"Girl from Nowhere": She Knows All Your Secrets

 I don't usually watch tv series with "girls" in the title, but the Thai drama The Girl from Nowhere had an interesting premise: A mysterious Girl from Nowhere arrives at a different high school in every episode, and helps a victim of bullying, sexual harassment, or some other problem get revenge -- or else she eliminates the middleman and wreaks revenge herself.  

I watched Episode 4, because it doesn't mention hetero-romance, and the victim who needs justice is a boy, Dino.  Maybe he's gay.

Prologue: The Girl -- Nanno -- burning an American $100 bill with her picture on it.  She smiles and asks "What can money buy?"  

She finds out as she is being shown around her latest school: the botany lab, the fashion studio, the spacecraft simulation room, all donated by rich parents. Hey, she could buy a room!  She pulls out a wad of cash and magically transforms an empty room into a sanctuary, complete with a huge stained glass window depicting the Virgin Mary. 

Scene 1: Rather svelte Dino (left) comes to class loaded-down with souvenirs from his latest trip to London.  He's competing with another boy, To, to see who can bring back the most souvenirs -- and he wins!  

Scene 2: Students being interviewed about Dino: arrogant, very rich, a show-off, tries to buy friendship.

Cut to Dino asking To why he didn't accept an invitation to dinner: "Duck at the Four Seasons."  Being gay is definitely not this guy's secret: he's right out there.  

The teacher passes out the grades from last term: Dino got a 3.46, very high.  The other students are jealous.

Scene 3: Meanwhile, Nanno is using her room as headquarters for a new company, Nanno Ltd.  

A blond boy worries that, due to his poor grades, he won't get the motorcycle his parents promised.  Nanno can arrange for him to get it, for a small fee (1500 baht, about $50 US dollars).  I thought she was going to use magic, but she hacks into the school's computer system and changes his grades.

Scene 4: Kids are lined up to pay Nano to fix things -- not just grades.  "My girlfriend cheated on me!"  The boy gets beat up.  "My Dad insists that "I get a girlfriend!"  Nanno hires one.

Scene 5:  Nanno offers to take on Dino as a client, but he doesn't need anything: he's rich, smart, and "doesn't have a girlfriend problem."  How about a boyfriend problem? 

Dino's four friends, a girl and three boys (one a ladyboy, a Thai third gender), ask Nanno to arrange a visit to a Buddhist meditation camp.  They invite Dino along, but he refuses.  You'll never get a boyfriend like that, dude!  Instead, Nanno suggests going to Dino's house.  He's bragged about the snooker room, the tennis courts, the swimming pool, the stables with horses.

(This is the only beefcake photo of a cast member that I could find.)

Dino keeps refusing, but they insist, so finally he says "Fine! Tomorrow!"  He leaves the school and gets into his chauffeured limo.

Scene 6:  Hey, it's not a limo, it's an Uber!  Dino lives in a crappy apartment in a bad neighborhood, with parents who have a work-from-home job packing boxes.  He's poor, just pretending to be rich!  Then how can he afford tuition at the elite school, the gifts for his friends, the daily Uber ride?

He goes into his crappy room, lies down on the bed, and gets lots of texts from his friends, all excited about the visit to his mansion. 

Ulp -- now he needs Nanno's help!  "Find me a house like the one I described."

Sure, but the processing fee will be 200,000 baht -- $6400 USD!  How is a poor kid going to get that much money?

Coincidentally, Dino overhears his parents talking about 200,000 baht that they've borrowed from a loan shark to pay for his tuition.  They'll have to pay it back right away, or the loan shark will kill them.  Ulp -- surely Dino won't steal from his parents, just to impress his friends.  But he imagines them ridiculing him, and...the ATM is 1.5 km away.  Feeling guilty, he takes the money.

Dad is played by Nuttapol Kumata, a member of the Babymime comedy mime ensemble.

Scene 7:  Morning.  Dad knows that the money is missing, and is yelling at the bank for its "error."  Feeling guilty, Dino puts on his shoes and leaves.

Scene 8: Nanno shows Dino the palace she's rented.  Geez, it's enormous.  There's a sign out front -- it must be a familiar Bangkok landmark.  

Later, the friends arrive.  The ladyboy is in drag. Dino rings for the servants Nanno has hired -- ulp, they're his parents! They pretend not to know him.

Nanno asks them to go get a photo of Dino's "parents," the ambassador and his wife. Oh boy, humiliation upon humiliation.

Scene 9: Dinner.  Dino asks for whiskey, but his parents/servants refuse to provide it: "You're too young to drink."  His friends find this odd. so he insists: "I'm your boss.  Do as I say."  

Nanno suggests "Since there are no adults around to supervise, let's smoke some weed."  While Dino's parents are right there, unable to act!  

When the "maid" spills wine on the girl's dress, she is irate.  "Fire her!  Fire her!"  

Scene 10: They go into the study, angry and upset.  Why is Dino acting so weird?  Why won't he let them have fun?  Nanno suggests Russian roulette -- but aim for the arm, not the head, so you won't die.. This is what Thai teenagers consider fun?

They actually start playing, but when it's Dino's turn, Dad/Butler rushes in and stops them and starts yelling: "Your parents spent a fortune to raise you, and you're gambling it all away!"  One of the kids gets angry and hits him in the head; he collapses.  Mom/Maid, distraught, grabs the gun, but he attacks her, too.  They're both dead!

Nanno starts laughing hysterically.  She's gotten her revenge.  

Scene 11:  Dino goes home.  Mom and Dad are there, slightly bruised but otherwise fine.  They ask "How was the Buddhist meditation camp?"  Huh?

Flashback explanation: Dino came clean about being poor.  Nanno gave Mom and Dad enough money to treat their wounds and replace the 200,000 baht, on the grounds that they "never talk about it."  So they're going to pretend it never happened.

Nanno faces the audience and asks "What do you think money can buy?"  

Postscript: The students being interviewed: "Money is the most important thing in my life."  "How could I live without money?" "Money can buy anything, even people!"

Beefcake: Some of the guys are cute.

Other Sights: Just the mansion.

Gay Characters:  Dino and his three male friends are all gay.

Supernatural:  No.  Nanno gets everything done through computer hacking and throwing money around.  But in other episodes she is killed and comes back (several times), so she's definitely a supernatural being.

My Grade:  Very impressive.  Excellent production values, excellent acting.  Some problems with motives -- why, exactly, did Nanno want revenge on this boy?  But that might be due to cultural differences.   A-