Step by Step (2023)

Mixed Feelings About This One

I'm a little disappointed in this series. The series started off to an amazing start but as one of the other reviews that I saw said midway through it started to feel like more of an obligation to finish. So I'll break down my review into 3 different parts: plot, acting/characters and overall.
Plot: The plot I think was a generally an okay story, but I think it was poorly executed. Midway though the series the plot started to get lost. The main story was annoying and, dare I say, boring at times. Also the side stories were just all over the place. From Ae giving birth on public transit to Jaab and Jane's whole debacle, I think the side stories were not planned out very well which ended up talking away from the development of the main storyline. I did the the main storyline of the series which was the employee falling in love with their boss trope, but again I just think it was poorly executed. A couple things I didn't understand concerning the plot was why Pat didn't think he was good enough for Jeng even after Jeng confessed his feelings, why Pat tried to start dating Put again after how Put treated him and knowing that he liked Jeng, and the last thing I didn't understand is why all of Pat's friends were happy that he started dating Put again when they know how Put treated him before.
Acting/Characters: Overall the acting was decent at best. Some of the actors were good and some were not. I absolutely disliked Ben's character (Pat) from the way he acted (like a baby even though he's a full grown adult) to the terrible facial expressions he made in every scene. Also idk if it was just me but I did not feel the chemistry between Pat and Jeng (or Put). I hated how Jeng and Jaab were both kind of push overs when it came to the person they liked. Jane was also annoying in the sense of like why did you borderline cheat on your boyfriend and push Jaab away but then get mad/upset when he had finally given up on you. I thought Khanun was annoyingly dumb, idk I just wasn't feeling that character. Chot was the only decent character in my opinion; everybody else was lowkey mid.
Overall: This wasn't the worst Thai BL I've seen but it definitely could have been a lot better. It had a lot of potential but unfortunately failed to deliver.

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Good until the middle. After that, nosedive.

I make it short: Don't watch it!

For me it was good until the 7th episode, the 8th was bad, the 9th was good again and after that it was just terrible.
I am especially disappointed by the last episode.
All questions and problems have to be solved and in the end I expect a happy ending in a BL. But one with tadaaaaaa.
Here.. lame.
Why walked the Mother through the Café? The Father threw the dismissal in the garbage, but what happened then? What with the new customer? There are other questions, but they are not worth enumerating.

That was not here at all.
Like in such series... you get closer, then some nonsense happens and in the end they get together. Here the pattern is also fulfilled. Only in slow motion.

Trisanu Soranun is really cool. I like him. I would marry him in a heartbeat.
I think he did a good job acting. I think that's because I have rose-colored glasses on with him and I'm not in my right mind.
Bunyapol Likhitamnuayporn has a problem with nasal breathing. I do not want to recommend him surgery, but it needs to be advised. That's why his mouth is open all the time and he also talks as if his nose is closed. I'm sorry: this stresses me out.
Paramee Mahatthanadul would be my dream man too. He's a little too aloof. A little too posh. But honey, I'm not perfect either.
Sirikorn Kananurak is a surprise. His role got better and better.

I'm not a big fan of emotional outbursts. They were well acted from my humble point of view. But anyone who cries so heartbreakingly should have a tear to spare. This was missing and in the film it should not be spared.

When we cry, we all look ugly. In a film, this is very critical. Either it works or the viewer finds it too extreme and distances himself.
I found it much too exaggerated. There's constant crying.

To the script.
Writer, you need to try harder. You either ran out of steam or they didn't have any money left for you. The ending just sucked!
It wr like an ultra thin tea, lukewarm and lovelessly served in a dirty glass. I didn't like drinking it. One does it because ... yes why? Because you hope it started so well, so it will have a good ending.
No. The end was just ...... SCREAM

What happened during the production?

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Wasted potential

Started on a high note ,,then fell off.
Feels like you are skipping certain episodes when watching cuz the story isn't connecting.
Ps Ben acting is BAD....hope he improves in the future though
I get that he's new in the industry but he's constipated face and looking like he's holding a fart in almost all the time is off putting to say the least.
To much crying of the pats cahari.honestly I've never seen such a pathetically poorly written character until step by step ...what even was that..makes you wonder what Jeng saw in him.

I knew the show was a slow burn but boy oh boy ,was is sloooooow....It took too long to climax ..and it was just underwhelming..
And the time skips certainly did not help

I wanted my time on this,cuz I thought it'll get better but no.
Gave it a 5 just coz of handsome men in there
Otherwise as a drama itself Big NO.

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Prometía algo pero terminó en nada

Al principio estaba bien, por ejemplo cuando hablaba de la explotación del interino en la empresa y como Jeng y Pat se fueron conociendo poco a poco. Lo que pasa es que step by step era demasiado lento y a veces aburrido, pero no me importaba demasiado porque así era el título.
El bl empezó a decaer desde el cap 5 o 6, ahí no se que le pasó al guionista que fue empeorando. No se porque le pareció una buena idea crear un embarazo y hacer todo un episodio de ello, y también medio cap de una boda que creo que a poca gente le importaba demasiado.
Los caps eran demasiados largos por lo que se podía desarrollar una historia buena y clara, para que no pasará lo de los bl coreanos, pero al final para que, no les sirvió de nada porque ni siquiera fueron capaces de hacer un final entre Jaab y Jane, de hecho creo que sale más Put que Jane en toda la serie.
La actuación por parte de la pareja secundaria estaba bien, no se si porque actuaban decente o porque aparecieron como máximo 10 min. En cuanto a la pareja principal Man actúa decente, pero Ben necesita unas clases urgente, aunque tengo que decir que ninguno de los dos sabía llorar y ni siquiera derramaron una lágrima.
El final fue un completo desastre y aunque pasaron 2 años Pat se seguía comportando como un inmaduro, y no se merecía a Jeng. Tampoco entiendo lo de estar juntos durante 20 min y después estar separados los próximos 10min, para estar juntos otros 5min y así continuamente.
Espero que haya al menos un cap especial para poder ver como terminan Jaab y Jane, pero no creo que eso pase.

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An office lovestory ... something different from uni and highschool love affaires

The story did sound good, employee and heir/boss falling in love ... only that´s it at all.
The characters did not really develop, which is not the acting, but the storyline. Chot is over the top exalted and portraits a caricature but not a real character. He had his own love story which developed ... The lead characters but stuck in the not developing script but do their best. Why but Pat has to be that whining and immature, especially having been abroad in USa is a total miracle to. His character could more be in an antifeminist plot as a women ... Jeng is controlled and calm partly reduced. but that I can understand, he is an heir and under special surveillance ... He has to be cautious and can´t be too "familiar" with his employees. Those persons are most the most lonely in any labour situation.
The crying of Pat is like an Ariadne thread till the No12 and is most anoying ... incl. the missing tears when crying the soul out. Men hetero and gay are allowed to cry ... but here? For the drama? For portraying weakness? Secretly the writer wanted to have a "weak women" for a strong man?Or is the charakter of Pat designed to please / mirror women? If so ... what an antifeminist shit. Women? Weak? Okay to many men die die from a simple snot ... and if they had to give birth ... the Homo Sapiens might already be extinct, without climatechange. And then the monthly pain. No man would stand it ...
The 3rd love affair in the show, Jaab and Jen ... disapointing, but Murphy´s Law ... or sit happens and not all relations go smooth from attraction and good vibes into a real relation ... some encounters are just a flutter.
Crybaby Pat and an own company ... hm ... veery realistic ... and then there he is still unstable ... as I said, Pat stays unstable from beginning to end. And very realistic that a love affair is looming in 2 for 2 years ... and then they are switch together? Dreamland ... okay these shows are dreamlands but sometimes one is wishing for realism. And most LGBTQIAplus are realistic and move on after a break up. Especially gay men.
The story is too flat, despite a spicy potential as an office romance. Most relations are starting in the workplace today ... and there is a huge potential for telling not only one story.
Rewatching value? No!
I forced myself through the shows.

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I Liked It!

Okay, so from first glance, this was not much of a fan favorite, but honestly, and to my surprise I liked this, Now, of course, this was far from perfect, especially in the acting department (I shall touch on this a little later) but I mean, come on -- a tall yummy boss has a slow burn with the cutesy idiot employee -- I can't pass that up. Step by Step is so legit in its title as this is the slowest of slow burns I've witnessed this year, and I loved it with all my heart.

Let's Dive In.

The plot is as basic as it gets -- the meanie boss stumbles upon the clumsy and emotional employee whom he immediately starts to admire. The end. It really is a simplistic plot with some more details on the side like a complicated side couple, a pregnant lady, and a confident fem-gay guy. Now the story flows pretty well until the end when it gets a little draggy. For one, they could've easily ended the series at episode 10 and saved us the sappy saga that was so not necessary. 11 and 12 are easily skippable, stop at episode 10 for your own good.

Now, was one of the reasons why I loved this series so much because of Man (Jeng) and his surreal looks including the body of a fucking god? Yes. It was. And I'll be shallow and say it was my favorite part of the series. but no seriously, I don't know where they found that beautiful man from, but I need more Man and any more that look like him. The way I just grunted so loud when we saw him shirtless for the first time, my goodness. Anyways, onto Jeng and Pat's romance -- I liked it. Was it because it was a slow burn? Of course, I'm a sucker for people slowly realizing they like each other, the little stares, smiles, gestures, silly flirting -- I loved it all. Though, Pat being overwhelmed by finding out Jeng was also gay was so dramatic, the writers must've been desperate for conflict. Imagine finding out that a fucking god-like creature also happens to like the same sex as you do and all you can do is wither and be sad -- tf..? I would've pounced, but maybe that's just me. They're cute -- nothing out of this world or top tier, but I did really enjoy watching their romance.

I don't love the ending of Jen and Jaab, but what we did get was everything to me. That kiss?? Top tier. show-stopping. Immaculate. Talentful. Perfection. For real, that might be the best kiss I've seen from a side couple. the emotion, the silence, the build-up, the slow to desperate -- so good. Of course, it's not good to cheat, but I can't deny a good couple when I see one. But they kind of leave off a little weird. I fast forward through the last episode so maybe Jen and Jaab get back together, but from what I see, it's left pretty open-ended. oh well.

I really loved all the side characters, specifically Bruce's character who stole the show for me. I also just love Bruce and his acting, and he did phenomenal. And Zorzo!! I love her, she did a fantastic job! And Poppy!! God, I love him too (and his body). Ying was kind of the only character that I could've done without in the series, but oh well.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Good! Very unnecessary last two episodes, and also just a lot of office jargon that got to be a bit boring. But I loved the slow burn, I loved the side couples, and overall, I enjoyed the plot.

Acting: 7/10 - Okay so, Man is also beautiful and can act! He did a great job playing this boss role. Now for Ben -- eh. He wasn't terrible, him acting happy and goofy and playful was good, but being sad or crying was not his strong suit. The secondhand embarrassment I got from him crying so hard and yet not a tear escaped hurt. They could've at least given the dude some eye drops to sell it more, but there he was boohooing and not a tear in sight.

Music:6/10: I didn't pay much attention to it.

Recommendation value: 7/10 - I liked it, I would recommend it for many reasons, with one obviously being for Jeng's sake. I mean who would want to watch him on their scene being sexy and amazing and wonderful?

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Literally Slow Burn

Gosh my head hurt while I watched this (in a good way). It was kinda slow burn but the climax and falling action was not upto the mark and did not satisfy me. It felt like it was rushed and there was an incompleteness. A lot of scenes that should have been there was skipped.

The ML Couple had a rushed ending-
1. They met accidentally (good start)
2. They had accidental meeting (okay good)
3. The ML caught feeling (great!)
4. Pat dated his past Bf (also good. Might happen in reality)
5. They break up (Pat&Put), Pat goes through heartbreak and starts having feeling for Jeng????? (How can this happen???)

This is where I feel they messed up. You cannot love a person who has feeling for you right after you dated your ex. Can you? There should have been a few more episodes prior to Pat catching feeling for Jeng where he was shown he was recovering, his moments with Jeng , and a realization that who is good for him.

The 2nd ML couple was sad. They did not come to a closure. Realityyyy.

The friend of Pat were good though. The office colleagues were a bit overdone but that's how the office scenario works.

That's all guys! I really expected a LOT from this drama. This is the first THAI drama that disaapointed me. Generally C-drama does because they make Romance into Bromance and K-Dramas because of lack of skinship.

K bye!

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do you like to test your patience?

first i want to say i have nothing agaisnt slowburn, thats why i watched 10 eps already, while i started this excited i have to say the first half was good ,yeah the eps were long but watchable, but the second half was really bad..and im struggling to finish this

the plot:
there is many flaws with the plot, i dont mind long eps if there is things to include, but no in this one its long for no reason, many filler scenes ,for example did they really need a whole part of an ep to show a pregnant woman giving birth?
we dont need 12 eps with every ep 1h and 20 mins of nothing going on?? this show had potentiel but was ruined by both the long eps and Pat's character, this could do better if it was a 7-8 eps (30 mins per ep) its enough of time for this serie..
and while i like what the story about, you know office and work romance etc and that they are focusing on the professional life ,but why the ML is acting like a kid? yeah Pat's character is what i will talk about next

Pat's character:
fr how did they think a character like Pat is likeable and suitable to be a ML? i dk, we are supposed to like the MLS together but here i'am wanting Jeng to look for someone else, Pat's attitude,not only he cant handle criticism ,he is crying every ep and being a dramaqueen, are we supposed to like this type of character? the happy ending should be about Jeng finding another guy
fr how did Put (his ex) put up with him in the past? also how did Pat finish his education if every word about his work and his project presentations hurt him and make him look rudely at people? thats a mystery
it was a very wrong move for them to make Pat's character so unlikeable like that

MLS relationship:
Jeng /Pat:
so while the nc scenes are hot, and Jeng being whipped, they literaly gave us 3 out of 4 parts of an ep for them to be happy ,later on bringing drama on part 4, drama again, not even one ep of them being together and happy.. so people waited for forever in order for them to get together, it happened and in a very short time they are breaking up and then the time skip ? no thank you.
Jaab /Jane:
while it started as a cheating situation, the eps are so long but they didnt bother to show Jane apologizing at his current bf at that time for what he did, ridiculous? yes
right when Jane broke up and told Jaab , Jaab gave him the cold shoulder and the situation stayed like that for ages, so all those eps and they didnt think to talk and communicate?
and suddenly Jaab getting a boyfriend but they didnt bother to show us how he did meet him, its like "hello now i have a bf"??, those things show the issues of this plot, they dont show important scenes but they add filler scenes instead

there is only 2 eps left to watch, and usually if im near the end and start to not feel in the mood to watch, i still watch because its only 2 eps left, but even i cant bring myself to watch, so im putting this on hold so maybe later when i feel motivated enough id finish it, and i dont find myself recommending this,
the only positive points:
i love Chot's character he is so adorable, i also like to stare at Jaab's visual, this guy is so pretty fr
and the main positive point is Jeng, we discovered him through this serie, so i hope i see that actor in more bls in the futur and i hope he pick up better series

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all business and zero romance

This is my first review (written mostly because it is a waste of the actors)
I want to say first that I love shows based on books because the characters tend to be more three-dimensional. Here we get NO idea why people get together, or break up or basically why anything happens.

It seems the screenplay writers focused on the workplace and less on the characters. The main character comes off very shallow and just plain dumb.

The pacing of characters like Jeng, his character goes from one end to the other almost overnight.
You will love or hate it...

in general, I agree with most that it's still worth a try....if you like to yell at the TV screen.

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What were those last few episodes and the ending???

I definitely have a big ass beef with the way this bl ended. Okay so i absolutely loved this series in first half but second half of episodes just disappointed me. What had me most frustrated was the fact that they announced second coupled storyline trough the beginning of the show and i got really interested in it but they just forgot about it and they never talked more deeply about it like you cant leave it unfinished, i was waiting for second couple closer or something but we never got anything which is so frustrating, its like im super glad that main couple had their happy ending but like what, also i think that the time jumps weren't that necessary.

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LOVE SIGNAL

I have just watched the first episodes and I am very pleased with its remarkable execution, being an office romance it is one of the most exciting plots and not to mention that age-gap is another of my addictions when it comes to BL series but anyway aside from that I want to point out the intense elements that make the series a masterpiece.

Jeng's good looks will probably get you high anytime and screaming and not to mention he also has that game face that is so sexy even when he is serious, he is a very deep character that appears to be assertive yet a closer look could only make one realise that he has vulnerabilities that he likes to keep to himself which bittersweet mood always gets you curious.

Pat on the other hand is this one guy from abroad that is always up and down and for some reason acts childish despite his old age which makes me love him, as he is playful, active and very lively most of the time, he's that one person that makes the office scene look less officey and is a hopeless romantic.

The fact that the two leads are from different personalities makes the plot all the more interesting and furthermore, I love the fact that the pacing seems to be at its finest that it almost feels that the story is flawless, the leads each seem to have developed a sense of impartation to their characters and like it or not the fact that it starts to have the elements of a cat and mouse relationship makes it fun to watch giving them a very cute chemistry together.

I had been waiting for a whole year for the release of this series which automatically means that I had very high expectations especially after I watched the pilot trailer and it hasn't left me disappointed at all because it further surpassed my expectations.

This is probably the best office Romance of the year as you can get the feeling almost instantly owing to the fact that every moment of every scene feels very real and every emotion intense it just has a way that gets you absorbed and hardly bored you can't stop hoping and wanting more of their love.

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