We are entering a lakornworld that examines some heavy topics, but the saving grace is that we are given the drama in shades of pink. It’s a melodrama I don’t mind watching. There is conviction behind the argument of the story, behind every tear, and it’s one of those lakorns that makes me chomp at the bits for more (because of the sinfully delightful pairing). Allow me to start by discussing our hero, Peat Patsakorn (Pon Nawasch).

Peat grew up in a tense home with no warmth and love between his parents. He adores his mother, but she takes the opportunity to bring down his dad every chance she gets. Peat believes it because his father would not be bothered to extend any warmth to his mother, not even during her last moments as cancer took her life. From there on Peat is at odds with his father, who doesn’t bridge the gap but shows that he only cares about whether Peat would be up to snuff to take over his business.

During Pete’s first year in college, he meets Kiew Kansadan (Bua Nalinthip) who is unlike anyone he has met: she’s bright and bubbly and sees the glass half full. They bicker right off the bat when he nearly runs her over with his motorcycle but Kiew isn’t the type who let people walk all over her, not even a popular, handsome fellow student. She demands to tend to his wound, acts like his mama bear, and leaves him with a handkerchief – but what remains in his impression is rather the warmth she left with him.  

Kiew’s mother unfortunately finds out she has aggressive cancer and must be treated right away. Enter Nai, Peat’s dad, who wants to pay for her treatments. He is introduced as her dad’s dearest friend, but from the way that Kiew’s mother cries when she sees his face, there’s a lot more history between them. Kiew tells the newly acquainted stranger that her mother could not get through a conversation about her dad without crying because she loves him dearly. So without telling his son about what he is planning to do, Nai convinces both mother and daughter to move in with him. Next thing we know, Kiew and mom is introduced to Peat’s household as dad’s new wife and stepdaughter.

Of course Peat is outraged by this, and vows to make their life a living hell, just when he’s starting to have feelings for Kiew. Peat’s shenanigans become more harsh and sinister: they share the same birthday and there is cake fight involved because Peat didn’t like the fact that dad bought them the same necklace, and then when Kiew wants to have a word with him, he takes her on a motorcycle ride and deposits her alone in a dark area, those are just a few examples. The saving grace for all of this though, is that throughout his outbursts, there are internal conflicts that he battles, he’s so mad at his dad, at the people who are destroying his life, but he likes Kiew too and he’s mad that he’s attracted to his “step sister”. There are a whole host of emotions that Peat could not begin to cope with or work through, simply because he does not have the means or mechanism from his upbringing. 

Things got worst. He does not know that Kiew’s mom is fighting an aggressive cancer and his mistreatment of Kiew causes her mom to collapse. Unfortunately, she could not pull through and dies days later. He is blamed for attributing to her death, but while he feels guilty and bad and empathic towards Kiew because he went through the same thing with his mom, the fact that dad was there for her death and that he cared and loved Kiew’s mom to her last dying breath was a nail in Peat’s coffin. It is like you know you’re being bad but you can’t help yourself as you spiral down the deep end. We see Peat and Nai exchanging words until they come to a head, where Nai kicks Peat out of the house and Peat says that he wouldn’t come back to cremate his father’s dead body. Gulp. 

This propels Peat to run away and continue his college education abroad in Seoul, and vows that he would come back home one day (when he’s good and ready) to take back everything that belonged to him. But Kiew could not stand to see dad downtrodden anymore and sneaks off to Seoul for a week. She had agreed to live with stepdad because she promised mom, and she wants to bring Peat back home if it could mean that her stepdad would be happy again. She manages to find Peat and like uncomplicated times, they were able to be open, honest and enjoy each other’s company. He finally leans over and says that he hopes that saying sorry now about contributing to her mother’s death isn’t too late, and he leans in and kisses her. Sparks fly.  

What I love about these two – and what I love about this director’s take on the story – is that despite the heavy backbone of the story, there is love between the two. I recall in an interview that the director took great emphasis in acting through the eyes. She said it won’t work for the romance through line if they hated each other all the time. Where there’s hate, the actors had to portray love somehow. And with Pon and Bua, the way they interact through their eyes and lines really spoke of a conflicted hate that is full of love. It wouldn’t be believable if they hated each other all the time and suddenly they’re in love. I like that their relationship started out with love and then baggage. Lots and lots of baggage. 

While in Seoul, Peat gives Kiew the opportunity to change his mind. Kiew says that when he returns, nothing will change, and she does not want to take his place. He believes her. She wagers with him that once both of them graduated they are to show each other their diplomas. Peat says that that is a good time as any to return home and show her what he’s made of. He holds onto this cute and friendly wager for 4 years, but on the day of his graduation, he sees the news in Thai that Nai has officially adopted Kiew. The rage builds up again, which is an easy feat because deep down he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It only confirmed his bias that she’s out to take his place.

Meet the older, nastier Peat. But oh god doesn’t he look delicious! It must be the hair! The suit! The extra maturity (but really hasn’t matured)! This boy could not take his hands off of her, with all the excuses in the world. But Peat is about to be handed the biggest irony in his life. He starts to notice just how close Kiew is with his dad and accuses her of trying to be like her mom. Dad nearly has a heart attack when he walks in and sees Peat giving Kiew a punishing kiss. He finally confides that Kiew is his real sister! That took the air out of Peat’s balloon, it deflates so loud, you could see the combustion on his face as he realizes the horror. Dad indicates that he only divulged this because he doesn’t want Peat to do anything forbidden, while Peat says it’s already too late. Oof. Because he’s already in love with his SISTER. Ack! 

But hold your breath my dear readers! Before we could get too mad at the turning of the events – at least on our OTP’s behalf – Kiew eavesdrops during her dad’s conversation with his right-hand man that Peat may not be his biological son. He doesn’t want Peat to know, because one, he doesn’t want Peat to be hurt over his mother’s infidelity, and two, the results don’t matter because dad says Peat is his son. Whew, you better feel that way dad or we’ll have words! It doesn’t take a man to have a child, it takes a man to raise one. Kiew goes to talk to Peat, which is probably bad timing because the guy is already pissed, and their encounter just ends with Kiew getting a cut on her wrist from the flying glass and Peat angrily driving his motorcycle until he nearly meets his demise. And you guessed it, he lost a lot of blood and in order to proceed with emergency surgery, they need more. Dad volunteers of course, but his blood type is not the same (and impossible to even be considered as a biological dad).  

Peat’s frenemy, Kris, states this implication as our guy comes to, which prompts Peat to initiate his own DNA testing. Now whether Peat is ready to hear the truth or not, I was glad that he had the guts enough to pursue the truth. As expected, Nai is no match with Peat. Our small lakornworld knows, Peat runs away again, but as he kneels before his mother’s grave, it’s so hard not to feel for him. He says to mom that she had been lying to him all this time about his dad. That she was even worse than his dad, and that she made him out to be a monster. He said and did things that were terrible, with no recourse. It is easy for mom because she is not around to face the consequences, but Peat doesn’t have the confidence to face the people whom he trashed, and now, being the despicable one.

That is exactly Peat’s problem, and what we’ll continue to see throughout the show. He tends to play the blame game and victimize himself. It is fine to state that it’s someone’s fault, because it is, but at the end of the day, no one else can fix or take responsibility for his own actions and choices except for him. My heart goes out to him because he was treated like a pawn by his mother, neglected by his father, but he also has friends who love him, he just lacks the wherewithal to seek love and happiness for himself. I love it when the director mentioned that people who choose to stay in dark places will only have their life destroyed before their eyes, and that this show will explore that. I do wish that for the sake of our hero (and us!) that he doesn’t go down the dark path for too long, and that he soon realizes that he is responsible for his own happiness. I want to see him choose to move forward into the light. I know that Kiew will help him get there, because it’s all about the support you get from genuine people around you. 

It’s a tough storyline, what with the forbidden love or sibling love, or secret birth stories, but Trabab See Chompoo – just like it’s title – Pink Sin – also gives us a delightful romance story, painting the drama in shades of pink. Some pairing has so much chemistry it literally oozes off the screen and puddles at your feet, melting you in the process. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, that a winning pairing makes all the difference in the lakorn world. It elevates the enjoyment factor into addict-ville, and Pon and Bua does exactly this. Speaking of Pon, I’ve noticed him since the Cinderella story, but he’s got my heart as Peat. Cinderella didn’t give him a lot to work with, but the melo in Trabab truly tests his acting skills. As the reception and ratings prove – and as Bua indicates that he’s the scene stealer in her scenes – Pon’s first lakorn as the pra’ek is going just fine. Splendid, in fact. He should headline more lakorns in the future. #ponforpraek 

With that being said, it’s Monday. It’s Trabab See Chompoo day. Let’s find out how the rest of the story unfolds. 

*Pic credit to their owners

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