Currently airing on evening television is Kularb Son Klin starring First Ekkaphong and Marie Broenner by Quiz and Quest production. Evening dramas air Monday to Friday for 50 minutes and doesn’t procure as many viewers as their primetime counterpart, and they tend to be a little fluffier and a lot more contrived. However, after giving evening dramas my due diligence, I find myself enjoying it so thoroughly. And you have one person to thank for that, First Ekkaphong. Despite being relegated to playing an evening drama pr’ek, I find First to be more engaging than other primetime pr’eks out there. He’s charming, too tall, and absolutely too handsome for his own good.
I started noticing First in Nang Rai Summer where he delighted me with his role as Tonnam, the hotheaded resort owner. But he especially stood out for me in this newest installment, Kularb Son Klin as Khun Soon, the level headed restaurant owner and operator. This lakorn is also Marie Broenner’s last lakorn for Channel 3, and despite many ridicules about her off screen behavior or lack of onscreen talent, Marie’s acting has improved since her first lakorn, 3 Num Nuea Thong. But I believe more than anything, that much of a good lakorn has more to do with directing, writing and chemistry with one’s costars.
Herein, we have Kularb Son Klin, which is a story about Gusuma (Marie Broenner) who dreams big. Gusuma’s biggest dream in life is to live in Australia with her auntie. Upon graduation, her auntie pays the family a visit and reports that she will be opening a restaurant in Australia, and that Gusuma would be her chef. This news came entirely out of left field, because being a chef isn’t one of Gusuma’s aspirations or forte. But since it means achieving her dream, Gusuma decides that she can certainly be flexible. This is only a minor kink and obstacle to a well-paved road (as yellow brick road as they might be.) However in order to work in Australia and establish a work visa, Gusuma would need a letter of recommendation from a restaurant owner. And only the best one would do.
Khun Soon (First Ekkaphong), Im Suk Restaurant’s owner and operator, meets the most stubborn and persistent girl who literally and figuratively rocks his world. All tomboy and 100% headstrong and focused on achieving her dreams, she enters his life and turns it inside out and upside down. After some initial resistance, Khun Soon eventually is drawn to her perseverance and finally offers her a job. Although, she must prove to him by working her way through the restaurant chain, that she has the goods and gumptions to backup her goal, otherwise, he would never write her the sought after letter of recommendation.
Perhaps Khun Soon would be better able to handle the chaos that entered his life (aka Gusuma) if he hadn’t been so heartbroken. Khun Soon had been dating his first and only love for four years. As typical, he wants to work hard and ensure that he created enough means for a stable life with his future wife, and so, he doesn’t notice that his girlfriend is feeling put out and seeing another man. Upon his proposal – gosh this sweet man made his own bouquet of flowers and baked her a cake! – his girlfriend tells him that she no longer loves him and she’s going to marry another man. Gusuma witnessed the whole debacle and has it in her head that if he’s not happy or find another love soon, he would not be able to focus on turning her into a redeemable chef! That shall not be impossible as Khun Soon has two conniving women hoping that he would give them a second glance: his exgirlfriend’s sister and a cake shop owner.
However, adversities to achieving Gusuma’s dreams are abounding, not to mention the love at the end of the tunnel. First and foremost, Gusuma herself. This girl gets into so much trouble and at times so frustratingly inadequate that you want to smack her beside her head and tell her to grow the hell up. But she does make up with her perseverance – backbone made of STEEL – and she knows when to apologize. Secondly, she has two women who would rather make her look bad in front of Khun Soon so that they can eliminate another competition for his heart, then to actually make him love them fair and square. Thirdly, Gusuma has to impress the head chef who’s as moody and finicky as a shark. Not to mention, proving herself to the entire restaurant and customers that she has what it takes. Whew.
Thankfully a distraction with Gusuma is the perfect remedy for a broken heart. She’s the kind of distraction that takes 24-hour focus. Khun Soon slowly puts his time, heart and mind to become her champion, personal tutor and all-encompassing cheerleader, and will see to it that she becomes the best chef Im Suk Restaurant can muster.
I like the timeline and layout of evening dramas. Misunderstandings are quickly resolved; problems are squared away making new, interesting ones as the stakes are raised. With 13 episodes aired thus far, and everyone pulling the two apart, but the two are adamantly telling each other that they care about each other, I’m enjoying the anticipation of what happens next (and curious to learn why Gusuma wants to go to Australia so damn badly.)
Most of all, I love First Ekkaphong. His character Khun Soon is also the kind of pr’ek that I can watch all day, everyday. And if I have to watch only evening dramas to see First Ekkaphong play second fiddle to NONE, I’d gladly do it.
*Pic credit to owners
AND because they are so cute, I’ve created a video with their cute scenes. These are taken from episodes 6-10 of Kularb Son Klin:
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Tagged: First Ekkaphong, Kularb Son Klin, Marie Broenner
First Ekkapong I can tolorate his acting because I like his acting but Marie Branner, I don’t thinks I can watching her act especially her voices is like a hyena, I would say bye too.
i’m with you on that patricia. i like first too, but marie broener’s always yelling in this pitchy voice of hers in the roles she plays. seems they like to type cast her in tomboyish/tough girl roles with big/loud mouths. maybe its not just her acting but that’s how she’s directed to act the role. anyways, i’m interested in watching this one, if someone out there is subbing it, and hopefully the screeching will be done to a mininum
@Patty and @Lidy
I would say that the screeching has been tamed. Her voice is not perfect by any means, but tolerable.
Don’t she has a bad scandal back then, that is why she is about to get kick out of Channel 3 right!
Plus I hated Chef storyline! Chef are not a cool job in my vocabulary!!!!!
That is the good thing about watching lakorns, we all have such different tastes and are definitely entitled to them. I on the other hand, love chef lakorns, I adore men who can competently cook a great meal and pretty much wish I can cook as well as they do! So bring it on chef storyline!
My motto are :”Why cook when you can buy!”
Have you seen ken in soot saneha? A man who can cook, taking care of you, ensuring you’re well fed is so endearing and sexy. Just like last week’s episode of hotel king when cha jae wan prepared a meal for ah mo ne and she was watching him all googly eyed
I have indeed seen sood saneha, Kru Cook is one of the reasons (along with Alin) as to why it’s one of my favorite lakorns. I believe I’ve watched it 3 times over 🙂
Alin is the worse cooker ever right. That is why she needs Kru Cook assistant!
kru cook was simply the best man there is. i especially loved the scene when alin found out about anucha’s daughter and gave him a good beating. and when she started on kru cook not warning her he laid it down on her and then said “do you love him because he’s perfect or he’s perfect because you love him?” what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man….enough that i’ll leave my husband to have kru cook to myself
I like when they switching foods that Alin cook with Kru Cook cooking. Because we all know that Alin cooking is terrible right!
I was on the fence about starting this now or waiting until it finished airing to marathon it, but after reading this post, I’ll probably move it up on my to watch list since it’s probably ending soon. I’m a fan of First, evening lakorns, and anything to do with cooking, so it seems like something right up my alley. I’ve never seen Marie act, so it’s not a factor in my decision. Something light and fluffy is exactly what I need right now.
Hello ka chobling! So what have you been watching lately – if at all? I love a good light hearted and fluffy lakorn too. Moving forward, evening dramas will definitely be on my horizon.
Are you going finish capping Forget Me Not later on!
Hey, Fia! As far as lakorn watching goes, I haven’t picked anything up yet. I think my last ones were Jao Sao Salatan and Nang Rai Summer. At the moment, I’m debating whether to watch Nuer Mek 2 or finish Nuer Mek 1 first before delving into its spin-off sequel, then follow it up with KSK and/or Spinsters vs. Casanovas.
Nuer Mek 2 are in completes because it got cancel by the government forces station to pull it out of the stations sinces it is about corrupting government and the government wants to covered it track, so I suggested that you are watching KSK or Spinsters vs. Casanovas first, to sees how it goes. Before you went to watch Nuer Mek 1 and 2 because when you get to Nuer Mek 2 your emotional will be stuck at the ends of episode 9 because it did not reach the ending of the series, so don’t even goes there!!!!!!
@chobling
That’s the nice thing about waiting until everything ends.. you can totally marathon and give up if you don’t like what you see 🙂 Happy watching na ka!
There are two job I hated most it is chef and a gym guy (a personal trainer)!!!!!!!