Even though I'm Filipino, I haven't really watched local series in a while, so Love at First Spike felt kinda off to me. I've gotten so used to the vibe and production quality of Thai drama that this one just hit differently. And just to be clear-this isn't a BL, and the creators never said it was. It's not even tagged as LGBTQIA+ on MyDramaList, so I honestly don't get why people are calling it queerbaiting.
The story follows Uno, a varsity player who gets kicked off the basketball team after punching a teammate mid-game. He's your typical broody guy-always frowning, quick-tempered, and clearly dealing with a lot emotionally. He's an illegitimate kid who resents his dad, and that anger kinda spills into how he treats everyone. Normally, I accept flawed characters with an open mind in a series/movies, but I just couldn't connect with Uno. Maybe it's because of how casually homophobic and transphobic he is, or maybe it's just the fact that even his friends don't seem to like him. He's really hard to root for. That said, the actor who played Uno did a good job for his role.
For such a short series, there's a lot of drama-family issues, emotional breakdowns, side plots here and there. Very Filipino teleserye vibes. I just wish local shows would explore something lighter for once. Thai series know how to give you that feel-good comfort, even with simple plots. This one felt emotionally heavy all the way through. The only character I actually liked was Lucien. The rest? Always ready to fight-so intense, lol. Romance isn't really front and center, but there's a love triangle somewhere in the background. And while it's supposed to be about sports (varsity) in a school setting, no one seemed to care about studying. 🤣
Some of the supporting cast looked way too old to be playing college students, which made it harder to believe the setting. And don't even get me started on the school-it looked tiny and almost empty. For something under ABS-CBN, I expected way better production value. The campus scenes didn't feel alive at all-it didn't even look like a real university.
To be honest, I already had a feeling this wouldn't be my thing. I just gave it a try because it's Tagalog, and I needed something I could half-watch while working. I can't do subtitles when I'm multitasking.
