and he feels like girls might look down on him because of it. It’s even harder on Tar because he is really into music. He loves playing guitar and is even part of a band, but he realizes that he is still relayed to the background because of his height. Girls find other group members good music players and attractive. Tar is even more hurt when his efforts to impress the girl he likes – Toei – turn to a disaster. Toei doesn’t understand why Tar does things that are so unlike him to impress other people. She wants Tar to remain faithful to himself, but Tar doesn’t take it that way and their friendship goes through a rough path.

Mok: The Mysterious

No one knows a lot about Mok, even his friends. He often keeps to himself. Photography is his preferred method of expression. Mok has a hard time talking about himself and his feelings, which seems to hurt his love story with a girl that he seems to like – Mint. Mok’s EQ is basically sort of low. Plus he wants to study communication arts but his father wants him to do something more “useful.” The disagreement over his future puts distance between his father and him. Would viewer find out more about Mok?! Well that’s one of the reasons why there is a second season  :-D.

In his own world

Dao: The Bubbly

She is sheltered by her parents. What she wears, says, and who she talks to is carefully controlled by her parents, especially her mother. Dao creates her own world; she writes fan fictions where she creates an imaginary world and imaginary couples. She dreams of falling in love. She is so pure and innocent that when she has her first boyfriend she is tricked. Dao loses her virginity and is quickly abandoned. If Dao had a more open conversations with her mother maybe this could have been prevented…

So adorable ~

Why Did I Fall in Love With Hormones?

I have been a lakorn watcher for a little more than two years now. That’s not a lot, but I was already tired of all the repetitive plot lines. I love the fact that Hormones tackles a lot of relevant issues among teenagers- drugs, sex, alcohol, communication, first love, sexuality, etc. It is hard to think about a topic that wasn’t covered in the drama.

First Love 

So many of our characters encounter first love and it’s shown that many are confused by the emotion. It’s something they have never experienced and they often don’t know who to go talk to about it. Taking the case of Dao, if her mother was more open minded, Dao might have avoided the situation she ended up in. The mother was unrealistic; she should have acknowledged that her daughter wasn’t a child anymore. Dao’s mother hoped that her daughter would stay in her bubble, playing with Hello Kitty, and only focusing on schoolwork. The mother should have discussed boys, love, and sex openly with Dao. Dao would have then felt comfortable talking about her boyfriend and sought advice.

Sexuality 

Phu’s discovery of his sexuality shows the struggle faced by the homosexual community in general – the fear of being rejected. What was even more hurtful was the fact that Phu was scared to even tell his family.  Phu’s younger sibling knew that there was something between Phu and his bandmate; and instead of being supportive he kept dissing his brother.

Alcohol and Drugs 

A common getaway for many teenagers (and adults too). Phai was in a troubled phase of his life and didn’t have anyone except his small group of friends. They are bored? Why not do drugs or drink? Pressure from parents and school were also pushing Phai close to the edge. Instead of giving him time to figure out what was going on and giving him a way to open up, Phai’s parents kept questioning him and yelling at him. Let’s not forget that his father didn’t lose a chance to remind him that he was a loser. Such a great feeling -____-

High expectations 

On the outside, Khwan is perfect. Everyone wants to be her. She has it all: grades, looks, friends, and family. She serves as a role model for many students. So when she encounters troubles and fails to meet expectations everyone looks down on her. No one is perfect though so why can people not understand that Khwan has the right to make mistakes?

Bottom Line 

I wish that more parents would watch this drama. It is so eye opening. Yes, it’s scary from a parents’ perspective because you worry about all the things your child could be doing. Yet, parents would understand that what matters most is to communicate with their children. Being on their back all the time is pointless since children will always find the way to do whatever they want. It might be easy for me to say this because I don’t have children and I am still young, but I was a teenager not too long ago and I know what was on my mind back then.

Last but not least a SHOUT OUT to… 

Phai and Sprite! They are my favorite OTP. I loved the chemistry between the two. Phai seems so tough on the outside, but he is touched by Sprite’s liveliness. She is easy going and he feels so comfortable around her. I hated their break up but at that time it was best for them. Phai needed to figure out where his life was going and make amends with his family and friends. He needed to settle other things. Meanwhile Sprite needed to realize that her being free spirited could sometimes be detrimental.

Usually I hate when the bromance is broken especially because of a girl. It was painful to see Phai being ignored by his friends although it was understandable. Yet, I wanted him to be with Sprite so badly ~

~ maniac Ride