Mr. Plankton hits a home run
I’ve been waiting for months to be able to give an enthusiastic endorsement of a (recent) K-drama. Now I can. This series is laugh-out-loud funny. But it also has more depth and originality than the fare we’ve been served up lately by Netflix and others.
It’s nice to see a female lead in a K-drama who shows some agency and energy. Some of what she does is misguided, but so what? She’s a fully formed human being. I can think of other series–IT’S OK, THAT’S LOVE and MY DEAREST come to mind--featuring strong female leads. But most K-drama heroines seem like passive players in their own lives. Not this one.
Woo Do-Hwan commands the screen and gives a nuanced, affecting perfomance.
Crazy hilarity abounds. Some of it works, some–not so much. Nobody’s perfect in this drama. Characters hurt each other–but eventually understand that the secret to a meaningful life is to love another flawed person more than yourself. (Nobody hits you over the head with this message–but it’s subtly implied.)
Because the writers are willing to take risks, believability flies out the window here and there. Another problem is with the editing. There are a lot of slow sections that could have been tightened up. I loved the way the soundtrack moved from classical, to folk, to rock. I especially liked the music played when the credits rolled at the end of each episode--always a pleasant surprise. Kudos,
It’s nice to see a female lead in a K-drama who shows some agency and energy. Some of what she does is misguided, but so what? She’s a fully formed human being. I can think of other series–IT’S OK, THAT’S LOVE and MY DEAREST come to mind--featuring strong female leads. But most K-drama heroines seem like passive players in their own lives. Not this one.
Woo Do-Hwan commands the screen and gives a nuanced, affecting perfomance.
Crazy hilarity abounds. Some of it works, some–not so much. Nobody’s perfect in this drama. Characters hurt each other–but eventually understand that the secret to a meaningful life is to love another flawed person more than yourself. (Nobody hits you over the head with this message–but it’s subtly implied.)
Because the writers are willing to take risks, believability flies out the window here and there. Another problem is with the editing. There are a lot of slow sections that could have been tightened up. I loved the way the soundtrack moved from classical, to folk, to rock. I especially liked the music played when the credits rolled at the end of each episode--always a pleasant surprise. Kudos,
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