Knock Knock, Boys! (2024)

mostly quirky fun

Overall: though I enjoyed the funny/sweet parts, they needed to reduce the episode count to really make it quirky awesomeness. 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/album/89w1vvkv6zpo6wf and GagaOOLala everywhere except Japan, https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4297/knock-knock-boys-2024-e01

Content Warnings: non con touching/voyeurism, dub/non con kiss, non con video taking/sharing, unwanted public outing, beginning/attempted sexual assault, punches, past death/grief

What I Liked
- finally we had a character who was inexperienced and also very interested in romance/sex
- supportive friends
- showing instead of telling i.e. they showed a character was rich and naive instead of just saying it right away
- laughed several times
- characters established as queer, pansexuality was explained
- good dreams
- sweet moments
- glad they talked about consent but not sure why they needed actual toys at the club meeting (and fyi petroleum jelly degrades toys)
- calling out invasion of privacy/posting pictures online and there were actual consequences
- Thanwa's friend/boss had great advice
- good apologies
- good consent with Latte stopping on 2 different occasions
- Almond's mom
- lack of episode 11 curse
- well done final episode
- 2 characters from Monster Next Door had cameos in ep 12
- production value (some nice camera shots like with the wall in episode 6)

Room For Improvement
- need to reduce the episode count as things felt dragged out, I was tempted to write out to skip episode 11 but this does really explain a character's previous actions (or inactions)
- how they started the episodes with a flash forward and then moved to the present so the episode didn't pick up where it left off from the previous week
- a character told his female friend something that he had no right to tell her
- I couldn't root for a character to be in a romantic relationship until they cleared up what happened in the past, they mostly cleared it up but wanted this information sooner
- Peak and Jane could have easily explained things to Thanwa much earlier, definitely 'because the writer said so' stuff
- not a fan of what Almond did at the end of episode 2 and then again later
- too many near kisses
- toilet humor
- drunk driving after a party
- that the playboy character who was pansexual didn't believe in love due to his past, this played into stereotypes
- didn't make sense that neither Almond or Latte suggested trying something different, waiting until the final episode definitely felt like 'because the writer said so'

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Sharing a roof with complete strangers may seem risky, but over time, unconditional friendships are built... and possibly even more. On the other hand, making new friends who make you reflect and with whom you can share expenses is always encouraging.
Having roommates will definitely go from "sharing the house" to sharing everything; the bad jokes, the bad times and the existential crises. Although it is impossible for everything to be rosy, returning home to be yourself and having someone to talk to about the good in all circumstances is always a relief. The constant company of other people around you helps to observe the panorama beyond the tip of your nose.
The premise of this 'rom-com' may seem corny and implausible: Latte, Tawan, Peak and Almond are four young people who share a rental house. One night of drinking and playing spin the bottle, the first three discover that Almond is still a virgin.
In this way, the young man who has never enjoyed sex makes a bet: if one of them manages to connect him with the person he likes, he will cover a year's rent.
However, the creators of 'Knock Knock, Boys!' (Thai: บ้านหนุ่มโสด โหมดพร้อมเลิฟ/Ban Num Sot Home Phrom Love), make this 'fairy-tale' story a hilarious and emotional delight. This is how the story of love, dreams and friendship begins.
The series stars Nokia Chinnawat Phattharathanachot, who we saw in one of the episodes of the drama 'If I Love a Boy', specifically in 'Han on Me', and in 'Thank God It's Friday', both from 2019, playing this time to Almond.
Carrying out the daring and romantic mission is carried out by Latte (Boss Jaonine Jiraphat), who we know for his role as Tar in the drama 'Find Yourself'; Thanwa (Seng Wichai Saefant, star of the dramas 'Secret Crush on You' and 'War of Y', and Peak (Best Vittawin Veeravidhayanant), an actor we remember for playing Pluto in 'Love With Benefits' and Daonuea in 'Check Out'.
Directed by Natavut Leewairoj, the youth comedy-drama with an LGBT+ theme leaves us with a great lesson: living with roommates will mean that the jokes and fun will not stop, and the complicity and support at home, whether to set up night games, to prepare food, doing the laundry or helping you find the love of your life will be nearby whenever you need it.
The upbeat music, composed and produced by Susui and performed by Smart Wattana, makes 'Knock Knock, Boys!' remind us that true love and soulmates are also in our closest friends, which can even be those we just met. It also commemorates that in the same way that a loving relationship is built every day, so is friendship. Furthermore, an external look always helps us see more clearly.
The series will also address other topics, such as internalized homophobia, the school and work environment, family relationships, sexual repression and the fear of living sexuality freely.
Together with Almond, we will learn that not everything has to be perfect if you have the right roommates, because any difficulty or setback will be fixed as we go.
They are four opposite but complementary roommates, real, fun and imperfect young people who explore their sexuality, embrace their ambitions and face their insecurities while dealing with the difficulties of youth, such as coming of age, conventions, secret loves. , bisexuality, the discovery and acceptance of homosexuality without dramas or tragedies and a commitment to normalization, in a beautiful and fun youth story.
I would like to highlight the use of humor to dedramatize difficult moments such as coming out or recognizing one's virginity or pansexuality.
The drama aims not only to fulfill what one expects from such a premise, but also to overcome any idea or preconception, entering from a perspective full of love and humor into the lives of four friends, two of them in their early twenties, the other pair are university students still in adolescence, all in constant existential crisis, who oscillate between love dramas, student and work confusions and identity doubts, finding their salvation in each other.
Nokia leads with Almond's desperation to fit in and purest innocence. Jaonine puts security and emotional independence into her Latte; Best brings the entanglements of a heterosexual courtship just to make his father happy and Peak's sickly perfection, while Seng brings Thanwa's sexier carefreeness and self-love.
The four complement each other, argue, hug each other while drinking a drink of alcohol or face life as it comes and, above all, they never fail each other.
Much of its success lies in the perfect chemistry between the four young people, especially between the two couples in love: Peak and Thanwa, and Latte and Almond.
The cast closes with the performances of Mon Taechin Phaisanwan as Sean, Pak Varayu Pusomjitsakul as Jumper, Tuss Thotsawat Sing-uppo as Max, and Ten Tosatid Darnkhuntod, among other actors and actresses.
'Knock Knock, Boys!' It is a fantasy that we have all been able to or wanted to have, but that is more enchanting, natural, genuine and immensely fun in this production that will bring us many surprises.
I recommend this hilarious and unprejudiced Thai series, with its satirical humor with heart and its commitment to cultural, sexual and gender diversity, through the vicissitudes of four strangers who go from friends to lovers.

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