We all need a little Matalada in our lives, a face full of smiles for gay dads, sad doctors, and stray dogs. A smile that warms you from within, Matalada is love personified. She gives away free smiles and wants nothing back, well maybe a slice of cake. 

If you have not seen Matalada, or To the Moon and Back, a lakorn starring James Ji and Toey Charinporn, as Heart Doctor Purim (or Penneung) and Matalada (or Mata), you are in for a delightful slice of life lakorn foray. It is not all about rainbows and butterflies as I seem to be depicting, but amidst the pain and trauma, there is an uplifting message of acts of kindness and the journey to healing. 

We follow Matalada as she moves to the city, from the beach town Pattaya where her gay dad raised her. She is accompanied by her katoei aunt who ensures Matalada is nowhere near sharp knives and scissors, Matalada is a woman who is accident prone but sure loves to be helpful. Her dad opts to stay in Pattaya to run the cabaret club, but also because the city is traumatizing for him after fleeing from his homophobic father twenty years ago. It is probably exactly the reason why Matalada returns to the city, hoping to find her estranged grandfather, hoping to make it right for dad. *CRIES*

In the neighborhood convenience store she runs headlong into Dr. Purim, whose chest meets a scorching coffee. As he quickly unbuttons his shirt with those skilled doctor hands, every person young or old, straight or gay, exhales at the shock of his chiseled abs. I LOL’d but did not blink. He rushes to the refrigerator to plant an ice cold can to his abs, meanwhile Matalada rushes closer to smear toothpaste on his reddened chest, a treatment that Dr. Purim debunks! Do not apply toothpaste to your burns! Noted. He keeps Matalada at arms length, she is dangerous to him, even with all that sunshine that seems to be emanating from her. Is that even possible that she could be this bright? Which is an alarming contrast to the man who has not found a reason to smile.

In fact, Purim leads an efficient and quiet life. Most of his days are spent at the hospital, in surgical rooms, fixing people’s hearts. The other time it is spent napping in his dark living room or shutting himself off to the world with goggles on. Purim was not born to a happy home, they were well to do, but he always craved his father’s approval. So while his father’s constant criticism drove him to great achievements, growing up feeling unloved has made a deep impact on him. As an adult we see him obtaining some distance from all that bad noise by living alone now, and seeking quiet joy from.. baking.

That is how Matalada meets her neighbor, whom she had a run in with previously. This time they convene at the garbage disposal, where she sees him wearing what looks like a bloody butcher’s apron and holding a suspiciously bloody bag that may or may not have a severed body part. Mata has a serious case of I want to run but I want to know what it is. But it’s just another day in Mata-land since she sprained her ankle and accidentally hurt him, she apologized profusely. The apology sounded so forthcoming to Purim’s ears. Like it was just a daily habit for her to apologize (probably from all of the accidents she caused around her), so Purim, once again, tries to keep her at arms length. He offers to bandage her ankle and other areas of bodily harm at his house, in which she replies with a description of him that is jarring, and quite possibly rocked him to his core. You are a kind person, she declares. He looked a little offended. It is my job, I am a doctor, he says. You are a kind doctor, Mata continues. What is with her? His face seems to say. But why is it, that that is exactly what he needed to hear? He was never shown kindness or love from his parents. *OOF CRIES*

And so he wraps her up with his expert hands and offers to take her home. As she wanders just a bit in his house, but just enough to see the curious blood stain and what looks like more body parts on the counter, Mata’s curiosity gets the better of her again. I am going to die aren’t I? she cries. Your sprained ankle won’t kill you, he surmises, amused by her terrified but curious eyes. You can’t declare that I am a kind and murderous doctor on the same day, he adds. LOL. Ok so you can be a kind and murderous doctor on different days? Mata peers at the slicing of the hand.. then she realizes it is cake. Purim extends a slice to her, and she inhales deeply, then shocks him by taking a big bite. Her eyes widen, his eyes widen, he does not know what to make of her. But there he is, offering another bite. *DEAD* Me, not her. 

Matalada is good at shocking him. She asks him to teach her how to bake this delicious cake. There are plenty of ladies throwing themselves at him, whether bringing him food that fills his fridge, swooning at his feet at the hospital, or proposing marriage. But teaching a girl how to bake a cake? Now that was not in his bingo card. And that, my friend, is a cliffhanger of a first episode. Is he going to teach her how to bake cake? We already know that the homegirl is told to stay away from the kitchen for good reason, but she is irresistible. Even her dad who is so afraid of the city, but hearing one word that his daughter MISSES him, he hightails to the city with his gang of cabaret sisters to see her. I love her diverse family and the love they have to give. 

The strength in the show is the depiction of daily life. It is tasteful and watchable. It does not feel lakorn like, what is typical noise in lakorns is instead filled with unassuming, natural dialogue. Purim may feel like he needs to drown out his father’s noise to gain comfort, but all he really needed was the sound of a loving family where noise is welcomed. Where love and acceptance is celebrated. 

Happy Pride Month, my dear lovelies. Maker K and Channel 3 are here to comfort us as we heal along with Purim and Mata’s dad.