Love You Teacher (Thai Series)

I have to admit, the show’s premise is so wild that I doubt you’ve ever encountered anything quite like it. It is a massive gamble for any writers’ room to tackle a concept this unconventional. Fortunately, the creators opted for a light tone, allowing the audience to ignore the ridiculous setup and instead embrace the humor and cheerful chaos. The entire experience radiates warmth, positivity, and a ton of heart. While there are certainly plenty of things you could pick apart, they are easy enough to overlook. It runs 10 episodes, each landing 40-45 minutes.

Both Pobmek and Solar work as elementary school teachers in a gay relationship. Through various flashbacks, we see that while teaching was always Solar’s dream, Pommel originally planned to go into accounting; however, his deep love for Solar led him to switch career paths just so they could both be teachers. A clear divide exists in their professional lives: Solar is a natural who clearly loves the job and is a total hit with the students, whereas Pommel can’t get his classroom under control at all. Everything changes for Solar one day following a small accident. Pobmek notices the shift immediately, as his boyfriend simply isn’t acting like himself. Solar begins insisting he is actually a seven year old kid named Sun, believing Pommel has kidnapped him and calling him uncle instead. They manage to get through the remainder of that day, but by the next morning, Solar wakes up back to normal as if nothing had occurred. Although Pobmek is relieved to have his boyfriend back, he soon realizes this is a recurring pattern. Every time Solar falls asleep, their identities flip: Sun goes to sleep and wakes up as Solar, and Solar goes to sleep and wakes up as Sun. Driven to find out why, Pobmek goes on a mission. With help from his friend the PE teacher and the acting principal, they try their best to manage the situation, even involving the students so that Sun can still attend class as a seven year old when that identity takes over. This process wears Pommel down badly, yet he keeps digging for answers. It eventually surfaces that Sun endured serious childhood trauma; his depressed mother took her own life while blaming him for her suffering, leading Sun to adopt the identity of Solar—a puppet character his mom used to perform with. He even believes a neighborhood woman is his real mother, while his father abandoned the entire situation. Naturally, things start improving once Pommel throws himself fully into being there for the person he loves, both emotionally and otherwise.

What this show truly explores is the survival of severe mental trauma, beginning with the warmth and comedy of a standard romantic comedy before slowly peeling back much deeper layers. It navigates the delicate balance between tenderness and heartbreak, touching on grief, depression, love, the healing process, and intergenerational trauma. While the setting is a bright, chaotic elementary school filled with children who observe far more than the adults realize, the narrative evolves into a study of how people endure emotional pain and the reality of loving someone through it all. You might enter expecting nothing but madness and silliness, and while you certainly get that, Solar’s backstory provides a powerful examination of postpartum trauma, depression, survivor’s guilt, and grief. I cannot think of any other show that has tackled this specific combination, so the creators deserve real credit for going there. Solar exists largely because Sun could not continue carrying the weight of believing he was responsible for his mother’s death. The actor playing Solar is fantastic; every time he transitions into Sun, the child becomes a total troublemaker who runs wild and turns every adult’s life upside down, which is funny to watch. He remains completely likable even while switching between these two personalities. To me, however, Pommel is the heart of the show, an underdog whose arc centers on learning that real love requires staying present when things become draining, scary, uncertain, or confusing. Regarding flaws, I was thrown by the lack of concern Solar’s own mother shows once she discovers the personality switching; she barely reacts with worry and treats it as if it is totally normal, leaving Pommel to handle everything alone. Pobmek’s mom actually shows way more concern than she does. You also have to accept how casually everyone—parents and students alike—treats the personality switching without anyone pushing to find an actual solution or get him real medical help.

This cozy little series has a way of putting a smile back on your face, doing a great job of simultaneously juggling humor, weirdness, charm, romance, and real psychological trauma. (8/10)