Mr. Plankton told the story of three wounded people finding love and reconciliation down a messy, uneven path. Woo Do Hwan can make any role compelling and he had some heavy lifting to do in the early episodes of this drama, thankfully he’d been working out.

Hae Jo and Gi Ho run a boys for hire service, picking whatever jobs Hae Jo thinks will be fun. Hae Jo was emotionally abandoned as a child due to a mistake at an IVF facility and seems to have no love to give. The entrepreneurs take on a job of “kidnapping” a bride which goes south really quick and ends with Hae Jo discovering he has three months to live. He decides to search for his biological father to try and make some sense of his life and in the process kidnaps another bride for real. Soon he has the first bride’s villainous gangster groom after him as well as the second bride’s loving groom.

The first few episodes were difficult for me because I had real concerns about the lack of consent on Jae Mi’s part when Hae Jo kidnapped her. Despite having a past, it came across as problematic. Of course, eventually their shared loved and Woo Do Hwan’s gorgeous face and body convinced her to help him on his parental quest, but that doesn’t negate the kidnapping. Jae Mi’s fiancé, Heung, became hopelessly entangled in their lives. I actually liked Heung. While he had mommy issues due to an overbearing mother, he was a good man who genuinely loved Jae Mi and didn’t deserve to have a front row seat to Hae Jo and Jae Mi’s burgeoning love story. Gi Ho, who became embroiled with the gangsters searching for Hae Jo suffered greatly for his loyalty and friendship which went all but unacknowledged.

Now that I’ve stated the things that didn’t work for me, here’s what did. I’m a sucker for reconciliation stories and found families. Once everyone was mutually onboard the crazy train without a destination, the story worked better. Hae Jo discovered that his family was not the only one with problems. Heung began to develop enough confidence to defy his overbearing mother. Jae Mi came to understand that she had worth. And all three would have their eyes opened to the love all around them.

Woo Do Hwan’s performance was mesmerizing even when Hae Jo behaved liked a self-centered jerk. He has a way of making any character sympathetic and did the same here which was a momentous task as Hae Jo spent much of his time hurting others. Oh Jung Se had the difficult job of making a middle-aged man who could not stand up to his mother likeable. Heung was such a compassionate character that he could set aside his own feelings and respect Jae Mi’s choices. The character that downgraded this drama for me was Jae Mi. I found the writing for her and the acting grating. Jae Mi spent much of her time yelling or acting childlike which caused me to hit the mute button numerous times per episode. All three characters were complicated and flawed, having been wounded by their parents. All three were on a journey towards love, growth, and forgiveness. Though much of the growth was understandable, there was some that felt unearned.

Mr. Plankton was an uneven drama with moments of humor, sorrow, and love driven by Woo Do Hwan’s compelling performance. The specter of Death lingered in the shadows from beginning to end. Hae Jo’s vision of what was important cleared as his final days approached. Family isn’t always what we’re born into, sometimes it’s what we make it.

“Never set a destination. Just let your instincts take the lead for you. That way you’ll never lose your path.”

11 November 2024