Only Friends

Orignal Review via Twitter in Nov 2023: i took a really long time to think about this but i think overall i would give it around a 3 or 3.5 but i would actually need to rewatch it to decide for sure. to be completely honest i never got into top and mew as characters until near the end. mostly bc i feel like with the cuts they had i didnt really felt like i saw when top had actually changed or i never understood what about mew changed him in the first place. but it honestly could just be a me thing, to be 100% honest i never have gotten into any of forcebook's couples. there just has never been a connection with me personally. idk what it is though. as for boston and nick i absolutely loved it. not them as a couple exactly but their story. boston and nick are both deeply complex characters and no one else could bring them out better than neo and mark. they had my favorite ending out of all the couples. they are both are just fundmentally different people with different morals. sure they loved each other but being together was forcing them both to be someone they arent. they were both forcing these changes on themselves not actually wanting to but feeling like they NEEDED TO. my sandray. god. so many thoughts. i think everything - every little bit of sandray - was perfect up until the end of episode 10. which ofc is a vast majority of the series!! but i felt like their ending was just so... weak. compared to their strong development over the series. i think its already been talked to death but when it comes to boeing's involvement - everything felt very... ooc. for sand especially. i wouldve believed them to act like this earlier on in their relationship but not after the events of episodes 9 & 10. i really wish chuem had more involvement - she honestly didnt have much to do. but then her treatment of ray and then the way she takes atom's confession were really offputting to me. i wish the writers would have done more to have her be more involved in the plot. but lets be honest the reason why they didnt was bc she's a woman and she wouldnt fall for anyone in the friend group. its clear from the little writing they did do that they really didnt know what to do with chuem or know who she was. some of the side plots or conflicts they included felt unnecessary and rushed. which took up time from storylines that needed it. and i find the fact that they were editing the episodes based on the reactions of fans absolutely made me question the intergedy of the writing. in my scale the main difference is that a 3.5 show is one i go back to rewatch when i feel like it. shows like the eclipse or futs. these shows of fatal flaws in their writings or story but there's a personal connection i have that leads me to wants to rewatch/experience that again. meanwhile a 3 are shows like abaab or dark blue kiss. shows that fundamentally have good and bad to them just like a 3.5 but is missing the personal connection i need in order to feel compelled to watch it again and atm im just not sure which box only friends fits into. more time needs to pass in order for me to know for sure. ive def gone back to rewatch certain scenes but not the full series or even a full episode. i def do think the staff did what they thought was their best but there was just some questionable decisions that ended up making a real difference to the story. and with how that looks rn i dont think there should be another season rn. i just dont really know what the point of mix's character other than a fun easter egg. ofc we barely saw him but with the shakiness of the ending in general i just dont think a season 2 would be a good idea atm. im down for more development esp for chuem and april. but i think they would really need to workshop what a 2nd season would do for these characters. do they really need it? idk but yeah. i just really needed to think about it all after the fact. it sucks cuz i really was hoping for a 5/5 or even a 4/5 show as this was one of my most anticipated projects. and i do think there are some things about this show that are really special. but i just dont think it lived up to the full potential of what this series couldve been. -- Edit [Dec 2023]: have not had any urges to rewatch only friends since writing this review and i think until that changes i'll be leaving it as a 3 star.