Summary
The Potato Lab continues to be wacky and silly in Episode 2, but there does seem to be more to the show than meets the eye.
Oddly, my concern with The Potato Lab is now that the weirdness of it might put people off. And that’s an interesting position to be in as early as Episode 2, since I’m still making a few assumptions about where it might all be heading. But the point is that while there’s still a good amount of comedy that I don’t think works and eccentricity for seemingly the sake of it, there also seems to be a pretty intriguing character drama underpinning all that, and a willingness to play with the tropes and conventions of the classic enemies-to-lovers rom-com that feels quite fresh.
The ML and FL kissing at the end of Episode 2? I mean, pump the brakes, guys. That’s usually a midpoint thing. Despite some alcohol having greased the wheels, though, it doesn’t seem like we’re going to be waiting very long for the show to start travelling in some interesting directions. There’s a fair bit happening in service of that here, with the characters being rounded out a little in effective ways so their interplay feels a bit more meaningful and less mandated by circumstance.
I’m still mixed on the comedy, obviously, but I always am. Though I can live with that under these circumstances. It’s not make-or-break given there’s more going on underneath it all, and some of it is put to good use messing with expectations a little. I can put up with it, is all I’m saying.
Following on from the end of the previous episode, Baek-ho and Mi-kyung are still in opposition, understandably, and the idea of their professional and personal lives getting a little too entangled due to his choice of guest house is a reasonable concern. But is there – spoiler: there is – an undercurrent of romantic attraction making that arrangement more problematic? Is Mi-kyung, as Ong-ju suggests, lashing out at Baek-ho because she’s attracted to him?
I like the determination of The Potato Lab to unsettle Baek-ho. Him being the handsome lead doesn’t inure him against being made a fool of. Things don’t always go his way, but he isn’t exclusively a fall guy either. It makes him a more interesting figure, especially given his love rival status with Ki-se. As it happens, it was Ki-se who sent him to the lab out of a petty personal vendetta, not realizing initially that Mi-kyung was there. There’s a bit of a complicated backstory emerging with Ki-se, Baek-ho and Chairman Wang, Yoon’s mother.
The Potato Lab Episode 2 definitely has a focus on Baek-ho, and keeps erecting obstacles in front of him that crack a bit more of a window into his underlying personality. For one thing, he’s stubborn. He can’t be bullied or pushed around; he can’t even be annoyed to the point of going against his principles. His obstinacy should hopefully be a fun characteristic as things develop.
We see how it can backfire, too. He might have his principles, but he can also make problems around him worse, especially anything to do with potatoes, because he still doesn’t quite seem to grasp the importance and delicacy of the work. This remains the primary point of contention between him and Mi-kyung, although to be fair he’s in good enough shape that it hardly seems to matter. You know how K-Dramas are. All it takes is the ML getting a bit wet and showing some physique off and we’re in entirely different territory.
This is, perhaps, how we get to the ending, where Baek-ho and Mi-kyung drunkenly kiss. They’re both very drunk – Baek-ho for the first time, apparently – so I’m not sure how much it strictly counts in K-Drama terms, but it’s a start. And to be coming in only the second episode, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of turns this relationship takes as the weeks go by.
