The Potato Lab

I just finished watching The Potato Lab. Overall it was a good show, just not great. The back story of potatoes and the lab stayed with the show until the end, which was good. The second couple were very good and provided much needed laughs. They showed affection for each other and provided the only intimacy scenes (PG of course) in the show.

The main couple were lacking. The chemistry just wasn't there. There were a couple of scenes were the passion started to build but BOOM, it was gone. Not much romance with them, just a few hugs and light kisses.

The ending was terrible. There was a long time jump and other then being together no information on their relationship status.

I thought this would be a fun series but the female lead ruined it and really turned me off of this series. The rest of the cast is great and I was really looking forward to seeing the male lead in another series.

I stopped the series in episode 2 because it would put me in the worst mood watching thanks to the female lead. The female lead really leaves a bad taste. She's excessive, angry, childish, and over all feels like she's just a bad person. I couldn't stand to watch anymore because of this character alone. Not sure why they needed to take it to this extreme. It's not fun to watch.

I don't think I will finish it.

I'm pretty sure you've all seen Kang Tae Oh play Lee Jun-ho in the well-known Netflix series "Extraordinary Attorney Woo Young-woo." Well, he's the one who drew me into this charming 12-episode love story featuring a feisty potato researcher as the female lead. She's healing from a past relationship while living in the countryside, and our male lead, So Baek-ho, is intense, daring, and bold.

The story may seem cliche, but it doesn't get boring. You might find the female lead a bit over the top and annoying at first, but trust me, it gets better. Her character is not the typical cookie-cutter female lead, which makes her more interesting. The cast has done a splendid job in their roles, and I found the second lead couples quite cute-I ended up rooting for them more than I expected.

As for the main leads, they embody the classic enemies-to-lovers trope. The male lead is super handsome, while the female lead is pretty! I loved their chemistry; it had me kicking my feet under my blankets! It's definitely worth watching at least once-you might even end up binge-watching it in one sitting!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Am up to episode 7. The series started slow and seemed a bit tacky; I wasn't sure I wanted to invest my time after episode 1 but I stuck it out and boy does it pay off! A love quadrangle, some absolutely hilarious physical comedy and randomly joyful moments (if you like offbeat humour) that appear out of nowhere mid-scene making me laugh out loud, and blazing chemistry between the two leads. While the female lead (Lee Sun Bin) starts out as unlikeable in the first episode, she makes a meal out of her role as the series continues - she is incredibly versatile, tender, ferocious, funny, vulnerable and absolutely brilliant with her comedic timing. The male lead (Kang Tae Oh) doesn't have much to do but look good and smoulder - and boy does he smoulder. I must say, though, that he's pretty game to be ridiculous every once in a while in this role. This series is carried on the shoulders of Lee, and she delivers. The rest of the cast is good; not all necessary characters (e.g. The ex-wife of a protagonist) but maybe there's a payoff that I will see as the series progresses. The writing is uneven - the female characters are well written but the male characters are all really one-dimensional and it's a bit irksome. There are some lovely moments of sensitivity and intelligence in the writing, but again, an equal measure of really flat plot lines. Still, I'm hooked for episode 8 and I can't wait to see the villains get their comeuppance (as I am hoping as with all good k-dramas, the couple come together and soundly trounce their common enemy - after a few misunderstandings of course). God I love the predictability of Korean romcoms!

UPDATE 8 April 2025: Just finished the series. I take back what I said about predictable plot lines! This series ends so sweetly - and totally unlike your typical kdrama after all. This really is an intelligently written series with some really sweet moments. Kang Tae Oh turns in a superb performance in the last few episodes, matching Lee Sun Bin'd energy and passion. The second female and female lead are delightful as well with great comedic timing. As for the other cast - now I want to see a spin off about them!

It's a drama leaning heavily on the comedy and it actually works, only to the detriment of showing us real people to root for. The comedy takes up so much space that there almost isn't any left for real talk and real issues, and whatever pops up, and there actually is quite a lot to delve into, is brushed aside after a few dramatic scenes for some more comic relief. So it left me dissatisfied with how some of the conflicts are resolved.

Mi-kyung gets over So Baek-ho's past actions too easily, apparently because his looks are lethal and she just cannot stay mad at him. On-ju's betrayal barely registers, when in fact On-ju could have spared her months of her doubting herself and stumbling in the dark. For all of Mi-kyung's verbal and physical abuse, she seems to forgive and forget all too easily, which in the real world would actually make her a doormat. Plus her brother is solely used for comic relief and I really felt for that poor guy. The chairman's daughter is excused for forcing herself into a man's life just because she was madly in love.

So it's a drama that you're not supposed to take seriously really, so the dramatic moments do not get much of a resolution, although I must say the acting is pretty good and effective, for both the comedy and the drama. Mi-kyung abuses her eyebrow movements a little too much and also there's no real explanation as to where her tattooed eyebrows went from one episode to the next, but let's chalk that up to the comedy, which I believe was the intended purpose. I appreciated that the lead actress has a distinct look that sets her apart from the general leading ladies of k-drama.

The ending made no sense, I don't get how they got those jobs, but again I'm overthinking things.

They're cute, it works, I was waiting every week for the two episodes, not each episode was worth the wait, but there is some magic at play here.