Payback - Ep 10 (Finale) Part 2
Here I wrote what I liked, and below I'll describe what prevented me from fully enjoying the series. It's entirely on me, it's my fault, as a webtoon fan(atic). I'll try to explain the source of my dissatisfaction. Warning: this will be a long post, so feel free to skip this one, it's just me venting 😉
The series wasted time on things that, in my opinion, were unimportant, without utilizing others that, in my opinion, were more important 🤓 It wouldn't be a problem if the series were longer and introduced its own ideas WHILE retaining scenes from the original. For example, EVERY scene in the webtoon featuring Sun and Jay is pure gold. Their conversations are packed with banter, Jay is at his 🤡 best, Sun doesn't let him dominate, and there's an entertaining and captivationg juggling between humor and serious moments. I'M SURE THAT IF THESE SCENES WERE KEPT FROM THE MANHWA, VIEWERS WOULD HAVE BEEN ROTATING THEM ON TUMLBR LIKE ROTISSERIE CHICKEN FOR AT NEXT 10 YEARS. They're that good.
Meanwhile, the series wasted time on, for example, constant scenes of sexual violence. In the manhwa, Songphon's actions and tendencies are stated and implied, if I remember correctly, there's like one panel drawn in a disturbing, but non-literal style. We KNOW that Songphon and others in the industry are sadists and rapists, there's no need to show this over and over again. I don't want to watch it, and I had to skip those scenes.
Similarly, the series kept inventing new storylines for the characters to, idk, humanize them? Make them more believable? Use the actors' time to their full potential? It made absolutely no sense.
Jay having a personal vendetta because of his mother's death? And is it even implied that his mother was killed? This is something that shows how messing with the original plot has consequences. It didn't happen in the manhwa, but Jay from the manhwa was brought into the series, and as a result, we have a guy who avenges his murdered mother… as a corporate executive, running businesses, and simultaneously experiencing a hot romance. Oh, and he plans this revenge for five years… during which he obsessively searches for the karaoke bunny boy he had a one-night stand with. How does this tie in? How does it compare when, in those same five years, we see how his mother's death horribly affects Sun? I have the impression that this was introduced to give meaning to Jay's actions and humanize him, but it made him come across as completely inconsistent and illogical. Jay is willing to cut himself to keep Sun by his side, but when it comes to his own mother, he just... pulls legal tricks and has fun in the boardroom. After all, by that logic, Jay would have burned Dream to the ground and everyone involved in his mother's death. And then he would create Dream 2 from scratch. You can't have the same Jay reacting to important things in his life in two different ways.
The same goes for the timeline – in the series, Jay flew to the States without a word, leaving Sun behind, right after a meeting where a powerful sadist officially threatened Sun. Jay comes off as an asshole who couldn't afford to say goodbye, and he leaves Sun when he's in real, brutal danger. And he leaves to deal with matters related to HIS WORK, COMPANY and his own revenge. In the manhwa, Jay would never put Sun in danger, he told him he was leaving and texted him when he returned. Sun was under his care and protection even when he didn't know it. I want to make it clear – Jay is a freak and has no qualms about being a bully towards Sun, but he would never let ANYONE ELSE hurt Sun. Besides, he's adorable in his bullying, as weird as that sounds, 🤡 For example, Jay wouldn't leave without a word because that would mean Sun would feel betrayed and abandoned (bad). He would tell him so, so that Sun would miss him, wait for him, and worry abut him (good). And that's how it was in the manhwa, which was consistent with the current plot point, the Jay/Sun relationship, and their respective personalities.
I also didn't like that the series didn't emphasize how GOOD Jay is at what he does, as the director of Dream and as someone in the entertainment industry. In the finale, during the board meeting, he's described as incompetent, someone who causes the company to lose money and ultimately wins due to technicalities. In the manhwa, Jay is admired by, for example, Kajorn, who says that under Jay, THE COMPANY AND THE ACTORS ARE FINALLY MANAGED PROPERLY. Furthermore, Jay is a workaholic, he works in the office, in Alice Labyrinth, and at home. Jay is a psycho and an dick, but he's also highly educated, works his ass off, and has all the mental resources to be a ruthless and successful boss and businessman, running a company in the uncertain and risky entertainment industry. He's capable of conquering, winning, and taking over someone like Sun AND a huge entertainment company. All by himself. He earned his boyfriend and his position through his strength, persistence, and cunning.
Sunny. Omg, it was such a mess, and all because of unnecessary changes. Why were they making him a star in the first place? It undermined much of his behavior. In the manga, he aspires to be a star he's already had a few minor roles that got him noticed. Therefore, his determination to land the lead role in Memory and his desire to secure a new sponsor—the powerful Jay—was understandable. This change also backfires, because imagine a modern star, even one from Thailand, ending up in graphic gay porn. Can you imagine something like that? The series spent a lot of time showing repulsive scenes, including Sunny murdering someone, but it didn't spare a single moment to show that Sunny lived beyond his means, that he bought expensive cars and gadgets, that he stole from his sponsor, that one of his lackeys, another aspiring actor, set his expensive car on fire, that the noose tightened around Sunny, who, after his sponsor's death, had to go to a loan shark (Sun's former boss), who lent him money he couldn't repay because Sunny NEVER WANTED TO WORK, was always preying on someone, and always cut corners. And yes, in the manhwa, he also ends up in adult movies, but because he refuses to repay the money legally and normally. What's funny about the manhwa is that the loan shark's employees remember Sun admiringly IN SUNNY'S PRESENCE because he worked and paid back the debt. They respected him! Regarding the scene where Sunny murders someone, my reaction is: ???????? WTF?????? What was that for?????? And again – the guy, a movie star, killed an innocent person and just... walks free???? Oh, okay, his punishment is being a porn actor and being forced to take multiple partners at once???? That's so incredibly stupid. And Sunny warning Sun??? I don't know what they were trying to achieve by all this, making us feel sorry for Sunny? That he was also a victim? The fuck? Sunny was NEVER a victim, he was a sleazy, lazy type, a chameleon who adapted to situations and expectations, and a leech. If he needed to provide "fresh meat" for his sponsor to exploit, he did it. If someone bothered him, he got rid of them using illegal methods. Sunny wasn't complex or profound, and that's why he was a good villain, because sometimes people are just like that. He was also a perfect opposite for Sun – their personalities, motivations, history, decisions, Sun's growth and Sunny's stagnation – and their ending in the manhwa, when Sunny, at rock bottom, looks at a huge poster of Sun - a star he wanted to be.
The fact that the loan shark knows Jo and the whole story about saving Sun is absolutely baffling. In the manhwa, Jo is just like in the show: funny, quirky, emotional, a family man 😊 And the loan shark is ALWAYS portrayed as someone very dangerous. He does visit Sun in the hospital, which shows how much he respects him because Sun was the only one of his borrowers to give him money he earned with his own hands. But it's not some kind, cheerful, friendly visit. It's a shame the series didn't show this, because it's very interesting how powerful, dangerous people like Jay and the loan shark, or even Jo as the owner of a luxury nightclub everyone wants to go to, respect and like Sun. Regarding rescuing Sun – in the manhwa, Sun was supposed to meet Jay to watch his first filmed scene together. Sun is excited and rushes to Jay's apartment (who, yes, is at home, not traveling). When Sun doesn't arrive and doesn't answer his phone, Jay first thinks to track him down (it's implied that Sun has a tracking device, probably on his phone, oh Jay 😩), but he receives information from his spy placed near Songphon (yes, Jay knows what he's doing) about Sun's whereabouts and that she's in danger. Jay saves Sun.
I know I'm going against everybody, but the whole Sky subplot was completely unnecessary for me. I didn't need to know where his phobia came from. I truly believe that not everything needs to be explained, and not everything needs to be traumatizing. Just as Jay didn't need a dead mother to explain why he wants to take over the company, Sky didn't need an explanation for the source of his phobia. Jesus, they even gave the photographer an almost traumatic origin story! In the manhwa, Sky simply has this phobia, and it's part of him, and with Sun's help, he eventually manages it, which deepens his relationship with Sun and allows Sun to emerge from his apathy and his shell. Sure, I wouldn't mind Sky's storyline being fleshed out if the series had 12-16 episodes, but I admit that I watched this storyline constantly aware of how much material—great material!—form the manhwa, the series omitted. And the fact that Sky landed a role in Memory in the series??? That his career is developing faster than Sun???? With his phobia???? Besides, the casting for Memory is an important part of the manhwa's plot, it's important to Sun. Why did they change that?
Of course, I know all this was done because the series wanted to maximize the presence of Shogun and Boss, but as I said—sure, but not at the expense of Sun and Jay, their relationship, and their scenes!!!
And finally: in the manhwa, Pen-Neung caused a scandal by avoiding mandatory military service. While reprehensible, it's not as evil as causing an accident and running away. This change makes Kajorn's commitment to fix the situation incomprehensible (how can you fix something like that?) and thereby helping himself (????) and Dream (???). Any studio would prefer to distance themselves from an actor who not only committed a serious crime but also turned out to be a coward. In the series, a "heartfelt apology" was enough to fix it (???). Thailand also has mandatory military service, though not for all men like in Korea. This, or some other similar scandal, could have been exploited, which wouldn't have made this character outright vile. And since when he's Jay's friend?????? How could Jay be friends with someone that weak?????
The series also doesn't address the fact that Sunny also hurt Pakin and Pen-Nueng, which I think is important because it shows who Sunny is and how he leaves behind ruins, hurt people, and how incapable he is of building a network of people who like him and help him—like Sun does.
I don't want it to seem like I'm nitpicking for the sake of it, or like I'm a purist. I honestly think the changes made harmed the series, the character coherence and the logic of their behavior, and the logic of the plot. I know many people loved Sky and Pakin's storyline, and I don't want to come across as a whiner, but I would trade all their scenes for one scene from the manhwa where Jay teaches Sun to rediscover sexual pleasure, that it's okay to indulge in pleasure, and that Sun has permission to do so. Did you know that Sun hasn't been with anyone, not even masturbated, since the death of his loved ones? Did you know that he "punished himself" this way? Would you rather see a scene like this, with Sun rediscovering his body and his pleasure, instead of the endless traumas of the side characters in Payback? Just as I would give a lot for all those scenes where Jay is sweet to Sun, when he wants to pamper him and Sun doesn't know what to do, when he's showered with kisses and smiles. When they talk to each other, when Jay tells him about his plans, when they discuss things...
To conclude my list of woes 🤡 I'll just say this: Payback is Sun's story. No one else's. Everyone else, even Jay, are side characters in HIS story. Everything happens around him and supports his story. I love the manga because it never once loses sight of that, never loses sight of Sun. However, in the series, somewhere around the time of Sky's phobia story, I felt like the series was starting to "disintegrate and blur," that it wasn't Sun's story anymore, but everyone had their own story to tell. And from then on, I went from thoroughly enjoying the series to simply enjoying it, without the excitement I felt watching, for example, The Prosecutor's Proposal (also based on the original, but which I don't know, so I had no comparison—which is probably why I enjoyed it lol).
If anyone made it to the end, congratulations. And sorry! I honestly don't hate this series, I like it actually. But I think it could have been much, much better. One that would have given Payback the status of, say, KinnPorsche back in the day, or even better :)
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