Bite Me – Series Review

Aek is a university student who studies accounting. At school, he hangs out with his roommate Vich, along with their circle of friends Bie and Pock. Besides his studies, Aek also works part-time as a food delivery courier. He drives around town, picking up restaurant food orders and making deliveries to households.

As part of his job, Aek frequently visits a restaurant called Im-Aue. It's a high-end dining restaurant owned by Aue, a famous chef who won second place in a prestigious cooking competition. However, a mix-up in the restaurant causes Aek to miss one of his deliveries for two hours. Aue personally apologizes for the delay. As they chat, Aue becomes intrigued by Aek's culinary knowledge and talent.

During his next visit, Aue asks Aek to cook a dish for the restaurant. The cooking was delicious, exceeding expectations. Aue believes Aek has potential and asks the food courier to work at his restaurant as a chef. However, Aek is hesitant to accept the job offer. Although he is interested in cooking, his mother wants him to focus on academics instead. His family runs a small local restaurant, but Aek's mom wants her son to have a more comfortable job than working in the kitchen every day.

Since Aek doesn't want to disappoint his mother, he declines the job initially. However, he regrets his decision and keeps having second thoughts. Eventually, Aek agrees to work at the restaurant, but he doesn't tell his mother about this career change. After starting the job, Aue shows Aek the ropes of becoming a successful chef. The two men develop a close bond over time.

Bite Me is a disappointing BL drama because it comes with so much untapped potential. The first episode is phenomenal, standing on a class of its own with the stylish presentation. Everything about the production looks sophisticated, from the sleek cinematography to the snappy editing techniques. Most BL series won't come close to the professional quality that Bite Me achieves in its premiere. I was impressed by the promising start, setting my expectations high for the rest of the episodes.

Unfortunately, Bite Me peaks early and then goes on a steep decline. The story is terribly lacklustre, moving at a snail's pace to cover mundane developments. None of the plots feel engaging as they play out without drama or excitement. While it's hyperbolic to describe ~nothing happens~ for the next six episodes, it comes across that way at times. The scenes are forgettable, the dialogue bores me, and the conflicts have no impact. Bite Me seems incapable of building adrenaline in its slow, undynamic narrative.

I'm disappointed Bite Me doesn't focus on Aek's journey as a restaurant chef. He starts his first day of work and everything goes smoothly. He gets along with all his coworkers and everybody loves him. His character doesn't learn new skills, experience challenges, or make memories. Bite Me has plenty of time for product placements, but they can't make room for character development. The only point of interest is Aek's relationship with his mom, but even that dynamic could've been explored more complexly.

Sometimes, Bite Me tries to introduce tension to spice up the bland storylines, but their attempts are woefully executed. The cooking competition subplot is an incoherent mess, muddled by one-dimensional villains and their vague motives. Meanwhile, Episode 8 features a dramatic confrontation between the leads, which is supposed to be the emotional climax of the series. Yet, the events play out so erratically that you'll either feel confused or frustrated. It culminates in a terribly embarrassing scene in the rain, perhaps the lowest point of Bite Me.

The BL romance is handled timidly and tepidly in this series. Aek and Aue flirt like they walk on eggshells around each other, made worse by a lack of chemistry between the actors. Their interactions are so watered down that you'll barely feel any passion between the characters. In fact, there's almost no intimacy between the two gay couples. I get the impression that Bite Me is cautious about showing too much same-sex affection on screen. Both relationships seem like a sanitized version of BL, censored for a culturally conservative audience.

The main selling point in Bite Me is its visual presentation, highlighted by bright colours and vivid camera angles. Each episode showcases mouthwatering close-up shots of the food, matching the calibre of professional cooking documentaries. Since the series looks spectacular from a production standpoint, I was hopeful in the beginning and thought it could turn into a masterpiece. Instead, there's a jarring discrepancy between the vibrant aesthetics and the dull storytelling. Sadly, Bite Me ends up being a mediocre BL drama with all style and no substance.