Summary
The Potato Lab really finds its feet in Episode 3, effectively juggling comedy, drama, and romance to solid effect.
I get it. I get why The Potato Lab works, and it’s a surprisingly obvious realization, highlighted really capably by Episode 3. This is a show that knows it’s ridiculous but also knows it isn’t half as ridiculous as you think. The way this comes together might be a bit of a mash-up – pun intended, obviously – but it undeniably works, which is quite the feat given how many different ways this could go wrong.
But think about it. Yeah, boundless enthusiasm for potatoes is weird, but there’s apparently tremendous value to a potato lab, and the show’s really keen to tell you about them. It works on a character level, with Mi-kyung trying to justify not only her passion but what that passion is really worth, but also on a surprisingly meta level, as if the show is saying, “And you thought we were just being deliberately eccentric!”.
More fool us, I suppose. There’s a degree of sophistication to how this unfolds that is similarly reflected in the balance between comedy and drama, and in the way the developments are just silly enough to be memorable without being so silly that they distract from what it all means to the characters. I never thought I’d be writing so glowingly about a potato-based show when it debuted without a clear identity, and I wasn’t convinced even when it came together a bit more. But here we are.
Given where we left things, it’s only right that we kick off here in Episode 3 by reckoning with the implications of that kiss. A very hungover Mi-kyung seems willing to brush it off as a drunken mistake, but it can’t be that easy, can it? It certainly isn’t for Baek-ho, since when time rewinds a little to show us the immediate aftermath, we see him frantically ironing his shirts, as if one errant crease could torpedo this new romance.
Cue some obligatory workplace tension and banter in the aftermath. You know how it is. Mi-kyung plays it down, Baek-ho lets on that he remembers, and some bickering ensues. But there are potato-related matters to focus on in the meantime, namely an annual competition to test them, which involves cooking them up and serving them to a – presumably very hungry – judge.
Naturally, Mi-kyung and Baek-ho’s relationship drama is folded into all this. At first, Mi-kyung just gets him doing a bunch of menial stuff, knowing he’ll do it like a champion athlete to impress her, but when Mi-kyung’s chef ends up getting injured in a food fight – don’t ask – Baek-ho has to step up to the plate. Potato focus aside, this is pretty classic enemies-to-lovers rom-com territory, but it’s done well.
The Potato Lab continues to be eager to subvert some of those traditional tropes here in Episode 3 though. Once Mi-kyung finally confesses to being able to remember the previous night, Baek-ho asks her out immediately. But it isn’t smooth sailing because his proposition is rooted in logic instead of emotion, and Mi-kyung’s strongest emotion towards him is that she hates him, despite how hot she finds him, so it’s a bit of a catch-22, romantically speaking.
But again, there are potato matters to be getting on with. Of particular note is a pending visit from Chairman Wang and CEO Yoon which prompts a mass clean-up and then an effective tour, which is where the intricacies of the lab are shown off. But this is also intertwined with some funny business about Mi-kyung’s eyebrows that is folded in well, using comedy to uplift what might otherwise be a fairly dry – if clever – stretch of drama.
Understanding the potato lab’s value is also important in us rooting against Ki-se, whose past with Mi-kyung is teased a bit more given he wants her to pretend not to know him so he can get a promotion, which she seems more than willing to do. Whatever happened between them will surely come out eventually, but we already see him as the show’s villain since he’s adamant about shutting the lab down.
By now, we’ve come to expect that Baek-ho won’t allow that to happen. Although his methods remain a little inscrutable, since The Potato Lab Episode 3 ends with him firing Mi-kyung, apropos of seemingly nothing. What’s in store now? I’m surprisingly interested to find out.
