This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans (Thai BL) – Episode 2 Recap & Review

Plawan makes a deal with Methas of MT Group

Episode 2 of This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans starts with Oab scoring the competitors for their first dish, and Plawan has the lowest score of 2 out of 10. However, the next test is about tasting and commenting on different basil dishes from various restaurants, and Plawan excels at this, so he gets a perfect score of ten out of ten.

Plawan and another competitor, Pansib, tie in fourth place with 12 points. Fortunately, Oab knows that the third-place competitor is MT Group’s mole, so he is disqualified. Pansib and Plawan automatically move up to third place, and they convince Oab to take the four of them to train under him starting the following Monday. 

After winning the first round, Plawan and JJ head back to Methas’s office to negotiate a deal. Plawan asks for a 1.5 million payment to compete and become the restaurant’s successor, after which Methas will take over. Methas is arrogant, and seeing that Plawan is desperate for money, he lowers the payment to 500,000. Plawan renegotiates 600,000, which Methas agreed to, but JJ does not agree. JJ still wants to punish Methas for insulting them, so he refuses to take the 600,000 and negotiates for 2 million.

This time, Methas needs them more, and JJ knows it, so he is not afraid to threaten him by taking the deal to MT Group’s competitors. After negotiations, Methas agrees to pay the 2 million, starting with a 30% down payment. The rest of the money will be paid in stages, with 30 per cent more after Plawan gets through the next stage and 40 per cent after he secures the restaurant. Methas writes Plawan a 600,000 cheque and adds the condition that Plawan will have to pay back all the money if he does not pass the following stages. JJ leaves the office confidently, reminding Methas to send them a contract. 

Meanwhile, Nubnueng and Oab briefly discuss the possibility of another Methas’s mole in the competition. Oab says he will be vigilant and kick that person out once he finds them out. Regarding Anas’s surgery, Oab asks Nubnueng not to interfere and leaves it to Kao Suay and Anas to decide. Elsewhere, JJ helps Plawan pack up for the one-month training under Oab since the competitors will be staying at the restaurant during training. JJ talks to Plawan about getting a serious job after the restaurant gig and getting serious about his future.

Next, the four competitors arrive at No Long Beans restaurant to start the training. Oab tells them the competition rules before asking Kluea to show them to their rooms. They will unpack and be ready to train in the next ten minutes. Kluea and Plawan have to share a room while Pansib shares with Auto. Kluea wants to get close to Plawan, but he does not get a chance until he mentions seeing his commercial once and refers to him as a celebrity.

Oab calls them to the kitchen for their first task of chopping and slicing ingredients. Plawan’s posture is wrong, so Oab gets close to show him the correct posture. While Oab is busy showing Plawan how to cut the carrots standing close behind him, Plawan leans back and relishes in Oab’s scent. Plawan gets intoxicated, saying that Oab smells like fresh basil and wonders how a strict person like Oab could smell so good. 

Later that night, the competitors settle into their respective rooms. Pansib finds their IG, and while the other three competitors have posts related to cooking, Auto notices that Plawan has no posts about cooking. Auto starts to get suspicious of Plawan, given that he also has no kitchen skills and wonders why he joined the competition.

Meanwhile, Plawan is struggling to sleep, and he gets a text from Methas asking him to snoop around and find the restaurant’s books of account. Methas wants to understand how much financial trouble Oab is facing.

Plawan sneaks around the restaurant looking for the account books, but Oab shows up. He tries to make up a story about being hungry and ordering food, but his phone is off. Oab almost finds out he is lying, but Kluea saves him when he comes down to check if Plawan has found any food. Kluea had heard Plawan’s stomach growling because he was hungry and thought he had come down for something to eat. Oab does not push to check Plawan’s phone, and Kluea offers him a meal. 

On the first day working in the kitchen, Plawan gets dish duties like Kluea cooking, Pansib frying, and Auto customer service. At first, Plawan thinks he has an easy task until the other competitors scare him by saying that Oab is very particular about the plates and bowls. Plawan gets another chance to be in Oab’s arms when he bumps into him and is lost in his body’s scent of fresh basil after the rains.

Plawan almost takes a bite of Oab’s cheek. Plawan takes the task so seriously that he washes one plate so thoroughly that Kluea has no more plates. Oab checks on Plawan but scares him, making the plate he is cleaning break. Plawan picks up the pieces of the broken plate but hurts his hand. At the end of the episode, Oab furiously chases Plawan out of the kitchen. 

The Episode Review

The episode advances the plot, giving the viewers a realistic view of a cooking competition. Oab’s immersive acting gives the audience a “hell’s kitchen” experience with his no-nonsense, strict chef aura. He watches over the competitors, ensuring they do not mess up. Plawan is still clumsy in this episode since he is not trained as a chef, and he manages to portray the newbie character perfectly.

The episode gets a little confusing, leaving us wondering if Kluea has any romantic feelings towards Plawan. Kluea has been showing more interest in Plawan since the first episode, and in this episode, an interaction after he makes Plawan the meal leaves us wondering whether he only wants to be friends or something more.

Auto starts getting suspicious of Plawan’s motive for joining the competition in this episode. Will he figure out that Plawan is Methas’s mole? Will Plawan become the first competitor to leave the competition? Do you think Kluea is interested in Plawan? Tell us about your best moments in this episode as we look forward to episode 3.