‘I Will Knock You’ has a school romance theme with the bad-boy-good-boy trope added with some comical bickering between the main pair.
Thi is a hardworking college student who tutors in his pastime while Noey is a rebel who leads the ‘Watphlu Gang’, and fights thugs as his hobby. Noey idolizes the lifestyle of Thailand in the 1950s, his appearance and demeanor are patterned from the old classic movies he has watched. He might be a gangster, but in truth, he’s a hopeless romantic and a firm believer in destiny. Meanwhile, Thi is your straight-A, upholder of the law, and usually jumpy character—who Noey becomes interested in because of his tenacity. The two characters’ relationship starts very rough because of their initial meeting and the incident between the gangsters and Thi’s students.
The series flawlessly switches between heart-fluttering and offhanded comedic scenes that certainly keep the viewers entertained. The main pair’s development is evident from the beginning and following episodes of the series. Here’s the progress of their relationship due to Destiny’s plan to tie them together:
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. Read at your own risk!
Episode 1: Lotus Flower
We get introduced to the main characters and how their first meeting with each other sets off a series of even more fateful encounters.
While giving his ‘heart’ to a girl named Pam (one of the students Thi tutors) in the form of a lotus flower, Thi becomes a witness to Noey’s rejection during the time he’s on the way to school. He gets in a predicament when he not only stepped on, flattened, and destroyed Noey’s ‘heart’; he also took it away not to keep it but throw it. Poor Noeuy! The whole day, Thi becomes a subject of Noey’s approaches to retrieve his broken ‘heart’; from hiding from him in the same bus, falling off the stairs after being urged to immediately find the lotus flower, and searching for it in a desolate field while being out in the rain.
Noey again attempts to court Pam by performing a fully choreographed performance with the help of his gang members but she is unamused. Thi yet again stumbles upon the planned surprise by the Watphlu gang for his student, finding a chance to give him the new lotus flower he bought as a substitute to trick Noey but is unable to fool him in the end. Thi can’t help but step in therefore Noey intends to remind him of their unfinished business. Their confrontation ends up with Noey demanding he touches the jade ‘bottle gourd’ dangling off his bag, but Thi funnily mishears it as ‘breast’. Thi willingly gave Noey the ‘bottle gourd’ thinking it would be good for fortune, and in return, Noey has to leave his students alone. He’s shocked to find out after that the amulet was actually for love! He’s sure he won’t see Noey anymore after everything, but I guess it’s up to Destiny now to decide.
Episode 2: Aunt Tim’s Restaurant
Thi gets invited by his friends to eat out at the very popular restaurant of Aunt Tim on his rest day, where they wait hours to be able to sit down and eat. Before they get to consume any food, Thi claims he needs to go back to the car and get his iPad to send a file to his student. On the way there, he reencounters Noey! The two get into an amusing struggle on who will let who pass when Thi stumbles into the water and dramatically asks for help—not knowing it’s just waist-high water. Thi passing through the water because Noey says it’s a shortcut and showing up at the restaurant all filthy was hilarious. Amidst everything, Thi’s friend recommends him as a tutor since Aunt Tim is coincidentally looking for one.
The next day, he goes back to the restaurant to tutor Aunt Tim’s kid; they wait hours for him to come however he doesn’t so Thi has no choice but to leave for the day. The flashlight he’s using to guide him through the dark while walking suddenly dies, he starts chanting a prayer after hearing noises and then faints from fear after seeing Noey. He wakes up to see Noey Watphlu in front of him, who starts speculating that he pretended to fall in the water and now pretended to faint because he likes him. Noey is quick to reject him, saying he’s not his type but still kissed him on the forehead as a reward for his efforts before leaving.
Thi continues his way back home but decides to go back to talk some sense into Noey, who he sees is currently engaged in a fight. He tries to help by grabbing their attention but proves he’s truly worthless in a fight, he even ends up getting hurt. It’s the thought that counts, at least.
