Step by Step (2023)

This did not met my expectations

I watched the last episode on Saturday and now finally got a chance to write a review on Monday about this series.

The first time I watched the official pilot, I was actually interested in seeing this series. And then the trailer came out, I was super excited to see the story of Jeng and Pat. And then I sat down and watched this series and was...dissapointed. It did not live up to the official pilot as well as the trailer for me.

Story-4/10
In all honesty, I ONLY liked four out of the twelve episodes (episodes one to three and then ten). The others, I honestly didn't and couldn't care for then as they were focusing on characters that I don't care about or want to know about.

I was here for Pat and Jeng (and sometimes Chot). I don't care about thier friends, Pat's ex-boyfriend, Jeng's brother, Jaab and Jane, Jeng's father- nothing! And because the series focused on all of this, I felt the time it took for Pat and Jeng was too long and then they happened to quickly and broke up. Also, it had like two time jumps in the space of two episodes?! ( three months I think and then two years). All of this annoyed me and for that reason I am giving the story a 4, which is being very generous because I really should give them a 3.

Acting/Cast- 6/10
You know what? I only liked the actors who played Jeng and Chot. The others, because I really didn't care for thier storyline, thier acting didn't really impact on me. So, just because of these two and the scenes that they stole throughout the series, I am being generous again and giving them a 6.

Music-6/10
I honestly couldn't recall it. I had to go back to the beginning of an episode and play it over. Because of this, I will give them a 6.

Rewatch Valu-2/10
Okay- I honestly do not think that I will rewatch this at all. Because it has left me soooo dissapointed. And I know people would say that maube I am not accustomed to a slow burn series. But this was really too slow for me that I did loose my attention a lot and I only really was watching to see Pat and Jeng end up together. Which they did. For like two episodes and then broke up for two years! As such, I am givnig the rewatch valu a solid 2.

Overall-4.5/10
Overall, I give this series a 4.5. And that's just sad, because I was super hyped when I saw both the official pilot and trailer. I also thought that this series would have scored much higher (like between 8 to 9) after watching the first three episodes. But, it didn't and every week I slowly lost interest in this series until episode 10. But by then it was too late to save this series for me.

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It started fine but went downhill after EP10

At first, the story was progressing nicely. It took them 10 episodes to finally be together and suddenly ends with conflict.I was intrigued by the title and cast. As we watched EP1 to EP6, the story is good with professional and realistic work environment. They approached each other slowly and ended up together in EP10. But by the end of the episode, suddenly there's conflict again and everything went downhill from then. The issue was not actually resolved and there's no proper arc about it either. After watching EP11, the conflict reached its climax and ends with EP12 fast forwarding to 2 years after they broke up and meet again. There's no actual story about how their lives went post break up. They suddenly meet again and the issue resolves way too easily and the ending is too lukewarm with no proper plot to fill in the tension from the previous episode. Basically, the ending is a nice scene but turned bad due to plot holes and feels kinda rushed.

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What I liked:
The friendship between Pat, Ae, & Chot.
The concept.

What I did not like:
The execution of the concept.
The slow paced often messy storyline.
The lack of chemistry between the leads.
The open ending for Jaab and Jane.
The open ending of Jeng’s parents attitude toward Jeng and Pat.


I feel like there was not a good balance between the work storyline and the romance storyline. I could hardly tell that it was even a romance drama until episode 9. There was hardly a relationship between Jeng and Pat, but then all of a sudden when they finally did get together they were like they had been in a relationship for years. It is almost hard to explain. The pacing just wasn’t right and the chemistry wasn’t there. And it definitely left some unanswered question. It’s like they tried to fit too much into one 12 episode drama.

I will not rewatch, but I do hope to see these actors in a better series later.

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I have a good time for 8 ep then it crash and burn to the point that It's super painful to watch.

Step by Step is an BL rom-com and office drama that starts out strong but crashes and burns toward the end.
And it's such a waste of so many good elements.

THE GOOD:
1. Good plot. Character development for the first eight episodes is nice. We'll see Pat grow as a teamworker and leader. Then we will see Jeng learn to navigate his social skills.
2. office drama that is kind of realistic but still enjoyable. It's not perfect, but we are watching BL series, so I'm not complaining.
3. Chemistry for leading casts The acting is pretty good. especially when you let them have that longing or unexplainable eye for each other. I get more emotions from those scenes.
4. the steamy scenes are great
5. Great sets of cast. The office casts are great; they are such a joy.

THE BAD
1. Man and Ben suck at crying scenes. I understand if they want Man and Ben as the leading cast. They are great most of the time. I really like them too. I don't expect them to be perfect.
But they suck that it's painful to watch. They both look like they were forced to cry. if the director and writers can just sit down and accept that they could've rewritten the emotional scenes. because, like I said, both leads do have potential.
2. Ep 9-12 are when ALL the good things above turn bad.
-Rom/com turn full on office drama that is full of bad and stupid decisions, and Pat turned full on drama queen. At this point of the series, we need to be invested and like the main characters, NOT annoyed by them.
-And they try too hard to push the narrative that Pat is so smart and capable, but fail to do so.
I don't even know if those steamy love scenes can save the rating. because it's not interesting to me at all.
3. 2 years but Pat is still so childish . soooo annoying. why?

Conclusion: The office drama that starts out okay but struggles to carry through.
The mean lead, Pat, fails to look capable. so many stupid decisions.
The chemistry they have is wasted because of bad acting.

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I'm Surprised I Finished the Series

Never did I ever think I'd come back and finish this series and never did I ever think I'd rate a BL series so low.
The positive first. I love the actors in this series and I adore the chemistry (or what little they gave us of it) Man and Ben are able to create through their characters in this show. I can only hope that they get another series together with a better relationship. The only thing keeping me going for the majority of this series was the second couple but I shouldn't be putting all my focus on the second couple, I should be rooting for the main characters who mid way through the series I could care less about...
Now for the negative.
My god, we started out with such a promising storyline but episode after episode I wonder does Pat even like Jeng, more episodes go by and my patience is STRUGGLING. I don't mind a slow burn but you can't have a slow burn if there's nothing to burn! There's just little to no relationship in existence for the majority of this series; the pacing in this show really got the best of me.
I'm usually very lenient in my ranking and neutrally enjoy almost anything, all I ask for just some kind of acknowledgement of any sort of feelings, but instead we get radio silence for all of 8-ish episodes with no relationship progress whatsoever.
And just when I'm about to give up Episode 9 rolls in and we're finally getting some where, but alas this series is only 12 episodes so too little, too late. Episode 10 was lovely but it should've happened 5 or 6 episodes ago so we can truly explore the relationship and properly deal with conflicts not shove them all in last minute. Maybe I'm too impatient but this series was truly a waste of time and a waste of talent to me

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Made me hate office romcom

It could have been one of the best shows of 2023, cos it had the potential. But what a let down this has been..

Story and editing - It didnt really have any continuity or any interesting thing happening. I get that it wants to depict mundane office setting , but it is boring since we get an hr of episode and nothing really happens. They just kept talking, doing presentations and gossip all throughout. And the time frame is not clear, the jumps are not at all acknowledged. Choppy editing would have been blamed if the story was better, though it didnt even try and maintain that continuity scene by scene.

Acting- Man has been the backbone along with Bruce, couldnt tell Man doesn't have acting experience. Others couldn't be blamed, since we dont know how the character was presented to them , what workshops were conducted. Lets say there is a lot of room for improvement. Ben's acting has been under criticism but i want to see him in a different project..maybe even a non BL (dont come @ me), though i think with proper training he could become so much better. Others here didnt have any screentime to actually given room to act. Up was passable in what was given to him (Hoping to see him with Kao...).

Overall, it looked promising on the paper, just that it needed a tighter script, good editing, atleast few good performances and shorter length.

Can watch it for Man once..

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Step by Step- take a step forward, then take two steps back.

To start off, I'm not disappointed with this series because of the "slow burn" because I slurp that shit up like butter.

I'm disappointed, because even it did have SOME good qualities, it's overwhelmingly underwhelming and inconsistent. Especially with the directing.

Just a little sad that this series was so promising based the trailer and the pilot series. And at first it did live up to its name. They took steps to make the office setting and dynamics as realistic as they possibly could with the limited budget. And they did SO right with getting Man for the role of Jeng. Putting an actual older man, instead of the usual making a young character age by facial expressions and clothing to look mature, because it contributes to the office setting, age gap plot. But it stops there. It felt like that one step they took; they take two steps back.

Anyway, let's begin. I usually start with the good elements in a series, but this is time I'll start with bad.

Bad:

1. Directing- This is one of the biggest disappointments in the series. And I know this may seem a bit dramatic, but one of the biggest disappointments of the year. Everyone who expected to see a mature, office setting drama will be blown away by how underwhelming this is.

It's always been a hit or miss with Director Tee. He's one of the most inconsistent directors I've seen in this lifetime. I mean he directed TharnType and that shit was toxic as all hell, but he did great with Lovely Writer. And I like how he's taking more mature plot to direct, but all of his projects have always been a hit or miss. Which to me is a little weird. I don't know how he can turn an actual good plot into a sloppy mess.

Attention to detail was close to non-existent. The inconsistencies manifested in every episode, and it's difficult to ignore them because Director Tee gave us nothing to make us overlook those inconsistencies. And I don't think I need to list them out, but some are stated below. (They really thought they could put that "Best Ad Awrad" award on that shelf, and we wouldn't notice. That's a bit insulting as a viewer.)

I know that Director Tee doesn't control the actual plot of the series, but with everything else the director is the final say. No matter what other people think. What we see onscreen is the director's work. That's his vision. He may not be the screenwriter, or the editor, but he has a say in both. And my god the writing in this is underwhelming, not even Man's charisma can help. I get that the pacing was done that way to show that the characters worked with each other first before catching feelings. And I get that it becomes even more apparent because of Pat's character and personality, but it doesn't help the viewers understand him because his reactions and worries only makes him look like a little child throwing tantrums because his traumas weren't explored and translated on screen.

When Pat comes across a revelation, his facial expression IS NOT ENOUGH. And his lines are always so confusing and so uncharacteristic. It's very, very, confusing and the watchers can never actually guess what he's thinking. And this is why I always say it's the director's fault. He could've made it so that Pat has more than 2 expressions- a child throwing a tantrum and an immature man being babied by everyone around him. Even the 2 years did nothing to him. Although this time it makes sense. The reason why Pat is an almost stagnant character is because the root of his problems wasn't addressed, and the people around him still spoiled him. And poor Jeng deserves so much more than that. He's looking for a life partner, not a pretty baby to take care of.

The supporting characters did little to support the narration, and they didn't add value to the plot and the storytelling either. Which is disappointing because we all know they are good actors. Like Krist and Chot. I know it's lovely to see Bruce again and more so that his character is a feminine character that isn't there for comic relief, and Tee even gave him a much-deserved proposal. But it doesn't take away the fact that his partner proposed to him while he's in a hospital bed. I'm not saying marriage proposals have to be aesthetic and grand, but the events before that doesn't give any sense as to why Krist decided to propose at that exact time. I had to rewatch the episode because I was so confused how that ended up to a marriage proposal. And sadly, that moment felt flat. Their acting was great, but again, the scenes leading up to it, and the feeling after that- nothing. Except those sweet lines of assurance from Krist that he's taking care of Chot forever, but it still didn't make any sense. And please don't make me start with JaabJen. That was just another level of disappointment. Even with Jaab's bad acting, they had so much potential. The I-have-a-crush-on-a-taken-man trope is not at all unique, but this has so much room for character development, and their chemistry was palpable, but again, Director Tee did a shitty job on that. Jaab didn't change at all in those 2 years. This is not just a writing problem, nor acting. It's the directing.

Lastly, my biggest disappointment with Director Tee is how poorly he did the resolution. I was willing to forgive episodes 7-11 (even tho those episodes already showed signs how badly the last episode will be done), but man, episode 12 did not disappoint in disappointing.

I know that people have different feelings and perspective, but for nothing to change in 2 years? I know this is fiction, but it didn't make a lick of sense why episode 12 felt like episode 11.

I'm sorry but I think it'll take me another day to fully write down how utterly disappointed I am with Director Tee. I hope he puts in his all in all of his work. I think he still has more in him, but if he's going to make series like these, I think it's time to make way for other directors. I wanted to use a series as reference, but I don't think I need to do that to prove a point.

2. Acting- One of the good qualities of this series is mainly the acting. But my 7.0 rating is for Man and Bruce. Mans must be suffering with back pains with only them carrying the whole series.

I know that Ben and Saint are rookies, but that's not the problem here. The problem is that they were directed so badly that they thought all they needed to do was act immature and try to act cool and weird, respectively. From start to finish.

I have nothing to say more though cause the supporting actors did what they could, but sadly their potential was not optimized.

3. Overall quality- I know that being a smaller production house meant they had lesser budget, but sadly it showed. Not with the location, nor their style. It just showed in the overall quality of the production. The color gradient they used with the film didn't help because it felt like a cheap knock-off. Although, it helped lighten up the over-all mood of the series. It prevented it from becoming dark and heavy.

Okay. On to the good:

1. Office Romance- At least they made it so obvious that JengPat's corporate office romance is guaranteed to have problems because a boss-subordinate dynamic in itself already an issue. They successfully showed the problematic power play that comes from this dynamic. Additionally, the power dynamics, the age gap, and the height difference, was successfully showed on the screen that it will bring problems.

2. Man- I'm sorry but I have to write a whole section for him, because he's such a breath of fresh air. Most series that put in older characters will mostly turn their series to dark or dramatic because romance with older, mature people is usually heavier. But choosing Man, someone who doesn't look too uptight or too sharp, made the series overall lighter.

I think that's it. I wanted to say watch it with an open mind, and just take it as it is, but I'd be a hypocrite because 1 episode took me 3 days to finish. I had to power through episodes 6-11 because it felt like they were going around in circles, and worse was that for the most part it felt like Jeng did most of the loving. So, I think I'd rather watch their interviews or behind the scenes because I do like looking at them. They look great together. You can do the same if you want. :)

Okay, peace!

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Disappointingly bad

To be truthful, it is one of the worst BL series I have ever seen. Disastrous screenplay that made no sense. Bad acting. No chemistry. Disjointed story. In other words, just plain awful. It went around using the same trope, cliché-filled lines, and themes that I literally got bored out of my mind. This series was disappointingly bad, incoherent, insulting to its audience, loveless, and one of the least romantic BLs in a long time. Yet it also had a figure who was genuinely repentive of what he did, constantly tried to make up for his errors and mistakes, yet, still seemed to be projected as a villain. You have a rich rather indecisive individual who is gay and will never meet his father’s expectations yet still too timid to stand up to him (or his family) with any kind of real fortitude and a partner who quick-tempered, impulsive, and righteous and rather judgmental before knowing all the facts, and, in my opinion, might be prone to having a drinking problem. A cautious tale indeed.

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I expected more

Let say first that I`m dissapointed!
I expected more and it was torture for me to watch this series till the end. To be honest, i dont know what good to say about Step by step. First, i didn`t like the main couple. Pat and Mr. Jeng were handsome and all, but have zero chemistry (my opinion), they weren`t good for each other. I like Put more and feel sorry for him. Yes, he made a mistake in the past, but was more for Pat than Mr. Jeng. Second - i thought that Jaab and Jen will be together at the end. Jaab didnt have a chance to apologise or express his feelings to Jen. We saw one kiss between them and that is all! Third - Pat`s facial expression really annoys me. The actors fake crying all the time, especially Pat. They should play their roles better.
The plot was boring, the episodes was longer than should. Zero chemistry between the actors.
I gave 6 stars because of the happy ending and for Up.

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frustrating over enjoyable

this is my first review please bear with me + english is my second language

the start seemed fine a bit boring but watchable. at mid point i actually started to like it but now i just need to rant.

what i liked:
i found it really good that they tried to give pat und put a resolution where pat realised for himself that it just doesnt work anymore (tho put didnt quite get the memo)
i did like jaab and jen together a lot more than the main couple as it just felt more realistic with these two friends that fail to communicate about their feelings to each other, not wanting to ruin their friendship and hurting each other in the progress. if i ever pick it up again i will solely do so for them if they get a good resolution with some character develpement with it.

what i disliked:
the main couple
i personally just dont like jeng..
at the beginning i was ok with the two of them becomming a couple but after ep 10 especially not so much any more
jeng is the boss of pat which is nothing to dream about. their relationship now involves the job so if they decide to break up pat would literally risk losing his job. jeng's behaviour can also be seen as sexual assault which...
i dont support workplace bullying what so ever but they cant expect everyone to just keep quiet if the relationship could mean that pat gets favourite by the boss when it comes to opportunities, salary and promototions. (which is literally a thing jeng wants to do)
private life and work life need to be sepperate to some point and flirting at your workplace is just inappropriate

i cant see how their relationship is supposed to last at this point as they are just unable to communicate. when pat says that he is unhappy about the reaction from coworkers to their relationship jeng sees it as an invitation to fuck him. like no shit sherlock he is not in the mood.
their relationship from the beginning is facing some major problems and they are unable to communicate and solve it as a couple. instead pat decides to quit without saying anything as well as he is pushed to a point where he is unable tolerate the gossip anymore.

i really hope with the two episodes left that i dint watch they some kind of resolution even tho it doesnt seem like a satisfiying one as the comment say.

jeng and pat should have met under different circumstances
jaab and jen should just sit together and talk
i wish ae and khanun the best of luck with their child
chot and krit i hope you live happily ever after

(i do wanna say that there is a difference between jaab and jen not being able to communicate and jeng andpat is different. jaab and jen dont wanna ruin the relationship they already have and jeng and pat are already in a relationship at which point they have to work together to make it work which involves playing with fire sometimes)

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This series tested my patience step by step

I initially enjoyed Ben's character "Pat". I thought he was cute and his weirded-out faces made my day and night. But as the series progressed, I realized it was one of probably four expressions he was capable of and it got annoying really fast. I loved Pat's friendship with Ae, Prem, and Nan. But once Chot was introduced, Nan, Ae, and Prem took a hard backseat. I love Chot, but not as much as Ae and Nan.

I thought Man did an awesome job as Mr. Jeng, although I personally did not like Mr. Jeng. I thought that the character itself for 10 episodes was lacking. Man himself is attractive but Mr. Jeng has little to no charisma.

When I discovered this show in June, I thought there were only 10 episodes (I didn't care to read the # of episodes obviously and it was still airing) so when I got to episode eight, I was a bit interested in how it'll end in the two remaining episodes. But once I found out that I had not two but four more episodes to go, I was bummed. It was then, middle of ep 10 that I decided to drop this show because it was becoming too much; a real hassle to sit and/or skim through.

In the scene where Ae gives birth (clearly as an Ae biased), I was frustrated with its execution. It was cringe, strange, and illogical. Openly recording someone, a stranger at that, giving birth and crying out in pain rather than helping her, calling the police/ambulance, or telling her everything would be okay were standard expectations but the majority didn't do any of those! Even the police who showed up did squat (why is the Thai union always depicted as useless in these films?). I'm sure the older women who were giving Ae disgusted looks had given birth themselves so for no one but a medical student to step in while everyone else recorded or judged was sooo so stupid. And wtf was Pat's problem??? This is his best friend going into labor in the middle of a street and he couldn't do one thing to comfort her. I understand he freaked but given how close they are and Ae's protectiveness of him, I thought he'd at least got her back. I hated Pat so much that I wanted Put to get away from him so when they broke up, I was so happy and I didn't even like Put. Not until Pat left Put and went and got drunk instead.

It really took me three months to try and get through this series but I refuse to watch another disgusted/worried/weirded out face of Pat's again.

And don't get me started on Jaab. He only existed for aesthetics. I was so mad it took him a lifetime to comfort Mr. Jeng when the usually stoic guy unexpectedly broke down ugly crying. For 10 episodes, except being told that they're brothers, a very small handful of their interactions actually felt like authentic brotherly bonds.

Normally extras are just that, extra bodies in the background. But eventually, I was so bored with the main characters that I found myself scrutinizing for extras' interactions and expressions. It was funny as it seemed like they were told 'you guys can look in the same direction but no talking, don't even act like you're having a conversation'. The scene where Jeng and Pat were out trying restaurants was especially comical because they played a soundtrack where people were chatting and dining but the extras in the background were either on their phones or not looking at each other. Either way, this was a drop and I may or may not finish the last two episodes someday but I doubt they'll be missed...

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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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