Woo Do-Hwan Must Find Reasons To Survive In ‘Mr. Plankton’

The secret to the 100% success rate enjoyed by Hae-jo and Gi-ho is to never have a plan. Whether these shady fixers are tasked with protecting a child from school bullies or kidnapping a bride from her wedding to a gang boss, they tend to improvise. That impulsive approach means their luck could easily run out.

Hae-jo, played by Woo Do-hwan and Gi-ho, played by Kim Min-suk, base their business in a condemned building and they can’t answer the dozen burner phones they own because the wrong people could find them.

Hae-jo is about to see his success rate plummet, although it’s not due to any lack of bravado. A doctor discovers Hae-jo has a rare brain condition while he’s in the ER being treated for a concussion. That’s also where he sees his ex girlfriend, a teary Jae-mi, played by Lee Yoo-mi. She just learned she’s not pregnant but experiencing premature menopause. That’s really bad news because she’s about to marry into a family with a long lineage. They naturally want an heir and Jae-mi can’t give them one. When Hae-jo and Jae-mi dated they talked about having kids, Since neither had great parents Hae-jo decided they were poorly equipped to raise children.

Hae-jo does a good job of acting like the bad guy, but he’s not really that bad. As a fixer he has his principles—no murders and no searches for missing people. He might talk tough but he’s lonely and the fish in his aquarium keep dying. Given that his brain condition is hereditary he decides to track down the father that never gave him anything except possibly a brain disease.

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But first he has to make a stop. Having learned about Jae-mi’s plight he decides to rescue her from marrying under false pretenses. He only has a few months to live, but even worse, he doesn’t have a great reason to stay alive. He might as well spend those months on the road with Jae-mi. To do that he has to kidnap her.

Despite Hae-jo’s grim prognosis, this drama is immediately engaging and often hilarious, with plenty of well-executed madcap action scenes. Hae-jo is the kind of reckless daredevil that gets himself into interesting scrapes, some of which involve outrunning gangsters. Given the number of people who hold grudges against him, Hae-jo’s trip might get complicated. He could get killed, but then again he only has a few months to live.

Woo plays the charming feckless Hae-jo with appealing conviction. The actor previously appeared in Bloodhounds, The King: Eternal Monarch, Save Me and Tempted. Lee Yoo-mi can be seen in Strong Girl Nam Soon, All of Us Are Dead and Squid Game. Her Jae-mi is emotionally fragile yet plucky and still very much in love with Hae-jo, although she won’t admit it.

The drama also stars Oh Jung-se who delivers a funny eccentric performance as Jae-mi’s prospective bridegroom. He would follow her to the ends of the earth and he might have to. Kim Hae-sook plays his mother, the matriarch of a powerful family. Written by Jo Yong, who wrote It’s Okay To Not Be Okay, the drama is directed by Hong Jong-chan, who directed Juvenile Justice and Her Private Life. Mr. Plankton airs on Netflix.