Hidden Agenda (2023)

I need justice for joongdunk

Ok I got to be honest...I tried heaven knows I did...and I'm disappointed...I think out of most gmmtv couples... joongdunk have the most beautiful chemistry... of screen but they have never impressed me in any of the series they have been in together....I want them to play a mafia vipire zombie and dark series because just seeing them being just cute and lovey dovey....that's joongdunk stuff....I need to differentiate between joongdunk and their characters.....
STORYLINE:I was bored really...and I stayed in believing it will get better and at some point it did...but then they dropped me...I wish this series was just 8 episodes....let the couple be sweet then end it...but no offense...this series is too long and nothing going on....I just gave up on it....
I believe in joongdunk and I'm hoping they will surprise me in future but for this show sadly it's a no from me... AGAIN THIS IS MY OPINION YOU SHOULD WATCH IT FOR YOURSELF THEN JUDGE IT ACCORDING YO YOUR TASTE

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I don't really know what to say for this series...I generally thought this will be a good series, but in my opinion it wasn't. At the start i was excited, thinking that it wasn't so bad since it just the start but after a while i just got bored. Like what the hell is happening? The plot was just plain boring...and the title 'Hidden Agenda'. Like bro what does it relate to the story...nothing! Even though i have thought of stopping this series but i still went on to watch the whole series just for the second couple, AouBoom. (sorry i had forgotten their characters name) . Like i just wish the plot was more interesting, not some basic enemies to lovers or whatever u think they are. In my opinion JoongDunk pervious series was better than this, like i generally enjoyed it unlike this one.

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JoongDunk deserves better

I adore JoongDunk to death but this series was horribly written, most of it was just contrived drama thrown in, then solved within 10 minutes. At a certain point I didn’t even know what the overarching plot was. It lost the plot completely and just turned into glimpses of JoongDunk fanservice (which was the best part of the show). Again I love them so much but my baby Dunk needs an acting coach or acting lessons because his mediocre acting was really highlighted in this show.

I’m begging gmmtv to give JoongDunk a good script with a good director for their next series. Because SIMM and Hidden Agenda don’t show anything the two are capable of, especially Joong.

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....meh...

The story was good. I liked the plot.

Two college classmates. Boy 1 has a crush on Boy 2. Boy 2 has a crush on Boy 1's ex-girlfriend. Boy 2 is a shy, awkward mess. His friends convince him to approach Boy 1 for help in winning over his crush, to whom he can't speak two words without stuttering. Sensing an opening to win his own crush, boy 1 agrees to help boy 2 and does his best to win his affections. In the end he does, and they live happily ever after.

The music was forgettable.

My maine gripe is the acting, which completely ruined this show for me.
Joong was great. Dunk was awful. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but it's the pure truth. His facial expressions were gawd-awful and actively broke scenes and moods for me. The personality of the character was ruined. The entire story was ruined. I'm majorly angry at whoever directed/coached this cast and allowed the show to be released as is. GGMTV has some great works, and I expected better from them. (Tho I will note that the chemistry between Joong and Dunk was good, and they pulled off both emotional and physical intimacy well. But that's limited to touch/chemistry. Not the other part of acting--dialogue, expressions, etc.)

It's a good story if you can get past the acting.
Along with a sweet romance, the show tackles issues of family expectations, the pressure to succeed, and "in the closet" relationships--all very well done.

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This was not good...like at all.

It was bad guys. Like I'm surprised how bad it was.

The sad part is that I wanted so much better for them that this but this was horrible.

I blame the storyline the most because it was basically absent. Like there was not overarching theme that tied the events that occurred together. I mean if you're not going to make the relationship the forefront of the story, you gotta BRING IT. There was nothing captivating, riveting, or fun about this drama. It was honestly just so poor.

The acting needs to be criticized as well, because come on. There were no moments of me connecting with a scene or character because there really didn't seem to be any real emotion present. I think they were attempting to give the MC a TharnType type of relationship (one character blindly in love, other character being ambivalent/nonchalant but secretly loving it). However with MewGulf you could FEEL the passion from both of them. Although there were moments where I felt it from Joong (I appreciated his commitment) I often wondered if Dunk's character even liked Joke.

I want everyone involved in this production to reflect, because it was just horrible.

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The only thing hidden in this show was the plot

How should I start... let's say that the couple with the most potential here was actually WaveTrin (PodGuy) which was included completely out of blue at the end and wasn't even properly solved. I stayed mainly for AouBoom because the lack of their scenes in Vice Versa made me want more but it wasn't actually any better... And the main couple JokeZo... it was hell watching them at the start cuz I could not even imagine how could they get together with Zo's personality but it got better when they started dating.
And wtf was that debate club?? I would expect they'd talk about serious and controversial themes with lots of opinions and trying to find solution to it but those topics were completely random and the contest is also pretty unfair when you are on the side where you can't say much about it.
And the hidden agenda?? Was it just that Joke did not want to help Zo get Nita but to date him?? That ended in like ep 3 or 4 and then it was pretty random.
I'm actually glad they added a serious theme like stalking into it but making it a cover for Nita's and Joke's relationship was pretty lame I'd say. And poor Nita... she was so plain and treated like a doll there. At first she was Zo's prey without even knowing, then a victim of stalking and sexual harassment and in the end she felt bad for winning scholarship which wanted Zo but his speech was so poor he did not even deserve it. I'd say wasted potential on side characters.

I also wonder why JoongDunk has much more chemistry irl and iconic moment on LOL fanfest but their characters' chemistry is below zero. Idk what show could make JoongDunk shine but SIMM and HA are not the ones.

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One of the highly disappointing dramas of 2023

I had low anticipation about the drama after watching the trailer, and this drama is a huge failure in 2023. But when I started to watch the drama, the first half was okay and passable, and I wouldn't drop because it's too late, so I watched the whole thing. Before anything else, kudos to Dunk for improving his acting skills. Idk why GMMTV is wasting resources, time, and their actors. Why can't they use the full potential of these actors? And aren't there any writers to write a different plot? It's like copying and pasting the star in my mind with a little twist and a sloppy climax. I hope that in the future they will do their best.

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Mindless Fluff, Weakly Written

You might enjoy this if you like cute, mindless fluff and don't mind newbie acting. The main couple's "love language" seems to be bickering but their more intimate romantic moments are very sweet.

The chemistry between the leads is undeniable and they are most natural when interacting with each other. However, they are still newer actors and their inexperience shows (in line delivery and reactions). Joong's acting is a 5 and Dunk's is a 3 (out of 10).

The actors aren't helped by a weak script with stiff, contrived dialogue and a boring, poorly executed plot. I'm glad for JoongDunk that they are getting some experience (it's a great way to continue improving their acting skills), but I just got too bored by the end of episode 8. After pausing for a couple of weeks I decided not to continue at all.

Both the actors AND the writers could benefit from more workshops to work on their craft before doing another project. At this point, I won't be looking forward to whatever they produce next.

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A disappointing show

Basically almost everything is subpar in this series, if not downright bad. The cinematography is standard, neither good nor bad, and so is the editing. Some sound effect/music choices during the episodes are confusing but I love the ost and all the songs produced for this show - Joong and Dunk are both really enjoyable singers.

Writing-wise, the premise is pretty simple -  a boy requests a friend's help to hit on his crush and ends up falling (requitedly) for his friend instead - but the writing fails at carrying it out properly. Starting from ep 5 onwards, the « plot » abounds with fillers, and there’s no sense of direction. The story does attempt to tackle complex themes such as family relationships in its last episodes, but their handling and resolution ends up oversimplified.

The secondary characters are either entirely functional (Pat, the other friend), or criminally underused (Pok, Jeng, Nita), which is mind-boggling considering all the time dedicated to fillers in this show, which could instead have been used to develop them and their storylines. Joke and Zo’s relationship, despite being the main focus of this series, still needs work by the end of the 12 episodes, and I could never fully engage with Joke and Zo as characters (in Joke’s case, because he’s too pushy and too entirely defined by his love for Zo - and in Zo’s case, because I didn’t understand what he was thinking half the time, which is both a writing and an acting issue).

I like Joong’s acting but I felt like he was at 50% his capacity half the time. Dunk's acting, while slightly improved since SIMM, still needs a lot of work.

Still, some moments managed to capture my heart in the few occurrences when good writing and acting came together to deliver beautiful scenes (most of ep 3 and 4 for Joke/Zo, ep 7 and 9 for Jeng/Pok). Joong and Dunk’s chemistry is also amazing and the kiss scenes were all brillant.

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Relationships Don't End at the Credits

Story: 9.0
I was a bit apprehensive about starting this drama because of how low the rating was when I first realized it was airing, but I forgot how harsh DramaList reviews tend to be for some reason~ I think the story is interesting, and there's some foreshadowing of Zo's reaction to Joke's plan, which made it a bit more suspenseful, but, overall, the story is a cute, straightforward tale with sprinkles of little issues here and there that the characters have faced and will have to face. It has a very big "Don't Judge What You Don't Know" vibe for several characters, specifically Nita, and there hasn't been any toxic women in this drama, so we automatically get an extra star for that lmao There are cute details in it (like Joke confessing his feelings to Zo in the SECOND episode in Chinese lol) that make it cute, but I don't think it's the most ground-breaking in terms of creativity, though I could definitely see this drama being a comfort show for many people. I will say that the second couple feels a lot like an after thought, so much so that I actually forgot to put them in this review at first, which is why I knocked a half star. They're cute, and they're relevant in certain parts, and I even love how they develop, but they still feel a bit more like background characters instead of a full blown main couple~ BONUS: most of the issues are solved in ONE EPISODE. Like, the characters TALK TO EACH OTHER. I fucking LOVE that shit lmaoo We stan healthy communication in this house~

EDIT AS OF 12th EPISODE: I will say that that final episode was a bit more rushed than I would've liked, and the problem in it involving Zo feels a bit thrown in, so I knocked another half star for that. It doesn't necessarily effect my overall feeling of the story, but it does feel like something worth mentioning here nonetheless~

WE INTERRUPT THIS REVIEW FOR A TANGENT: I'm not sure why most of the reviews are talking negatively about how "the show should've ended when they got together; I'm bored!" and "who cares about family issues!?" I want to just quickly throw in here that relationships don't end at the credits. Real relationships continue far past initially getting together, and I think that struggle isn't shown as much in BLs through Thailand as it should be (unless it's one of the main plot points). Of course, one reason could be the short episode count, but I love that about shows, so I'm not gonna complain too much~

This show, though, has managed to give us all of that without rushing, and too many people are too upset with it because they almost fetishize these relationships, and it's mildly infuriating to see such venom about such a cute show. Yes, there are problems, but aren't there always?

Anyway~

Acting/Cast: 10
This was my introduction to Joong (Joke) with someone other than Nine (Kitkat from 2Moons2), and the roll he plays here is such a stark difference from his role in 2Moons2 that I'm so impressed with him??? I knew he'd expand and do great things as an actor, but I think he might be one of my new favorites, and I love Ohm (Pat from Bad Buddy) and Nanon (Pran from Bad Buddy) so much that THAT in of itself should convince you to watch this~ I hadn't seen anything with Dunk (Zo) before, and he's also joining my boys up on the top. I mean, he does such a great job of playing a realistically insecure guy -- he's not over-the-top with it; just overthinks things a bit too much because he doesn't have confidence. Does he have Nanon's expressive eyes? Well, not entirely, but he's relatively new and does a great job for what this character needs. I've seen both JoongDunk dramas at this point, and I'm thoroughly in love with both of them~

The side characters are also great! They're actually relevant to the plotline instead of being simple comic relief, which is refreshing and nice and I love them, so be nice to them~

Music: 8.5
A bit harsh, but I've been so spoiled by Bad Buddy and 2together and even Not Me that I can't help itttt~ I base it purely on whether I add any songs to my playlist, and I haven't done that here yet~ I will say that the background music for the scenes of the show are well-done, though, and I didn't feel like it took me out of the storyline~

Rewatch Value: 10
Like I said, I think this show has the potential to be a comfort show to some people, myself included~ The problems are solved in a relatively healthy manner, the actors have great chemistry, and the storyline is linear without confusing detours.

Fun fact: I did, in fact, end up watching this cute little show several thousand times when I got sick lol

Overall: 9.5
This series is as straightforward as the synopsis says. It's got great actors, good chemistry, and a cute, easy plotline that might give you cavities in the same episode that it pinched your heart. JoongDunk are a relatively new couple in BL, but I hope they get as popular as OffGun or MaxTul or any of the OGs because they're so good, and they can only get better, you know? The side characters are nothing to scoff at. I've seen Louis (Pat, Zo's friend) and AJ (Kot, Zo's more reasonable friend lmao) in a few other dramas, and I love them to bits~

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Deserves a Chance

I do not get why Hidden Agenda is being dragged so much on this site. Yes, Dunk's acting is subpar, but the rest of the cast are all great, and the story, while not unique by any means, balances non-cringy humor, drama, romantic tension, and surprising revelations really well. JoongDunk's chemistry is insanely good. Watching the two of them bicker as sparks fly between them is high-quality entertainment. The characters are likeable and easy to sympathize with, especially Zo. Yes, he is a chaotic fool, but he is trying! He just needs a little help to overcome his awkwardness and self-consciousness, and he will hopefully get this help [and more] from Joke, who, in case you are worried, is not an a**hole. Going by what I have seen of him as of now, I can even say that he is surprisingly mature, kind, and good at communication for a "cold, handsome, popular" BL lead.

Overall, I enjoyed the pilot episode of this series a lot. It is up to you, but if you are interested in watching it, do not let the criticism influence your decision much. Hidden Agenda is not nearly as bad as the other viewers are making it seem. I think that it even has potential to become really good.

Edit: The second episode is a little underwhelming. Except for the debate club scene, its plot is a whole lotta nothin' with clichés on top, especially in the first two parts. This series has the potential to improve, though. JoongDunk are really cute together and have great chemistry, Joke is charming, and some interesting things about the different characters' connections to each other are suggested.

Edit 2: Oh, the sweet, sweet tension between them... *heart eyes* I loved episode three. There is something about JokeZo's dynamic that makes them stand out from other BL couples that I have watched. The way in which their relationship progresses keeps surprising me, and Joke is coming increasingly closer to being my favorite love interest ever in a BL series. If you want something feel-good, funny, and romantic, watch this series.

Edit 3: The more I watch this series, the more I like it. JokeZo's interactions are so natural, so human. Although the plot is light-hearted, the progression of their relationship adds depth to it. JoongDunk's chemistry -- what can I even say? They are on fire in episode four.

Edit 4: Okay, I was defending this series, but now that I have watched episode five and six, I see where the other viewers are coming from. Every character in Hidden Agenda is supposed to have a hidden agenda, but the story does not do a good job at indicating this at all. It should have been building up toward the big reveal, not hiding everything behind a bland plot.
I also agree with everybody who says that something is off about this series. I am feeling the sinister vibes, and I am pretty sure that this is not what the production team was aiming for.

Edit 5: In episodes seven and eight, the plot went through an identity crisis, but JoongDunk's romantic scenes made them worth the watch. I lost count of how many times I have rewatched the bed scene -- it stands out from all other bed scenes that I have seen. Both Joong and Dunk were incredibly convincing, and the scene itself had a gentleness to it that I usually do not see in other BL series.

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