Step by Step (2023) Thailand Episode 1

Episode 1 of Step by Step starts with the main character, Phakphum Tangwatthana, “Pat,” exiting the elevator on the 47th floor where he works. He excitedly greets everyone and sits at his desk to start his work. With earbuds on, he does not notice his colleague Ying at his desk. After calling out his name several times, Pat finally notices Ying. She gives him a snack and asks him to translate a presentation slide for her. She insists she needs the translation done by Monday.

Soon after, another colleague, Prem, asks him to edit his presentation slides’ layout by the afternoon. He tries to decline the request, but Prem insists. Aoei comes with files asking him to send the work she had asked him to handle. He tries to offer some advice on the documents, but it’s declined. She’s then sent to get her delivery since she is heading to a meeting. In his head, Pat wants to refuse, but he does not say anything and agrees to get the delivery.

While having a meal with his friends, Ae and Beam, Pat complains that he has been on probation for a month and all he’s done is translate documents for his colleagues and get deliveries. He wonders how the boss would determine what kind of job suits him.

Pat begins talking ill of his colleagues, but his friend Beam advises him to stop since they eat around his office. Beam advises him to respect his employee card. However, Ae is still curious to know about his colleagues and gives a rundown of the office cliques. From his description, the office seems lazy, unintelligent, old school, and very toxic. Pat also mentions that the manager is quitting.

On his way back, Ying meets Pat at the elevator and asks him to go back and buy her a glass of Jelly. Since he was carrying too much food, he could not use his employee card to enter the building. In this struggle, he meets the second lead Kittipong Attajiranin “Jeng.” Jeng offers to help him, but Pat accidentally bumps into him and drops a milk tea, which spills on Mr Jeng’s shoes.

After helping him clean up, Jeng and Pat share the lift. Pat gets off at the 47th floor, and curious; he checks to see where the lift goes next. It stops at the 58th floor, which is the executive floor. This makes Pat very anxious.

Pat delivers the food to Ying, who is unhappy about the spilt tea. She asks Pat to send her the money for it and vote for a hotel or a restaurant for outgoing manager Wirun’s farewell party.

While copying documents, Pat gets a call from Ae. She asks him to go out with them to Pearl & Oliver. Pat agrees on the condition that they will not stay out too long since he has a heavy workload.

After work, Pat notices Mr Jeng at a bakery, and he offers to buy coffee as an apology. Jeng declines since it’s late in the evening. He tells Pat that he will buy him the apology coffee when they meet another time. Pat notices that Jeng has bought all the leftover bread from the bakery. Jeng explains that he buys the bread to prevent food waste since the bakery has to get rid of all leftovers for fresh baking the next day. Storing the bread in the fridge would extend its edibility for 2 to 3 days.

During drinks with his friends, Pat tells them about the mystery man (he still does not know his name), Mr Jeng. He complements his handsomeness and how he cares about the environment. Pat seems interested in Jeng, as Ae advises him to be confident and approach Jeng. Kanun (Ae’s boyfriend) and Jarb join the drinking party.

At the office, the employees are furious that the new manager is Jeng. It seems they do not like him since he is a stern boss and the company owner’s son. The older employees don’t like that Jeng doesn’t care about seniority, and they feel disrespected when he orders them around as the manager. While still having the discussion, the new manager sends the team an assignment to be submitted in a week. They are required to review their job descriptions.

At the end of the day, Jeng and Pat meet again at the bakery. Pat treats him to a hot chocolate and a croissant. They sit down for a chat, and Pat suggests that the bakery has a pre-order service, which impresses Jeng. Not knowing Jeng is the new manager, Pat spills to him what the employees think of the new manager. When asked for his view, Pat says that he thinks the new manager is concerned about the workflow, but he does not fit Jian Group’s culture since the company is full of seniority.

At home, Pat calls Ae to tell her about meeting the gentleman and how he was mind blown by his smile. However, Pat did not ask for his name since he felt out of reach. He looked like a wealthy gentleman. The friends, Ae, Beam, and Kanun, try to convince him to approach the man, but Pat is still reluctant. He denies liking him and says the man looks professional and he wants to work with him.

At the farewell party for the outgoing manager, Ying asks Pat to help with the slide layout and translation of her presentation by 8 am the next morning. Ae asks to meet with Pat at Pearl & Oliver. When h arrives, he notices Jeng speaking with the chefs. He wonders what he is doing at the restaurant. Ae and Jarn had already left the restaurant since Jarb drank too much, and they had to take him home.

At home, Pat is vexed as he has to work overnight on Ying’s presentation. Ying texts him requesting to receive the work that night, which makes Pat even more annoyed. The next morning, Pat oversleeps and is late to go to work. Ying calls him constantly since he had not sent her the work she needed by 8am.

Ying waits for him at the elevator and informs Pat that the new manager is looking for him. With the words of the senior employees ringing in his mind about how stern and inhumane the new manager is, Pat is extremely nervous heading to the manager’s office. To his bewilderedness, the new manager happens to be the man he has a crush on. As the episode ends, all his encounters with him the last few days run through Pat’s mind as he stands staring at the new manager.

The Episode Review

The first episode of this series shows its uniqueness through its more serious tone, giving the series some good charm. Pat seems like a middleman in this chapter, as the other employees consider him the errand guy. All they do is pile responsibilities on him, and he is too timid to say no.

It felt so dramatic seeing the older employees add more and more tasks onto his desk, making it impossible for him to juggle them all while all they do is sit around and chat. Also, from Pat’s description, the workplace culture seems too oppressive and toxic.

The series starts by minimizing Pat’s role in the company even though he is the main character in the series, which is an entertaining perspective. It sheds light on the challenge of seniority in Thailand, where senior employees in the company feel entitled to respect not because of their job performance but because they’re older. Even if he is going through the worst at the company, Pat has friends to rant to who help him overcome his frustrations and offer him advice.

The narrator mentions the importance of mental well-being, and the friends are the anchor helping Pat stay sane regardless of what he goes through at work. The series shows that Pat had a crush on Jeng at first sight. However, Jeng’s feelings are unknown, even though he seems to be fascinated by Pat. What will happen after Pat finally finds out that the man he has a crush on is the new manager everyone in the company seems to hate?