Episode 1
Episode 1 of Between Us: The Series (Hemp Rope) starts with two opposite characters, Win and Team. Win is a senior who wakes up on time and gets dressed for college while Team is a junior who is late on his first day to class. At college, Manow runs into a senior, Pruek. He grabs onto her as she is about to fall.
They exchange pleasantries as she walks away blushing after thanking him for helping her. Win and Dean are going to the Swim club when Win spots Team for the first time. Back at Win’s house, his younger brother, Wan calls him upset to complain about their older brother, Wiew.
At college, Team runs into his new Swim Team buddies, A, Bee and Sea who tag along with him for the Swimming Club registration. At the registration desk, Win is trying to calm his little brother Wan down as Dean and Pruek overhear the conversation.
Pruek jokes that there aren’t any soft-hearted people like Win left in the world. The juniors arrive and start registering for the club. Dean leaves Win and Pruek to go to the desk when Pruek asks Win if he ever had someone he fell in love with instantly. Win’s eyes land on Team but he immediately leaves Pruek alone to go to the desk.
The three seniors announce an orientation test for the new entrees of the Swim Team club. A, Bee and Sea joke that Team would excel on the test as he was a scholarship student. Win overhears this and tells the entire group that the test is going to be difficult for every trainee, no matter that they were a scholarship student.
The juniors leave and Team joins his friends, Pharm and Manow for lunch. He is worried about not being able to make it to the team because of Win’s threat. His friends reassure him that everything will be okay. They promise to cheer him on at his tryouts and which will be held the day after.
Later that night, Win enters his apartment complex elevator and as it turns out, Team lives in the same building. They miss running into each other by a second as Team appears just as the elevator leaves. Win is on a phone call with Wan who is talking about how he feels lonely because Wiew is always on his phone, gaming.
He promises to meet Wan later that week. Win knocks on his dorm neighbour, Tul’s door and asks him to join the swim tryouts for assistance to which Tub unwillingly agrees. The next day, Team is lost during class when Manow and Pharm ask him about his tryouts.
He tells them that the test is at 4 pm the following day. The two friends promise to attend the tryouts but Team leaves to go back home because he was feeling unwell. On the day of tryouts, A, B and Sea wonder what was wrong with Team because he was so lost in thought. The boys get ready to leave once the three seniors arrive and Win notices Team’s hesitation.
At the stands, Pruek is happy to see Manow while Dean spots Pharm which takes him back to a certain memory. Team is happy to spot his two friends while Win wonders what is wrong with Dean – the President of the Swim Team.
Before the race starts, Team has a traumatic flashback but he is able to give his best on the tryouts test. Team finishes the race first and is selected to be on the swim team. The three friends gather together for dinner and Team is in a chirpy mood. Pharm asks Team if he was stressed before the tryouts and Team states that he usually feels a bit worried before competitions.
Manow and Pharm try to cheer Team on. Pharm talks about the trip the swim club will be taking in the days to come and how Team will be away from the rest of the juniors. Pharm is in the baking club and is asked to prepare food for the swimming club. He asks Team to join him on his trip to shop for ingredients.
The next day, Dean and Win are at the convenience store shopping for snacks and Dean runs into Pharm. They have a flashback from years ago with their older identities, Ein and Korn that leaves Pharm in tears. Win interrupts them and Pharm runs away.
Dean is mad at Win for interrupting them. Back at the swim club, Dean is lost as the swim club members carry the snacks inside. Team carries the bottles of water inside when he suddenly gets a call from Pharm. Worried about his friend, Team rushes out to meet Pharm without informing the group.
Win follows Team and is surprised as he notices that Team is consoling Pharm who was upset and crying after his flashback. The swim team makes it to the resort where Tul joins the three seniors. The juniors are going through several training exercises that Team has some difficulty doing.
After the session, the juniors have a dip in the ocean where A, Bee and Sea force Team into the water. Team ends up injuring himself in the process and suffers a small cut on his sole. Win notices this and follows Team and the trio asking A, Bee and Sea to look for first aid as he handles the situation calmly.
Team is hesitant to let Win look at his wound. Win jokes that the cut was not as deep so he will not get any leverage when it comes to the training sessions. Team states that he will be able to run around the resort in no time which upsets Win. He leaves Team to take care of the wound on his own.
Later that evening, the seniors and Tul are talking about Dean and how he feels lost at times. Win states that Dean is always on the lookout for something but that he does not know what he is looking for. That night, Win chats up with Dean. Dean asks Win if he has ever lost something dear to him which was suddenly back into his life.
Win mentions that he never really lost anything significant to him because he never had anything of so much value in his life. Dean claims that Win does not ever let things be important to him. Win claims that things in his life are fleeting but Dean argues that he cannot keep living like this. Dean asks Win to join the juniors.
At dinner, Win spots Team grilling meat with A, Bee and Sea. Sea takes the other three to a room claiming that he had gotten his hands on the latest adult film leak. The four friends watch the NSFW movie together when Team starts getting uncomfortable. Team notices he has an erection and asks Bee to give him the key to their room.
He rushes outside as the trio poke fun at him. Outside, Team finds a hose of running water and tries to calm himself down by washing his head. Win finds him and scolds him stating he could fall sick. Win notices the predicament Team is in and touches his neck. He tries to get close to Team who is blushing.
Win eventually kisses Team but the latter breaks free. Win states that if Team cannot take care of his predicament on his own, he could join Win in his room. Team willingly follows Win to the senior’s room. Win asks for Team’s consent and the two end up making out.
The Episode Review
Oh, what a way to take fans back to Until We Meet Again! I really enjoyed this episode and it seems like Between Us will be the epitome of consent in Thai BLs. After seeing a lot of forced romance scenes in many shows in the past, I had a lot of trouble trying to emote characters falling in love with their abuser.
Though the idea is that the bottom is not aware of his feelings for the top and that the top is only forcing himself onto the bottom because he is passionate about him, scenes like those often lead to uncomfortable outcomes. It’s great to see how Win asked Team multiple questions to ensure the latter was not drunk. He did kiss Team without consent first but asked him to willingly follow him to his room if he liked help.
Until We Meet Again showed WinTeam as the goofy chaotic side-couple but I’m sure we will get to see something deeper with both characters who are just getting to know each other. Pruek and Manow are the only hetero couple we allow in the BL household and I am here for their romance!
Hopefully we see a lot more wholesome romance between the couple instead of emotional moments like in the original show.
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| Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes! | |
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Episode Rating
(4.5)
I’m pretty sure Team is a freshman as it states it in a few episodes. A good example is when Aunty Ta saw him during the fireworks she had asked him what year he was in and he stated Freshman as she proceeded to say that P’Ton would be a 3rd year since he is two years older than Team.
The series is amazing and I absolutely love it. I watched it multiple times before telling myself to watch something else. I suggest the series ‘Love In The Air’ if you haven’t watched it yet.
This is my summary of the series ‘Between Us’
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Its sad that Team had blamed himself for the death of his own friend after Aunty Ta had repeatedly asked “Why did you kill Ton, Team?” Ever since childhood his trauma had affected him to have *insomnia* in fear (Meaning he has Somniphobia) of the replay of that day in his dreams. The repeated *Lucid Dreams* feel real to him as they relapse everything as he still believes it is his fault for that fateful day.
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When Team woke up he had realized he was late for his first year causing him to rush to dress. Team has a scholarship for his altheticism with swimming so he had instantly signed up for the *Swim Club*. Along the way to sign up for the club he had met A, B(Bumblebee/Bee), and Sea. His friend *Pharm* had signed up for the *Cook Club* while the other hand *Manow* his other friend signed up for *Drama Club*. Team has *Lucid Dreams* about the day that he lost his best friend, cousin/brother, P’Ton before qualification and competitions as it reminded him of their promise to both be side by side althetics. Team would have the silver as P’Ton deserved the gold medal.
Pharm has symptoms towards *loud noises* causing his former past life flash through his mind. During the shopping scene Pharm and Dean have a sudden *flashback of their former identities known as Ein and Korn* causing Pharm to burst into tears. Before Dean can speak to Pharm Hia Win interupts the two, this making Pharm get a chance to run away. Dean becomes frustrated of this and stares at Hia Win.
During a later scene Dean is lost in thoughts while his teammates carry in the snacks and water into the area. Team had gotten a sudden call from Pharm causing him to worry this making Dean and Hia Win to stare at Team. Team had told them he had to go leaving Dean and Hia WIn confused. After Team seen Pharm crying he was worried and asking questions. Pharm stated he didn’t know why he was crying. Team reassured him that its ok to cry even if you didn’t know why. Hia Win went to see Team only to see he was conforting his friend. He watched how he was being kind and protective towards Pharm making him smile.
Team was having sleep issues and nightmares (Lucid Dreams) before the qualification making him anxious. The day of the qualifications came and Team became more anxious only in the end to succeed in passing the qualifications time needed. This made Team smile while his friends were shouting in suport for his win.
Their camp for training had come along and they had fun during it. After the training A, B (Bee), and Sea were messing around before throwing Team into the water. They had gotten worried for Team after seeing the blood on his foot. Hia Win became worried and asked what had happened. They had carried Team to a table near by before Hia Win told the to catch the Aid Kit. Hia Win looked at the wound while Team told him it was just a small cut. Hia Win still proceeded to clean it with water. Team repeated it was a small cut frustrating Hia Win after stating he could still run around the resort in 10 minutes just fine. This caused Hia Win to storm off saying if its just a small cut he could take care of it himself. Team stopped him thanking him before Hia Win left.
Team and A were grilling before Bee and Sea had stated they had something special to show them asking them to stop cooking. Team and A followed them to the room before Bee and Sea showed that they got the latest *Adultry Film Leak*. Team became uncomfortable before realizing he had became aroused asking Bee to give him the key. The three started to tease Team before he stormed off out of embarrassment.
Team noticed a water hose on the way to his room. Hoping it would calm him he *sprayed the water hose on his head* soaking himself. Hia Win stopped him with a scold saying he could get sick from that and stating his wound could get wet. Team grew embarrassed as Hia Win noticed that Team was aroused placing his hand around his neck stating Team was hot and blushing. Team was too stunned to properly speak before Hia Win offered to help him with his predicament. Willingly Team had followed Hia Win to his room for help. Hia Win asked him questions to be sure he was not taking advantage of Team. *Hia Win confirmed Team had given him consent* before throwing him on th bed and repeatedingly kissing Team.
Team wanted to avoid Hia Win afer their one-night-stand but Hia Win showed up to his dorm with food as he teased Team. Team believed that Hia Win did that to many other peoples pushing him away. Team ate the meal with Hia Win before trying his best to have him leave stating he was finished eating and could leave. Hia Win persisted to stay longer saying he should take care of Team. Hia Win asked him if it really was because Team wanted to be lazy or if it was because he was avoiding him. Team only said it was because he was being lazy and pushed Hia Win out of the room. After Hia Win had left Team couldn’t help but smile to himself about what Hia Win had stated.
Hia Win and his friends told the team about the open house and that the first years and second years would be switching turns with the dunking. This made the team sigh in disbelief. Team was distracted and unable to pay attention. Hia Win told Team to collect the papers and give them to him when he was done. Team nodded and went back to dazing off.
Team and Hia Wins relationship grown stronger as the longer they hung out.
Near the end Team had gotten first place. Hia Win and the other team leaders made a decision to book a free night at the resort for the good job the team did. This made the teammates happy and excited. Wanting to celebrate they jumped up and down.
The series showed the strong feelings of each character, showing the personalities of the friends and the two lovers. In the series it showed the strong friendship of the characters and about their person lifes.
I couldn’t help but noticed later on in the serieas Hia Wins older brother P’Waan was closed to T-Rex who he later finds out is truly Hia Wins close friend Tul. T-Rex (Tul) gets to know the personal struggles of P’Waans life. P’Waan relies on T-Rex being open to talk about his issues. Tul keeps his *identity a secret* to P’Waan after he had met him at the uni. P’Waan later figures out the true identity of Tul only to be mad he had been lied to. P’Waan has a long talk with Hia Win about it to only figure out Hia Win *betrays him* to help save his brother and Tuls relationship again. P’Waan had stated that he couldn’t be with Tul as he lied to him about it and that he was a good liar. Tul shows up apologizing while security pulled him away. P’waan threatens Hia Win before going to help Tul.
In the room with Tul and P’Waan, Tul apologizes after P’Waan says he was mad that he had been lied to and that Tul knew more about his personal life than he knew of Tuls personal life. The two make up and *P’Waan gives Tul a chance* for dating him Tul jumps on his placing kisses all over his face making P’Waan stop him as he stared in to Tuls eyes. P’Waan becomes aroused by Tul proceeding to make out with him having their intiment moment.
Hia Win and Team were celebrating at a club enjoying themselves before talking about Bees love life. A and Sea stated that Bee should confess now as waiting and not being able to sure is how a relationship for couples is ruined. They had stated telling Prince his feelings it would confirm that Bee was truly inlove with Prince. Team couldn’t help but think about what the guys said taking a leave to the restroom. Hia Win had followed Team into the restroom confusing him. Hia Win rushes to Team kissing him on the lips before asking if he could. They went into the stall.
Hia Win and Team had become a happy couple so did his friends and Hia Wins friends and brother.
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Hia Win x Team
Pharm x Dean
Manow x Pruek
P’Waan x Tul
Bee x Prince
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