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Okay so I just finished Bad Buddy Series Episode 11 and I have a lot to say about the ending, which is the break up.

For me, the break up makes sense even though it’s definitely not the best way to end things and some may said patpran breaking felt so out of character. Before episode 11 aired, I also said the same thing about patpran will never break up because they always fight together against the world, just like Pat said they never leave each other side. But then episode 11 aired and there’s the first scene, the bus scene which actually already explained everything in a very subtle way. First there’s Pat saying sorry to Pran about what his father did to Pran’s mother and asking would Pran’s mom be able to forgive his father. However, Pran didn’t answer and asked Pat back instead. He asked if Pat were his mother, would he be able to forgive his father or not. I believe this scene is trying to show how patpran’s attitude kinda changed after they found out the root of conflict and what their parents did to make them hate each other.

For myself, the parents’ reason to hate each other is valid but invalid to use it to gatekeep their children from friendship and love. Personally, I love how BBS used this scholarship conflict as the reason because it really explained their parents’ years of rivalry too until they told patpran to always compete with one another. As a person who was born in a middle class family, scholarship is really one of the most important things in my life. Even right now my parents keep asking me to find a scholarship until I feel very pressured but I know very well how important it is and how it could change my life forever. Therefore, my heart aches when I know what Pran’s mom had to go through. Fuck Pat’s dad though.

Okay back to the bus scene and the connection to the conflict. Scholarship is really important in Asian household, whether you are rich or poor, because many Asians parents force their children to achieve the highest in academics and scholarship is one of the highest achievement. In Pran’s mother case, it’s the worst because from her confrontation to Pat’s dad, she said getting the scholarship was the only way for her to reach her dream and she also didn’t come from a rich family so she really needed it. Yet, her best friend which was Pat’s dad stole it from her and what hurt her more is that Pat’s dad didn’t even use the scholarship because he ended up taking over Pat’s grandfather’s business.

Based on this conflict alone, we know it’s gonna be so hard for patpran’s parents to forgive each other right away, Pran’s mother has been holding grudge for years since they were in high school and Pat’s dad has been running away from guilt since God knows when. Solving the conflict in one episode where they talked and done, they forgive each other will be confusing like years of hate gone just like that? However, the point is actually not about whether they will reconcile at the end or not but about how will both parents free patpran from their own conflict and just let them be together.

Surely, they won’t let patpran free in just one day. “Oh my kids ran away because of me, it’s my fault for putting all the burden on them” I think both parents will never think like that at all because both are very controlling and strict, it’s like they know they have their children in their hands. It’s really toxic and fucked up, I know but it’s their characterization for both parents since episode 1. Very strict, very controlling typical Asian parents who think they know what’s best for their children. Not even once we saw them loosen things up about this rivalry for years. If both parents reconcile easily in just one episode, it will be so out of character. Therefore, both families need a big trigger and reason for them to finally realized that they need to free patpran from their own conflict.

Yet, many people also argued that patpran breaking up is so out of character because from the beginning they keep breaking the cycle, going ride or die together, “fuck it i love you that’s what matters” the most couple. In my opinion, all of these are not wrong at all, that “fuck it i love you we can fight anything together” is really their motto from the start. However, we need to pay attention to how patpran actually never disobey their parents throughout their life. Pran getting transferred to boarding school in high school and not being rebel about it and also Pat feeling guilty because he lied about rugby practice to his father. Both of them have always been very obedient to their parents and they also have a “close” relationship with their family. We can see both families always eating together and actually talking. Patpran never called out their parents until the day they found out about the conflict.

Then after the revelation, they were put in two positions. Pran as the child of the “victim” which is his mother and Pat as the child of the person who’s the root of this conflict which is his father. We can see that Pat was disappointed with his father yet also felt guilty to Pran. Since the rooftop hug where Pat suddenly came, saw Pran crying, looked deep into Pran’s eyes then immediately embraced him… it explained everything. Without many dialogues, we can see that Pat is trying to be the strong one for Pran. Then he just suggested they both should run away after Pran said he can’t take it anymore. Pat really just wanted to make Pran happy and to give what’s best for him, out of love and out of guilt.

To be honest, since the start even though patpran has always been breaking the cycles and risking everything together, we still can see that Pran always hesitant about revealing their relationship to the world. Like in episode 8 for example, Pran described his inner feelings about his worries regarding his relationship with Pat to Wai (when Wai didn’t know that Pran is talking about patpran that time). He mentioned things like “it’s an exhausting relationship” and “no moving forward because it’s a dead end”. From this alone we can see that truthfully for Pran, the relationship he has now is the kind of relationship situation he never wanted to have but he’s so in love and happy because after years he finally got the chance to be with his first love, his only love, Pat.

He’s always been the overthinker and the realistic one here and Pat knows how it’s always been so hard for Pran to handle this kind of relationship that’s why he offered “fine, i am the brokenhearted one” to pran after they were forcefully outed by Wai. Pat has always been adjusting to Pran, all this time and Pran also been trying and fighting everything even though it keeps getting harder and the pressure getting bigger for him every time.

Also, even though at the end of episode 9 he said “But I care about you more” to Pat after they argued about Pat posting their photos on his instagram, still Pran was hesitant at the beginning. We have to consider Pran’s character too, who is a perfectionist, it makes sense for him wanting everything to be perfectly in place, nothing messy, including his relationship with Pat. Pran also said “even though I don’t tell the world doesn’t mean I don’t like you” which showed that Pran has always wanted to play safe to keep what is precious to him.

Then everything just fell apart after they found out about the conflict, hence Pran saying “I can’t take it anymore” and Pat knew right away how Pran would take the conflict. Even though Pran finally stood up for himself when he confronted his mother, before that he was still shocked about Pat telling his father that they are boyfriends, he also got pushed to the floor, and yelled to Pat to talk it out with his father. We can really see the difference in their personalities here. Then the continuation is just Pat telling Pran they should run away and Pran crying in his arms, Pran didn’t reply or anything… he just cried. Then it’s episode 11.

It’s kinda obvious since the bus scene that both of them have different views about this “honeymoon getaway”. Pat really saw it as a chance for them to run away and leave everything behind while Pran just saw it as a temporary escape from reality. When Pat said even though their parents won’t support but he knows other people will support, again Pran didn’t reply to him after that, he just held his hand. People should have been able to see the signs from the very first scene tbh haha because it’s so obvious how they have different views and the possibility of break up at the end is high :(

Then we can see throughout the episode Pran keeps thinking about his mother. Personally, I think this makes sense because even though Pran has been under his mother’s control throughout his life, he finally found out about his mother’s reason. Also we have to remember Pran didn’t know his mother’s reason yet when he confronted his mother about him and Pat being boyfriends. He still thought it was because his mother and Pat’s dad were in a relationship, broke up horribly and became exes who hate each other. Sadly, his mother’s reason is much worse than that and she was also the “victim”. That’s why during the bus scene when Pat asked him about his mother, Pran was just silent and we can see his eyes were full of worries. In addition, Pran is also an only child. An only child who has been under his mother control throughout his life, who thought the reason was some business conflict then some stupid high school break up, but then found out the reason why his controlling mother is like that is because she’s “protecting” him from getting hurt just like what she experienced in the past.

It’s hard when you have super strict Asian parents who have been pressuring you throughout your life yet at the same time they truly care about you and sacrificed a lot for you…I really understand Pran. It’s just too complicated for Pran when knows his mother has been hurting too and once again Pran isn’t really the type to take complicated issues and conflicts easily. In the other hand, we can see Pat was so ready to risk it all because it’s obvious how he’s fully disappointed with his father and it would be stupid for him to come back and once again obey his parent who fucked up first, also he’s not an only child.

However, we have to consider how Pat doesn’t really have a clear plan about what they’re gonna do next. Pat suddenly just showed up in front of Pran saying they got a job as servants at a cafe and Pran’s face was like “what the fuck are you talking about” haha T_T Then at that moment they finally found out about their different views regarding the honeymoon getaway. Yet, Pran tried to compromise with Pat’s wish about staying there and accepting the job because Pat was sulking after he saw Pran tried to call his mother. However, again after this scene is their scene sitting right on the rocks and Pat here said they are gonna do quizzes because he wants to “know Pran better”.

Pat has always known he needs to use a special way for Pran to be able to tell what he is feeling that’s why he came up with this idea. Then the first thing he asked was what Pran wants to do after graduation :( and Pran answered interior design and musician and I think that’s one of the biggest reasons why Pat decided to let go of Pran. He knew that for Pran to be able to achieve those dreams, Pran needs to go back to his family. When Pat woke up and saw Pran wasn’t there beside him, he immediately searched for him but then when he saw Pran sitting and smiling beautifully with his guitar, I think Pat’s face didn’t just show that he’s glad that Pran didn’t go anywhere, it’s a mixed feeling of “ah thank god, he (pran) is still here with me” and “ah but…the next time i wake up he won’t be here with me because i have to let him go”.

Pat knows sometimes he can be too idealistic and he’s so grateful to Pran for always keeping up and trying to adjust with him because he also knows Pran is very realistic. What makes them always able to compromise and lower their ego for one another is because they have been best friends for life, since before they were born even, so many scenes of them saying and giving proofs of them know and understand each other so well, their eyes and smiles speak to one another, one look into each other’s eye and they know Pat and Pran are really different but they have accepted and adapted to each other’s differences since years ago that’s why they can actually communicate and be open with one another. “Thank you for trying to make a silly guy like me happy”, a very strong sentence, I believe.

Just remember that if we make it simple, we can say it like this: Pat’s father ruined Pran’s mother’s whole future by stealing her achievement which should’ve been the key for her to reach her dream and Pat’s father never said sorry to her or explained the reason why other than Pat’s mother saying Pat’s grandfather was also very strict to his son. And again Pat feels guilty about his dad stealing Pran’s mom scholarship making her fail to reach her dream, Pat of course won’t let the same thing happen to Pran.

Pat, filled with guilt because of his father’s mistake, thought that he would do anything to save his relationship with Pran, until he asked what is Pran’s dream and looked into his eyes, also listened and saw how Pran was so worried about his mother. Thus he realized, what he needs to save is Pran’s future, for the hate cycle to end right away. People will say “but if they keep fighting for their relationship and trying to convince their parents, they might be able to save their relationship and also their future”. However, Pat and Pran don’t know, they just don’t know what to expect. Will it work? Will their parents finally reconcile?

Well they don’t know. Pat and Pran, who are still so young, have a bright future ahead of them, who love each other tremendously… hurt, guilt, anxiety eating both of them up… They know the “best” way for them to be able to protect each other is to break up… It’s not just about “we can run away and fuck the others” it’s about both of them growing up in a traditional Asian household, about both of them being top students who have great potential to reach so high in life, about their parents who’s actually been hurting for years and also lying for years, about their inner differences in handling issues and situations.

Since the beginning, we have seen Pat and Pran as two people in love who are willing to sacrifice everything and give in for each other’s happiness and this break up is just another one. The fact that they know each other so so well, is the biggest influence to their decision of letting each other go.

Another reason we have to consider is how the action that Pat would take in this episode has been foreshadowed in previous episode, which is episode 7. To get Pran to be his boyfriend, Pat was willing to lose because at that time Pran wasn’t really in a good situation with the architecture play. He said, “If my victory puts my boyfriend in trouble, I’d rather lose” and “As for me, when I have a lover, I always let my lover win”. Episode 11 is the same, Pat was ready to “lose” since he knew Pran didn’t want to stay at the beach for long time, since he knew Pran dreams of being interior designer and musician, since he saw Pran smiling with his guitar the morning after they made love. He’s willing to lose again to Pran this time because once again Pran wasn’t really in a good situation, but this time the consequences is letting Pran go instead of getting him to become his boyfriend.

Things are uncertain if they choose whether the option to run away and work on the zero waste village or the option to talk to their parents again, they don’t know will it end good or bad, like what Pat said they have been through everything ups and downs together a lot, man they are in love but they are young too. Both of them care so much about each other and also their relationship that’s why they know taking a break is the only option with “certain results”. Nevertheless, everything is back to the interpretation of patpran’s characters, when they are put in situation like this, are they the characters to push through even though they know its not gonna end up like what they want, or they are not going to push through because they know it wont end up good for both of them.

Still and all, because it’s a mutual break up based on their never-ending love for each other. After this, their feelings will never change. Also the episode 11 ending said, “What I do might not be able to change the world, but it surely changes my attitude towards this world. You might think one man can’t change the world, but I want you to know that this world can’t change someone like me either” which I’m sure is a foreshadow for episode 12. No matter how much they change their attitude towards the situation in their life, the world will never be able to change who they really are, the world will never be able to change their love for each other, the world will never be able to change “Our Song”.

p.s: i posted this on my medium too ):) https://medium.com/@gemmalexitas/bad-buddy-series-episode-11-the-world-will-never-change-our-song-7463a4219479