bad genius...

[permutative]

duuude why are bad genius (2017) and bad genius: the series (2020) SO SERIOUS!!! like i've been on banklynn lockdown for the past half-week i think?? i don't even know what's up with me T__T

the plot of bad genius and bad genius: the series (which i will just abbreviate to bgts) revolves around these high school students at an elite private school cheating on tests and going to even further extremes as the stakes and profits get higher.

i think the part of the appeal of bad genius is that all of these cheating schemes are framed as heists and presented in this really stressful and entertaining way to the audience... like damn i didn't know filling in a scantron could be that exhilarating. but another reason why bad genius, esp bgts, was so compelling to me was because of the relationship between lynn and bank. IS ANYONE ELSE A HETSHIPPER???? ok let's get into this i guess

bad genius (2017) ★★★★.5

letterboxd review: "i've never felt more stressed out in my life"

okayyy i really enjoyed bad genius as a movie. the cinematography was actually quite nice and all of the heist sequences were SO STRESSFUL to watch. i also think aokbab's performance as lynn was Perfect... she's so striking and determined and really a standout to me here. the thing i liked the least was the ending, by far — it felt really abrupt and i wondered why there weren't consequences for the other characters, bank's reversal seemed kind of like... like it made sense but it was also Super Disappointing and i wished that more time was spent on that change, and i just lacked closure?

bad genius: the series (2020) ★★★★.5

duuude. okay i think i am just a lot more emotionally invested in bgts... like i think there are some things that the movie does better (uhh i personally think aokbab is a better lynn and i'll always prefer james to ice paris, but it's also like... each banklynn iteration matches e/o and same for patgrace so I GUESS IT'S FINE!) but i definitely like the tv show more and have more opinions, thoughts, feelings, etc. about it compared to the movie.

i would say that the tv series was like... 5 stars for me for the first 9 episodes, 4 stars for episodes 10 and 11, and then the later part of episode 12 redeemed the somewhat weaker final act for me. I HAVEN'T CRIED THIS MUCH DURING AN ENDING SINCE 3WBF??? overall i enjoyed the changes that were made from the movie in order to extend the plot, and the depth that was added to each character's backstory. i've seen a lot of people say that they liked the movie better, and idk... i think two things make me like the tv show better — 1) i'm not as attached to the movie characters/actors because i watched it literally five days ago, and 2) the show makes banklyn a lot more compelling than the movie. like i do admit that there are weaknesses in the show, and some of the cheating schemes are like :D??? but whatever. also i loved when the tv show characters would act differently from the movie and it would almost be a critique/reality check of something that happened in the film LOL

okay so right off the bat i noticed that bank and lynn were definitely different! imo their characters got changed in ways that complemented each other? like juné's portrayal of lynn is a lot softer than aokbab's, and she seems more... more emotional and human? idk i feel like aokbab's portrayal of lynn was intentionally a bit awkward, like she wasn't super emotionally astute at times? and then JAONAAY'S BANK!!!!!!!!! like yes i was bankfan during the og movie and i really liked the innocence and idealism that nonkul brought to the role BUT i think i just ended up liking jaonaay as bank a lot more. bank is my favorite character in both iterations but jaonaay as bank is just... initially he comes off as intense and a little cold, but that exterior belies the extent to which he cares about his mother and lynn LOL. and the gradual loss of innocence with bank's character over the course of the story is done a lot better in the tv show — the lows that he hits are also much lower, but it makes sense for his character.

i think the biggest change in the main four characters was with grace. like damn this girl has her Depths in this show... and maybe those depths aren't exactly likable but they sure are compelling! sorry the last show i finished before this was banana fish SO WHY DOES THIS GIVE ME YUT LUNG VIBES </3 i'll stop talking now. grace kind of comes off as vapid during the movie and it's more difficult to understand why lynn is even friends with her, whereas i feel as if gracelynn's friendship is explored in proper depth in the show and their falling out + resolution makes a lot more sense. like idk i feel like they didn't have enough screentime for it in the movie but grace was kind of shitty to lynn as a friend... relating to this, i think patgrace might have irritated some people — they certainly frustrated me quite a bit while i was watching. LIKE DAMN THAT SHIT IS FUCKED UP! but i honestly really liked that they ended up being so... messy? i think their devotion to each other, especially as the stakes escalate, makes more sense if you consider that they don't just have a normal uneventful hs relationship but instead are kind of crazy and intense IDK. also yes pat was even More of an asshole during this movie but i liked him more here??? maybe it's just because i think ice paris is kind of good looking 😕

and, of course, the banklynn. THE BANKLIN! (random aside but the subs for bgts called lynn "lin" the entire time so i started thinking of bgts banklynn as banklin...) i think a lot of the minor details in the initial parts of bgts were changed in order to emphasize banklynn and deepen their relationship/friendship... and at first i was like "idk why this is happening but i will take it readily!" but ofc it always for a reason (i think?), i.e. banklynn had to have a stronger bond in order for lynn to actually agree to the final heist LOL. in the movie banklynn strike me as people who didn't really know each other and were just thrust into each other's orbits because of lynn's cheating operations... and sure there are a couple allusions to them being friends/more than that, but bank also shuts lynn down when she asks him for dinner / the random lie pat makes about lynn and bank dating is just a random lie. i think what really struck me about banklynn in the movie is how morally upright bank was for the majority of the movie in contrast to lynn, and how bank constantly got into trouble because of lynn and lynn had this unshakable certainty in bank as a person... until the end ofc.

in comparison, banklynn in the tv series is just!!!! well it sure is a whole lot more overt in the show than it is in the movie and i think the way that they end up is even more devastating because of it... like seriously whenever they'd get closer some random cheating thing would happen and it's just like 😭 WHY CAN'T THESE KIDS CATCH A BREAK! the cute scenes between them and the way bank slowly succumbed to being lynn's friend in the beginning of the show just set things up SO WELL... like initially they're set up against each other to compete for the same scholarship (which differs from the og where both of them are scholarship students with no issues) and bank initially refuses lynn's friendship on the basis of that competition. but this only ends up feeding into lynn's cheating because she ends up making enough money to cede the scholarship spot to bank... T___T idk. i just found bank being lynn's weakness and lynn always doing things to protect/defend bank early on sooo sweet.

and even as the stakes get higher and the initial schoolgirl romance vibes of their friendship wear off, even as bank's character deteriorates, their special connection is just!! undeniable!! when bank says that people do bad things for the people they love, and he's referring to how he's willing to cheat to get his mother money — but lynn, who has no use for the cheating money, is doing it for bank LOL. like damn. i remember one thing that really ruined banklynn for me in the movie was how unfair everything seemed — like lynn was the original mastermind of the cheating, and she did it much more often than bank did, but in the end bank was the only one who got punished/expelled and no one else had to even face much consequences. obviously it's really like... like it's STILL unfair in the movie, but i think the harsh consequences that bank faces make sense in the context and lynn acknowledges that unfairness in her letter to bank. I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYTHING MORE TRAGIC AND DEVASTATING AND PERFECT THAN LYNN SAYING "i didn't want to see you becoming someone i hate" 😭 that letter literally changed me as a person btw.

some last things - i think the commentary about the corrupt educational system was interesting and well-meaning, and i definitely enjoyed it more than the movie even if the "fight within the system" stuff was a little idealistic LOL. i'm sorry but i'll always go for a more optimistic ending sooo...

jaonaayjuné (2019 — ?)

UM. SORRY FOR BEING A HETSHIPPER ON THIS FINE DAY BUT... why are jaonaay (who plays bank) and juné (who plays lynn) SO CUTE TOGETHER.

11:18 AM

landofnightsi know its prob fanservice but like PLEAAASEEEEEE they seem so cutteeeeee predebuti cant believe they have straightperson fnaservice predebutwho are they trying to appeal to.. ME...?????

i don't even have much to say i feel like their instagram posts say it all... i love juné and her little photography instagram and her tendency to take these random faraway/faceless shots of him all artsy and shit.

juné wyd??

as miss girlrock once said... juné basically "posted the ultimate BF WHO THINKS HIS GF IS TOO CUTE TO NOT PHOTOGRAPH CANDID SHOTS!!!! like... it's about BLOCK OUT THE WORLD BUT NEVER YOUR GIRL!!!" yes juné is the boyfriend and jaonaay is the girlfriend here T__T <3 just kidding i don't think jaonaayjuné queer heterosexuality they're just hets_that_matter lmfao. sorry for comparing jaonaayjuné to miniz btw

jaonaay's birthday post for juné

also the song they released together is cute. and in general i wish they had more of a fandom LOL because none of their content is eng subbed like they appeared on some random thai show and there's this twenty minute video of them doing random maincp fanservice shit but i have no clue what they're saying T__T i guess i'll stop here lol. can everyone give bad genius a try though

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