The Next Prince 1×04 Review: Episode 4

Khanin and Charan cause a stir at Khanin’s coronation ball. Meanwhile, the investigation into the attack on Khanin has begun, but the answers may not be as obvious as they seem.

I’m very intrigued by this coronation ball. They made Khanin perform; did they even know that he could? How did that conversation go? “By the way, we’ve upended your entire life, now entertain the masses. At a ball in your honor.” Later, the king introduces Khanin to a lot of foreign dignitaries, all of whom Khanin is able to greet in their native languages. Except for the princess (?) from Thailand, who curiously speaks English.

Interestingly, the king seems surprised to see Khanin speak in what I think is Mandarin. That could have been me reading too much into his facial expression, though. Again, did the king know Khanin could speak all of these languages? Was this a test? Or did he assume Khanin would just stand there and look pretty?

So I know that presumably Thatdanai would have raised Khanin to be a prince without flat out explaining that that’s what he was doing. But I still think it’s a little convenient that, oh, yes, of course, Khanin speaks at least six languages. We’ve seen so little of what his childhood was like, and so far, we only know how important fencing was to his upbringing. I think, for situations like this, it might benefit to see a flashback or two of Thatdanai teaching Khanin these things.

Khanin sitting at the piano in the first episode is enough of an implication that he’s at least somewhat musically inclined. I understand that we’re supposed to infer that he was taught other languages, especially given that in many countries it’s common to speak more than one (maybe not six, though.) But right now it’s just coming across like Khanin is perfect at this royalty thing. When by all rights he shouldn’t be.

That’s why it was nice to see him make a few missteps in this episode. We don’t know the status of marriage equality in Emmaly (although with such patriarchal views, I can’t imagine it was a priority), but I did expect more of a stir when Khanin just full-on grabbed Charan during the dance. For propriety’s sake, if nothing else. (By the way, I cackled when that happened. He is not subtle at all, and I love that for him.) The hubbub didn’t start until Khanin slipped and Charan caught him, thus making it look like a more romantic moment than it was.

Although, with that K-drama pause… No, let’s be real, that was A Moment. Unfortunate that it happened in front of the papparazzi.

To quell the rumors, Khanin does a media blitz, sitting through multiple interviews where questions about Charan are expressly forbidden. Charan does not even accompany them to the interviews, although as Khanin’s guard, he should absolutely be there. It’s after the interviews when Khanin makes his second mistake and completely forgets that he’s still mic’d up. (I appreciate that this wasn’t just a convenient excuse; you can totally still see the microphone on his lapel after.) Thus, at least one journalist is able to hear his and Charan’s entire flirty conversation, where Khanin gets Charan to admit that he cares about him.

This is a little harder to wave away, and we get a few scenes in the aftermath of this blunder, where both of Khanin’s rivals in the competition discuss the situation with their fathers. The consensus is that there is no consensus. No one is sure whether or not it’s intentional. Both Rachata and Chana are under the impression that this is a deliberate ploy by the king. Ava, at least, is willing to give Khanin the benefit of the doubt that it was an accident.

The problem with him being so amazing at this prince thing right out of the gate is that it apparently makes everyone forget that he’s literally only known he was royalty for a week. (Although it’s possible the other families do not believe that.)

The king is very upset about the whole kerfuffle. We’re led to believe that he’s upset because their relationship should be familial, given that technically Charan was adopted into the Assavadevathin. Never mind that they literally just met like a week ago. Both Khanin and Charan rush to assure the king that they’re just close because of the experience of getting to Emmaly. After all, Charan is pretty much the only person Khanin knows in this country, and he barely knows him.

I’m inclined to believe that the king is upset for a different reason. It could be tied into my theory that the king is behind the attack on Khanin in England. Or it could just be that the king knows something is blooming between them, and he doesn’t want Khanin distracted before the competition. He certainly seems eager to take any opportunity to separate the two of them, regardless of Khanin’s feelings on the matter. He’s trying to isolate Khanin, because then he’ll be easier to manipulate.

However, Chakri is our resident shipper and suggests they don’t immediately try to quash the rumors, as it could negatively affect Khanin’s reputation. So they lean into them instead, with Khanin and Charan doing things like playing the piano while sitting very close to each other. Chakri’s explanation is that it makes Khanin seem warm and inviting. I believe the implication is that this is just how they are together all the time, so they clearly can’t be dating.

He may not be completely savvy in the intricacies of royal politics yet, but Khanin is no fool. He recognizes that he was only brought to Emmaly because now he can be useful to the king. Even though Charan and Chakri try to reassure him that that isn’t the case, Khanin knows that it is. There was no other reason to keep him hidden for so long, if not to use him as a trump card.

Some people were speculating that Khanin would be angry at Charan for hiding his investigation, which is why I’m glad that Charan reveals that information in this episode. Naturally, he makes Khanin promise not to do anything stupid, which I’m sure Khanin will break at the first opportunity. Charan informs Khanin that he’s looking into the attack and explains that one of the attackers was a police officer – from Bhuchongphisut.

Of course, Khanin wants to go to Bhuchongphisut, although what he expects to learn, I’ve no idea. Ramil and Rachata are perfectly welcoming, and Ramil takes Khanin on a tour of the palace. When they have a moment alone, Charan and Khanin discuss whether or not they believe the Bhuchongphisut were behind the attack. Even having only met them a few times, Khanin doesn’t think they had anything to do with it.

Honestly, I agree. I will die on this hill. They are too obviously villain-coded to be the villains. And there are moments that show that Rachata had no idea that Khanin was alive. I believe that he was genuinely shocked when the king made that announcement. Plus, he is very hung up on the results of the DNA test. If he didn’t believe that Khanin was really the Assavadevathin heir, why would he have sent someone to kill him? (And certainly not someone he publicly has a relationship with.) It had to be someone who knew Khanin was alive, and there are apparently precious few who were privy to that knowledge. 

Ramil offers to take Khanin to a special place only open to the Bhuchongphisut family. Though Charan warns Khanin not to trust Ramil, Khanin believes that Ramil wouldn’t be crazy enough to do anything when it would be so obvious it was him. (Actually, he says that he doesn’t trust anyone but Charan, which Charan is totally normal about, by the way.)

But Khanin doesn’t know Ramil. Ramil takes him to an isolated cave in the forest. He gives him a bracelet – it turns out that Khanin’s mother was Rachata’s cousin. When Khanin loses the bracelet, Ramil leaves him behind to get lost in the caves. (He does find and pick up the bracelet, so I’m not sure as to whether or not he orchestrated that entire situation, or simply took the chance when it presented itself.) Khanin crashes his bike and injures his leg, and of course, there is no cell service in the caves where he is, so he has to wait.

Ramil comes back to the palace pretending to be distraught, claiming that Khanin got lost. He is surprised to find Paytai there, as he wasn’t supposed to be. This leads me to believe that Paytai is probably 95% of Ramil’s impulse control. Paytai insists that they join the search for Khanin. However, at some point during the search, he realizes that whatever happened was because of Ramil.

Now we get a little more insight into the toxic dynamic that is the Bhuchongphisut family. We haven’t seen much of Ramil and Paytai together, though what we have seen implies that Ramil is very controlling and possessive of Paytai and his attention. In this episode, after Khanin is found, it is Paytai who is punished for the accident, even though he wasn’t even there when it happened.

The fact that Rachata slaps Paytai in front of Khanin could mean any number of things. It could mean that this is a common practice in Emmaly, and Rachata doesn’t even think about it. Or it could be to intimidate Khanin, and warn him not to mess with them. Or it could mean that Rachata is just that cruel.

I thought that Paytai was just Ramil’s butler, but I think I was mistaken in that. I started questioning his status when I realized he was participating in the dance at the ball. A butler wouldn’t be permitted to do that. And later, he was gone from Bhuchongphisut when Khanin arrived, and if he were Ramil’s attendant, he likely wouldn’t have left. So I think that Paytai is actually Ramil’s whipping boy. Which honestly explains so much. And Ramil’s reaction to Paytai’s punishment indicates that, no matter how toxic their relationship may be, he doesn’t want to see him hurt. (That’s why he was so panicked when Paytai came back early.) So now I’m excited to see more of their relationship, and I hope we get that soon.

Oh, did you think I was going to forget Charan’s hero moment, where he found Khanin in the caves? Yeah, no way we’re skipping over that. First, he deliberately went in the opposite direction Ramil said they had originally gone. That means he at least suspects that Ramil was responsible for what happened. Then he sweeps Khanin up into his arms like he’s Rhett freaking Butler.

I’ll admit that when Charan made a fuss over Khanin’s injury, I initially scoffed. It’s a pretty common trope in BLs that one of the characters gets a very minor cut and the other overreacts. (Though, truly, nothing will beat the ridiculous nonsense that was Phum’s finger in We Are.) I literally sat there going, “He just scraped his knee!” And then Charan just lifted Khanin like he weighs nothing and I shut up really fast. You know what? Yes, sure, he was gravely injured. Carry him everywhere. 

Khanin asks Charan not to tell the king about the incident in Bhuchongphisut, or his investigation. Charan is already going behind the king’s back with the investigation, even as he tells Khanin that you can’t really lie to the king. Nonetheless, he does as Khanin asks, and we learn that the king already knows what happened, but he’s willing to let it go because no one was seriously hurt.

As in the first episode, we’re talking in metaphors again. The king asks for Charan’s opinion on the photo on display, which is the constellation Gemini. The myth of the constellation is about twins Castor and Pollux, who in some versions were actually half-brothers, with Zeus being Pollux’s father. As the story goes, with Pollux being immortal and his brother being mortal, Pollux asked Zeus if he could share his immortality with his brother, which is when they were transformed into the constellation.

Charan tells the king that he believes the story to be romantic. The king points out that the only way they could stay together is if Pollux gave up his immortality. Basically, the only way that Khanin and Charan can be together is if Khanin is no longer royal. Charan tells the king that he still considers the story to be romantic, which I think says a lot about Charan as an individual. He may be thinking of the fact that Pollux giving up his immortality is not the only way for them to stay together. Or he may be thinking that any amount of time they can spend together is enough.

There have been some complaints after this episode about the pacing. It does seem to be a little slow-moving. While we do have two extra episodes, it’s not like we have endless amounts of time to be lingering on scenes for too long. Like Khanin’s stumble during the ball; you could tell that Zee and NuNew were straining to hold the pose as long as they did. It wasn’t necessary to have that moment last that long, not when there is still so much political intrigue to cover. (We have at least one pairing that hasn’t even met each other yet!)

Not to mention, we spent a lot of time on the bracelet that Ramil gave Khanin. It was such a focal point that I assumed it must be bugged or something. Otherwise, why is it so important? But I suppose we won’t know if it’s important or not until later.

Anyway, this is still a gorgeous show to watch, and I’m enjoying every moment of it. Plus, I love trying to figure out who is responsible for the attack on Khanin.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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