FINAL REVIEW
The Skinny: Interesting story. Promising start. Dragged episodes. Rushed ending. Wasted extension. That's pretty much what ARO entails. As an AP fan AND a general lakorn fan, this show is pretty much a disappointment. I got so frustrated with the finale that I didn't even bother to watch the very last quarter of it. I'm feeling so frustrated that I can go on and on and on and on about the wrongs of this lakorn right now.
The Storyline: A woman falls in love with a man, and to conceal the fact that she's his supervisor and much older than him, creates an alias by the name of 'abruk' to court him. Great. It's a very interesting and refreshing storyline in the lakorn world, where raeng slap/kiss genre's prevail. The potential it has in becoming a great lakorn is very high. I anticipated this lakorn for it's fresh storyline and for the fact that Anne and Peter were coupling for the first time, despite sharing the screen with another popular couple, MK. The beginning episodes introduces the characters and plot very well, and gives us a different feel and view on romance. However, somewhere towards the middle things just starts falling apart. Perhaps a change in writers? Perhaps the lack of substance to keep the lakorn going? Whatever the reason, the story loses its flow and becomes more and more uninteresting; scenes drag, characters disappear, and the story develops ever so slowly. The whole middle portion of ARO is pretty much fan service. Lots and lots of intimate MK scenes and lots of intimate AP scenes. Very few of which are necessary. The disappointment here is not only in the direction the writers took, but in the focus of the plot. The story changes from revolving around Saya to focusing on Non. Non is an important character, but he's not important enough to be the focus of everything. This here is my biggest issue and is where I fallout with the interesting storyline.
The Characters: Everyone did their part portraying their respective characters. Anne's awesome as Saya like she alway is, Peter's hot as Boss, Kim's great as Praao and Mark's okay as Non.
Anne rocks as Saya. When she immerses in a character she delivers 100%, and she's the reason why I even started this lakorn. Anyway, Saya is the nang'ek in her 30's who happens to fall for Non who is in his 20's. This isn't something everyday lakorn possesses. The writers give us a good look into her romantic struggles as the old-fashioned, straightforward supervisor who's in love with her young subordinate. Although she's strong and stern at work, when it comes to love she's cowardly and very weak. Very complex and very developable, just the kind of character everyone looks forward to. Which is why it's very unfortunate that she's been cast aside as a side character. Her character is the least developed character. The writers fail to show us Saya's progression from being infatuated with Non to actually falling for Boss. Once or twice in the lakorn we see her questioning her feelings for boss, but not once did they show her genuinely feeling something for Boss. This is why I'm not convinced she's truly in for a long stable relationship with Boss, and the blame goes to none other than the writers.
Peter is the hottest boss ever. He gives Lip, aka Boss, an umph of Peter which makes Lip unique and unlike the CEO pra'eks we typically see. He's a player who loves having fun with girls, but on the inside has always loved one gal, Saya. The gal who stood by him when he created Narakorn Company, the gal who he shares quite a relationship with beyond boss and subordinate. It seems as though Lip is not important to the storyline and there is in fact a truth to it, he's more like the second male lead who gets to see his love romance another man. However because he's the man our female lead will end up with he gets more substance, and the writers do a good job at exploring his personality and giving us a strong male lead. He's so perfectly written that it's frustrating. He gives, gives and just gives. Not once is he mad at Saya or upset that Saya isn't reciprocating his love. I, for one, would LOVE to see him walk away from Saya to let Saya realize she's losing someone very important. His love for her seems almost too good to be true. Even his happy ending was too easily written. The only flaw is his lack of screen time. I have a feeling it's due to his hectic schedule as a music artist, but still his limited screen time makes him feel even more like part of the supporting cast.
Kim is great as Praao. She's got this feisty appeal that is perfect for bringing out the sassiness in Praao. Praao is arrogant, but proud and willful. All she wants to do is succeed and be appreciated for working hard and doing a great job as a marketer. She doesn't get it from her family and gets it from Non. Which the writers do a great job in showing progress. She's quite the complex character, and in my opinion the most developed character in the lakorn. She starts off rude and slowly fades into this less arrogant lady simply due to love. She makes a few mistakes, but learns from it and corrects it. I hated her character towards the middle, but she redeemed herself and I gotta give the writers credit for at least doing one thing right.
Mark did good as Non. His acting doesn't appeal to me, but he's tolerable. Non is the boy who's crushed on by Saya and everyone else, literally everyone, old and young. I really don't see the charm in Non, but I guess everyone likes him because he's nice and very gentle. I can see the gentleness in Non that everyone loves, but in terms of appearance, I think the writers may be a bit overboard with that. He's more like the side-character that the lead gal crushes on, but instead he gets the spotlight in the lakorn. Even he gets the first slot in the opening credits. He's the reason 'abruk' exists, but nonetheless should remain the second male lead. It doesn't make sense that he's the main focus. Which is why I feel his character is overwritten.
The Overview: This is a lakorn that could've. It started off soo good. I'm still depressed over it. I do like the fact that they explore internet love and show us how unrealistic and fake it is though. Love the person you're yourself with and most happy with. When you have to create a fake name to court someone that's not real love. The writers make a good point in the lakorn, but in the end...it's still a horrible lakorn.
Rating: 3/10. Two points for giving us AP and one point for give us a fresh storyline. SIGH...the disappointment.
