Enemies with Benefits

GL with great chemistry and many intimate scenes

I waited for this GL drama for months after seeing a YouTube short and it was worth it. It delivers enemies to lovers, office romance and a secret relationship, all done in a way I enjoy. The early enemy phase feels real and they never switch into that usual act where couples pretend to hate each other in front of coworkers. When colleagues think they are still hostile it is usually because they are in the middle of a lovers quarrel.

The early episodes are great, but the later ones lose direction. The final villain makes the story repeat itself and the couple breaks up and reunites too often, mostly because one person acts without talking. Communication issues are a classic drama flaw and it shows here.

The chemistry is strong, the supporting cast works well and there are plenty of intimate scenes. Despite the weaker parts it is a very enjoyable watch.

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My new favourite GL

I really really liked this one.
This is the first Drama where I was watching each episode minutes after it came out. I was hooked from ep 1.
It's cheesy, funny, romantic and at some parts sad. It's a Drama that has it all.

The good:
- Great Chemistry thoughout the whole cast, but especially between Wine and Lal ( I hope we will see more dramas with them)
- The side characters are so much fun. They have some of the funniest moments
- Hot scenes and not just one ;)
- The story get's right started, no 8 episodes of getting to know each other
- It doesn't shy away from certain themes like sexual harassment. I don't want to say too much, but I loved how the character actually struggled with it and it wasn't just brushed of and only included for shock
- Overall I had a really good time :D

The bad:
- My only pet peeve is the production quality. Most of the time it is good, but in almost every episode there is a scene with bad audio, weird lighting or something similar.
- They also overdo the sound effects sometimes. But almost every Drama which has comedic elements uses them too much for my taste.


I would recommend everyone who wants to have a good time to watch this. It's my new favourite drama.
Bye!-I have to go watch it again :)

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Bello

Devo dire carino, forse il primo GL della GMMTV che ho apprezzato al 100% (e non mi aveva dato vibes un po' mah tipo a metà come è successo con alcuni altri). Jan e JingJin mi sono sembrate molto valide e sono contenta che la GMMTV si stia finalmente approcciando anche a serie non ambientate fra università e superiori e ho avuto delle belle vibes, sia dalla coppia che dalla trama. Mi è piaciuta la parte in cui si parla di quello che Wine ha passato sul posto di lavoro e sul trauma che ha passato, e mi è piaciuto sopratutto il fatto che non si sia risolto tutto una volta indagato il tipo, ma si spieghi del fatto che l'azienda prenda le precuazioni e sopratutto, che anche la capa si prende le sue responsabilità nel non aver creduto a quello che dicevano Lal e Wine. Mi piace molto e mi sembra corretto, nel senso che molto spesso ora si vedono serie dove ci sono traumi importanti per i personaggi e tutto sembra risolversi a tarallucci e fichi. Insomma sono contenta di vedere finalmente qualcosa di diverso. Sono anche molto contenta che finalmento Kapook e Ciize si siano laureate all'università delle coppie fisse e sono finalmente riuscite a finire una serie insieme. Insomma, molto carina. Poi mi sono veramente piaciute Lal e Wine, mi davano proprio la sensazione di sofficità e profumo, non so spiegarmi. Detto ciò non vedo l'ora di vedere anche la seconda parte, con il loro matrimonio e vedere Bake with Feelings...

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very strong start but disappointing ending

Honestly, this series began so good and i enjoyed most of the initial episodes immensely, especially their bickering scenes and then their practically honeymoon stage.

BUT i feel like this series should have been longer, especially when the ending was just not satisfying enough for me. i think we definitely needed more of wine chasing lal after how many times wine rejected lal or drew a harsh boundary (nothing wrong with a boundaries but each time, she would hurt lal because she was actively pushing her away using them no matter how much space lal gave)

overall it was solid but if i rewatched it, i think i'd stick to the first half of the show and skip the ending altogether

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No benefits in watching this

As a premise, I will be transparent and say that I mainly watch BLs but I very much enjoyed both Jan and JingJing's performances in Hide & Sis so I decided to come out of my comfort zone and give this show a try: much to my chagrin, this did not go well at all.

Being a very standard, predictable office romance (not a critique per se, just a statement regarding the genre), I wasn't expecting much plot-wise but I at least wanted to enjoy the characters and their development. While Lal is an ok character (whose main flaw is just being a total simp for reasons that I am still trying to grasp), Wine was the bain of this whole show: an egocentric, contradictory, entitled spoiled brat, she had the potential to be a very interesting character based on her backstory and trauma; in the end, if her indecision was kind of reasonable in the first half of the series, later on her constantly going back on her footsteps became a chore to watch (I don't know how many times in ten episodes she stormed out of the room after arguing with Lal). The general romance plot is, in the end, reduced to a bunch of trite tropes that are not even well done nor endearing to watch (them being enemies for like one episode, the secret relationship made way more complicated than necessary because they refused - I don't know why - to at least be friends at work, the useless lies and cheap break up in the last episodes and I could go on).

The latter part of the show, also, introduces a main villain whose only trait is being a sexual predator: from his introduction onwards, Wine is further reduced to a damsel in distress, while Lal has to constantly save her until the very end. This boils down to another main flaw of this show: the sheer heteronormativity of it all, with Lal always acting like the "man" of the couple and Wine being the fragile woman who needs to be saved and protected. I thought we left this kind of writing behind years ago, but here we are, I guess. On a positive note, I enjoyed the commentary on the role of women in the workplace and, more in general, the feminist message that the writers tried to send (message that, oddly enough, clashes with the aforementioned heteronormative structure of the romance).

Production wise, the show doesn't do anything particularly well or bad; the supporting cast was fine, occasionally funny, but nothing more. The side couple is, in my opinion, sudden and unremarkable.

As a whole, Enemies with Benefits is mediocre at best, with no real highlights: I've seen worse, but I've also definitely seen way better.

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We needed a trigger warning in 2nd half of show

The drama begin as romcom, and slowly turned into drama in seconds half

This started as a chaotic workplace comedy with an amazing chemistry between Wine and Lal, their enemies to fwb to lovers arc was so fun, Lal falling first while Wine slowly opening up to her, letting down her walls that sje build due her past trauma and finding comfort on lal presence

Then the show suddenly turned into a heavy drama with SA, abuse, and power trips that dragged out for too long and completely caught me off guard, i didnt sign up for that and i didnt not enjoy it, Medsei being the spy and boba thief was the only plot twist I actually enjoyed 😭

I loved seeing clingy Wine, Lal's chaotic incompetent but loyal team, and pakpoom that wzs funniedt bestie yet present when lal needed them
The serie had great OSTs and beautiful filming locations, but the loud background music throughout episode and color grading weren't for me.
overall i e'joyed the show and don't regret watching it.

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More Than a Romance: Where the Chemistry Meets the Craft

Everything about this show was meticulously considered and beautifully executed by Snap25. The chemistry between JanJingJing is genuinely top tier, the kind that elevates every scene they share, whether it's a charged workplace standoff or a quiet, vulnerable moment between them.
What impressed me most was how well the show balanced its stakes. Each episode held its own tension while never losing sight of the two overarching threads: Lal and Wine's careers hanging in the balance, and the very real emotional threat Korn posed to Wine. That layering kept the story propulsive without ever feeling scattered. The ending is deeply satisfying, and even the finale itself keeps you hooked, desperate to see them finally happy and settled into their dating era after everything they went through to get there.
Production wise, this is a masterclass. Styling, editing, cinematography, all outstanding, and it shows in how consistently polished the show looks and feels across all ten episodes. Over that run, I stayed completely invested not just in Lal and Wine's central relationship, but in Wine's personal struggles and trauma, which were handled with real care rather than used as cheap drama.
The side couple could have used a touch more screen time, admittedly, though I understand the choice not to take that time away from LalWine's story. If anything, it suggests the show might have benefited from twelve episodes rather than ten to give the side story room to breathe. That said, LalWine's arc itself felt completely well rounded at ten episodes, so I don't think their story needed the extra length.
Overall, this is a GL not to miss.
And don't sleep on the OST. Five songs, each one thoughtfully tied into the show's visual language. There are two duets from JanJingJing carrying two distinct emotional registers, plus two solo tracks linked by a striking orange motif that threads through both JingJing's and Jan's individual music videos, watch for the orange rolling out of frame in one and rolling back into frame in the other. Even the side couple gets their own song. This is a show that clearly put real thought into its supplementary content, not just the drama itself.

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