Mr. Plankton

Presentation

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Overview

Synopsis

Jo Jae Mi has always wanted to have a family. She is about to marry Eo Heung, despite his family’s reluctance. But on their wedding day, she disappears and runs away with Hae Jo. He’s looking for his real father and Jae Mi decides to accompany him on his journey.

My Opinion (No Spoiler)

I think I didn’t like Mr. Plankton as much as other people did. To me, it was a good drama with a poetic atmosphere and a good message at the end. But it was not THE best drama of the year either. I would say that that the story’s greatest asset is its consistency. From beginning to end, you follow characters on their journey and there’s a clear shift between who they were at first and who they are in the last episode. When characters have an actual evolution while remaining true to their purpose, that’s what I like the most in dramas. The show also offers a good reflection on family ties and especially what makes a parent, love and what it means, accepting your fate and making the best out of it. The romance made sense in my opinion and I think Woo Doo Hwan and Lee Yoo Mi had quite good chemistry on screen. However, I was missing a little something to really get me engaged in the drama. At some point, I felt like the plot was a bit redundant with the same ‘running away’ narrative. But still, Mr. Plankton remains a good drama that I would recommend.

Analysis

• Characters’ development
  Jo Jae Mi
  Hae Jo
  Eo Heung
  Other characters
• Extremes of parenthood and the consequences
• What family means
  Counting your blessings
• The ending
• The meaning of the title

Characters’ development: One good thing about Mr. Plankton is that you really get to see the evolution of each character following the announcement of Jae Mi’s premature menopause and Hae Jo’s upcoming death. Their actions not only impact them, but also all the characters surrounding them.

Jo Jae Mi: Despite her cheerful name (‘Jae Mi’ means ‘fun’ in Korean), Jo Jae Mi (Lee Yoo Mi) has led a rather tough existence. She’s an orphan who was abandoned by her parents as a baby. Therefore, her life’s goal has been twofold: first of all, she wants to find her birth mother and understand why she has left her (hence the emphasis on her real birth date that she doesn’t even know); second, she wishes to have her own family aka to become a mother who takes care of her kids properly and gives them the love and affection she’s never received. Unfortunately, her dreams are shattered when she discovers that she suffers from premature menopause which greatly decreases her chances of ever becoming pregnant. Upon hearing the news, Jo Jae Mi is in denial. She convinces herself that she has to marry first and thus conceal her physical state before eventually revealing the truth and finding a solution. In a way, she just refuses to admit that yet another misfortune has struck her, even if she’s very aware that her dream of having a family has crumbled. Jo Jae Mi could’ve remained in this stand-by mode, awaiting for the truth to come out and feeling guilty in the process for lying to everyone. Her plans are however destroyed when Hae Jo makes a sudden appearance in her life and turns things upside down. Whilst on her journey with her former boyfriend, Jae Mi comes to realization that there are other things in life that can bring her joy and happiness. Her dream may never come to fruition, yet it doesn’t mean that her entire existence is meaningless. There are still many ways for her to have a good and joyful life. Thanks to Hae Jo, she can also come to peace with her greatest life trauma. By the end of the drama, her now boyfriend pretends that he’s looking for his biological father. Upon his arrival in front of a new address, he asks Jae Mi to open the door. Little did she know that she would end up face-to-face with her birth mother. This brief encounter is a turning point in Jae Mi’s character development. She can now finally learn more about her mother’s motives, know her real birthday and also choose to never associate with her again. Jo Jae Mi’s search for her mother is a quest for identity. She needs answers and closure in order to build her own self on solid ground and that’s what she does at the end. She knows who she is and where she comes from. So, she can freely decide where she goes next. This meeting gives her clarity on her next big steps in life.

Hae Jo: Hae Jo (Woo Do Hwan) is the lead’s second name. He received it when he was still a teenager and working at Bong Suk’s (Lee El) gambling den. Indeed, after he ran away from home, he was found in the streets, sheltered and raised by Bong Suk. Just like Jo Jae Mi, his name has a powerful meaning. It means ‘to run an errand’. This is related to his job at the gambling den, where he would get ice to players, call cabs for them, go buy snacks, etc… Since then, the name has remained and Hae Jo even opened an errand business as an adult. That’s a name he chose for himself and a way to go independent from his family and his past. Like Jae Mi, Hae Jo also has a tough family history. Until his 8th birthday, he was living happily with his parents who had had a tough time getting pregnant. His father was infertile, so he decided to freeze his sperm and the couple went through rounds of IVF to get pregnant. Hae Jo, then named Seung Hyuk, is their miracle baby. As a kid, Hae Jo would constantly ask his parents for a sibling. The desire to grow their family kept getting bigger, so his mother eventually reached out to her former doctor. That’s when she discovered that she had suffered from a medical malpractice which had led to her getting pregnant with another man’s child. When the father learned the truth, he immediately rejected his son. He became cold and distant, blaming the doctor’s mistake on his son. He also projected all his blame and insecurities on his wife, who was a victim as well of the accident. Desperate, Hae Jo’s mother ended up killing herself in a car accident. She couldn’t bear the guilt anymore and felt responsible for conceiving a child with another man – though it was medically assisted. After that, Hae Jo’s father turned in on himself and became even worse with his son. He treated him as if he were invisible, ignoring his existence. At his graduation, Hae Jo decided to leave home where he felt like a stranger. He became homeless and was thus taken care of by Bong Suk. In a blink of an eye, she became his mother, sister, best friend, confident. Hae Jo’s character development could’ve just consisted in him finding his birth father and/or reconnecting with his father (the man who raised him). But the plot goes even further. Indeed, Hae Jo discovers that he has a genetic condition resulting in him having a brain tumor, impossible to operate. He only has a few months to live. Moreover, on the day he learns about his condition, Hae Jo sees Jae Mi devastated by her own news. So, he decides to kidnap her and take her away from her future husband under the pretense that he’s looking for his biological father. On his quest, Hae Jo actually finds way more. This character’s main purpose in the drama is to find a parent. He wants to feel loved and cared for. He thinks that these are feelings that only a parent can provide him with. And throughout the entire show, he believes that his biological father may be able to bring him this kind of comfort. Hence his avid search. However, he decides to let go of his desire to find his parent’s identity by the end of the drama. Jo Jae Mi proves him that he doesn’t need a parent, a father or any family relative to feel loved. He already has everything he needs thanks to his girlfriend Jae Mi who understands him, his friend Kkari (Kim Min Suk) who supports him, his newly-found brother Eo Heung (Oh Jung Se) who guides him and his mother-like figure Bong Suk who protects him. On top of that, Hae Jo discovers that the missing part of his existence is not a random stranger he would call ‘Dad’, but an actual bond with the man who raised him and who’s always behaved as his father. This again proves that blood doesn’t make a parent. A relationship is also based on love, trust and care. These are the ingredients that filled Hae Jo’s life with happiness in the past and that he dearly misses today. His adoptive father was his hero and best friend. He just needs to get him back. Before he dies, Hae Jo is finally able to get closure on his traumatic past. Finally, he realizes that he’s not been fully unfortunate all his life. He’s had moments of happiness thanks to his one true love: Jae Mi. They made each other suffer because they were afraid of their own happiness. So they self-destruct and broke up saying to each other that Jae Mi will never become a mother and Hae Jo will die alone in the streets. This kind of sounds like a prophecy because that’s exactly what happens in the drama. Yet, the intention and love that transpire in the last scene have nothing to do with the scornful remarks they made before. Hae Jo dies at peace with himself and with the people he loves the most, those who counted for him.

Eo Heung: Eo Heung is the character who changes the most throughout the drama. When we first meet him, he’s this mama’s boy from a prominent family who’s a ‘whimpering dog’ (not my words) afraid of everything. His clan, the traditions of his household and his mother control his life, especially because he’s the only descendent of the family. Indeed, his mother had troubles getting pregnant and was bashed by her in-laws for it. She fought hard to continue the lineage, so Eo Heung should do the same. This pressure to keep the clan alive actually weighs a lot on Eo Heung’s shoulders. He’s kind and gentle, but a prisoner of his house and family’s status. He can’t even marry whomever he wants. Hence his lie that Jae Mi is pregnant with his child. From a scared puppy, Eo Heung turns into a ‘tiger’ who can affirm himself and asserts what he wants. His chase after Jae Mi proves to be beneficial for him as well as he manages to grow more mature, stronger and braver. He learns the pain of being in love and of letting someone go out of love. He also discovers that he can in fact go against his mother’s wishes and live the life he intends to. At the end of the drama, he’s finally found his path by traveling around the world while experiencing new things. Clearly, Eo Heung went from being a boy confined in his house to becoming a man who explores the whole wide world. There’s one point however that I couldn’t quite grasp. For a long time I actually believed that his father was also Hae Jo’s, considering that his mother went through IVF as well to get her child. I believed the plot leaned in that direction and I was thus expecting a reveal at some point. But nothing. The mystery was nipped in the mud when Hae Jo put an end to his search. I guess we’ll never know for sure.

Other characters: Not only the main trio, but also other secondary characters benefit from this adventure. For example, Eo Heung’s mother also changes thanks to her son’s rebellion. She becomes less controlling and more open-minded. She realizes that she can’t prevent her son from living his life just because she’s had a had time to have him. Not to mention that she also has a complex marital history. She got married to a rich family belonging to an old and prestigious clan. So she needed to give birth to a son to ensure the lineage would continue. Because of her difficulties to get pregnant, her husband had many mistresses like Gal Ja (Kim Soo Jin) and thus extra-marital kids like John Na (Alex Landi). Nevertheless, she’s the one who built the family’s prestige, improved its reputation, and grew the successful sauce company to what it is today. This gives her a special status as a respected elder who’s a force to be reckoned with and feared by other family members. Nevertheless, Bum Ho Ja (Kim Hae Sook) gradually softens up. At the end of the drama, she even accepts John Na as her own son, recognizing that he’s been through a lot as well as the mistress’ son. They too are turning a new leaf.

Extremes of parenthood and the consequences: The drama’s main theme is parenthood and family. It depicts with a certain brutality the negative consequences some parenting styles can have on children. If we take Jo Jae Mi’s case for example, there’s no family presence. Being abandoned at birth, she’s never felt the love of a mother and has suffered from the scorn and mockery of other kids while growing up. We can say that this tackles two main wounds of childhood: abandonment and humiliation. Hae Jo embodies the three other wounds in my opinion: rejection, betrayal and injustice. His father’s indifference made him feel like he was an unwanted added piece in the family. His favorite person in the world suddenly turned his back on him. He rejected even the sight of him. We can consider that Hae Jo’s sister is going through the same thing years later. She loves her father but doesn’t understand why he’s so distant with her. Hae Jo’s intervention was a necessary step to mend the father-daughter broken relationship. As for the feelings of betrayal and injustice, I think it’s obvious that Hae Jo resented the world for making him go through this trial. Why him? He also resented himself for being at the origin of the problem by asking for a sibling. His parents betrayed him by putting a wall between them. Even after, Hae Jo feels a big sense of injustice when he discovers that his short life is about to end. Why is he the one with a brain tumor? Why is life being so harsh on him? All of these events and past traumas cemented in Hae Jo’s heart. His wounds are open and he’s trying to band-aid them one by one. Eo Heung represents the other side of the spectrum. Hae Jo and Jae Mi suffered from absent parents, while Eo Heung struggled with his mother’s overprotective and overbearing presence. Her controlling behavior made it tough for him to be free and independent. She suffocated him and his desires. Of course, Bum Ho Ja’s actions were not ill-intended. She loves her son dearly and wants what’s best for him. But they still had a negative influence on her son’s development.

What family means: At the end of the day, you kind of realize that family structures can vary a lot and the bond parent-child that you look for may not be the right answer to your needs. For Hae Jo, the quest for his biological father only made him understand how lonely and in need of affection from his actual father he was. He just needed to convey these emotions to a man who lost ground after hearing the news that his child was not biologically his. His father is not blameless of course. His behavior was unacceptable because he should’ve been the bigger person as the adult. But this revelation was like a bomb in his life. It got him confused and lost. He struggled to approach his own child because he didn’t know how to do it anymore. Would it be appropriate to consider him his own child again? Thankfully, Hae Jo found in Bong Suk a real substitute for all the people he didn’t have in his life. Honestly, I really loved Bong Suk, she was just the best character of the drama. She provided Hae Jo with everything she had. Though she had no responsibility whatsoever, she assumed the role of the parent to the best of her ability. As for Jo Jae Mi, she hoped that reuniting with her birth mother would make her complete and happy. But she quickly gets that this idea was just a means to hide her loneliness and need of affection. Like Hae Jo, she concealed her real feelings and insecurities behind the search for her parent. In the last episodes of the drama, Jo Jae Mi has finally understood that the person who can provide her comfort and love is actually Hae Jo. She doesn’t need a parent to feel complete, only the right person by her side. Finally, Eo Heung’s situation demonstrates an endearing mother-child relationship. Ho Ja recognizes her son’s wounds and accepts to let him go, while she takes John Na under her wings. The mama bear sees her son stand on his own two feet, while helping another one of his children grow. The last scenes with John Na and Bum Ho Ja on TV doing a commercial is absolutely cute and smells like new beginnings.

Counting your blessings: Though the drama is tragic and ends on a sad note, it approaches life with a rather positive view. No matter where you come from, your background or what you’ve been through, there are always people more unfortunate than you. This means that you need to count your blessings. People often tend to take pillars of their existence for granted, but only realize how important they are when their lives spiral down. Take Hae Jo for instance. He considers himself as completely alone in the world when he’s actually surrounded by people who love him like Bong Suk, Kkari and Jae Mi. When his disease becomes public knowledge, he sees how much he’s loved. They are all devastated by the news and try their best to deal with it. As for Jae Mi, she finds unexpected allies in Eo Heung’s mother, Bong Suk and Kkari when she reveals that her mother abandoned her on her birthday. The three of them were ganging up on her in order to find Hae Jo. But this simple revelation makes their blood boil. They switch sides and start attacking Jae Mi’s mother for being that horrible. Moreover, Jo Jae Mi encounters true love thanks to Hae Jo. This is a feeling that not anyone can encounter in their lives. This gives way to a beautiful life lesson: never forget that no matter how hard it gets, you have people around who care. So, you should be grateful for the things you already have, instead of lingering over those you don’t have.

The ending: Hae Jo dies in the most beautiful and poetic way possible: in the snow, after wandering around with Jae Mi, living a free-spirited life, without being bound to anything. He’s lying down in this vast snowy field and draws his last breath while watching at the sky and hearing his lover professing her love to him. There couldn’t have been a better ending than that. Jae Mi has also had some last happy moments with her lover to remember him and keep him in her memory. She’s come to peace with her condition and can turn a new chapter of her life, lighter than the previous one. Even Eo Heung engages in other activities and gets the happy ending he deserves. All in all, both protagonists predicted wrongly the future. Hae Jo dies indeed in the streets, but he’s far from being alone. Jo Jae Mi may not be the mother of a happy family, but you don’t know what life has in store for you.

The meaning of the title: I wondered for a very long time why the title of the drama was Mr. Plankton. And I really hate it when the titles are mysterious, but the drama doesn’t explain their meaning. Thankfully, Mr. Plankton took the necessary time to walk us through the analysis. At some point, Hae Jo’s condition worsens. He is transported to the hospital between life and death. In his comatose dream, he’s standing on the beach in front of the sea and discusses with his little sister. He explains that plankton captures the rays of the sun and emits light. When it gives off light, it actually produces a ton of oxygen that is necessary to all lives on the planet. In the meantime, plankton is at the very bottom of the food chain, eaten by all fish. Despite its lowly condition, it is however extremely valuable for everyone. Hae Jo finishes by saying: ‘After I die, I hope I come back as plankton.’ This monologue cements the character’s profound desire to leave an impact on others’ existence, to be valuable in their eyes, even if his condition is low and his life considered meaningless. Without realizing it, Hae Jo’s dream comes true. He leaves a trace on his beloved’s lives and brings others the oxygen they need to keep on with their lives. Bong Suk led a good life thanks to him, Kkari benefited from Hae Jo’s friendship and work, Jae Mi was freed from her traumas thanks to him and Eo Heung turned into a tiger because of Hae Jo’s crazy attempt to kidnap his future wife. Hae Jo is actually at the center of every relationship in the drama and creates bridges between characters, so they would have something to hold onto after his passing. He really becomes like plankton.

P.S.: I really loved seeing the countless scenes with Woo Do Hwan shirtless!