Cutie Pie (2022) poster
7.7
Your Rating: 0/10
Ratings: 7.7/10 from 27,603 users
# of Watchers: 45,321
Reviews: 309 users
Ranked #4514
Popularity #236
Watchers 27,603

Lian Kilen Wang and Kuea “Kirin” Keerati are in a quandary. Because of a promise made to their parents and grandparents, they find themselves heading toward an arranged marriage. The latter is a free-spirited musician—a vocalist and drummer—while the former is an outwardly cool businessman. While Kuea is keen to explore a happy and romantic life together with Lian, the feeling isn’t mutual—at least not initially. Lian is cold to Kuea and treats him dismissively. Eventually, he indicates that he has no intention of entering into an arranged marriage, and wants to break off their engagement. Kuea is reluctant but sadly agrees. However, soon after they have officially split, Lian starts to have feelings for Kuea. (Source: Viki) Edit Translation

  • English
  • Українська
  • Ελληνικά
  • Español
  • Country: Thailand
  • Type: Drama
  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Feb 19, 2022 - May 14, 2022
  • Aired On: Saturday
  • Original Network: Workpoint TV
  • Duration: 60 min.
  • Score: 7.7 (scored by 27,603 users)
  • Ranked: #4514
  • Popularity: #236
  • Content Rating: 18+ Restricted (violence & profanity)

Where to Watch Cutie Pie

iQIYI
Subscription (sub)
Viki
Free (sub)

Reviews

Completed
Sakura_Falling
120 people found this review helpful
Jul 25, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 8
Overall 4.0
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 1.5
This review may contain spoilers

Nothing Cute About It

I was very intrigued by the synopsis of this drama and having liked Zee's acting in Why R U?, I decided to give it a shot. It was, quite frankly, a hot mess. I honestly don't even know where to begin. There was so little good about it and so much bad. It all felt very forced and unnatural and much of the story made little to no sense.

I was not impressed by the overly preachy beginning and ending dialogue. Do not get me wrong, I think same sex marriage should be legalized in all countries. That being said it felt out of place and unnecessary. I feel like there were more subtle ways of getting the point across that would have been more tasteful and again, less preachy.

The story was a complete and total mess. More than a romance, I felt like it was a drama about toxic relationships and how not to communicate. It is very and I do mean very, kiss scene heavy. I think those scenes were put in the drama to try to draw attention away from all the problems both in the story and in the relationships. Both Hias are depicted as being very controlling and possessive, to the point of wanting to know what their SO is doing at all times. While they try to portray this as them just being worried and caring, it came across as extremely unhealthy to me. For example, Hia Yi sets a curfew of 9pm for Khondiao who has to leave his friends in order to make said curfew in one scene. Hia Lian has had someone monitoring Kuea for who knows how long and is fully aware of the secret life he is living. Both men also seem quite unconcerned about the fact the men they love are afraid of them. The level of control the Hias have is just disturbing. At least with Yi and Khondiao's relationship, there is a moment where Khondiao stands up to Yi and their relationship seems to achieve some level of balance though still very much skewed in Yi's favor. Lian and Kuea's relationship, however, is stagnant for the entirety of the drama. Though Kuea has a few moments of defiance, in the end he always gives in to Lian. After the scene at Lian's father's birthday party, I was really hopeful to see a change, but it was basically just everything back to normal with no real growth or resolution. Overall there was just such a complete lack of character development.

On top of the toxicity of the relationships, there's the lack of explanation for why characters acted the way they did or why things are the way that they are. When and why did Kuea suddenly feel the need to act like a perfect person to suit Lian? When did Lian turn into the cold, emotionless jerk and why exactly did he tell Kuea he didn't love him? I felt like his reasoning and his initial behaviour was glossed over and dismissed far too easily for all the damage it did. Also, what was with the arranged marriage? Why was that in any way necessary? And how did their families even know each other since they were from such different backgrounds? The background was just so completely lacking and nonsensical that there was no way anything else could make sense. On top of all that you have Yi and Khondiao's story which was incredibly vague and disjointed. I was actually semi-interested in it because of the mystery of what Yi did to Khondiao. The "mystery" was that Yi didn't actually do anything, it was an accident. And the flashback regarding that incident made it seem like they had a similar relationship to that of Lian and Kuea which seemed out of the blue as I never got that impression previously.

The plot positively drags. Scenes are drawn out that don't need to be drawn out or are just repeated multiple times. The couples keep lying to each other and failing to communicate. There's this constant theme of maybe telling the truth would be the best thing and then in the next scene they're lying to each other again. Its honestly so frustrating to watch because they never learn and even at the end, it doesn't feel like anything has really changed.

While the story was terrible, the acting was not. Zee and NuNew in particular had good chemistry and while there were a few moments where I felt like NuNew's acting was a bit forced or awkward, I thought he did really well for his first roll. I also have to give a shout out to Poppy as Foie for bringing some much needed comedic relief. He was absolutely hilarious and I laughed every time he was onscreen.

The characterization, again, was lacking. I have rarely seen a drama with such stagnant characters. Very few characters had any real growth and most of them seemed to be in the same place at the end as they were at the beginning with nothing or very little learned from their experiences. That was very disappointing for me. I can generally forgive or at least mostly forgive a bad storyline/plot if the character development is good, but it was just wasn't there.
-Kuea really does come across as a doll, maybe not an Annabelle doll, but a doll nonetheless. He acts the way he assumes others want him to and even when Lian tells him he loves him no matter what, he refuses to trust him. On the one hand, I can understand that lack of trust, based on how Lian is at the beginning, but after a while it just seemed like an excuse. His roundabout way of trying to get information was also frustrating, adding to the whole lack of communication theme. His constant assumptions made things worse for himself and others. In the end, I didn't really feel like he had learned how to communicate to prevent the same issues from recurring.
-Lian's cold then hot attitude was just confusing and, again, never clearly explained. It also felt overdone and too abrupt going from his cold boss persona to adoring partner. I feel like that could have been pulled back to make it somewhat more believable. Based on his personality, I have trouble imagining someone like him making out in public. And although his attitude changed to all lovey-dovey, he still came across as controlling.
-Khondiao came across as more of a kid than an adult so taking his relationship with Yi seriously was a bit of a stretch. I did appreciate him standing up for himself though and I felt like he had more character development than others. He seemed more able to stand on his own and stand against Yi if necessary at the end.
-Yi came across to me as a sadist who enjoyed the control he had over Khondiao and the fear he could incite. He supposedly feels guilty towards him for something that happened during their childhood, and so takes care of him, allowing him to live in his house. He wants to know where Khondiao is at all times and even sets a curfew for him. The communication between the two is just nonexistent. They get together without discussing any of their issues really and it just feels so forced. While he does soften, he doesn't ever seem to trust that Khondiao can take care of himself and remains overbearing.
-I can't say that I had much of an opinion about the other side characters. Foie was an amusing diversion when he was onscreen and added some much needed comedic relief. Kuea's university friends were also amusing. Of them, I did enjoy Nuer and Syn's love story. As a side couple, their story was not really elaborated on, but they made a cute couple and were by far the healthiest relationship.

There were two moments that I particularly appreciated, though one promptly got thrown out the window shortly thereafter. The first is just before Lian and Kuea have sex for the first time, Lian asks for Kuea's consent, making sure that he's not drunk and knows what he's doing. It was nice to see since most dramas just imply that both parties are consenting. To actually have it verbally given was refreshing. That was promptly thrown out the window multiple times afterward when Kuea clearly says no or to stop and Lian keeps kissing him. Apparently you only need to ask the first time and its fair game after that. The second moment was when Kuea is with his university friends and one of them asks the sole woman in their group if she's on her period because she's cranky. She gives him a proper verbal beatdown that was kind of awesome to see.

As a side note, I always have an issue with the way most pets are treated in Asian dramas and this one was no exception. Aside from the Golden Retriever who, unsurprisingly, seemed to be content being on set and getting pets, the Chihuahua really bothered me. The poor thing's body language screamed that he was stressed and did not want to be there. I felt so bad watching. And also, having Yi give him as a gift, just no. It is never a good idea to give an animal as a gift, there are too many things that could go wrong. And I will now step off my soapbox.

The music was overall good. I did like NuNew's voice and I think he's frankly a stronger singer than actor. I didn't love the song that Lian and Kuea sing to each other though so having to hear it twice was a bit painful. Actually both those scenes in general were just awkward to watch.

I will also comment that the whole engineering/university setting is massively overused and this was no exception. While the automotive engineering aspect was different and more interesting with the students working on their project, it still felt repetitive.

This is not a drama that I would ever recommend anyone to watch. It has no substance and instead promotes toxic relationships as being hot. It uses steamy scenes to make up for the fact it is lacking in anything remotely genuine. At times it felt like an infomercial about gender equality, but I couldn't take it seriously because none of the couples, aside from Nuer and Syn, portrayed anything resembling a healthy and normal relationship. I highly recommend NOT wasting your time with this one.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
global_dramaholic
192 people found this review helpful
May 14, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 11
Overall 6.5
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 3.0

A Hot Mess!

Gosh, I don't even know where to start. This was one of my most anticipated BLs of this year, and I am so disappointed.
Let me start with the good. I adore Zee. I have been following him since Why R U? and he is literally why I was looking forward to this drama. His acting did not disappoint, and I was pleasantly surprised by NuNew. For a first-time actor, he did a great job. There were a couple of scenes where I felt like he could have delivered more, but overall them and the rest of the cast did a pretty good job acting-wise.

Another thing that actually led me to finish this instead of dropping it, is the side couple. Syn and Nuer. OMG. They are just the cutest lil beans I have ever seen in my life, and if I had to watch an entire drama of them just staring into each other eyes, I would!!!!

Finally, the music. I will be honest and say I don't know much about Thai music, but this drama introduced me to so many great songs that I have been listening to on repeat.

Now let's move on to the bad. The story was a complete mess! And honestly, calling it a storyline, is a bit of a stretch. The same plot was dragged and spun for the entire twelve episodes and the characters just kept lying and deceiving each other. Not to mention, the pacing was so hard to follow. I felt like I had no idea what was happening half the time. I get that the whole point of this drama was to watch them grow and learn to communicate, but I still feel like they haven't. In fact, this show had some of the most stagnant characters I have ever seen. There was little to no character development for both of them, in the end, they both found out each other's secrets, did nothing to resolve the miscommunication, and continued on in their lives like nothing was wrong, but NOTHING CHANGED! There are so many things that I felt went unaddressed. The show should have focused less on being preachy and more on actually writing a plot with substance.

Hot kissing scenes are always fun to watch, but it's not going to save a drama with a boring messy plot or boring stagnant characters. The saddest thing is, this had the potential to be so good. A stellar cast, a good budget, and an established fanbase. It had everything going for it. Unfortunately, it just couldn't deliver.


Read More

Was this review helpful to you?

Recommendations

Love in the Air
Cutie Pie 2 You
Wedding Plan
The Next Prince
The Next Prince
Bed Friend

Recent Discussions

Title Replies Views Latest Post
NAUGHTY BABE / CUTIE PIE 2nd Book Summary by CityOfAngels 18 0
Shivanya Regmi
Mar 22, 2023
What Audience Is Watching Cutie Pie? by Kayceluvdrama 1 0
Angrienka
Jun 13, 2022
CUTIE PIE: Book Summary by CityOfAngels 36 0
WTILK
May 6, 2022
Official translation of the novel by Karanja 0 0 No discussions yet
Official links with subs by Luna6 0 0 No discussions yet

Details

  • Drama: Cutie Pie
  • Country: Thailand
  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Feb 19, 2022 - May 14, 2022
  • Aired On: Saturday
  • Original Network: Workpoint TV
  • Duration: 60 min.
  • Content Rating: 18+ Restricted (violence & profanity)

Statistics

  • Score: 7.7 (scored by 27,603 users)
  • Ranked: #4514
  • Popularity: #236
  • Watchers: 45,321

Top Contributors

57 edits
40 edits
25 edits
23 edits

News & Articles

Popular Lists

Related lists from users
BL / Gay (*Rated Order*)
653 titles 2777 loves 46
Thai BL Master List
662 titles 1380 loves 9
BL series and movies
314 titles 518 loves 7

Recently Watched By