Recap Thailand Drama "Between Us (2022)" Episode 1

Episode 1 of Between Us: The Series (Hemp Rope) starts with two opposite characters, Win and Team. Win is a senior who wakes up on time and gets dressed for college while Team is a junior who is late on his first day to class. At college, Manow runs into a senior, Pruek. He grabs onto her as she is about to fall.

They exchange pleasantries as she walks away blushing after thanking him for helping her. Win and Dean are going to the Swim club when Win spots Team for the first time. Back at Win’s house, his younger brother, Wan calls him upset to complain about their older brother, Wiew.

At college, Team runs into his new Swim Team buddies, A, Bee and Sea who tag along with him for the Swimming Club registration. At the registration desk, Win is trying to calm his little brother Wan down as Dean and Pruek overhear the conversation.

Pruek jokes that there aren’t any soft-hearted people like Win left in the world. The juniors arrive and start registering for the club. Dean leaves Win and Pruek to go to the desk when Pruek asks Win if he ever had someone he fell in love with instantly. Win’s eyes land on Team but he immediately leaves Pruek alone to go to the desk.

The three seniors announce an orientation test for the new entrees of the Swim Team club. A, Bee and Sea joke that Team would excel on the test as he was a scholarship student. Win overhears this and tells the entire group that the test is going to be difficult for every trainee, no matter that they were a scholarship student.

The juniors leave and Team joins his friends, Pharm and Manow for lunch. He is worried about not being able to make it to the team because of Win’s threat. His friends reassure him that everything will be okay. They promise to cheer him on at his tryouts and which will be held the day after.

Later that night, Win enters his apartment complex elevator and as it turns out, Team lives in the same building. They miss running into each other by a second as Team appears just as the elevator leaves. Win is on a phone call with Wan who is talking about how he feels lonely because Wiew is always on his phone, gaming.

He promises to meet Wan later that week. Win knocks on his dorm neighbour, Tul’s door and asks him to join the swim tryouts for assistance to which Tub unwillingly agrees. The next day, Team is lost during class when Manow and Pharm ask him about his tryouts.

He tells them that the test is at 4 pm the following day. The two friends promise to attend the tryouts but Team leaves to go back home because he was feeling unwell. On the day of tryouts, A, B and Sea wonder what was wrong with Team because he was so lost in thought. The boys get ready to leave once the three seniors arrive and Win notices Team’s hesitation.

At the stands, Pruek is happy to see Manow while Dean spots Pharm which takes him back to a certain memory. Team is happy to spot his two friends while Win wonders what is wrong with Dean – the President of the Swim Team.

Before the race starts, Team has a traumatic flashback but he is able to give his best on the tryouts test. Team finishes the race first and is selected to be on the swim team. The three friends gather together for dinner and Team is in a chirpy mood. Pharm asks Team if he was stressed before the tryouts and Team states that he usually feels a bit worried before competitions.

Manow and Pharm try to cheer Team on. Pharm talks about the trip the swim club will be taking in the days to come and how Team will be away from the rest of the juniors. Pharm is in the baking club and is asked to prepare food for the swimming club. He asks Team to join him on his trip to shop for ingredients.

The next day, Dean and Win are at the convenience store shopping for snacks and Dean runs into Pharm. They have a flashback from years ago with their older identities, Ein and Korn that leaves Pharm in tears. Win interrupts them and Pharm runs away.

Dean is mad at Win for interrupting them. Back at the swim club, Dean is lost as the swim club members carry the snacks inside. Team carries the bottles of water inside when he suddenly gets a call from Pharm. Worried about his friend, Team rushes out to meet Pharm without informing the group.

Win follows Team and is surprised as he notices that Team is consoling Pharm who was upset and crying after his flashback. The swim team makes it to the resort where Tul joins the three seniors. The juniors are going through several training exercises that Team has some difficulty doing.

After the session, the juniors have a dip in the ocean where A, Bee and Sea force Team into the water. Team ends up injuring himself in the process and suffers a small cut on his sole. Win notices this and follows Team and the trio asking A, Bee and Sea to look for first aid as he handles the situation calmly.

Team is hesitant to let Win look at his wound. Win jokes that the cut was not as deep so he will not get any leverage when it comes to the training sessions. Team states that he will be able to run around the resort in no time which upsets Win. He leaves Team to take care of the wound on his own.

Later that evening, the seniors and Tul are talking about Dean and how he feels lost at times. Win states that Dean is always on the lookout for something but that he does not know what he is looking for. That night, Win chats up with Dean. Dean asks Win if he has ever lost something dear to him which was suddenly back into his life.

Win mentions that he never really lost anything significant to him because he never had anything of so much value in his life. Dean claims that Win does not ever let things be important to him. Win claims that things in his life are fleeting but Dean argues that he cannot keep living like this. Dean asks Win to join the juniors.

At dinner, Win spots Team grilling meat with A, Bee and Sea. Sea takes the other three to a room claiming that he had gotten his hands on the latest adult film leak. The four friends watch the NSFW movie together when Team starts getting uncomfortable. Team notices he has an erection and asks Bee to give him the key to their room.

He rushes outside as the trio poke fun at him. Outside, Team finds a hose of running water and tries to calm himself down by washing his head. Win finds him and scolds him stating he could fall sick. Win notices the predicament Team is in and touches his neck. He tries to get close to Team who is blushing.

Win eventually kisses Team but the latter breaks free. Win states that if Team cannot take care of his predicament on his own, he could join Win in his room. Team willingly follows Win to the senior’s room. Win asks for Team’s consent and the two end up making out.

The Episode Review

Oh, what a way to take fans back to Until We Meet Again! I really enjoyed this episode and it seems like Between Us will be the epitome of consent in Thai BLs. After seeing a lot of forced romance scenes in many shows in the past, I had a lot of trouble trying to emote characters falling in love with their abuser.

Though the idea is that the bottom is not aware of his feelings for the top and that the top is only forcing himself onto the bottom because he is passionate about him, scenes like those often lead to uncomfortable outcomes. It’s great to see how Win asked Team multiple questions to ensure the latter was not drunk. He did kiss Team without consent first but asked him to willingly follow him to his room if he liked help.

Until We Meet Again showed WinTeam as the goofy chaotic side-couple but I’m sure we will get to see something deeper with both characters who are just getting to know each other. Pruek and Manow are the only hetero couple we allow in the BL household and I am here for their romance!

Hopefully we see a lot more wholesome romance between the couple instead of emotional moments like in the original show.