Another series that I’ve set my eyes one since learning that filmmaker ‘Madeaw” Sakveerakul will be directing ‘Manner of Death’ and even though I’ve read a few chapters of the novel I won’t be reading the other chapters because I don’t want to spoil the ending for myself but I must say that the plot is very interesting and different from other Thai Boy Love series.
In this investigative thriller series that talks about the manner of death in each case, the law, dark influences that twist a murder into a suicide case. 30-year old forensic, Bun (Max Nattapol Diloknawarit) transferred from Bangkok to be the medical examiner in his hometown at Viang Pha Mork that he left 15 years ago. A quiet and happy town where his childhood best friend Pued (Foei Patara Eksangkul) and Janejira (Meiko Chonnikan Netjui)
Only after 1 week into his arrival, Bun finds that peaceful happiness is an illusion because of the death of Janejira’s student Natty who collapsed in the middle of the market with blood running down her thighs! ฺBun performed an autopsy on Natty’s body with Oat (MD Nutthapong Phibunthanakiet) his intern medic, the autopsy concluded that Natty had heavy drugs flowing in her blood stream and passed away due to a miscarriage.
This case introduced him to Inspector M (Great Sapol Assawamunkong) the police officer who looked over most cases in the area. The both of them got acquainted as Viang Pha Morkers in a club where he met Tan (Tul-Pakorn Thanasrivanitchai) a Cram School tutor, their eyes met and out of nowhere they just kissed!?! They developed special feelings for each other but after a birthday party, it turned out that Tan was Janejira’s boyfriend! That night Tan, Pued, and Janejira got into a huge fight. The next morning Janejira was found dead in her own bedroom and it seemed like she hung herself.
Did Janejira kill herself or did someone murder her? The story follows a relationship that is filled with mystery, threats of assault, and a case that authorities are trying to hide something.
Mystery and thrill, a first for Thai Boy Love series
The plot is different from other Thai Boy Love series that are all cute, vanilla, and focused on a younger lot while Manner of Death is the mysterious love of an adult man who finds himself in the midst of a murder case. When a forensic doctor is involved and in love with a man who he believes is a murderer, dangerous and in love! Japan, Korea, Hong Kong all have Boy Love series with older protagonists and filled with very hot love scenes! Manner of Death is the first *older* Thai boy love series that’s not stuck in highschool or university campuses anymore.
If you overlook the Boy Love factor you’ll still find a fun and exciting investigative series, the story is set in a make-belief town so small that everyone would come running if they heard a scream but when the murder took place no one noticed?! The police are unable to come to a conclusion because of a dark authority, if this wasn’t a Boy Love series I would’ve thought this was an action film.
Other than the investigative thriller story line, another new and exciting angle of this series is the lead who is more of the calm, smart and collected doctor experienced in finding clues from dead bodies. The sereies is alos loaded with medical terms which is pretty hard to find in Thai serie and you don’t need to double check these medical informantion because the writer is an actual doctor!
A complex story line that you can still ship
So many clues to the investigation and with a mysterious storyline that keeps us on our toes wondering if what Dr.Bun is right? What if Tan really is the murderer? The series keeps us puzzled from the very first scene and with each scene ending that makes us change our mind! But do you really think we’ll forget?! No!!! Because us the series takes us further down the story we can still remember the opening scene.
Even though me might be able to guess who the true killer is but when you see Foei’s face you just kind of have to root for the bad guy and you hardly see him play the good guy but the series tries to trick us the other way, ending scenes making us doubt and wonder who really is the bad guy.
But if you’re wondering if there are any ship worthy scene, I guarantee you that there is!! At first, there are scenes where we ship them ourselves because of how they look at each other, inner feelings that seem so flawless and natural. Max and Tul have incredible chemistry but as 30-year-olds, their jobs, society they grew up in seems to make it harder for them to express their true feelings so it’s going to be a while until we will see them making peace with their feelings and really be together as lovers.
This series speaks about many taboo topics the police, doctors, fighting with people in power, losing something to gain something, and acceptance of same-sex love that Dr.Bun is really serious about. Let’s wait and see how the series will be different from the book, but I must say that it only got better!
Beatiful Locations
Just the name ‘Viang Pha Mork‘ is a guarantee that we’re going to witness some beautiful sceneries from the north of Thailand that is surrounded by the mountains and nature. Even their homes are beautiful, but I didn’t really like how they set up the kitchen in EP.3 because it looked a bit fake and honestly it looked more like a cooking show set up! But I must say that the lighting was really on point, mysterious yet romantic while the camera angles made us wonder even more.
The mood and tone were focused on green, gray, brown, and black so the mood was pretty uneasy for me but yet still appealing! The only thing this investigative series lacks is a butt-kicking lead who fights with the villains.
Manner of Death
- Broadcast Time: Every Monday at 8 PM only on WeTV
- Adapted from the novel: Manner of Death by Sammon
- Director: ‘Madeaw’ Chookiat Sakveerakul
- Produced by: TV Thunder
