Not all men, just Baek Ho: The Potato Lab hero who stays and rewrites romance
First things first: this piece is being written by someone who has just discovered her newfound love for Korean dramas, more precisely the love for its male characters. A forest of green forests and swoon-worthy like no real men are or can be - they are every woman's dream, and somehow, a little jealousy peeks in when you see only Korean women getting the best of this fantasy. In 'The Potato Lab', again, self-admittedly, the author is late to the party, So Baek-ho warms the cockles of your heart.advertisementActor Kang Tae-oh performs Baek-ho with a natural flare. He is the stoic businessman assigned to oversee a rural potato research institute. Of course, the hilly setting and the cosy wooden houses set the perfect space for his romance to brew, but it's more about the chemistry that he shares with Kim Mi-kyung, played by Lee Sun-bin - an ambitious, cute and slightly wronged employee of the same research institute.Now, upon researching, the author realised that the show didn't really get interesting reviews, and was not rated pretty highly. That could be fine, she guesses, given she's yet to discover better shows and explore more genres and even see more performances from both Kang Tae-oh and Lee Sun-bin. However, one thing really stood out in 'The Potato Lab', and it was a shame, if you may, that not many viewers or the critics highlighted it.advertisement
Bae-ho is initially seen as a cold, meticulous corporate stooge - to simply put, a city man out of place. You are looking at him from a woman's perspective, and you know that most love stories, the eternal ones, at least in the Korean world, romanticise an enemy-to-lovers trope. Baek-ho's transformation from a stiff, only-in-a-sharp-suit-man to being a generous, vulnerable individual is underrated.The most appealing thing about his character's growth is how he is not changing because of the idea of love, but out of respect for what the woman he loves has endured in the past. Since this is a show which aired a few months back, the author doesn't mind sharing spoilers. You stop here if you do, though!An episode in the series features Kim Mi-kyung being left abandoned and heartbroken by a man who is later revealed to be her boss. Baek-ho's too.Before you read any further, you should know this: the author grew up on a diet of toxic romantic shows like 'Dill Mill Gayye' and 'Is Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon'. So, when Baek-ho finds out that his lover was once in a relationship with his boss, she braces herself. In a scene, Mi-kyung hugs her ex after his father's death, and Baek-ho sees them. The author's heart skips a beat - because everything she's learnt from those earlier shows tells her this is the turning point. The man is going to lash out, accuse her of betrayal, and walk away - just when she's begun to feel safe with him.advertisementBut instead, Baek-ho takes a step ahead, embraces her, breaks down with her, holds her in silence - and never even mentions what he saw earlier. The quiet dignity and the strength of his feelings for her - honestly, something in the author healed - one moment in the series which probably sums up why Korean dramas are so liked, loved and celebrated by Indian women.Who is writing these positive characters, anyway? Do they even know that they are constructing a new breed of man which is not just rare to find, but also impossibly beautiful?You could say this author is a rookie in the K-drama world, or that she's falling too hard for the first dress she's tried on. But, let her tell you this: she doesn't mind the cliches or the fantasy if the aftertaste of the series feels like healing.advertisementBaek-ho is a man built of routines and reason, untouched by the soft messiness of human unpredictability. Something shifts in him in these soil-stained corridors of the potato lab. He, who's a perfect blueprint of control, finds himself mystified by the laughter he doesn't understand and the warmth he hasn't earned. Mi-kyung fire challenges his frost and he surrenders. And that's another amazing thing about this character. In fact, about most of the men you see in romantic Korean dramas like 'The Potato Lab'. When men like Baek-ho surrender, they make you start believing in the world of happiness that you never knew existed. Like you are a little girl again, believing in Santa Claus, the fairies, the unicorns and the rainbow-ridden castles in the clouds. These are the characters which stand as metaphors for structures softened by sincerity.Anyway, the whole fuss is about telling you that 'The Potato Lab' probably needs to be re-reviewed, even by the experienced critics covering K-dramas in the genre. Also, the fuss is about Baek-ho, a character who resists, then listens, judges, then learns and almost transforms like a potato itself - underground, hidden from sight but growing all the same.Oh! And you can find 'The Potato Lab' on Netflix.
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