I'd also hit the part of King the Land that's annoying and I thought Ready, Set, Love looked like it would be enjoyable fluff. And it was generally enjoyable and I was pleasantly surprised by the not-fluff aspects of it.
In a dystopian future, male births account for less than 1%. The Thai government (no mention of what's going on in the rest of the world after the pandemic that killed off so many dudes) now has the state sponsored "Farm" where all boys/men are supposed to go and lead pampered, cushy lives (albeit ones where they have little control over their lives). A periodic competition is held -- kind of a hunger games for picking wives for them. This is all very nonsensical as, while I can see the Farm thing happening, the most likely thing would be men would be relegated to being sperm donors or studs and there wouldn't be a monogamous marriage concept any more.
Anyway, the women who compete are usually (of course) chosen from the elite and rich. But this year they've introduced a lottery system so that the "common woman" can have a chance. Of course, they aren't actually supposed to have a real chance. It's for ratings and to keep the masses down. Day, our heroine, winds up with a winning lotto ticket courtesy of her younger sister. She's actually got no interest in it, but her younger sister is deathly ill and when told that the winner would also have access to really good medical care for their whole family...she decides to stay.
Complicating matters is that one of the contestants is Son (the dude in red), who had, as a young child, briefly escaped from the Farm and was 'saved' by Day when she was young. Yeah, childhood friends trope. They have matching halves of a necklace. It's kind of a ridiculous set up, but, hey, let's go with it. Because he is at first completely put off by her over the top awkwardness and enthusiasm until he sees her wearing the necklace that he has the other half of.
The other equally oddly named Gentleman are Jin (who we barely see and is basically comic relief), Paper (who at first seems like the happy go lucky type but then they manage to give him depth and LGBTQ leanings as he falls in love with a guy who lives outside the Farm), Max (the sexy type who somehow immediately falls in love with the girl--Chanel--who's supposed to be intended for Son in the fixed game and is actually very loyal and decent enough, even if he does constantly take his shirt off), and finally Almond (who takes an immediate liking to Day and is also -- coincidence!!--the brother of Day's friend Valentine, who is a member of the underground resistance called City Ground who want to shed light on the fact that the government steals boys away from their families and incarcerates any women who dare to not go along with it. Whew.
There's actually a lot going on here. So it isn't just a cute "reality style" matchmaking show, there's some political, far-reaching stuff and questions about free will and what doing the right thing is. There's also Chanel, who doesn't love Son, but has been trying to be a dutiful daughter (her mom is, essentially, the big bad), the producer of the show who just found out she's pregnant with a son (which means that he'll be taken from her), and Bovy, Chanel's best friend who acts like she's in love with Max (and is supposed to be slated for him) but is really probably just in love with Chanel.
Like I said, Whew.
They end the season with a cliffhanger that obviously sets it up for a season 2 (Son and Day and Paper get away and there's a glimpse of Son and Day four years later, with a son of their own, living outside the cities in a place run by City Ground and then Evil Mom gets notified that they've been found, along with a picture of an older guy in a hoodie, who I'd have to guess is likely Son's dad? Who maybe she was in love with from way before? 'Cause she doesn't love her husband (Chanel's dad, who seems a decent, if ineffectual, guy).
I did surprisingly quite enjoy this one. There are definitely REALLY ridiculous moments but it had WAY more depth than I thought it would. I was actually quite sad about Almond, who chose to stay back at the Farm when he could have run. I think part of that was unrequited love--he really did like Day and they did actually have great chemistry together and got along well. If Son hadn't had that childhood connection, there was literally no reason why Day and Almond wouldn't have wound up together. That said, Son and Day were nice together too. But Almond was definitely a Second Lead Syndrome kind of character.
I thought it was interesting that Day did NOT, in fact, win the show, even though she tried her hardest. Chanel, the favourite, did, BUT Chanel grew a backbone at the last moment and picked Max (who she'd been trying to deny her attraction to the entire show), even though everyone thought she would go for Son and her mom was demanding it. If Chanel hadn't done that, then...who knows what would have happened.
So, am I glad I watched it? Yeah. Would I watch it again? Probably not, but who knows. Would I watch the second season if there is one? Yeah, probably I would. Some of the actors were better than others, but the general quality of it was good (overact-y style not withstanding). I really didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did.
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