Step By Step - Overall Thoughts

Step By Step - Overall Thoughts

Bear with me as I try to tackle this messy show. There's only 2 other shows I have done full length reviews for on here, so I don't know well this will come out. But I do have thoughts and this show took up 12 weeks of my life so I have to share them.

What I Liked

- Man Trisanu is such a great actor, I loved him in every single episode. In one of my earlier post I said, if I were to rank BL actors, he'd be near the top of the list, it still holds true.

He was a clear standout from this show. Despite his towering physical stature, he does such a good job at making Jeng feel small and vulnerable in his weakest moments and he's got the best whipped look on his face when he's looking at Pat, also, his micro expressions are so on point. If nothing else, introducing me to Man, will always be a point in the show's favor.

- The first half of this show is amazing. Like the first 5-6 episodes I was so on board. It had such an interesting setup, the workplace romance was working really well, despite its slow buildup, the chemistry was hitting all the right notes. I also loved how realistic the show when it comes to office politics. Not just that, it was so fascinating that instead of solely focusing on the romance aspect, the show seemed invested in Patt and Jeng's career growth, both of them were learning how to be better at their jobs, while working with each other.

- Man and Ben's chemistry works for most of this show, until it doesn't. But I think the parts where the chemistry doesn't work are also the parts with the weakest writing, so it's not really the actors fault. Overall I enjoyed watching them together, in both the cutesy and the high heat moments.

- I really enjoyed Chot. He hits all the right notes when it comes to being a good supporting character, and I love Bruce, so there's some personal bias involved here, but still overall, he got a nice arc and a cute side story. I also enjoyed Ae. When the show knew what to do with her, she had some of the funniest lines in the show.

- I enjoyed the sibling dynamic between Jaab and Jeng. Jaab's presence in the story as the openly queer second child, who has no stakes or interest in the family business, also adds more context to the pressure Jeng feels to keep up with his dad's expectations. So despite how badly the show messes up the execution of Jaab and Jen's "second couple" storyline, I enjoyed Jaab's presence in the narrative. (Yes, this makes Jaab sound less like a character and more like a plot device but I can't help it that the story doesn't know how to use this character very well, despite his potential.)

What I didn't like

- Oh boy, I am gonna try to keep it short, because I wrote quite a bit in my weekly breakdowns, for the last 3 episodes. Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12.

- The second half is clunky. And so many people have pointed out the problems.

I will tag some of my favorite contributors in the Step by Step tag. They've made several posts over the past few weeks breaking down the good and bad parts of this show.

@lurkingshan @bengiyo @heretherebedork @respectthepetty @waitmyturtles

I think for me, these were the 3 main issues with this show -

- The choppy editing. Most episodes of this show are longer than 70 minutes, so it really really shouldn't be difficult to make sense of the show's timeline, but by episode 9, almost no one who was watching could keep up with the timeframe of any of the events. Also, did we really need the finale to be almost 100 minutes? Nope. Most episodes of this are longer than necessary but it wouldn't be an issue if the writing supported the length a little better, it doesn't.

- The show has so many interesting ideas it wants to tackle such as Pat's and Jeng's professional growth, homophobia in the workplace, Jeng's familial struggles, Pat's struggle to feel like his professional growth is not completely dependent on or tied to Jeng, Put and Pat's relationship and eventual breakup - round 1 and 2, the influence of BL actors and BL industry as a whole. The show collapses under the weight of trying to tackle all of this, while also trying to somewhat stick to the traditional beats of a BL and tell a compelling love story. The love story here isn't bad but it's just muddled with so many other things that by the end it's difficult to really care about any of it. The show fluctuates between being a workplace drama and a BL, for most of its runtime, then finally commits to the BL aspects, then fumbles the bag on the execution, only to go back to being a workplace drama with BL elements. It's just all over the place!

- The Jaab and Jen problem. The show establishes an interesting side couple, gives them an explosive kiss in episode 5 and then just does nothing with it? Why? What? Every week for the past 4-5 weeks I have been asking the question - what's up with those two?? I am calling it out with respect to Jaab and Jen but it's present for most of its supporting characters. Look, it is rare for side characters to be given clear, full, well-written arcs in BLs but this show spends so much time in establishing these characters and their conflicts in the first half, only to then just either forget about them and write them off the narrative completely. This problem is most prominent with Jaab and Jen, but it does with almost all side characters, except for Chot.

Final Rating

3.5/5

I am so sad about this because if you asked me around episode 6, this was potentially going to end up at 4.5 for me (for reference, there's only 3 BLs I rates a full 5/5, so a 4.5 is pretty close to perfect for me.)

Current Ranking

25/40 (This is based on my ranking list of all BLs I have watched till now, interesting that this ranks just couple spots above ABAAB. It doesn't mean anything, just something I do for fun.)

Rewatch Potential

Almost none.

Favorite Moment

The office chair shopping sequence

Recommendation to a friend

Yes - but probably not as a beginner BL and with a suggestion to space this out and watch 1-2 episodes per week instead of a binge watch.

Is anyone watching Dinosaur Love?

I don't know where the ridiculous-but-hopefully-enjoyable show I signed up for went but now it's giving DRAMA.

Calling Thai-speaking La Pluie Watchers

What does Tien actually say here in this scene? To me, "freak" (shown in the preview) just didn't match the situation, so it has been throwing me all week.

And now the subtitles on the actual episode are completely different (but more fitting).

Help, @recentadultburnout!

My favorite part of this is that Lomfon tries to do the big romantic moment with making the movie about Tien and all Tien wants is the words. Tien just wants a confession, something straightforward, and Lomfon struggles with that.

But once Tien is clear about what he needs... Lomfon provides. The real confession, the clear one, the making of a real choice and not hiding from it. No hiding behind videos, no hiding behind unclear choices, just the real truth.

Because he doesn't just confess, he explains. He tells Tien what happened and he's clear and nothing is left up to chance, nothing left in silence (Tien knows silence too well, he will not have silence in his relationship).

I love Tien's slow realization that this is real and that he's being chosen and how he slowly, slowly comes to believe what's happening and it's beautiful.

But this just reminds me of how Tien was left outside after the fight in the rain so of course the true confession has to happen outside. Tien wants everything out in the open! He wants to be honest and for people around him to be honest and for relationships to be about open, honest communication. And that's what he finally gets.

And he finally says everything he needed to say, to explain his feelings and to finally unfuck it.

The final call to a choice. A call of being chosen. Because that is what Tien has always wanted. To be chosen.

But also Lomfon promised a practical confession but it's Tien who grabbed him and kissed him senseless once he was sure he was chosen.

Bonus: Height difference = 💖

Do not tease us with a sequel and not deliver.

Tien torn between Lomfon and his soulmate. Lomfon fighting for his man.

Plus, getting to revisit Tai, Patts, Bow, Pingpong, Dream, and Nara.

Also, I am officially campaigning for Saengnuea to be part of the secondary couple. Can we start a petition???

LA PLUIE FUCKING NAILED IT

Dream and Nara are canon! Go Lesbians!

Lomfon NAILED his confession!! He opened his heart and soul to Tien and clearly communicated his desires and IT. WORKED. THAT KISS MADE ME SEE STARS!! HOLY SHIT!!

Tai said FUCK DESTINY and finally, FINALLY said I LOVE YOU to Patts!

And we are getting a SEQUEL????? With my babies Tien and Lomfon???? GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEEEE!!

La Pluie, I love you for being so perfect and I hate you because you're one of the first shows I watched live as it aired and now the bar is SO FUCKING HIGH.

Step by Step: Doing Slow Burn Narrative Structure Wrong

I love me a good slow burn. Some of my favorite dramas are the slowest slow burns to ever burn, and the leads literally don't get together until the very last episode. Step by Step is not following typical slow burn pacing, and it's suffering because of it.

First, a mini lesson in 4 act narrative structure and typical romance pacing. This is what our brains enjoy. In a 12 episode BL or 16 episode kdrama, each act is evenly split into 3 or 4 episodes, respectively.

ACT 1 - introduce the characters and plot (ends with: the first hint of romantic attraction from one or both of the leads)

ACT 2 - build romantic tension, give them reasons to start falling in love (ends with: a first kiss, or at least one character determined to make a move, they aren't necessarily together at this point)

ACT 3 - navigate actually becoming a couple (ends with: the honeymoon episode of pure fluff, they finally figured their shit out and resolved any internal relationship conflicts)

ACT 4 - test the relationship, usually with external conflicts, often includes a breakup or at least a big fight (ends with: a well-earned happily ever after)

Now, typical slow-burn structure is only slightly different:

ACT 1 - the same. introduce the characters and plot (ends with: the first hint of romantic attraction from one or both of the leads)

ACT 2 - build romantic tension, give them reasons to start falling in love (ends with: a reason for at least one of them to run away from the potential relationship, usually in the form of an internal conflict, often from a second lead or miscommunication)

ACT 3 - continue to build romantic tension while they solve the conflict that's keeping them apart, first real kiss happens within this arc (ends with: them getting together, unless it's the slowest slow burn to ever burn and they wait until the very last episode in which case they only solve the internal conflict and spend the next few episodes resolving external conflicts)

ACT 4 - test the relationship, usually with external conflicts, sometimes includes a big fight but never a breakup (begins with: the honeymoon episode of pure fluff, they finally figured their shit out and resolved any internal relationship conflicts) (ends with: a well-earned happily ever after).

You can totally play around with this (say by switching the internal and external conflicts with each other, or by teasing your audience with an accidental/meaningless kiss earlier in the story, or by having your characters have casual sex early on), but you absolutely must hit these narrative beats for the romance part of the plot at the right time or the story will feel frustrating (too fast in parts or too slow in others).

So how is Step by Step doing slow burn wrong?

They pretty much nailed the first three acts, only flubbing the timing by ending the third act 20 minutes into episode 10 instead of at the end of episode 9. But they are failing our 4th act completely.

First, we were owed a honeymoon episode of pure fluff and didn't get it. We got 1/3 of an episode showing their domestic bliss.

Second, the final relationship testing conflict at the end a slow burn should not feel like it has the potential to destroy that relationship. It's usually supposed to demonstrate that now that they are finally a unit, they are stronger together. It should feel like our characters are standing firmly on solid rock, not ever-changing quicksand. They fought long and hard to finally get together and there is no way in hell they'll let the other go.

But that's not the 4th act we're seeing.

At this point, the way the story is going, I feel like they're trying to tack on an Act 4 from the typical romance pacing rather than the Act 4 from a slow burn. They're giving us huge external conflicts, likely followed by a big fight and breakup next episode, and they'll only be happily together at the end of episode 12.

It's all wrong. You can't just switch out the Slow Burn Act 4 with the Act 4 from a typical romance! It's totally unsatisfying and will make the final act pacing feel too rushed. Your leads only JUST got together, and now you're throwing them into relationship-breaking conflict so soon with only one episode remaining to resolve it all? The only way to salvage that is to have yet another time skip as a cheat (putting character development offscreen instead of onscreen where it belongs), a trope which (again for those in the back) IS TOTALLY ANNOYING AFTER A SLOW BURN.

I adore episodes 1-9, but unless I am reading what they set up in the last third of episode 10 all wrong, I expect I'll have to massively skip a bunch of these last three episodes on any re-watch.

Le sigh.