BAD BUDDY METAPHORS – THE ONE BAG TO RULE THEM ALL
It’s finally arrived – my dear friends RI and DH got me Pran’s PP bag when they swung by GMM-TV’s headquarters during their recent trip to Bangkok, and it’s quite my pride and joy at the moment.
The bag is double-layered and plastic-based (I can’t tell if it’s polyester, polypropylene or something else) – it feels like a crunchily sturdy and waterproof carrier, rather than the soft and absorbent fabric tote I was expecting. The dark navy base also has a subtle mottled print not visible in the show (but you can see it in the photograph above).
Pran’s PP bag was probably the first visual detail that I noticed in Bad Buddy slyly winking out a message of yet more information and subtext hiding below the surface – that the series was more than just the unfolding of a simple story brought to life by the intrepid acting of Ohm and Nanon and the confident guiding hand of Director Backaof. For me it was the first inkling that Bad Buddy had been meticulously built up with layers of meaning, rich with little Easter Egg details if you would only lean in just a little bit closer for a better look.
I’ve mentioned this before in a previous analysis (linked here), but thought I’d write it up a bit more in this essay.
I’ll never forget when Pran’s PP bag first turned my head – it was during the Behind-the-Scenes video on YouTube of the scene where Pat and Pran race up the stairs to their student apartments in Ep.3 ([Behind The Scenes] วันแรก ซีนแรก ก็ต้องวิ่งแข่งกันหน่อย! | แค่เพื่อนครับเพื่อน | BAD BUDDY SERIES, timestamp 2.11).
In response to a suggestion from Nanon, Assistant Director Pepzi Banchorn Vorasataree (she of the vibrant hair) tells Director Backaof: “P’Aof, this kid wants to sell the hobo bag.” (I think the subtitles intend for the word “sell” here to carry the meaning of “highlight” or “give prominence to”. Just guessing, though.)
The whole exchange got me thinking, so I gave the bag another look – and only then did I notice that the giant P (for Pran) had a smaller P (guess who? 😊) nestled at its center.
So Pran’s bag is also a metaphor for how he had been carrying a torch for Pat all these years – throughout that time Pran had been signaling Pat’s special place in his heart for all the world to see, even while refusing to acknowledge those feelings (any feelings, really) outright.
Aligned with Pran’s love of emotional subterfuge, anyone who noticed the double P could also have read it as symbolizing “Pran Parakul”, burying its message about Pat+Pran beneath another layer of meaning. But even if that were to have been Mr. Metaphor’s official explanation, we know that in private the significance would have run deeper for him, because Bad Buddy does another little tip of the hat to the double P symbolizing Pat+Pran later on.
This happens when Pat gives a new earphone case to Pran at Ep.8 [3I4] 7.59, since he’s always forgetting or misplacing his earphones (e.g., at Ep.8 [3I4] 7.30, also referenced at Ep.8 [1I4] 4.47 and Ep.10 [1I4] 11.23). The case also has a double P on it (symbolizing PatPran’s relationship) but like the graphic on Pran’s bag, it appears more like a single P unless you look closely.
But of course expert sign-reader and metaphor aficionado Pran latches onto the significance immediately, reacting with delight (Ep.8 [3I4] 8.13). Pat pretends not to see the hidden doubling when questioned by Pran – which delights Pran even more, for Pran LOVES using cryptic signs and symbols as visual shorthand for his emotional state, and Pat’s little gift here not only shows that he understands Pran’s penchant for metaphorical communication, but also that he understands how Pran likes to keep hidden the precious emotions that his symbols signify (and at this stage Pran is not yet ready to go public with their love – which is another way of reading what the covert double P, masquerading under the guise of singlehood, symbolizes).
It’s also a sweet little touch that Pat’s gift of the earphone case and its double P is accompanied by his reminders “Don’t leave it anywhere again” and “Keep it in a safe place” (Ep.8 [3I4] 8.02 and 8.08). He may have intended for the double P on the case (mirroring Pran’s bag) to be a visual memory aid, helping Pran to remember his earphones by echoing the symbol of Pran’s enduring love for his never-forgotten Pat. It’s almost as if Pat is saying “I’m gifting you with a little reminder of the one you never forgot, whom you could never forget – me – so don’t you forget these earphones either.”
Of course, their relationship will always have a built-in contrarian dynamic, and Pran will keep forgetting his earphones later on anyway (see Ep.10 [1I4] 11.23, Ep.12 [3I4] 6.31, and Ep.12 [3I4] 13.05).
It turns into one of those little couple’s foibles for them, allowing them to snipe at each other, but without malice – they keep on at it more as an excuse to indulge in the playful, good-natured teasing we’ve come to recognize as PatPran’s demonstration of genuine affection born from decades of rivalry, before rivalry turned to love.
Another way of looking at the bag – and this saddens me a little – is how it might have been a bit of a grown-up Linus blanket for sensitive Pran before they became a couple.
Just like Dissaya standing guard at home to keep Ming and his influence out, Wai looking out for him at boarding school, the talisman smiley protecting his student apartment door, peer mentor Joke playing big brother at his faculty, and the hidden messaging behind his chat ID and his computer passwords (all analyzed here), you get a sense that Pran was shielding himself from the world with another layer of emotional protection (especially when he had the bag slung over his front like he did while running up the stairs in Ep.3).
But I think it’s sweet too that Pran didn’t abandon his faithful bag even after he and Pat became a couple. He might not have needed any more psychological bolstering, but its cryptic messaging was still relevant after Ep.11, when PatPran set their relationship status to stealth mode and the secret sounding of the double P took on a note of defiance (“P and P are still right here under your noses, suckers; you just don’t see us, and this time we have the upper hand.”) 😉👍
Much like the rooftop of their student apartment building (the setting for key junctures in PatPran’s relationship – see this link here for a listing), Pran’s PP bag was also present at many moments and events that were stressful, significant, dramatic and/or emblematic of change.
Thus, in honor of the PP bag’s steadfast duty and service to Pran (and to the series), I thought it’d be fun to list the scenes where the bag appears, since it’s been in every episode. But I soon realized that was an exercise in madness because it was in so many scenes. (It was like trying to list every scene that Pran was in – why bother when he’s a main character? He’d be in almost every frame.) Pran’s PP bag was like an uncredited but highly visible supporting actor, who silently stood watch at critical points in Pran’s life.
So instead of a full listing, here’s a (not so random) sampling of important moments and events at which Pran’s PP bag was also a taciturn witness, in every episode:
PatPran’s first deal behind-the-scenes to dupe the world at large (the Ep.1 fake fight, which foreshadows their pact in Ep.12 to live out their couplehood defiantly on the down-low) – at Ep.1 [4/4] 1.48.
The flirty dumpling exchange – it all starts at Ep.2 [1I4] 12.59 (significance of the dumplings explained here).
Pat helping to spark Pran’s creativity during the re-design process of the bus-stop with some imaginative role-play – Ep.3 [3I4] 5.35.
Pat and Pran at the Logtech Building when they get the sponsorship go-ahead (albeit with reduced funding) – Ep.3 [3I4] 13.17.
The first time Pat enters Pran’s student apartment (after lending him his earphones) – Ep.4 [1I4] 13.07 (the bag is on Pran’s dining table, visible at timestamp 13.18).
When Pran catches sight of Ink buying Pat iced milk tea – Ep.4 [1I4] 16.55 and Ep.4 [2/4] 0.20 (significance explained here).
The morning after the night before: the opening scene of Ep.5, that starts with Pat and Pran bickering like an old couple (which in a sense they are), after which Pat happily sniffs around Pran’s apartment like a joyful puppy who’s finally found his forever home (which in a sense he has); the importance of this scene is analyzed here and here.
Pat realizing that he was in love with Pran at the music shop – Ep.5 [2/4] starting at 6.56.
Pat and Pran at the Archi Volunteer Camp – Ep.6 [2/4] 1.44.
Pat and Pran trying to make each other jealous at the wonton noodle stall – Ep.7 [3I4] starting at 3.56.
Pat gifting Pran his PP earphone case – Ep.8 [3I4] 7.34.
Pran’s iced milk tea do-over at the picnic table – Ep.9 [1I4] 11.01 (analyzed here).
Pran and his friends discussing Pat being falsely charged for gun possession at a café – Ep.9 [4/4] 2.48.
Pran racing to stop the police from charging Pat with gun possession – Ep.9 [4/4] starting at 5.39.
Pran being surprised by Pa, Ming, and Pat’s mom at the hospital – Ep.9 [4/4] 10.59 and Ep.10 [1I4] 1.32
PatPran’s khan maak – scene beginning at Ep.10 [1I4] 9.47.
Pat and Pran finding out about Ming and Dissaya while interviewing Kruu Payao – Ep.10 [3I4] 7.48.
PatPran’s confrontation with Ming at the mall (the bag is in the shopping cart) – Ep.10 [4/4] 2.44.
Pran’s confrontation with Dissaya – Ep.10 [4/4] 4.32.
PatPran running away to the Zero Waste Village – Ep.11 [1I4] 4.20.
Pran leaving for Singapore to further his career – Ep.12 [3I4] 6.28.
The bag is also in Pran’s first ever scene of the series – at Ep.1 [1I4] 2.24, slung over the back of his chair (but it’s not a confirmed sighting since you can’t really make out the double P). And it’s in the intro as well, e.g., at Ep.1 [1I4] 7.14, 7.20, 7.40, and 7.45.
Like Pran’s heart that never stopped loving Pat, his old hobo bag kept the faith throughout Bad Buddy’s short run of 12 episodes. I’m not sure there’s a better symbol for all of us faithful fans still thinking about this gentle series months after it ended. And maybe like Pran used to do, I hug it a little bit closer toward the end of every week when I need to bolster my own forlorn heart, now that Friday nights and Saturday mornings are just that little bit emptier without a new hour of Pat, Pran and the whole Bad Buddy gang to look forward to… 💖
PS
So if you see anybody out and about carrying their own PP bag, do remember to go up and say “Hi” to a fellow member of our secret club. You already know this – any fan of Bad Buddy is sure to have some kindness in their soul… 😊
