Mr. Plankton Review: Just So Annoying

In this moving Netflix romantic comedy K-drama, Hae-jo, a man who is looked down upon by everyone and leads a transitory life because of it, runs away with Jo Jae-mi, a woman who has only wanted a family for herself since she was young and is about to marry a man whose family disapproves of her, in order to find his father. In this journey of adventure, will the two of them find their own true selves?

The series has 10 episodes, each with a runtime of minutes.

Mr. Plankton Review

You know, I love like anyone else to watch these forgettable and very cute K-dramas where the male lead, who can do no wrong, gets together with the cute and quirky female lead who knows how to get underneath his overconfident exterior to create magic. I love them – they are always the right dose of guilty pleasure that leaves me entertained. Mr. Plankton is that and then some more, with a journey story weaved in between to keep things… moving.

Both our protagonists in this K-drama face some very life-changing news that devastates them and then they decide to go on an adventure to find Hae-jo’s father. The series, leaning more light-hearted, however, feels a little all over the place. The tone of the story feels hot and cold, although, throughout its 10-episode runtime, there are a lot of adventures to be had. As the series moves forward, unfortunately, it makes it a point to make us as heartbroken as possible, ending on somewhat of an odd place that is both hopeless and hopeful.

Unfortunately, the humour in the series is thoroughly childish and the characters’ motivations are confusing. Throughout the runtime, characters do and say the most random things that are expected to be funny for some reason. I feel like this kind of humour was okay a few years ago, but, in 2024, they feel a bit silly. It doesn’t make you laugh or entertain you. You are given explanations for the characters’ motivations as the series nears its end but there’s something thoroughly annoying about this series that makes you want to tear your hair out.

Plus, it also doesn’t help that the characters are extremely flat and written in order to generate the most laughs or make them cry. As a result, they feel like they are trying to be someone they are not. It’s neither funny nor entertaining and sometimes even feels annoying. The characters make certain decisions that are unnecessary and even feel forced to keep the series going but these issues could’ve been solved by a simple conversation. You want to understand the characters’ plights, which all of them have a lot, but they feel like people who are out to hurt others because of their own hurt and it’s difficult to feel any sympathy during these moments.

There is also hardly much chemistry between the leads and you don’t even feel like wanting them to end up together in any way. I feel like these personalities might gel well together in some other dramas, but this drama seems to not be sure about what it wants to do with either of these two people. It further doesn’t help that Oh Jung-se’s Eo Heung turns out to be the winner out of all the characters, and you end up hating the protagonist thanks to their decisions.

Moreover, the subtitles are atrocious – I don’t know what happened with the translations, but the subtitles are incomplete and some words and phrases are not translated to their actual English meanings. Thus, people who might not understand Korean will be left a bit confused.

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Similar to the character, the story is also a bit convoluted and confusing. The messaging is all over the place and it’s a little difficult to understand what the point the series is trying to make. The title of the series points to how even the smallest of organisms matter but somehow the series tries to put that point forth and then some more instead of keeping it simple and giving us an emotional and humorous story.

As mentioned previously, I find it extremely hard to follow the relationship between Hae-jo and Jae-mi because there is hardly anything that binds us to them. I was much more interested in following Eo Heung’s relationship with Jae-mi. I think it had more to do with Hae-jo kidnapping her and his cruelty that doesn’t make us believe him to be someone to be with Jae-mi. And regardless of how hard the series tries to make this work, it just doesn’t translate for viewers. Moreover, as we near the midpoint of the total runtime, Jae-mi turns out to be an equally confused individual who hurts those around her, making us feel disillusioned. Hurting Eo Heung is probably not the way to go if you want to score brownie points, you know?

However, the performances are top-notch. As mentioned earlier, Oh Jung-se is fantastic and it’s hard to find a minute in the series when you won’t like him. He translates the desperation, loyalty and kind-hearted nature of his character perfectly. Although quite annoying, both Woo Do-hwan and Lee Yoo-mi are fantastic as well – if he keeps the “hurt people hurt people” analogy aside, they translate their characters’ need to belong and to be loved and cherished so well. If they weren’t such annoying people, I think I would’ve had an easier time crying along with them.

Final Thoughts

Mr. Plankton doesn’t hit the mark. It’s too lengthy, too complicated and too overdone. There are no sparks between the characters and somehow it leaves us a little annoyed about its characters and their motivations. I found myself tired of people’s lack of communication skills, leaving each other behind and then crying because it felt just so forced to create drama. Ultimately, we can’t help but question the point of investing so much time only to get so little back.

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