UPDATE: While I stand by my initial love and enthusiasm for this show, I can no longer support or recommend it, as I no longer support anything or anyone associated with this production company. If you want to know why, drop me a line and I’ll explain in full. In the meantime, I will keep this post live as a record of my past opinions. But I want to be clear that I no longer stand by this show or its creators.
It’s time for my first all caps screaming post of this year’s challenge. Because today’s daily helping is the TV series KinnPorsche, and I LOVE IT. Seriously, if anyone else has seen this show, please come scream about it with me. There’s just so much to shout about.
I should say up front that it is a small miracle that I even watched this show in the first place. Mostly because KinnPorsche is a mafia story, and I hate mafia stories. There is a reason why I’ve never seen The Godfather movies and there is a reason why I’ve never seen The Sopranos. I don’t care if they are classics of their genres. I HATE MAFIA STORIES. So when I read the plot summary for this show, I immediately said “No thanks” and moved on with my life.
It wasn’t until multiple people whose opinions I trust told me I really should watch it that I decided to give KinnPorsche a chance. And I’m so happy that I did, because I genuinely can’t remember the last time I had this much fun watching a TV show. It was a wild ride from start to finish. And while I’m not about to start loving mafia stories, I absolutely love this particular mafia story.
So what’s it about? In a nutshell, it’s about the head of a mafia family falling in love with his bodyguard. But it’s also about the scheming and betrayals of warring mafia families in Thailand. Family dramas and generational secrets. A crap ton of morally grey characters and one precious cinnamon roll who if anyone tries to hurt him I will personally rip out their throat. And it all takes place in this magical alternate reality where everyone is queer and no one buttons up their shirts.
Seriously, there is so much going on in this show, I don’t know how I’d even begin to explain the plot in more detail. Someone recently asked me what genre the show is, and all I could think of to say was, “Yes”. It’s all the genres. Action, mystery, thriller, romance, comedy. You name it, KinnPorsche has got it. Often within the same episode. You could get whiplash from how quickly an episode changes from one style to another. But honestly, that’s what’s so fun about it. I found myself screaming at the screen “WHAT IS HAPPENING?” at least once an episode, but never in a bad way. It was always in a wide-eyed I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening way. As I said, this show was a ride. From start to finish.
It also has one of the most solid casts I’ve seen in a TV show in recent years. There’s not a weak link among them, and that is saying something, because there are a lot of them. And they’re all either gorgeous, adorable, or somehow both. They are also all perfectly cast for their roles.
The leads, as the title of the show would suggest, are Mile Phakphum Romsaithong and Apo Nattawin Wattanagitiphat as the titular Kinn and Porsche; the mafia head and bodyguard whose relationship anchors the story. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen two actors who have as much chemistry as these two, meaning every scene they’re in together practically sizzles with energy. And heat. Seriously. Their NSFW scenes could melt your screen.
But the rest of the cast is equally amazing. Build Jakapan Puttha as Pete has an extraordinary range, and Bible Wichapas Sumettikul somehow made me empathize with a psychopath. Barcode Tinnasit Isarapongporn as Porchay is the aforementioned precious cinnamon roll and he is perfect. And then there’s Jeff Worakamol Satur’s character Kim, whom I absolutely hated based solely on how he treated Porchay. Which is unfortunate, because Satur has some truly spectacular hair and the best fight scene of the whole show.
But while all of these actors are incredible, nothing comes close to Tong Thanayut Thakoon-auttaya’s portrayal of Tankhun. If there is an actor who has had more fun with a role, I’d love to see it, because this guy didn’t just chew scenery. He devoured it, gleefully, and then went back for more. What is amazing to me about this character is that he’s set up to be the outrageous, PTSD-ridden older brother of Kinn whom no one takes seriously. But he’s actually the smartest one of them all. He also makes people dress up as mermaids as punishment, brings marbles to a gunfight (yes, really), and has one hell of a wardrobe. In other words, Tankhun is the best, and that is absolutely the hill I’m willing to die on.
All in all, is KinnPorsche perfect? Hell no. The plot features some twists that certainly were a choice. There are also multiple highly problematic plot points that apparently caused a lot of controversy while the show was airing. But this is a show about the mafia and terrible people doing terrible things, so I’m not exactly sure why people would be surprised that characters with staggeringly high body counts would have a blasé attitude towards issues of consent. But I digress.
At the end of the day, KinnPorsche did something that no other mafia story has managed to do thus far. It made me love the characters and care about the story. That alone is impressive. But the fact that it was so darn fun to watch? That is why I’ll be screaming about this show for months to come.
Suggestions for artists I should check out? Please contact me with your ideas. I hope you enjoyed your daily helping of art!
