#this one's for all my fellow delusional color theory enthusiasts

[justafriend-ql]

couples + color matching (never let me go, ep. 3)

in this episode, clothing color is used strategically to convey the varying levels of intimacy between characters and present some as "couples" while highlighting the relational distance between others. essentially, when two characters wear clothing of similar style/color, it visually pairs them together, making them look like "a couple" that "belongs together". when the clothing contrasts, it "doesn't look right" (to use chanon's words), emphasizing the distance between characters.

let's start with the shoes. when maggie and palm dance together in episode 2, i noticed that their shoes are almost exactly the same. the "sameness" of their shoes as they step in time with each other helps convey a level of "coupleness" that underscores nueng's jealousy as he looks on. nueng, in contrast to palm's casual black shoes, has bright white, spotless sneakers that convey his wealth and superior status, and thereby emphasize the distance between palm and him.

given this contrast, it is interesting that nueng seems to be considering buying palm expensive basketball shoes at the beginning of episode 3. these shoes are more similar in style to his own. while this is probably just nueng wanting to do something nice for palm, you could also interpret this as a subconscious effort to make palm and him "look right" together as a couple.

in the oh-so-angsty ballroom dance scene in which palm and nueng dance with maggie and ben, respectively, all while staring at each other from across the room, color matching is used to visually pair palm and maggie (who both wear pale yellow) and nueng and ben (who both wear dark earth tones).

the color matching here pairs these couples together, while the color dissonance between palm and nueng separates the two and illustrates the distance they will have to bridge in order to ultimately be together. in the dream sequence of palm and nueng dancing together, their "mismatched" clothes and shoes highlight the unreality of the moment.

by the end of the episode, however, after they have worked together to fight phum, nueng and palm both wear grey and neutral tones, matching each other. this is reminiscent of the "pengyou" scene in episode 2, where their clothes shared the color red. both scenes occur by the pond in nueng's yard, which seems to be a safe place for them to ratchet the intimacy of their relationship to new levels.

side note: is it significant that palm and nueng's shirts only match from behind (both grey), while nueng's is black from the front? this might suggest that people who evaluate palm and nueng from the front (i.e., accept their master/servant relationship at face value) will not perceive the deep connection between them. you must look from a different perspective, just as they have come to do so in the last few episodes.

while couples in real life and many shows definitely do not wear matching clothes all the time or at all, color matching and dissonance seem to be narrative cues for relationship status in never let me go. it's a really neat tool for cultivating a sense of "belonginess" (or separation) both between the characters and in the eyes of viewers themselves.

or, you know, it's all just coincidental ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#this one's for all my fellow delusional color theory enthusiasts #never let me go #never let me go the series #nlmg #never let me go meta #palmnueng #pondphuwin #thai bl #bl series #bl drama #asianlgbtqdramas