Hidden Agenda (2023)

Good acting but boring storyline...

The only feeling I had throughout was that the series had been wrongly named. I expected different with such a strong name... Comparatively I really enjoyed Only Friends, which has been made at the same time...
It felt too dragged at some places...
I have no complaints regarding the acting. The cast has really acted well... It really feels like they have adopted the characters into themselves.
But the storyline seems too straight...
Or it might be that watching other dramas with likable content has set my bars high...
But don't give this review too much importance... Watch it and decide for yourself... Mightbe you enjoy it...

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Surpresa boa

Eu confesso que não comecei a assistir com muitas expectativas, mas terminei essa série com uma sensação gostosa de conforto. É importante falar da evolução do Dunk, pois a série anterior, que ele também fez par com o Joong, deixou a desejar tanto na atuação como na química, Agora, ele aparece mais maduro, talvez pela construção do personagem, que é diferente da outra série, e com atuação melhorada a química entre eles melhorou consideravelmente.

O plot é bem clichê na verdade, mas blzeiros vivem de clichês, não é mesmo?
O roteiro nada inovador, traz o personagem de Zo "apaixonado" por Nita, e o personagem Joke, amigo de Nita, promete ajudá-lo a conquistar a garota, com a condição de que ele consiga entrar no clube de debates (esse clube é novidade pra mim). Na verdade, Joke tem a intenção de aproveitar o tempo próximo a Zo para conquistá-lo, e ele consegue! Mais clichê impossível.

Gostei muito do casal secundário, gostei de não terem vilanizado a personagem Nita, ao contrário, humanizaram ela e mostraram uma amizade sincera entre homem e mulher. Não existiu nenhum drama mirabolante entre os casais, apenas aquela negação dos sentimentos que atormentou Zo após o primeiro beijo, e foi bonito ver o Joke entendendo isso e correndo atrás.

Minha crítica vai apenas para a questão familiar. A família de Zo, com sua alegria ou problemas estava sendo mostrada desde o início, mas sobre Joke, tivemos apenas a aparição rápida de sua avó (uma diva) e no último episódio é que vemos o real problema da família dele, a treta com o pai poderia ter sido explorada de forma mais inteligente.

A parte técnica também não deixa a desejar, não tenho críticas.

Com certeza recomendo essa série, e pretendo assisti-la várias vezes.

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Lenta, porém deliciosa!

Eu amei como o romance é construído, não teve traição e a enganação foi Joke já gostar de Zo há muito tempo!
Muito fofos, atuação não é das melhores, mas só alguns personagens se perdem ali, Nita foi usada na medida certa. Vovó maravilhosa, só gostaria de saber como o pai de Zo ficou, se ele foi pra casa ou não.
Os beijos muito fofos e a cena da primeira vez do casal foi muito fofa na medida certa!
Sorri demais toda vez que eles se beijavam ou se abraçavam, fofos DEMAIS!
Lembrei um pouco do meu relacionamento, nesses longos 7 anos foram muitos altos e baixos e ficamos juntos, crises vieram, mas relacionamento é isso, é algo fluido que precisa estar todo tempo se adaptando as pessoa envolvidas!
Muito amor e respeito envolvido!

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A subpar level of an average BL lovely dovey-ness overload

So this one is a bit enjoyable at least for me. I know y'all be so down bad to treat this but I think for me it's okay. Nothing special. Good for those who wants lighter series or starting out on BL genre. The show fell short way too much.

The chemistry was there but the well-written script and plot were definitely HIDDEN. I think the plot serves no AGENDA and it's all just a lovely dovey-type fluff series. It failed to captivate me that much nonetheless I was entertained which is the bare minimum of a series to do to keep my attention.
The running time is way too long, just about any average BL produced in GMMTV. The plot also can be told and narrated in just this much eps, like just 5 eps is enough to deliver the missing plot.
The plot felt like something that when pointed out then what happens next kind of thing. I felt like, ok after pursuing Zo and they got together and Nita is out of the picture then what now?? Are there something that needs to be tackled about that's interesting?? Also they didn't reveal their relationship to both of their families. I get it that in the last ep, the show tried hard to give inner chaos inside freaking Zo and Joke respectively but such last minute problems are what I'm not a fan of. I never understand why producers would introduce a problem in the last ep when it should be addressed prior to the ending. Other aspects that didn't make sense if we were to talk about the plot are: Nita's stalker, perceived dishonesty of Louis's character, JengPok's love quarrel and the club's mentor's trouble one-sided love.

There are more flaws in this series that understandably failed expectations of many audience including me. For a JoongDunk fan like me, it's disappointing that GMM didn't give them a worthy series with convincing plot to take us anywhere but 55555 being wasted away with the same formula used in most BLs.

Overall, this was okay but lackluster, pretty entertaining though so yeah........

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This is the story about Zo & Joke. As MDL told us, this drama begin with Zo that decided to pursue his long-time crush Nita before graduation. In order to pursue her, he approaches Joke, Nita's ex, for dating advice. In exchange Joke ask for a place in the debate club. Or, at least, that's what he tells Zo, cause like the title said, Hidden Agenda.

What I like:
+ Zo is good man, weird sometimes but good. He bothered to explained his feeling to nita before moving forward with Joke.
+ Joke & Zo have problem with their parent. I like how they help each other to deal with their parents, Zo help Joke & Joke help Zo. And how everything solve & be better in the end.

Now what I feel strange about this drama:
- The plot feel weird. I don't know, it feel like jumping from place to place. It feel like there's something missing, but they don't include it in the final cut. It's like when Zo said he gonna enlisted in military during vacation, but we never see him join military. Or when Zo's dad get into hospital, he just make space with joke, yeah he explained it later but before that feel like there's missing scene...
- The chemistry between Dunk Natachai Boonprasert & Joong Archen Aydin themselves feel strange. It feels like they uncomfortable with each other. It feel like the actors is not gay but force to play gay man & had to kiss a man make them uncomfortable.

Overall this just another drama on my list

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Vide mais mignonnet

Sincèrement pas très intéressant, juste mignonnet. Je trouve que GMMTV fournit à JoongDunk des séries quand même assez limitées, notamment niveau scénario (en clair, c'est vide). Cette série ressemble tellement à Star In My Mind, les personnages sont similaires, que ce soit pour Joong ou Dunk, le personnage de Joong lorgnant également du côté de Sarawat dans 2gether. Si je trouve que Dunk s'est amélioré, il est quand même le maillon faible du couple côté jeu. Peut-être qu'il n'est d'ailleurs pas possible de leur donner des séries plus ambitieuses comme pour ForceBook, JimmySea ou PondPhuwin.
Après avoir dit tout cela, leur alchimie est ce qui sauve cette série du naufrage et qui permet de donner un 7 (je suis quand même assez gentille dans ma notation) parce que c'est toujours adorable de voir JoongDunk ensemble. Je conseille d'ailleurs les BTS, qui sont presque plus affectueuses que le drama lui-même.
Un problème que j'ai eu par contre avec le couple JokeZo est cette impression de déséquilibre dans leur relation, que Joke est plus investi, plus amoureux. Les scénaristes et/ou réalisateur ont d'ailleurs rajouté des scènes insistant sur l'amour de Zo.
Le couple AouBoom et les rôles secondaires, pourtant donnés à des acteurs GMMTV solides et familiers, sont anecdotiques.

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Disappointing Tale with a Good Concept

**Brief Synopsis**
B (Student): Zo
T (Student): Joke

- Beginning: B is in love with a girl and would like to know her better. However, he doesn’t know where to start so he decide to ask T, the girl’s ex, to help him with wooing her. T agrees in exchange for help getting in to the debate club but it was obvious from the beginning he was only interested in B and not debating. To teach B how to date, T brings B on a date, help him dress better and generally be true to himself. During his date, B’s heart started racing, but he doesn’t know what to think of it. He still goes on a date with the girl who finally notices him, but for some reason, when he finally got to sit down with her, he finds the experience lacking and his heart stayed silent. He retells the experience to T who assures him that it was fine. But when T puts an arm around him, B’s heart started to pound again.

- Middle: B and T spends more time together, thanks to T’s efforts. They go on trips and they get to know each other better. B still treats T as a friend which T takes advantage of to get closer to him. Finally B notices that something is up because T is acting way too intimate with him and starts distancing himself a little. T finally confesses to B and asks him for a chance to woo him. B did not refuse even if he still doesn’t know what he is feeling. He is obviously not comfortable with the PDA but is not repulsed by it. And when T does things such as hug him or spooning him while they sleep, he makes a slight show to refusing and then seems to enjoy the intimacy. After a while, B finally admits that he has feelings for T and kisses him.

- End: But after they have gotten together, B finds T’s chat logs and realizes that everything he thought was fate was actually a lie because T has planned everything out including pretending to help him get the girl. He is hurt that their relationship started with a lie and runs away. T goes to B to apologize and tells him how he had fallen for him in the first place. B is touched and ends up forgiving him. The show ends with them graduating and B telling T that he wants to stay with him forever.

**My Opinion**

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT:
- I actually liked the characters despite how underdeveloped they are. That is normal because the focus was entirely on their relationship rather than them as individuals.
- I really liked how the actors looked. They are really good looking and fits well together. I really like how B looked after he had taken off his glasses and started dressing more stylishly.
- I actually like the fact that I could feel the romantic tension between them since the beginning. The actors did an okay job in portraying this state of mind.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ABOUT IT:
- The plot is practically non-existence. The story is cliche and predictable and does not have any memorable moments.
- There were some subplots but the other characters aren’t developed enough for me to care about their stories.
- Acting can get a little awkward at times, especially when strong emotions needs to be displayed. Reactions can get cringey and underwhelming at times. For example, when B admits to his friends that T is trying to woo him, the way they react is way too calm. Or when T meets the guy who was a jerk to B before. Scenes with only the two of them are fine but once there are other people, it feels badly acted.
- Dialogue can get a little awkward as well. It’s moments like this that reminds me this is just a cheesy rom com. There is absolutely no depth to this show and every time they attempt to add depth, it comes off as unfinished and not thought out. For example, there was something about a stalker but it was resolved so fast that it didn’t leave an impression, just felt it was to extend the run time.
- The intimate scenes are pretty tame but I feel that something is just missing. It doesn’t feel as passionate as with other shows.
- The angst lacks the emotional punch because it’s just so cliche and the characters themselves doesn’t look to distressed about it. The angst comes from lying to your partner to get close to them and then them finding out, which is also an overused trope.

**Conclusion**
It was frankly a rather boring watch as I feel nothing happened and there was no reason to cheer the main couple on. It was a good concept but it was badly executed.

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Making your parent proud can be tiresome~

For the first few episodes I skipped quiet a lot. It was somewhat slow and the "agenda" wasn't well hidden. The back and forth denial and what not.

Nevertheless, the story did bring out a warm message towards the end. Having to please your parent, making them proud with everything you do in life is never easy. It can back-fire if you're not careful. Seeking for family's approval really drains you out; not to mentioned your mental health. But then, having someone next to you, supports you - even when you can't support yourselves is more than enough.

I love how at the end they managed to resolved the issues they have towards their family. While Jeng really showed how much he loves Pok. He changed for the better and paid off all the sacrifices Pok made for him all this time. Definitely in love with Boom's acting and wish could see more of Boom & Aou together - (2nd couple syndome here~).

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It's over for me!!!!

I don't think I'll watch this series until the end. I finished the episode 3 weeks ago and can't bring myself to continue. I need to tell this "I'm sorry, but it's boring".
When I saw the trailer, I was so excited, because it promised a lot. But the story isn't good for me. I expected things to happen differently. Joke even trying to help Zo with Nita and their feelings developing along the way. I would have liked to see Zo trying to win Nita over, not fall for Joke so quickly.
I like a soft love story with no big drama, but let's be serious, this isn't "My School President".
I like Dunk and Joong, but I don't see the chemistry between them. I didn't see it in their preview series "Star and Sky" either. I always get the feeling that Dunk can't get emotionally involved, that he can't convey the feelings to us, the viewers. When I see Zo, I see Dunk. They have the same behavior towards Joong/Joke.

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I'm sorry, but no

This series is supposed to be romance but the script makes it feel like horror comedy, I had to cover my face due to its cringey-ness and I laughed because some of the scenes just don't make sense

Look, I'm trying to finish this series but after 4 episodes it didn't get better, it just got worse... Joong and Dunk might be not the best actor out there but even this is not about their acting anymore. This is not the case of good story bad acting, it's more like decent acting horrible story. I don't even understand the story progression, suddenly they're here, suddenly they're there, suddenly this happened and boom! they fall in love even harder with each other. It just doesn't make sense, there are so many plot holes and the story feels like a fever dream. It's all over the place. It feels like you're trying to piece a long script from scraps of scenes, it has all the tropes that you would find in a cliche romance story, but even doing all that didn't bring anything to the table. Sad. The dialogues are cringe, their gestures are cringe, their acting are cringe, at this point I feel like this is not JoongDunk's fault, it's just the story and directing is bad. Which is sad because GMMTV had produced better series, and THIS NOT IT!!!

It's actually disappointing because I love Joong and Dunk, I also feel like they deserve better movies because they had the potential as a couple, great chemistry, and both are good looking. They have all the equations to complete the formula to be a big BL couple. But sadly they somehow always ended up doing movies with a bad script. I thought they would get something better after Star in My Mind (which I liked), that's why I am anticipating Hidden Agenda. It has the same story outline like 2gether but somehow this fails miserably. Hopefully, they will got better projects in the future. Good luck Joong Dunk!!!

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A Good Bad Series

I enjoyed this series a lot. It made me fall in love with JoongDunk.

HOWEVER:

1) Imagine if they used "the struggle to make someone proud of you" as a theme throughout the series! It had so much potential, but they chose to use it only at the end of it. WHY?
The wrinting wasn't good. Unfortunately, this has become a recurrent thing in many GMMTV shows.

2) I love JoongDunk's chemistry and I want to see it again in future series, but PLEASE give Dunk more acting class! Chemistry alone cannot carry a series by itself. In some scenes, his acting wasn't good enough. And I was sad to see it. It felt like it got worse since SIMM.

3) WHY THE HELL JengPok had so little screen time??? It's not bad writing, it's a crime at this point. So many series benefit from giving screentime to a second/side couple, but not this show. WHY? Their storyline could be a series by itself.
Moreover, Boom (Pok) acting was so good that it surpised me. Give him a main role!
Another wasted potential!

Despite all the flaws HA has, it was an enjoyable show. It also made me cry here and there!
If you are looking for a series where you don't need to use your brain, I suggest to watch Hidden Agenda.
Especially if you like good kissing scenes ;D

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Don’t understand all the hate

Okay, I get this wasn’t a 10/10 but man people have a lot to say LOL. I actually sooooo enjoy JoongDunk together. They have wonderful chemistry. I ended up watching this after the show finished so for me it didn’t feel boring since I was able to watch back to back. I can understand how if you were watching week to week it could maybe get slow for you mid show. Half of the show was just them being a couple. If you prefer a lot of angst this definitely may not be for you but sometimes personally I just enjoy watching the couple experience. I do feel like there were alot of random plot points lol maybe the writers should have just picked like 2 main plot points and stuck to that.

I agree that the next show they do I would love to see something different and not related to school since this is their second show like that. However, I love them as a couple and how GMMTV lets then explore more!

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