Grab A Bite (2021)

Wasted potential due to bad directing

I just LOVE how much context the show give us for everything! Totally not replacing important scenes with completely pointless and random ones.
Could probably edit half the scenes out and still get the same story. Also, why are the actors acting so stiff and speaking unnaturally slow? Were they told to do that in order to fill air time?
The story itself has a lot of potential, and the main actors do have great chemistry, too bad the directors did such a bad job in showing that.
I don't have much more to say, you should watch yourselves and form your own opinions, this is just my personal impression of the show.

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Some of my observations this far into the series

This series is definitely one of my favorite airing titles right now. However, that does not mean I don't see its flaws. Once I finished watching the third episode that aired last Sunday, I decided to compile a little list of praise and complaints I have so far.


Let's start with the good parts. My praise for Bite Me:

- An amazing idea for a story. This series' plot is definitely what piqued my interest the first time I heard of it. The uniqueness of it in the far too engineer/uni focused bl industry is something I really appreciate. That, however, does not equal good. I have not yet seen enough to say if they will handle the potentially phenomenal storyline in the way that it deserves. So I won't comment on it any further.

- The chemistry between the two male leads. This is kind of on the fence, because I'm not certain I'm correct in the matter, but I'm frankly really enjoying the way these two interact with one another. The awkwardness they portray whilst trying to get to know each other is quite lovely. Really enjoying it. Hopefully, that awkwardness is something the actors are portraying on purpose. Will go deeper into this later when we get to my critique.

- The guy playing Aue, Zung, is not an actor I've seen before. However, he's actually quite good. His emotional(/not really crying scene but something of the sort) spanning between the last scene of ep 2 and the first scene of ep 3 was really good. I could straight up feel his frustration, even though I'm not certain exactly why he was frustrated, still really good acting.


Now, onto the not so good, but also necessary, complaints/critique I have so far.

- The awkwardness/ lack of chemistry between some actors. There are some actors/groups of actors that have little to no chemistry with one another or are simply not that good at acting, probably the lack of experience for most of them. Really not blaming them for it, but I hope they learn something from working on this show. There are a few instances where the actors don't seem to click with one another at all. Mainly Aek and his friends. I straight-up hated their dynamic from the second I saw them in the first episode. There's something about it that just doesn't sit right with me. Most likely it has something to do with the fact that they don't click too well as actors, thus they can't fake it for the camera. But who knows.

- The lack of direction when it comes to showing the actors what they should be doing on-set when they're not the focus. E.g. the scene in the first episode where Aek gets a phone call from someone. The actors around Mark (Aek), that are portraying his friends, all look like they're waiting for something. They straight-up LOOK like they're expecting Aek to get a phone call. That really takes away from the experience and immersion as a watcher. When the actors aren't directed to do something that would seem convincing for them, like talking to one another (or fake talking), they will look out extremely of place. They don't look like real people. There are a few more scenes like these, but most of them concern extras, so I won't go into that. I want to add another character that I kind of hate: Prem, the pastry chef, he's also kind of strange acting, really not my fave, don't know if it's the acting or his character - they're just awkward either way.

- The length of some scenes. There's nothing I hate more than having to see the same old angles for minutes at a time. I hate it. This is why I notice them so many times when watching this drama. From too long scenes of boring dialogue between two characters to annoying extra footage after a scene has ended, and the characters are no longer in view. They are everywhere, and I hate it. I hate speeding up shows, but some scenes... I really cannot make it through them on x1.0 speed.

- There are even some scenes that I find frankly unnecessary, they're either too long or just don't add anything to the story. Not hating on seemingly useless scenes in general, these just make me go "Why though?", and that's not something I usually notice about scenes that don't add value to the plot. Which is why I want to mention it.

- The silence. Kind of referring back to the last points. There is far too much silence between lines for some dialogues. I don't hate it as much when it's between Aek and Aue, but it's still kind of annoying. This is also connected to a lot of questionable staring. Valid, but like that much? No way in hell.

This list of complaints is quite a bit longer than I'd like it to be... I honestly don't want this to seem like me shitting on the show. I just genuinely want to like it, and some things mentioned above just hinder me from doing that to the fullest. So I'm a little sad is all. Hopefully, it gets better as the series progresses. I will not drop it just because of these flaws.

Had to put ratings for the review. Not too sure how I'm feeling about them, but I'll leave them like that for the time being.

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Mmmm

Bite me could be a great Thai BL as it steers away from the usual Thai BL troupes for example Engineering students/ university students or being gay just for you.

What I am struggling with is the long as hell staring they do, it is actually uncomfortable as it happens constantly. I understand that the directors are trying to convey that they are attracted to each other but they go alittle overboard with it. I will give it time and hope they rectify this issue.

Also one more issue is they spend to much time on meaningless fillers, like why do we need to see Aek riding his bike to his destination for 2-3 minutes i just don't understand.

My ratings will go up as episodes are released.

UPDATE My rating did not go up, it dropped. This was all over the place. Disappointing.

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Worth your bite!

It was absolutely great. It came this close to what I had imagined, but it is no less than fantastic.

I mean for a BL, the game has been up recently, with meaningful storylines, arcs and characters interactions. Bite Me, is one of the new series in streamline BL industry, that is not boring, usual and typical. There is not over the top music, infact it has one of the best background scores. Perhaps among top 10 in BL shows. I just loved it.

There is this sadness one can see in Aek eyes, but it is not traumatic sadness, it is kind of loneliness, and of unfulfilled dreams with life being directionless. He has this magical aura, that wherever he goes, your eyes are glued to him. He is simple, middle class country boy, who has a talent in cooking, a gift that runs in his genes. He can see smell and without making any effort he can create best food that your tastebuds would ever taste. However, he is tethered to his mother request of seeing him successful, rather following her footsteps of becoming a chef, although her mother doesn’t oppose his choice of pursuing a career in chef industry, she just wants to see him live a comfortable life. But as fate would have it, he is going to create magic with a help of a person, he is gonna fall hard.

Aue, an owner of newly opened restaurant, and runner-up of Chef Thailand, where Aek, make deliveries, noticed this young man who tells an ingredient in a dish made by him, without having it tasted. Aue, gets intrigued by his intuition and senses his talent for cooking and starts to peruse him.

The undeniable chemistry with Aue and Aek is gorgeous, they book look insanely good together. Aek looks at Aue, with these dreamy eyes that created this sizzling hot beam of light around them, that one can’t help but fall for both of them. Aue on the other hand, is kind and happy go person, a talented chef, falling for another talented chef. There process of food making in kitchen, and Aek learning from Aue, is truly is birth of their long-lasting love. Which I am looking forward to it.

The series doesn’t look so rough and tough, but as per usual storyline, there will be misunderstanding and hard time for the couple at some point in series later. I just hope they will be able to overcome all the hardships, they are going to face.

The side characters, the friends of Aek, are not at all loud, nosy and useless, they are subtle, supportive and like a normal friend. I love Gameboy, his appearance definitely added some weight to series, if not alot.

The last food based thing I watched was “The Hundred-Foot Journey”, I know BM will be nowhere near it, but I hope they show the food as much as they are going to show them falling for each other.

Everything else is great about this series, the production values, acting, camera work, editing, mixing, visual effects and cinematography. Looking forward with great passion. I hope it is truly a journey of “Bite Me”.

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