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woodohwanedandproud · 6 months ago

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Mr Plankton

So. As I've mentioned before, the thoughts are thoughting ... a lot ... in a lot of ways, and so I need to get them out?

(This turned out even longer than I thought it would - and I tried to limit myself? Also, I don't want to spoil anyone, so it's all under a cut...)

There's so much to unpack but let's start of course by the expected gushing about our man, right :)

First, (not) to be obviously shallow, Mr. Plankton is just a giant Do Hwan praise party and I'm so thankful for it - every shot of him is just so brainstopping breathtaking *beautiful*. You bet he definitely always knows what he's doing and he's definitely always doing it so very well, duh; but the lightning and filming here are REALLY complementing (and complimenting!) - not even mentioning the unexpected level of fan service everywhere - but he sure works hard for that glorious body of his so the least I can do is take notice in thanks, right? (I had to wonder at some point if they had been yet again 'erasing' some of it like in Joseon Attorney - lol, the trouble of being too much of a hunk - him only, I swear; but i've been told that it's not the case - he stopped working out for a while while filming (thanks @pashminabitch). To be honest though, even when he is *like that*, apparently my eyes are still magnetically drawn to HIS FACE - I hadn't even noticed his birthmark (now i love it) until it was pointed out (thanks @mrwoodohwan): can you believe how RIDICULOUS I am for this man? Also, I have now A THING for HIS HANDS: massive !!! (On a side note: I'm collecting his body parts one by one apparently lol - besides the obvious all over glory of his face and build that no one can fail to notice right away of course, I got obsessed over his thighs in Bloodhounds (those low scrunchy moves!!), and now i truly noticed his hands?) But honestly? How did I fail to notice the appeal his hands have before? Especially as Yeong's trembling hand has been the definitive jaw-dropping smacking nail in my since irreversible never to go away adoration of his TALENT? (You know: that singular 'oh you' acting moment when you understand you're now irrevocably A FAN of someone's acting - and have to hunt down all their work and, and, and...) There has been that watch add too, but wihtout comparing size refrence I hadn't apparently realized until now how he truly has paws (and i mean that in the best way)?

So now YES let's talk about HIS ACTING. Because, as usual, I will never shut up about HIS ACTING. He truly is AN ACTOR WHO ACTS, right - his physique is just a bonus: it might hook you indeed, but what reels you in and pin you forever in his orbit is HIS TALENT - his mindblowing ability to express any and every human emotion and to make you FEEL. Just LOOK AT HIM ! And LISTEN TO HIM (and yes, his voice, too, grrr) ! The range - THE RANGE - yes yes thank you more more - AND HE'S SO GOOD HERE. He's really put his whole everything into Hae Jo and WOW does it show ! I so hope this opens even more doors for him; he's just so *entirely* talented. Give him all the parts - especially good ones (and if possible more of those multi layered voluntarily misread heartbreaking gem of a MESS of a character - because he DOES truly EXCEL at fleshing them out !! His Nam Seon Ho !! And yes now his Hae Jo!!) - please pretty please ! HE CAN DELIVER; ANYTHING - HE CAN ! From silly funny to soulshattering, from introvert to extravert, from raging to loving, from physical to metaphysical, from whatever to whatever ! He's just always SO plainly expressive, even when only through subtle micro expressions. He always acts with EVERYTHING he is and has; and it always hits you downright KO. THE FEELS ! THE FEELS ! (On a side note, he's truly and entirely ALWAYS DEVASTATINGLY EXPRESSIVE - no matter what the intended expression is, he just NAILS everything all the time, of course - but I'm starting to think that *his acting signature* as far as *I* am concerned might be HIS SMILES. I mean, I won't ever shut up of course about HIS (thousand ways of) CRYING(S), nor about literally anything about the ever perfection of any of his acting choices that never fail to punch me right in the feels (from comedy to physique work to heartbreak), but... he has such a wide wild array of smiles, from blinding sunshine to obliterating sadness to incendiary promise of doom to irresistible positive confidence to all encompassing glowing inner peace to... EVERYTHING - he really can express anything and everything just with one smile (because he doesn't just smile with his mouth but with his whole face and even his whole body; and it always feels entirely natural) - he smiles when he's happy, he smiles when he's sad, he smiles when he's in pain, he smiles when he's angry, he smiles when he's flirty, he smiles when he's threatening, he smiles when he's dying (!!!), he smiles when - HE SMILES. And as if that wasn't enough: all his characters have like their own brand of special smiles too... (In order of appearance in my life: Yeong's smiles are not Eun Seob's are not Seon Ho's are not Han Soo's are not Gun Woo's are not Min Joon's are not Hae Jo's (I'm still working on his older roles - I stumbled upon HIM mid 2022). But yeah... How does he even do that? I am IN AWE, I swear ! He has a thousand ways to cry too (even without tears imo by the way), but his smiles just always feel particularly *unique* to each of his character, to me. And allow me to mention too while I'm busy his overall INSANE eyebrows work. And well, once more (and forever): HIS HANDS (meaning the way he uses them to show what's going on inside this time - I won't repeat myself and mention Yeong's trembling hand, but Seon Ho's hands at his first kill? Hae Jo's hands during the hospital revelation?) But yeah... just EVERYTHING - everything he does is just LETHAL GOOD level anyway...) But to come back strictly to Hae Jo: he is a hell of a character; and Do Hwan truly succeeded in impersonating him. The layers! The unfiltering! (even when there are filters - Hae Jo IS filtering A LOT, don't get me wrong; but compared to several of his characters who tend to want/need to try to bottle up EVERYTHING (and again, THE TALENT, then - to let you see not only the wished perception but also what's hidden under it anyway), Hae Jo is almost (at least sometimes) an open book - and what a feast it is to see Do Hwan free to have a blast with it when those moments come!) It's even one of my favourites of his roles now :)

On to the show?

First, I'm so thankful it delivered what the first scene promised. I was ready to hurt from the premise, and so I wanted to hurt; and hurt badly. But I was still half expecting the show to pull some unrealistic magical recovery - even at the end of the last ep. I was so relieved and satisfied when the end credits started to roll and it hadn't - a total wreck of course, but a good wreck. I can't believe it's labelled a rom-com (and again i'm SO happy it ISN'T). Not only because of THE MASSIVE HURT, but also because even though the romance aspect is definitely present, to me it's not really what the show is about - it's SO MUCH MORE, and again, I'm glad Do Hwan got the opportunity to be this kind of not exactly (but in some ways yes) antimodel but always so much more LAYERED character than the 'standard' romcom part. I wish he could have gotten his teeth even more into the horrendous sadness and wrench our hearts even more (I don't even mean by crying - no matter how gutwrenching WELL he always does that too - but he's actually SO good he can be gutwrenching even just simply staring into nothing or whatever, right); but the show kept too upbeat in general for it and I understand why - and it really works (also, in a way, it makes it HIT even more when the show DOES get in this direction, so it's not even really a complaint!)

Then, I LOVED the traumas, the issues, the unreliable self narrator thing, the lack of communication / miscommunication thing(s), the lack of understanding from lack of information not only between characters but also for us, because we don't have yet the whole perspective and pick up rocks of hints underway, the hurt, the lost families and the found families and the self-chosen families and so many LAYERS relationwise between the characters. Love works downwards - and that can be true (it is for me, because I had/have wonderful parents/grandparents; and they are the ones who taught me love, indeed, from day one). But love also works upwards and sideways, of course, and even if Hae Jo doesn't (want to) see it for a long time, we as viewers get to see it and so plainly :) It is in the end a truly HUMAN show, about real people, with their qualities AND THEIR FLAWS, with their best and their worst. We're made of greys. It feels REAL. I watch shows to FEEL - and Mr. Plankton definitely served.

The show always balances between fun and serious, and yes of course i did laugh, and a lot actually, but to me the show truly wins when the fells take the upper hand. The show imo was at its best when it toed the line between silly and heartbreaking. The potato girl and the mushroom guy. We come out of the same freezer. John Na's hand blocking Eo Heung's view while he cries. The escape from the hospital because Hae Jo doesn't want to die under a *$!%&!$ ceiling. That damn four leaves clover.

What I didn't really adhere to though was the 'gang chase threat/comedy' arc. It adds imo nothing to the plot - the bad guys could (and should?) have gone chasing after the woman and the money, instead of behind Hae Jo's sorry ass?? And most parts of it felt to me either unrealistic or too obviously made to be weirdly funny - and I was like, whatever, I buy it if you say I must buy it - but why?? (even though not gonna lie all the inhabited island moments WERE meaningful and I LOVED any minute of those - but, even without any involvement from the gang, Jae Mi could still have fallen or whatever and hurt herself just as badly while being saved by the shoe instead of taking a mess wound, and it could have still been 'on Hae Jo's conscience' by accident (falling bad and impaling herself on something or whatever while she was running away from him after he (mentally) pushed her away?) I can't help but wish they would have done something else with all that screen time. *SIGH* (On the other hand, if you cast Do Hwan why not use his amazing sportive/fighting skills, I guess, of course (he CAN do anything, truly), but that whole arc just felt 'cheap' to me?)

About Hae Jo's quest: I was expecting for him to find his sperm donor had died long ago. I love what the show came up with even more. Especially as you can see it two ways - and both are awesome. If number 2 is his father it's maddening and painful because let's be honest he's a total jerk, yet he lives while... yep; if number 2 isn't and Hae Jo abandons the quest because he's realized there is no quest necessary to start with because the father he needs closure with is, well, his father, i just really love that take - growth AND heartbreak, right, AAAHHHHHHH ! (And when Hae Jo finally gets back 'home' and tries to tell himself it's now allright even as he realizes that this isn't home anymore because it's over a decade too late? - as his bed doesn't feel comfortable anymore no matter how much he tries to shift? You can reconcile with the child you were, but you can't ever go back home after leaving as he did? AAAHHHHHH ! And then Jae Mi comes to kidnap him back AAAHHHH again, gold reversal)

I have mixed feelings over Jae Mi, because on the one hand she has a lot of luggage, and I respect that. But I still think she is on the whole quite selfish generally - and I get where it comes from and I don't really blame her, but looking forward and looking TO OTHERS instead of always backwards and inwards might help, you know? I also don't think she was actually in love with Eo Heung - more like she was searching for warmth and security (and does he provide indeed !, so totally understandable ! ; but I can't help but feel their relation would have been unbalanced) so I can't judge Hae Jo too hard for coming in between. Jae Mi definitely has her moments though indeed - my favourite being her confessing that she walked away at that time because she wanted him to stop her - there's guts in that admission, chapeau (their break-up was so miscommunication/not interpreting the signals right on both sides I'm like why did you two idiots did this to yourselves, you were so cute and so obviously head over heels (and still are) - but that's real, actually, and that's why it hits, every time, no matter how many times we get back to that moment- AAAHHHH) And the noise bite - go girl, I agree !

But Hae Jo and Jae Mi? I BELIEVED in their love. I really did. They sold it 1000%. All the time. In the flashbacks. In the present. I BELIEVED. and I FELT. Do I feel that Hae Jo loves her more than she loves him, yes - because she is imo more self-centered and less giving than he is (explainable from her past; and it's good to see her at least START to grow as time goes by). But she loves him - truly and obviously. And she makes him happy - she does. Not all relation are 50/50 on the lifting, but as long as both are actually willing to lift at least some, right... They still honestly feel like true *partners* to me - both doing things FOR the other, and proactively; both to each other depending on the moment a wall they can lean on, a hug they can find comfort in, and a hand pulling them forward when needed; both willing to go in the same direction - and to go there together (no matter how shortly - PAIN !!!!)

I love Eo Heung too (honestly, he is the kindest sweetest ever), but his love for Jae Mi to me feels more selfless and caring, father like, than partner like, though; so I wasn't rooting for him in his Jae Mi debacle. Also there were moments I couldn't help but feel he was a bit over stereotyped - especially in a show where all other characters are imo really fleshed out (not including the mob gang only there imo for (unnecessary) comic relief indeed). I'm really glad he seems to be at a good place by the end, I wish him the best :) And his growing caring/understanding of Hae Jo :)

John Na is a surprise gem (and could have been used more as (necessary) comic relief than the gang imo). So very few lines yet so ever present - and always so ON POINT. Also, I have his whole background headcanonned :) And when he gets 'adopted' at the end (my heart!)

And Kkari is such a cutie :)

The music is honestly good overall. And yes : The Town! But California Dreaming? It just fits. My jaw dropped and my chest tightened the first time it came up at the end of ep1 and recognition hits. JUST SO PERFECT. The catchy yet melancholic tune. The longing sadness and the hope. The need/missing to belong. The oldie so 'memories calling' vibe. Thanks to the one who made that choice because WOW DOES IT WORK !!!

Lastly, I hesitated before mentioning those last bits because I can't even believe this is what I come up with at the end of the day, and I don't want to upset anyone or whatever - but it IS what I feel?

Kdrama's imo are particularly good at being profondly honest and uncaring about polishing anything in any way. There is no glazing over, being about character's agendas nor over possibly hard historical facts (brutal honesty instead of covering up in misplaced cultural heritage shame - and that's imo the best way indeed to deal with problematic past). (So even when I'm SICK I'm somehow on some level still like in awe because wow yes they dared? Am I looking at Vincenzo? I am looking at Vincenzo - even if I am never going to watch Vincenzo ever again.) But yeah, to me, kdrama's are simply human, basically, and there's sometimes even BRAVERY in the way they sometimes dare to go where others just... don't and won't ever.

And here? It's like they took on purpose so many cringe tropes and turned them into something real and true and beautiful anyway? I was surprised by the way my thoughts and feelings over the characters evolved ep by ep - it was like being repeatedly slapped in the face and forced to reconsider carved into marble stuff even if I didn't even want to?

I've got so many thoughts/feels for so many characters it's like i'm perpetually rotating them in my head like in a microwave :)

Imo, Hae Jo isn't the typical 'thinking he is entitled' asshole who can't take no for an answer he seems to be at the beginning. He came to the kidnapping plot because he has just come to play the part for that woman in the beginning, and he is doing it in fact because he believes it's in Jae Mi's best interest after having witnessed her emotional display at the hospital. Does he do it for himself too - because he needs her to face what's ahead; because he wants a last ray of sunshine in his life; yes - of course, indeed. But I do believe he would never have even come to the idea and even less actually come for Jae Mi if he had stumbled upon Jae Mi and Eo Heung walking down the streets happy together. And if she had gone back to Eo Heung he would have let her be. Also, by taking the blame on him that way, he ensures that she stays in fact spotless - and so if she truly wants to leave and go back, no one will be able to blame her for anything. The kidnapping is really, in that very specific case, a caring gesture, in fact. And even as he chases her; he never pushes. And no matter what she says (and does she say hurtful things - telling someone you wish for him to die is like the rudest of rudest thing to say no matter what - I get that it's intended because we know he is actually dying so we're slapped in the face anytime she shouts something like this out, but still, girl, that's just not how anyone is supposed to talk to anyone no matter what, and no matter what you have been through - also: when someone is fainting around it is generally NOT a good sign, i understand she wanted to be in denial (i guess), but still, it took her so long to actually *worry*?) she clings to him, and right from the beginning - she's clutching at him for dear life even when she's cursing him in that field right from the beginning, and she really isn't willing in fact to go away - when she could, let's be real. Her fighting him is more about fighting herself than anything, and she is actually and actively playing along. And when Hae Jo realizes he actually has won her back and kind of realizes then what he will put her through and tries to push her away again and that she says that this time she'll stay ? AAAHH !! Anyway, even when he does the most seemingly awful hurtful things - like dumping her at her mother's house - he's in fact not being awful (it was a gift to start with because she has always wanted to know about her birth(day etc); and he had thought Eo Heung would get to her (because he knows he cannot take care of her for long himself anyway) - and then Eo Heung comes to him; bless!) I'm not saying he's always right. And even less a model of perfection we should aspire to or long to neither be nor meet. He's a MESS. But in the end, aren't we all? At least, in his sometimes tangled seemingly wrong ways, he tries to do right?

And Bong Suk? I'm a mom, okay - A MOM. Who needs perfume? I was already like huh? BUT He's going to be my son or my lover? - those two words just shouldn't ever EVER be in the same sentence, I'm sure they heard me shout at my TV from the other side of town. Cringest of the cringest to me - so much more than the kidnapping bit which I could contextualize in that precise context. And guess what. I firmly believe now that she truly WAS Hae Jo's jackpot - and the one who loved him THE BEST out of everyone. And I'm like: how did THAT happen? But she was truly here, always, FOR him, no matter what. She took him in whenever necessary, she let him go whenever he wanted/needed to go, and she even pushed him whenever she had to - whenever it was in HIS best interest; all the while never demanding anything for any of it. she is THE ONE he knows he can come to - always; and for anything. she is the one he always willingly opens to, and the one he willingly *breaks* to (and *chooses* to break to - when Jae Mi holds him he has already started falling apart / when Bong Suk confronts him he could still have escaped the room). AND I LOVE HER FOR IT. (Do I even believe she might be the one he gave his virginity to; because she was safe and he wanted to build confidence or whatever - and not because there ever was anything romantic between the two of them - and she went along FOR HIM even knowing it would probably end up hurting her more than she would want (There is just too much nonchanlance and open ease and familiarity about the way he walks around her place and gets in her bed practically naked for no physical history at all between them - even if nothing more than just laying next to each other happens anymore and for years imo - but their skins still do find comfort in touching each other, obviously (also, you bet he is an ass and he does enjoy making her flustered whenever he needs a distraction from his troubles or/and self boost by teasing her even as they both know it won't go actually anywhere further than teasing, and she just lets him do it because she knows it's his way of asking for a hug or somehing and she can't ever be mad at him anyway to begin with) - and I'm not only okay with it but even grateful? Coming from where I started? Again: how did that happen?) Just to be clear in case it isn't, I do not ship them - at all. They are NOT partners, at all. There is definitely a caretaker and a caretakee, no partner balance. But it's not at all like she's his Mom or whatever - he had a Mom and she's dead. It's just, they have their own thing, and it works - it really works; but only because it is them.

(And don't hit me; I hit myself hard enough already?)

Finally, I get it's a show so I shouldn't take it that seriously, but I can't help but feel that 1) they shouldn't have had Hae Jo drive around so much himself, knowing he had a ticking bomb in his head - it is not safe for others - so that blatant lack of care feels way more cringe to me than the kidnapping that sort of isn't. 2) please, do not make Do Hwan smoke. Not only because I care about his lungs, but because I care about everyone's lungs in general and him smoking is like an advert for it because, yes, he makes it look sexy (but then, he makes everything look sexy, right, so it's not his fault, lol) - and smoking just isn't sexy (and it stinks!). 3) use salads intead of fish for silly fights. don't waste any food, generally; but if you have to then at least use not living food for it? (Am I petty? I am. Still... A minimum of respect for what dies so you can eat?)

So.

Do I believe story-wise Mr. Plankton could have been even *better*. Yes. Are the parts I didn't like much still in fact working as intended. Yes. And am I forever carrying all of them and especially Hae Jo in my heart anyway. YES !!

So. FAIR WARNING: I will reblog Mr. Plankton EVERYTHING !!!

(And now, on to a rewatch? (skipping the gang bits))

@mctna2019 : thank you so much for pointing out the reason Jae-mi was kidnapped by him. this is what I thought from the beginning. in his own way, he wanted to make her happy before his death. not to take Jae-mi for himself, but to show her a more correct way, and this led to both Eo-houng and Jae-mi finding their way. it was so beautiful.

=> YOU ARE SO RIGHT AND I LOVE HOW YOU PUT HIS !!! HUGS:)

Last addition:

I'm truly not here to fight with anyone and I simply won't. If Do Hwan's fantastic job doesn't convince you of Hae Jo's actual (also) selfless love for Jae Mi then nothing will anyway I guess. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm forever a proud member of the Hae Jo's defense squad !! Hoist the colours !! Let's raise our flag !!

(Also, prayer circle starting now about Do Hwan getting so many more rich roles to play in the future!!)

#mr. plankton #mr plankton #woo do hwan #woo dohwan #mr. ��랑크톤

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