ankokonrakstrawberry

Oh thank god it’s Friday. It’s been a rough week. It’s the beginning of fourth quarter and the end of work life balance as we know it.

Interestingly enough, I’ve been quite happy to stare mindlessly at the television during my self-imposed break time; the American television shows that is. In the last few weeks, shows such as the Blacklist, Sleepy Hollow, and Agents of Shield premiered their first episodes. They were good and had great potential. Yet as the episodic series continue, I find myself slowly caring less about it. Then there are the shows that I’ve watched on and off in the last year, Glee, the Voice, New Girl that recently launched their new seasons as well. I wanted to see how Glee would say their goodbyes to Finn Hudson, watch Adam Levine in his white t-shirt, and see if Jess and Nick can make their relationship work. The Voice and New Girl still manage to captivate me, well, as much as my Hopper would permit, but Glee on the other hand, although doing a great job with Cory Monteith memorial (which you can’t watch with dry eyes!) the show itself is losing its steam. The greatest thing about American TV shows is that you can miss many episodes and still manage to piece the story together. Awesome.

But lakorns on the other hand, give me quite satisfaction over watching every minute of the series. There are several premiers in the lakorn world as well: Thong Nua Kao, Parp Ataan, Anko Kon Rak Strawberry and Reuan Kalong. Depending on your preference, you may find enjoyment in any one of these October releases. I decided to check out Anko Kon Rak Strawberry, Citizen Kane’s second lakorn directed by Noi Bussakorn (Ken Theeradeth’s wife), following ‘Rak Kon Tao Fah.’ Anko..Strawberry is a romantic comedy surrounding Anya (aka Anko) who is a talented recruiter, working for an executive head hunting firm. She’s quirky, funky, and even ‘unique,’ her words. She’s a shopaholic, preferring expensive shoes, bags and outlandish outfits. Only Chompoo Araya could dress up in eye sore clothing and look confident. Perhaps it helps because she’s one of the host on 3 Zaap? No one else in her proximity seems to agree with her sense of style, but Anko is of the opinion that she doesn’t really care about other people’s opinions. More power to you, girl.

Anko has been dangled with a carrot in her face, her boss challenges her to fill the most difficult job order. If she could recruit top dog Saen Puennadee (Ken Theeradeth) to work at World Vision firm, then she would be made VP of her firm. Granted, the boss is confident in her abilities and has his eyes on her for this role from the onset, but she would have to prove to the rest of the company that she’s earned it. Dr. Saen is a big deal, he’s been recruited by several for-profit companies, but based on his background and ideologies, he’s happy working for Piangpordee, a nonprofit company. In fact, he’s so successful in genetic engineering grains of rice, that he won an award for his achievement. Handsome and smart, Dr. Saen is a hot commodity not only in the professional field.

Anko decides that the best way to pursue this candidate is the underhanded way. Based on his name and resume, she doesn’t think she could convince him the honest, straight up way. She discovers that he is in need of an assistant and decides to interview for the job, once accepted, Anko will sabotage his work so that he would have no choice but to work at World Vision. But there are a few surprises on her first few days on the job as his assistant: he’s not old or decrepit as she assumed, and she has to play gate keeper for two rich and hi so women who are determined to be Dr. Saen’s girlfriend.

I’m starting to wonder if our lakorns would ever, I mean ever, stray from the contrivances. I like the acting- Ken is so handsome and it’s so nice to see his pretty face again- but a lot of the plot is pretty unrealistic. For example, Anko, whom we know is a shopaholic, I’m disinclined to believe that being a recruiter in Thailand can afford one ludicrous brand name clothing/shoes/accessories other than being an heir or getting seriously indebted. Since it’s only episode one, I hope that the show will explore that in great length. One thing that caught my attention is when Anko snipes at Dr. Saen (before she knew he was Dr. Saen) that she’s worked hard for her money and she could do whatever the hell she wanted with them, including spending money on a pair of expensive shoes. From the sound of that, we know she’s using her salary to pay for her expensive lifestyle.

Going back to the contrivances, why can’t any of our characters fall in love in the natural way? Does she always have to dupe a man first, fall in love with him, and then have to grovel with apologies later? Because that always ends well. Perhaps this is one of the plot devices that you can watch over and over again, and sometimes I can forgive it too, but recently, it’s just chafing my hide. I do like the first episode, Chompoo’s acting is as cute as always, but I can envision how this will all play out in the end. I guess at this point in my lakorn watching career, I’m just ready for something different. Maybe this show will surprise us? Maybe you don’t even care and you’ll watch it anyway? Maybe I just need a break? Or maybe I just need a glass of wine with this? So many maybes. But happy Friday my dear readers, I hope you have a wonderful time watching it and do enjoy your weekend!