#tonkla x korn

[wetndwildsstuff]

Im not okay.

They stole the finale.

[waitmyturtles]

I LOVE 4 MINUTES.

I love it! GAAAAAHHH, I love it. While Be On Cloud’s KinnPorsche was so BL-referential, I just love this juicy Dr. Sammon-mystery genre that takes us out of trope-land. Queer murder mysteries, my beloved.

I have no theories, per se, about where I think this show is going, but I am going to jot down some observations for my own posterity and memory. After reading some theories on Twitter (including one that Dr. Sammon herself retweeted), I went back and fast-forwarded through all the episodes so far, so here are my notes (and these VERY WELL may have been repeated in the tag, so I apologize if I’m just pooping what we’re already assuming here).

1) This Twitter account noted that Tonkla saw his cat in episode 1, after what-we-assume-to-be present-day boing with Korn. Tonkla sees this AFTER Korn rushed off after getting off the phone. After this week’s episode, we seem to be informed that said cat had died in the past.

We also know that Tonkla has a habit of lighting up after sex and during times of duress.

There might be more than just tobacco in those cigarettes he’s lighting up, I’m not sure, but we also know he hits the shabu, pipe-wise.

Besides Great being in what I assume to be, and what I call, a fever-state, or better phrased, a cardiac episode, I am assuming that Tonkla is transcending his own lines of reality through drug use.

1a) [(A quick aside: I just wanna say that I will be VERY. CURIOUS. as to how Tonkla’s drug use is positioned alongside his predilections for unprotected sex, and if I think there will be public health commentary in this. Drug use is, of course, generally not recommended by medical professionals, and at the same time, it’s a culturally important element of many facets of queer culture that many physicians who work with LGBTQ+ patients are trained to be aware of; for example, using poppers to ease the process of preparing for intercourse. I don’t know if the show means to indicate that Tonkla, vis à vis being on PrEP and meth at the same time, is an automatically unsafe person…but he also might be a murderer… so yeah, I will be curious about this underlying public health messaging.)]

1b) (Speaking of public health, yo, we needed those Durex bottles in episode 4, YOWCH.) (😬) (ANYWAY.)

2) So, speaking of Great and Tonkla living in their own realities, I also want to posit that Tyme has created his own sense of delirium by literally not sleeping.

Homeboy is on his shifts, he’s working out, he’s solving mysteries, he’s kicking literal ass, he’s investigating and courting Great, he’s following Korn. He’s doing a lot! We haven’t caught him sleeping yet, again, literally.

I wonder if this may be Dr. Sammon commenting on the culture of insanely long shifts for doctors, which impacts their mental and physical well-being. We’ve also separately learned that Tyme is driven by revenge, and by a need to support his grandma and save Nan. But how can he do all of that, if he’s physically depriving himself of the ability to rest? I don’t know if this is going to go anywhere, but I do notice the camera work, whenever Tyme is scrubbing out of a shift, re-centering from a tilt, which makes me wonder about what these shots are telling us about his mental state (and we saw comparable camera work when Tonkla thought he saw Dome).

(I’m also not forgetting that the show shows him stabbed at the very start of the series, and I’m constantly wondering about that.)

3) Finally, I want to offer that Korn, Great, and Tyme are not out. At least for Great and Tyme, does that contribute to a delirium mindset (and maybe even Korn, too) by way of the stress of holding in secrets? (Please note that this linked article is from 2004 and does not have fully updated terminology.)

I don’t know if this theory holds for Great, because a popular theory for him at the start of the series was that he may not have realized he was gay until he met Tyme. I don’t know that I saw that in my very-fast rewatch except for his surprised looks during the stitches moment in the hospital. Great’s comfort with Tyme in the car after the claw machines makes me think he knew more about his sexuality, and his physical separation from his family at the dinner table in episode 1 also makes me wonder if he realized his preferences were always going to separate him from his nuclear family. I’m not sure, but I’m chewing on this.

4) So, where I’m gonna go entering into episode 5 is that there isn’t a centered or accurate “present day” for anyone….mayyyybe except for Korn, who is certainly living his own fever dream of being stuck in a reeeeeeally bad job, but maybe isn’t being subjected to mental delirious psychoses (just, you know, the general stress of hating your work thoroughly). But I could be wrong there, too, because we know that Korn is driven by greed, filial piety, and a desire to take over the family business. So maybe that’s creating a delirium of his own, one that takes him away from his boyfriend for weeks at a time.

4a) (By the way, isn’t it interesting that we are not seeing NC scenes with Korn and Fasai? I know, I know, Be On Cloud does queer/BL content, but. I think it’d be interesting if the show ran the gamut of intimacy. Just a thought.)

Anyway! This show is so good, it’s making me babble. I absolutely love it, and it is the comeback that Bible Wichapas deserves.

[aliceisathome]

I stopped watching 4Minutes at ep 3 because I figured it would be better to be confused all at once rather than week to week. Turns out that binging was the way to go. It was much easier to keep the threads connected, to see how the timelines were developing/diverging etc. And I ended up really liking it.

it was a proper, adult twisty turny, timeywimeycrimey drama. As ever, BOC don't stint on the production values and I just want to give a big cheer for the camera team who managed to give us very nekkid boys without a hint of underwear/modesty garment. And there were some very, very close calls.

It started as a supernatural time travel drama and then completely subverted that in ep 5 and became a pure crime thriller where all the previous, disparate threads were drawn together . Was it perfect? No. But it was gripping and the cast acted their socks off.

I wasn't surprised that Tonkla died - as soon as ep 5 revealed the true timeline there was no real way he could survive. What is it with characters named Korn shooting themselves rather than losing their lover though? Stop it. And I'm a sap who likes a happy ending so the Tyme and Great conclusion was just fine by me.

And do I want one of these grumpy cats? Yes. Yes I do.

[divineandmajesticinone]

4 MINUTES (2024) I 1.04

The first time.

[jimmysea]

Your heart is beating so fast.

4 MINUTES (2024) - Episode 4

[thisautistic]

gotta love a couple that meets mouth-first

[yakdee]

Did you finish? 4 MINUTES (2024), Episode 1

[25shadesoffebruary]

[scarlettundrhett]

[chaos0pikachu]

tonkla and korn make me wanna chew glass they were truly the ride or die toxic yaoi pair I crave like they had a lot of ups and downs and deeply flawed chars but in the end what they wanted most was to be together AND I CAN'T HANDLE THIS

[pigglepiephi]

No but was this actually a test?

Does Tonkla trust Korn, or does he suspect/know he’s fucking other people too?

Baby boy looked so sad as soon as that condom appeared.

Or it could be a Durex ad, safe sex message AND relationship test rolled into one!

[wetndwildsstuff]

NOBODY SPEAK TO ME

WAS IT NECESSARY THOUGH??????? WAS IT LIKE NECESSARY?????????? WAS IT NECESSARY???

[conscbgb]

It WAS love

Until it wasn't

Video credit @coldties on X

[scarefox]

Tonkla asked Win to do the same things to him, Tonkla did to Korn in ep1. Liking his nips and sucking him. He did that to Korn, served him, on his own unasked.

That's interesting. He's reversing their dynamic with Win.

Difference is that Korn came, asked Tonkla if he should finish him. Tonkla was like "nah it's fine". Korn jerked Tonkla off anyways.

Win jerked Tonkla off while they still fucked. Tonkla came. Win didn't. Tonkla left him unfinished.

Tonkla is acting in Korns previous position. But in a bad version. If he sees Win as himself, in his previous position, it might be that Tonkla is degrading himself. Or thinks that's what he should get from Korn instead of the nice treatment he got?

EDIT: Or, he's taking revenge on Korn-stand-in Win that way.

--

Such a good example for the people who think sex scenes are a waste of time and space.

[divineandmajesticinone]

4 MINUTES (2024) I 1.03 "I didn't think you were like this. Like what? Like this..."

[jimmysea]

You're so good, Tonkla. Hearing you talk always makes me feel better.

4 MINUTES (2024) - Episode 1