Alright, I know probably nothing of that name makes a lot of sense, and it didn’t make any sense to me either when the Youtube algorithm presented some fan made clip to me. Well, the contents of the clip and a quick Google search was all the convincing I needed to give the Thai crime drama, KinnPorsche The Series La Forte, a chance.
The name is a mouthful, and it’s much easier to refer to it as KinnPorsche or KP. What was extra strange about it to me though was that Kinn and Porsche are both leads in this series. I’ve never seen a show just mush their leads’ names together to form the title of their show before. First time for everything. Just like it was also my first time watching a show coming from Thailand! Subtitles are a godsend, though some of the translations were kind of hysterical at times.
Speaking of being hysterical, I know I sold this show to you earlier as a crime drama, which it very much was, but it also had way too many goofy bits to it. Not in a bad way at all! Just very unexpected. Another thing about this show to me that was new was how it was being referred to in both the video clips and just general searching. The word(?) BL just kept showing up everywhere, and it turns out it stands for “boy love,” which is a fairly popular subject matter in both novels and media all over Asia. How cool! I suppose I could have inferred that based on what I’d seen on Youtube, but it’s neat that there is an official name for it.
Anyways, I’m dancing all around what this show is actually about, though I’ll keep it brief in case you are interested. Porsche is just a night club bartender when he gets roped into saving head of the major family mafia, Kinn. After that, Kinn’s father says that Porsche must be recruited to be his new bodyguard. There are some great lengths gone to, but ultimately Porsche needs the money to take care of his brother. They’ve barely been getting by since their parents died when they were quite young. Their uncle’s gambling debts are certainly no helping matters either. Porsche is kind of a goober. Yes, he’s a decent fighter, but he really needs to put in the work to hone his skills and become a truly excellent bodyguard. He also has to spend a lot of time with Kinn, much to his chagrin. At first. It doesn’t take long for an attraction to grow between these two characters, and praise be to the writers because their relationship is both steamy and very sweet.
There’s a plentiful supporting cast with their own relationships and dilemmas, but perhaps the other most focused on are that of fellow bodyguard Pete and his extremely twisted and reluctant relationship with minor on of the mafia, Vegas. This guy is so cool, and so obviously bad. He blames his circumstance, and there are plenty of times where I can’t blame him for being the way that he is. There is also Porsche’s younger brother Porschay (not sure why their names are almost identical), who is in love with the youngest member of the major mafia family, popstar Kim. There relationship is perhaps the least explored, but it’s still central to the show in many ways. As I said, there is a vast supporting cast, but they are all a joy to watch on screen.
I was personally satisfied with the way the first season ended (and you know I ripped through those fourteen episodes in three days), but there apparently is a promise of a second season. After watching lots of cast videos and then getting sucked into some Reddit threads though, it may prove difficult with some real life drama happening with some of the cast members. Did I mention that this series is also based on a web novel of the same name? Well it is, and I am trying my hardest to read this questionably translated text. I have no clue if there is more story beyond where the first season ends, but I will find out eventually. Either way, I’ve found my new obsession, so you know I’ve already ordered various merchandise I probably don’t need.