I never thought of Vegas and Pete's relationship as being "romantic", which is why I was extremely disappointed at the very end of the series when suddenly they were together. I really think that if Vegas had just died when he got shot in the last episode, it would have been a perfect ending to their relationship arc (if you want to even call it that). If Vegas had died in that moment, I think it would have given closure to not only his own character, but Pete's as well. From the short time we see them spend at the safehouse, we learn about the issues between Vegas and his father which gives us an explanation as to why he acts the way he does, and I think in the final episode where he sees his father die, he runs away distraught, not knowing what to do anymore now that he doesn't have his abuser, which was the only person giving him any kind of purpose (other than Pete I guess) up until that point. I think if Vegas had died, it would have definitely been a tragic ending to his story, but a much more sensible, and frankly, a quite deserved one (in my opinion). And for Pete (who was my favourite character by the way), I think Vegas' death would have set him free and given him the ending he truly deserved, one where he can finally realize where his real purpose lies; with his friends and loved ones, rather than in the hands of his abuser.

Vegas and Pete's story could have been a much larger commentary about the cycle of familial, psychological, and sexual abuse, which could have even given me the bearings to describe this series as being "beyond it's genre", but sadly, it is a repeat of the same old BL abuse-to-romance relationship story.

Of course, that's not to say that I totally hated this series, I actually really enjoyed quite a few things about it, and I think certain aspects were done really well. However, when it comes to the Vegas and Pete story, it was just such an awful decision on the writer's part.

(Loved this video by the way, excellent work!)

In my opinion, I don't think the series romanticized abuse.  In fact I thought they did much better than most series at handling the topics.  I do think the whole Vegas and Pete thing could have been handled a bit better.  They did a decent job portraying them considering how messed up in the head both of them are, and the fact that due to Thai copyright laws, they can't change stuff without the consent of the authors.  The novel however was definitely abuse romanticization, and to a disgusting level.  It was also just terribly written in general, like hands down the worst book I have ever had the displeasure of reading.  Personally I think it was a miracle that a show this good came out of a book that terrible.  The some of the fandom are also 1000% to blame for the romanticized abuse.  I will admit that I enjoyed the VegasPete storyline, but not because I thought it was a cute relationship or something similar like some people apparently did.  I saw so many people acting like they were the peak of romantic love, and it was pretty disturbing tbh.

imo they did romanticized abuse big time. vegas assaulted porsche multiple times and fans downplayed it like its no biggie. as a person who was sexually assaulted it was traumatic for me. when i expressed it somewhere, people were too quick to invalidate me like "no one's forcing you" "then stop watching" "it's even wild in the novel lol stay away" it's not about me watching it or not. what they did is glorify abuse like it was out of LOVE. which is not okay

but it took a while and a taste of their own medicine to understand the problem. that was when the writers turned out to be what they are. those same people were crying in the comments like "protect your artist"

In my opinion, the series definitely romanticises toxic relationships, and, kind of as an extension of that, also abusive behaviour. I can't really detach one from the other and analyse them separately. Vegas and Pete's relationship is textbook toxic. With or without the bizarre hospital scene, the way it was developed and framed as this dangerous, but ultimately passionate and sexy thing, it made the whole situation seem like a fantasy you want to grow into a romantic relationship (which it eventually did). It's the obvious disregard for aftermath of abuse that worries me in this show. It's almost like, oh, you were drugged and taken advantage of, or you were drunk and almost taken advantage of, or you were tortured and taken advantage of? Well tough shit, here's a sexy scene right after, or a blink-and-you'll-miss-it remorse moment, and let's move on to other stuff with no long-term consequences of those traumatic events. I think shifting the blame away from the production and onto the fans is not the answer here, and it lets the series creators off the hook too easily. They might not have explicitly stated "look, this is how it's going to be, we'll make these traumas sexy and glamorous and you'll enjoy it". But the way they framed the conversation around it, and what they implicitly suggested by brushing those situations off, or quickly segueing into sexy scenes, or adding that ridiculous post-credit? It wasn't accidental and it didn't start with the audience.

Personally, I didn't feel this show romanticized abuse all over the place. I feel just saw it happen with Vegas and Pete - the abuse was too much for me.

As a survivor of domestic violence (most of it was physical and s**ual), watching those scenes brought me to tears and I had no other choice but skip the scenes after witnessing the first one. It literally made me sick.

So overall, I think the star duo of the show isn't too bad, but Vegas and Pete - it just made me really uncomfortable.

I feel like they tried to turn abuse into a Pain Kink. But an abuser could never be a true dominant because in that kind of relationship one partner surrenders and the other partner is responsible for not just control but also aftercare to ensure both partners get what they need. You don't get that in an abusive relationship

Believe me that I haven't watched KinnPorshe till now because I can't stomach abuse anymore in Bl. One thing I have noticed in recent bl is the "bottom" getting drunk and seducing the "top" to having s*x. From between us, to midnight chicken, to bed friend, big dragon all follow these drunk s*x plot which I hate. This makes me give up right on the first episode.

in my opinion to understand  Vegas and Pete's story is to really listen to the conversations they have in ep 11 and 12.  I do believe they needed more episodes to solidify this take I have on them, but hear me out:
in ep 11, the interaction between Vegas and his dad shows that relationship is very abusive. a mirror to what Pete and his dad had. the difference being Pete had his grandmother to show him love. this is what makes Pete a little bit more mentally stable. I mean Vegas dad told him " you and Macau aren't even worthy being his sons." and his just like okey... Yes... I suck... I deserve to be heat.... I need to do better. Even when Pete asked him why he needs to compare himself to Kinn ? Vegas says "everyone knows I am from the minor family, always under the main family."
this shows that Vegas is trapped and can't see a way out, or does not even know if there is a way out, want to see it. when I watch him the only time I see him in his "Element."  is when he is cooking, torturing people and taking care of his hedgehog. and from this you can see that torture is the only thing he has that can get his father's love. and I really don't think the main family did not see this. a child, if even a chance as a kid to do something else. he would not be this way. I mean when you look at the main families kids, you can see a difference in there up bringing.  Kinn even said he wanted to be a singer and went for competition,  and chose to come back after his brother could not be the head of the family. Kim left the house when he didn't want to be there. I don't think Vegas had those options.
this also goes into ep 12, when Pete is talking about blood types. Vegas is ok with every thing till Pete says "sensitive" Vegas says "I am not week." I believe he must have been told this as a kid, not only because he is a MAN but because the way he does a 180 between scene caring and not caring in one scene. this to me shows he was a very sensitive kid that was told not to be.
now when you look at this and that out the fact that Pete was kidnapped, you know why Pete can relate because he went through the same thing, but had a person that showed him more. that's why I really don't think just saying Stockholm syndrome is 100% correct. because he can truly understand that all he needs is someone to show him more. unlike you being from a very good, loving family and falling in love with a person that kidnapped you and had a hard life. with no middle ground just the fact you are only seeing that person in a room and they are good and bad to you sometimes.
and that is why Pete leaving and still wanting to be with Vegas is important to their story. Pete has lived this before and walking away from it. because he know what love is supposed to look like. he has the brain power to leave again.
that's my take on it after watch their story 100 times ... lol... because I to wanted to know why they did that. so my conclusion is they needed more episodes to show what they are thinking and feeling.

One of my struggles with this show was the VegasPete stroyline. I was so confused with how they came to be together that I really couldn't put in words what I was feeling. After spending time with Pete, I thought maybe Vegas would have an epiphany but yet he continued with the same choices he made previously. I was also upset about the fact that Vegas drugging Porsche and try to take advantage of him twice was never mentioned again.
I think I would loved more of VegasPete interactions in the earlier episodes to get an idea about the dynamics of their relationship.

Agree with the ending. It didn't entirely make sense. All the time Vegas has been saying how much it sucks being the minor family and that his father hates him. Not only is it shown that Vegas clearly doesn't want to be around his father and would rather run off and do his own thing. Yet, when he sees his father dead and then attempts to kill himself too, I was just confused. Why did he attempt to kill himself? His father being dead means he's finally free and can do whatever he wants, without his father looking down on him or hitting him. I doubt he actually felt sad about his father being dead. Yet it's depicted as if he couldn't imagine a life without his father, which makes absolutely no sense.
Pete being empathetic of Vegas started because of the way Vegas' father treated Vegas. I guess Pete was just as confused about Vegas wanting to die, now that he's literally free, and that's why he stopped him from killing himself. Still, very out-of-character, for Vegas.
I guess the writers wanted to have Vegas show vulnerability, so that Pete can save him, which will fuel the ship; but other than that it doesn't make sense, and was handled pretty poorly.

This is the kind of video i was looking for since the start of Kinn Porsche. It was constantly making me question my belief coz I just couldn't decide my stance on it.

For me, this have been an issue for me for like a decade with BL and yaoi. It's always abuse, rape, drugs, force etc. And a very clear "boss/slave" dynamic. This series is nothing new really, just more graphic. My main problem is still the notion that even if your partner abuses you, hits you, SA you, you can always forgive. Stay in that relationship, trust him/her and the abuser will come to love you. That is my main problem. If porsche was a woman,  would it feel the same? I'm very aware of this, and have been for ages, different media, different genres. Kinn/porsche as a story was boring, for these reasons.  Vegas/Pete had my heart instead, because their deep traumatic entanglement.  I can feel for both of them, I can feel Vegas hurt of being a failure, and Pete for finding comfort with Vegas abuse. That is way more interesting to me. Do I romanticize these relationships? Absolutely not. Do I think any of this is remotely realistic? Also no. A gay relationship is not always abuse and toxic. That is why my fav BL couple is Prapai/Sky from Love in the air. But to me, KP is problematic in the same way that 50 shades of gray is problematic.

Honestly, I stopped watching this show pretty early because there were some moments with the Kinn-Porsche couple that were bothering me too much to stick around until the end.
I felt like all the "sexy" moments between Kinn and Porsche started with Porsche being drugged or drunk and then bam aggressive "sexy" times (feelings or not, the consent issue was real).
I did not know about the Pete-Vegas situation and I am watching the video in shocked silence.
Where is the romance between these two?
One has been abducted and tortured and the other is the kidnapper and torturer.
There is no way there should any type of romance between these 2 characters.
The Pete-Vegas couple reminds me of that horrible webtoon 'Killing Stalking' and  some people were shipping that.
(Edit: I wrote my comment before finishing the video and yep, the webtoon is mentioned).
How are some people romanticizing abuse? Even if it is just fictional, there are people in real life who are in abusive relationships. There is nothing romantic or healthy in abuse.
Some Thai writers need to do better because they are out there romanticizing all type of problematic behaviors in their shows (abuse, incest, p**dophilia, etc.).

Man, you just beat me to this topic! I'm currently working a (painfully long) video dissecting Kinnporsche's successes and failures. I share several of your opinions; Kinn and Porsche's SA arc was handled pretty delicately, all things considered--- however, I have to disagree with your point about the show dialing back on comedy noises when discussing KP's non-con encounter. There are a few gags poking fun at Porsche's experience in episode 5 (see: Pete and Porsche being victims of a "hilarious misunderstanding" about SA at the beginning of the episode). Additionally, I'm not a huge fan of how the show depicts the actual SA scene with soft, hazy lighting and romantic piano bgm. It really clashes with what's being shown on screen.
Just food for thought! That aside, I mostly agree with everything else you've said. This show has a real problem with creating satisfying character arcs and it realllly shows with Vegas lmao.
Sorry this is so long! Ty for making this video!! <3

Heck yes!!!! Especially for the age group the series attracts. I find shipping a couple especially when 1 that was beat down and tortured mentally/physically boggles my mind. I can’t help but wonder what age group is attracted to such scenes. I truly feel this series should have been rated and restricted

Btw, I loooooooooooooooooove that your channel is a safe space to talk about these topics!! I was introduced to Thai dramas from this series and have seen first hand how toxic the fandom is. Some people just don’t want to accept that this show does have some toxic trops and want to justify their ship at any costs

I think it's a tricky topic... ultimately I would actually lean towards yes on the vp storyline bc the scriptwriters knew what they were doing writing it that way and knew how BL show promotion goes. The script has Vegas do evil things and then act like they're not morally repugnant actions, the script flip flops back and fourth on whether we're supposed to like Vegas and feel sorry for him, they won't just let him be evil.
Those edits of Vegas made me sick to my stomach.

we love being non-controversial channels 💜

I am fascinated by your breakdown.
On one hand, I can see some fans of KinnPorshe romanticizing abuse, and I do agree with all the instances you pointed out as being abuse.
On the other hand, I would personally consider multiple factors before reaching any sort of conclusion.
Firstly, KinnPorshe is a fictional novel converted into a series; whereas we would want to enforce morals and ethics binding us in reality we must remember it is still fiction, and the morals and ethics binding such a universe can only depict whatever the author desires; think of Marvel series, vampire series, etc.
I find it disturbing that most people are okay with the k*lling occurring in the series but find the s*xual ab*se much more appalling. I'd rather people either condemn all the unethical parts or not comment at all.
Lastly, KinnPorshe's target audience is adults, I'd like to believe most of the fans can logically separate fantasy from reality, right from wrong, and abuse from love.
So are they romanticizing abuse when they are already aware that such behavior would not be accepted in reality?

i always thought that it’s poor management was the only reason that i couldn’t bring myself to rewatch kinnporsche despite watching every episode as it released. despite that, ever since the final (disappointing) episode aired i reflected back and just wished that i could rewatch a cut of kinnporsche where it’s just kinn and porsche’s storyline because of how poorly written vegaspete’s storyline was - and i always hated vegas pete as a couple but i could never succinctly describe it as you have. vegas is horrendously written and their storyline romanticizes abuse to the extent that it’s nauseating. i truly cannot fathom why they have such a devoted fan base that girlbossifies pete and neuters vegas (hyperbole, of course, the feral nature of vegas pete fans actually terrifies me so i want to clarify 😭)