The first episode of Love Upon a Time starts with a tense flashback. Klao and Phop walk through a busy market, but things quickly go wrong when a hidden gunman starts shooting at them. People start to panic as the crowd breaks up. Klao and Phop try to get away, but they are finally caught. Phop tells Klao to hide so he can fight the attacker alone, but Klao won’t do it. As the attacker catches up to them and points a gun at them, Phop promises that they will never be apart. The story then suddenly jumps to the year 2023.
Nakhun’s friends, including Pun and Thee, are planning a surprise birthday party for him right now. But the party quickly goes wrong when Nakhun shows up late, wet from the rain, and dirty. His bad luck keeps coming up. Earlier, his umbrella broke, a motorcycle that was going by splashed him, and even when he tries to make a birthday wish, water drips from his hair onto the candles. He has bad luck again when he gets splashed outside and even gets hit by bird poop.
Things don’t get better at school. People think Nakhun is the thief who stole a woman’s bag and punch him in the face when he helps her catch him. Thee takes him to a fortune teller because she is worried about his bad luck. After a series of strange rituals that Pun and Thee have to physically stop him from doing, the fortune teller gives them a bad warning. Nakhun is about to go through something much worse than anything else he’s been through.
Nakhun tries to ignore it at first, but the fortune teller says this is different. He talks about a promise Nakhun made in a past life but didn’t keep. The fortune teller gives him a bracelet and tells him to wear it all the time to keep bad spirits away. He also tells Nakhun to look after his mother and check on his father.
Later, Nakhun and Thee go to a lecture on books about time travel. Nakhun says that the idea of multiple lifetimes is silly when the professor asks him about it. He says that people believe in these things to explain things they don’t understand. The professor questions his strictly logical point of view and reminds him that stories about time travel don’t always make sense.
A short time later, Nakhun sees someone on campus who looks a lot like Phop. He almost gets hit by a truck because he’s not paying attention. His protective amulet starts to shake, as if to warn him of danger, and he barely avoids the accident. A few moments later, it shakes again, warning him just before falling building materials almost hit him.
Nakhun goes home because he needs a break. He tries to hide his bruised face from his mom by saying he just fell. That night, he looks at his test results and is shocked to see that he failed his Thai history test. He is angry and drinks alone while feeding ducks, yelling at the sky. He wonders why, if past lives do exist, the things they knew don’t help in the present.
In a shocking turn of events, a shooting star suddenly flies toward him in a flash of light.
When Nakhun wakes up, he is in a forest with people wearing traditional Thai clothes all around him. They call him “Master Klao” and tell him that he has been missing for days. Phop shows up soon after, and in this timeline, he is a lord. Nakhun feels like he knows what’s going on, but he can’t figure it out.
Nakhun thinks he has accidentally walked onto the set of a historical drama at first, especially since everyone speaks an old Thai dialect. He tries to leave, but the servants follow him. He even compliments the “actors” for staying in character as he runs through what he thinks is an impressively realistic set.
But doubts start to creep in. The world feels too real, and Phop’s feelings for him seem real. Nakhun begins to wonder if he really did travel through time. He thinks about how these kinds of changes might happen after remembering his lecture. He jumps into the water in a last-ditch effort to change what has happened, thinking that death or near-death experiences might bring him back to his own world.
The episode ends on a tense note because Nakhun doesn’t come back. Phop dives in after him because he is worried.
Review of the Episode
The first episode is fun and interesting, mixing humor with mystery. Nakhun’s story, which is based on his bad luck, adds a funny twist, especially when he thinks he’s on a movie set. His reactions and confusion make for some of the best parts of the episode.
The chemistry between the main actors is clear right away. Their chemistry seems real, and their timing for jokes makes both the funny and serious parts of the movie better. The first episode of the series lives up to the hype after a long wait and gives us a good idea of what to expect in the future.
The show is just as impressive to look at. The cinematography shows off Thailand’s beauty by carefully capturing both modern and historical settings. At this rate, the show could become a great drama.