The Trainee (2024)

Could've been a 7 if not for the last 3 episodes

Got started on this series with very little expectations and enjoyed the first 9 episodes, not because of the romance or the actors, but because of the characters (especially Pah and Pie) and great comic timing.

The struggles and growth the characters go through, how they form-break-mend relationships and chart their own break-through, how they overcome self-doubt and discover themselves, were very nostalgic and feel-good.

It really started to go downhill for me because of 3 things (most of which happened in the last 3 episodes)

1. Judy's character development and her relationship with BM just came across as v flippant and poorly thought out and done just to catalyse Tae's character development. I would've much preferred if she had not reciprocated BM's feelings because that felt rather out of character, especially for someone who maintains a strong professional image, it felt unrealistic that she would start a relationship with an intern who already had a boyfriend who was also an intern.

2. Phi Jo's comments to Jane felt very out of character, after his chat with Pah, and the subsequent justification for his actions felt very forced (not sure if it was a translation issue). Jane's flashback made me dislike Phi Jo after growing quite fond of him, especially since he was built up to be a non-judgemental coach type of leader. The office culture also felt very toxic and seemed to be deemed "acceptable".

3. Jane's sudden departure to study overseas and his decision to do so without talking it out with someone he just started a relationship with. And them not speaking for years and then conveniently getting back together again was simply unrealistic... the amount of disrespect to the audience for being made to believe it was ok...

Sadly this series did not end on a high for me but thought it still deserved a rating above 5 because i truly enjoyed two thirds of it.

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a journey to self discovery

The Trainee is a refreshing departure from the typical Thai BL fare, offering a grounded exploration of self-discovery and personal growth. While it may not be a romance-driven series, it effectively captures the complexities of navigating careers and relationships.

Off and Gun's chemistry is excellent, even if their characters' relationship remains platonic. The series delves into the challenges faced by young professionals, with Ryan's naivete and Jane's mentorship creating a relatable dynamic. While the pacing could have been better, the conflicts are generally resolved in a satisfying manner.

The supporting characters, particularly Tae and Ba-Mhee, offer intriguing backstories that complement the main narrative. Pie's character arc is a highlight, showcasing her growth and development. Pah, despite his initial confidence, reveals his insecurities, adding depth to his character.

While the lack of a romantic relationship between Ryan and Jane may disappoint some viewers, the series' focus on self-discovery and personal growth is commendable. The characters' journeys are relatable and authentic.

The production quality of The Trainee is commendable, with impressive cinematography and set design. The series offers moments of humor and insight, making it an enjoyable watch.

Overall, The Trainee is a well-crafted drama that prioritizes personal growth over romantic entanglements. While it may not be a traditional BL, it offers a refreshing and relatable portrayal of young professionals navigating their careers and relationships.

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Great physical comedy but terrible characters choices

It's a breath of fresh air in the midst of a year of weak releases with obvious stories, childish characters and mediocre productions by gmm-tv.

Is the series a masterpiece? No, and it has many flaws, but it still manages to deliver a slice of life series with excellent physical comedy and hilarious timing that is elevated by the exquisite editing work.

It's impressive how everything that was wrong with My Love Mix-Up works here. The refined coloring, the intelligent cuts that only add more humor to the scene, the extremely catchy soundtrack, the very well-used sound effects and, of course, the cinematography also deserves to be highlighted with beautiful takes, frames full of references and style and a direction that knew how to develop and use each of the characters very well.

Is it a BL series? I would say no. It's more of a series about five interns trying to survive their internship and prove themselves worthy of their fields while facing life's problems than it is about a romance between a clumsy intern and a cold assistant director.

And honestly, that's not a problem for me. The series is fun, the characters are captivating and the crazy things they get up to in each episode are engaging enough to give the series a dynamic and interesting pace.

But if there's one thing the series failed at, it was in the development of the protagonists. Ryan is by far one of the most boring characters in this series. I like the development that all the characters have and the series really highlights this growth in them, but Ryan was created in such a way that it's simply hard to connect with the character.

He has no attitude, his whole sweet and innocent personality is a bit too cartoonish, he never stands up for himself, he has no charisma, he acts like a child who doesn't know anything about life or even how to perform basic functions at the beginning of the series and this really sinks the character and makes the main couple end up disappearing in the middle of the series.

And that's the problem. The main couple doesn't stand out at all and they simply disappear in the series, especially when all the drama with Bah-mee, Tae and Judy happens.

And this is another point that bothers me about the series. I particularly hated Bah-mae in the beginning and she was indeed annoying, spoiled and immature. The character has a very interesting growth and I love her chemistry with Judy.

I don't mind the betrayal plot because I like characters who are flawed and make mistakes, but it was a shot in the foot to put her in this plot only to have her get back together with Tae and act in the same annoying way as before.

They simply destroyed the character and made viewers hate her for nothing. It's a plot that takes up too much screen time and has such a weak and lukewarm resolution.

The friendship between them is the strong point of the plot because the romance is completely overshadowed by the narrative. The theft of the music video and the time jump of 5 years apart are two decisions that I can't understand why they were included in the series.

And this is another point that needs to end in GMM-TV's BLs. The time jumps with the characters separated because apparently they go back to the Ice Age when they move countries so they can't send a message or make a video call.

It's not the best, but certainly the most interesting BL they released in this weak year.

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Not unpleasant to watch but not unforgettable

The series depicts office life rather well. It lacks depth, but it's realistic enough. We follow the interns through everything that can happen to them, whether professional or personal. It's not ultra-captivating, but it works.

As for the love story between Ryan and Jane, it takes a bit of a back seat. It's a shame, because it's hard to understand how they come to love each other.

A major problem with this series is the character of Ryan, who is absolutely unlovable: whiny, childish but above all incompetent, which is problematic for a series set in the corporate world. It's hard to understand what Jane sees in him.

As for Jane, the series takes too long to develop his character.

In short: a fairly decent series, but likely to be quickly forgotten.

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No Training Needed

The Trainee was marketed as an OffGun drama and, in general, as a BL. It became clear quite early on that this was false advertising and it was actually more of an ensemble rom-com in an office setting. Personally, I loved it, but I also don't solely watch BLs and I didn't really have any expectations of this drama. I think if you go in with that mindset, you'll find there's a lot to enjoy.

While The Trainee is a rom-com and romance does play a role in it's story, what I loved most was the secondary focus on the interns and Jane looking for their paths in life. We're expected to know what we want to do with our lives as soon as we graduate high school and I appreciated the realism that they didn't have everything figured out, particularly with Jane who was even older and was still figuring things out. I think that's something that really needs to be normalized far more than it is. And even those who did know what they wanted to do like Pie quickly found that there was still a lot to learn. There were also elements like the importance of learning from your mistakes and not being too proud to apologize, all little things that just added to the atmosphere and camaraderie of the office setting and that theme of growing up and finding your way in life.

I hate time jumps, I really do. They're lazy and annoying. We suddenly have a much more mature Ryan which is so unsatisfying because we didn't get the journey of how he got to that point. And he and Jane are reunited with the impression that they haven't really had any communication in the last 5 years which makes absolutely no sense because they have phones, they can call, text, Facetime, whatever. Are they both just completely dramatic masochists? On the one hand, I do understand the need for time to have passed. Neither of them was at a good point to pursue a relationship previously and when they meet again, they are both more mature as people and in their careers. There is the hope that they can truly build something solid now. I just hate the way they did it.

I really loved seeing the friendship that developed between the interns from basically ignoring each other at the beginning to besties at the end, they were just adorable and it felt real. I liked that they were friends as a whole, but they also paired off and had their individual friends like Ryan and Pie, Pie and Ba-Mhee, and Pah and Tae. Their support for each other was really beautiful to see and the way they learned from each other.

I do think Jane and Ryan's relationship needed more attention than it got. I liked them as a couple, but Ryan, especially initially was made far too helpless and it made it hard to see what Jane saw in him. There needed to be more time and focus on what exactly drew them together and how and why they clicked. They did get to a point where you could see it, but it was that initial that just seemed glossed over. Their relationship there at the end also felt unsatisfying in the last couple episodes. Jane disappeared with no explanation, popped back up announcing that he was going to get his Masters and that was it? It felt too abrupt. We needed more of the two of them actually sitting down and having adult conversations. In general, I do think there needed to be a little more of a focus on their relationship so we could see all that and they could be more cohesive as a couple.

On the other hand, I would have liked less focus on the mess that was the love triangle of Ba-Mhee, Tae, and Judy. That was a lot. Ba-Mhee was my least favorite of the interns for a myriad of reasons, but the biggest one was how she handled everything with Tae and Judy. Beyond the fact that she cheated on Tae, she lead on Judy when she had to know she was still in love with Tae and in no condition to pursue another relationship and when Judy did things she didn't like, rather than communicate, she just went along with it and then whined to her friends. That's not to say that Judy wasn't at fault. Jane at least was aware of appearances in getting involved with an intern while Judy didn't seem to care and was very blasé about the whole thing so to an extent it felt like she brought it on herself. Tae too really failed in the whole communication department which didn't help matters in the slightest. To be honest, I did like Ba-Mhee and Judy together. They had a lot of chemistry and they just worked. Not a fan of the cheating at all and I'm not justifying it. I think they could have eliminated that, had Ba-Mhee realize that she and Tae weren't compatible and had her get together with Judy and her and Tae just be friends. Honestly, Tae always seemed just kind of mildly irritated by her or unsure of what to do with her; I wasn't feeling romance between them.

This was a very talented cast and it shows. Off and Gun dominated every scene they were in as one would expect of them. I love View and I thought she did a great job with her character's development and gradual softening. Sea is such a talented actor and while I really didn't notice any chemistry between him and Piploy, he was fantastic as Tae otherwise. Kudos to Pompam for an entertaining turn as Baimon and Bobby as the wise and insightful Jo.

The production was great. There was so much attention to detail on the sets and the cinematography was just really beautiful. The after credit scenes were a fun way to explain film terminology and I applaud their creativity with that.

Though not at all what it was marketed as, that does not mean this drama is not worth the watch. It proved to be unexpectedly wholesome and sweet and while romance is certainly in the air and plays its part, it's the friendships that bring it all together. I would highly recommend that you put all preconceived notions aside and just enjoy this drama as it is. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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Enjoyable and easy to watch, but with a few issues

Hopefully this doesn't need spoiler tags, but you may want to read this after watching the last episode.

I really enjoyed the whole cast in this series, they did a great job. The characters were also very fun and easy to watch.

The story itself was interesting enough, and I would call it unique. No engineers, no guys in high school, etc. I think the story needed a bit more development, or maybe they needed more episodes to fill in some blanks. I think that having so many characters and couples in so few episodes made things feel rushed or incomplete at times and is the root of the issues this series has.

In the last episode, it seemed so hurried and chaotic after the 11th episode where the interns graduated from the production company, then suddenly they are mentors/adults. There was no arc to the story between those two points.

OffGun (Ryan and Jane) seem more like a side couple here, I would call this series an ensemble cast. I think it should have been billed that way, but I get why GMM use the big name stars to draw attention to a series. I also am not sure I would call this a BL, or even a Ryan and Jane romance, I don't think it ever gets to that level. I think Ryan and Jane characters are more of a bromance or crush or something like that. This is total speculation, but maybe Off or Gun are tired of being in BL series and want to tone it down a bit? Not sure, but they barely did more than hold hands throughout the series.

That ending was... unfulfilling. I am not sure what else I can say about it that sums it up for me. OffGun needed more closure here, unless we are getting a second season where they explore their relationship further. I guess I don't hate the time skip as much as some others here, but it was unnecessary and lazy. It was like they had "X" hours to film, and once we hit that "wrap it up" and onto the next series.

I get that some couples would stay together through something like this time skip, but Ryan and Jane had only agreed to date before this, I don't think they had even had an official date yet. I am not sure how deep of a couple bond they would have before Jane left, or how likely it would be they would wait for each other for this long.

Overall it was good, but there were a few things I think they could have changed to make it go from an OK but forgettable series to a great one that would make it onto a "Best Of" list.

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Not a BL or Off and Gun Series - A Waste of Talent (Major Spoilers)

The over all low rating is due to the clickbait nature of this series, and semi gay and lesbian baiting. Gunn and Off are billed as the lead actors and the synopsis is about Ryan, making him the protagonist, preproduction. This series is not about them, they are just supporting characters. The series is mostly about one intern, BaMhee and her attraction toward another woman, and her feelings toward her long-time boyfriend, both of whom are interns at the same company. Part of the triangle is a woman, her direct supervisor, Judy and Ms. Judy breaks many ethical standards such as she allows BaMhee who has been drinking to kiss her, and she returns the kiss. Then BaMhee and her boyfriend work on reconciliation.

Meanwhile Ryan and Jane, played by Gun and Off, admit their feelings late in the series. Then in episode 11, Jane literally ghosts Ryan after being accused of stealing Ryan's IP. In the finale, Jane returns to Thailand after 5 years of no contact, and Ryan accepts him back in his life. A cutie like Ryan would not be single after 5 years!

The worst part of this series is, this is one of Gun's best performances that I've ever seen. He even stole the show from Gun, one of the most talented actors at GMMTV. I recommend watching the series with no expectations, and not thinking of Off and Gun as the lead actors.

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