Another Victim?
It's fascinating how quickly some people have condoned Phaya's bursts of anger, yet Dr. Chalothon's special brand of fuckery isn't being held to the same standard as Phaya's violence, and I. Love. It.
Chalothon has chosen to fight these men without using physical violence because it makes his opponents look crazy and causes the audience to immediately judge the act of violence rather than the cause of it.
And here we are, after Chalothon said he'd rather see Tharn dead than yield to Phaya watching him repeat the same comments some people have made in their observations of Phaya's behavior.
But Chalothon is talking about Art here, not Phaya.
Yet this is the second time that Chalothon has linked symptoms from someone who is considered a risk to society with Phaya's behavior.
Which is unprofessional but also untrue considering none of the people he is speaking about were dangerous to society. The first suspects were targeting men who had gotten away with sexual assault, and both incidents that involved Art were accidents AFTER the other person assaulted him.
While.
The.
Police.
Watched.
The investigation team was there to protect the guests, yet Art being attacked wasn't a cause of concern. Maybe they thought this was another performance piece, but they only acted AFTER the blood started to show on a woman. And they only held Art down.
Because men aren't victims.
And the grandma, who stands in for society, voices this again and again. She dismissed Phaya's dreams as stress induced, and stated that people are simply losing their minds without any real reason. Much like Art's actions are being labeled as crazy without acknowledging he was assaulted. Much like Phaya bursts of anger are being examined without contributing them to Chalothon's heinous comment.
I truly believe Chalothon is directly causing ALL of these men to behave as they are and not just by his comments but through supernatural means.
Blame it on Pit Babe, but the second Chalothon put his hand on Art, it wasn't surprising that nobody stepped in to help Art even though he was crying loudly. Chalothon harmed Art. Chalothon caused Art harmed.
And they all just watched.
In the first case, the crimes were livestreamed. Art's crime turned into a performance piece, but Chalothon's touch isn't the act of violence these men connect with harm. They doubt this causes pain because this isn't an aggressive touch. Much like the the previous case, Phaya is the biggest doubter.
And this is why Chalothon is fighting Phaya in this very specific way.
Chalothon is setting up Phaya so he can publicly demonstrate that Phaya is crazy.
Because Phaya sees a distinct line between himself and the suspects of these cases, yet he has a lot more in common with them than he thinks.
They are all Chalothon's victims!
And Chalothon is making sure no one will believe him.
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The Sign of a Mental Disorder
Tharn has the gift of sight. Yai and the abbot believe Tharn has this gift. Yet Tharn does not share this information with others, including Phaya, because he doesn't want people to think he is crazy.
When Yai questions why Tharn didn't tell Phaya the truth, Tharn immediately thinks Yai is talking about his gift of sight, but Yai is talking about how Tharn likes Phaya. To Tharn, the truth is his gift while his love for Phaya is a fantasy.
Dr. Chalothon knows about Tharn's gift, yet 1) spins it that Tharn has a mental disorder and 2) easily offers up that information to Phaya.
Chalothon, a psychiatrist, might be a childhood friend or a doctor who "treats" Tharn for his condition. Either way, Chalothon knows the truth and uses it as a weapon against Tharn by likening Tharn's (and Phaya's) experience to those of a killer who he immediately labels as Schizophrenic.
Previously, Phaya reminded the doctor that they shouldn't discuss the case because the investigation was still ongoing, yet the doctor, who should know better, has no qualms disclosing Tharn's trauma. If Tharn is a patient, this a breach of confidentially and if Tharn is a friend, this is a breach of trust. But this is also a reminder of how discussions happen about people with mental illnesses and not believing them as victims.
Framing a supernatural show through the lens of a procedural investigation isn't new because it's an effective storytelling device that requires the logical examination of the illogical. And it's also an examination of how we dismiss people and ideas we don't understand.
Even when we should believe what is being presented to us.
Tharn does not doubt his gift. In fact, his gift is a painful reminder that he can't ignore. When he saw Phaya getting stabbed, his head hurt.
So when he was in the woods, his head hurt.
But instead of seeing the future,
he saw the past.
Which is a gift Phaya also shares.
But his family gives a logical reason for his visions.
Remember that Phaya is the one who doubted the victims' stories, so for a logical man from a logical family, it must be painful to not understand what is happening.
However, Phaya gets the same painful reminder that he cannot ignore. His head hurts. A physical manifestation of the unexplainable.
But instead of accepting what is happening, Phaya reacts, with violence.
Others have guessed that the anger comes from the thought that Tharn has betrayed his trust and the idea that Tharn doesn't believe him (but remember that during that conversation with the doctor, Tharn's trust was also betrayed). Others have also stated that seeing Phaya express his anger in this controlled environment is good.
BUT . . . We've already been told this isn't the way to deal with conflict or competition.
And this is where Chalothon thrives.
As a psychiatrist, someone who specializes in mental illnesses and how they physically and emotionally manifest, Chalothon speaks calmly and nicely, yet clearly knows how to ignite rage in Phaya.
The way Chalothon fights is not physical. It leaves no marks. He never lays a hand on Phaya to hurt him. He is mentally attacking Phaya (and even possibly supernaturally). Just like he attacked Tharn without anyone noticing. He is attacking these men in ways that others would not believe because they can't be seen.
Tharn and Phaya's job depends on them providing evidence of a crime, of a victim being harmed, and of a criminal causing harm. Yet the case they are working on has the criminals as the victims and the victims as the criminals. What is the crime then? One of justice?
Tharn wronged Chalothon in a previous life and has been told this multiple times making Chalothon the victim, yet Tharn and Phaya have become the victims of Chalothon in this life. Is this justice? Because the way Chalothon is attacking them makes them seem crazy. Nobody would believe they were victims, just like the audience hasn't truly seen Chalothon as the victim even though it has been stated as the reason Tharn and Phaya's karma is tied together.
Tharn's sight allows him to see victims.
The audience dismissed Chart as crazy. But what if he was the first victim?
Because this story of an elite investigation unit is asking us to look closer at how men can be the victims and how they are being dismissed as crazy. Yai called the suspect a psychopath. Chalothon suggested the man suffered from a mental illness. Tharn saw the man's sister die by suicide. The suspect has yet to actually kill anyone himself, so right now, this man is a victim of a failed system but was quickly labeled as crazy for his tactics toward justice.
It's a way to silence victims. Nothing they say can be trusted because they are crazy. Nothing they experience is real because they are insane. There is no crime if there is no victim. So no matter how hard these men physically fight, they can't beat the label of having a mental illness because everything they do will only prove its existence.
Their every action is a painful sign of a mental disorder.
And the psychiatrist knows that.
Which is why he chose to seek justice this way.
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