The Potato Lab: Episodes 9-10 » Dramabeans
The Potato Lab: Episodes 9-10
by DaebakGrits
There are plenty of swoony moments this week, but underneath the squee-inducing fun there’s a pervasive undercurrent of tension and impending doom. Our leading man has a direct connection to the events that completely upturned our potato researcher’s life six years ago, and it’s only a matter of time before this revelation rips our potato couple apart.
EPISODES 9-10
As we draw closer to the end of The Potato Lab, it becomes necessary for our characters (and us) to begin piecing together what happened six years ago and discover how everyone is interconnected. As much as my curiosity is begging for the show to answer my questions, I’m also bracing myself for what is to come because there’s been enough foreshadowing to indicate it ain’t gonna be pretty.
The reveals start off small, with Mi-kyung realizing that Hee-jin is the woman Ki-se met while he was overseas for company training. You know, the same woman whose name was on the wedding invitation Ki-se handed her seconds before dumping her. Baek-ho notices how shocked she is seeing Ki-se and Hee-jin together, but he mistakenly assumes she’s just surprised by the fact that Hee-jin is Chairwoman Wang’s daughter and tries to assure her that she shouldn’t be intimidated by the fact that Hee-jin is a chaebol. However, the feeling that something is bothering Mi-kyung lingers, but without a clue as to what’s really bothering her, he brings her a cup of coffee to cheer her up. (Super cute.)
While Baek-ho is throwing up green flags left and right, Hee-jin and Ki-se have an argument in the parking lot outside Wohan Retail. Although Hee-jin is the one who disappeared abruptly and filed for a divorce, she’s returned, and her request to spend more time with him suggests she wants to reconcile. Ki-se, however, isn’t interested in starting over because he hasn’t forgiven her for disappearing without so much as a goodbye letter. Ki-se definitely feels like he’s the victim, but the way Hee-jin insists that she wasn’t at fault for their divorce — that she “held on until [she] gave up” — just reaffirms my belief that he used her as a stepping stone for his career.
Hee-jin’s confrontation with Ki-se leaves her understandably upset, and she does what any broken-hearted woman would do in her shoes: gets drunk and plays the ukulele by the Han River. (Okay, maybe not what every broken-hearted woman would do, but Hee-jin is a self-proclaimed free spirit.) Unfortunately, Hee-jin’s one-woman show totally ruins Baek-ho and Mi-kyung’s date by the river, and, as much as I’ve liked her character in the past, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little miffed by her intrusion.
First, Mi-kyung and Baek-ho had this absolutely adorable teasing-flirtation thing going on. Baek-ho was being OCD and struggling to repress the urge to organize the self-serve outdoor ramyeon restaurant, and Mi-kyung was having fun playfully pointing out his obsessive behavior and giving him a free pass to give into his urges for a limited time. But all these squees came to a crashing halt when our OTP became aware of Hee-jin and her obviously intoxicated state.
Secondly, I felt like Baek-ho crossed a relationship boundary in this scene. Yes, Baek-ho asked Mi-kyung (more than once) if he should send Hee-jin away in a taxi. Yes, Mi-kyung told him it was all right for Hee-jin to join them while she sobered up. But if Baek-ho was suspicious that something was bothering Mi-kyung and if this date was intended as a means to cheer Mi-kyung up, then I think Baek-ho dropped the ball by not proactively sending his drunk friend home and clearly demonstrating that Mi-kyung is his priority in this situation.
On the other hand, if Baek-ho had immediately placed Hee-jin in the back of a taxi and sent on her way, then Mi-kyung would not have learned that Ki-se and Baek-ho were roommates when they were training abroad in New York. Hee-jin met Ki-se through Baek-ho and instantly fell for him. She was so enamored with him that she dropped out of school and returned to South Korea to marry him. This revelation upsets Mi-kyung, and when Hee-jin excuses herself to use the restroom, Mi-kyung chooses that moment to leave, lying that she’d forgotten that she’d made plans. Baek-ho sees through her act, but he doesn’t know if he’s supposed to acknowledge it or ignore it. In response, Mi-kyung instructs him to take care of Hee-jin, assuring him that she will be back to her normal self at work in the morning. So, yeah, in other words, don’t question her obvious lie.
When Mi-kyung returns home, she finds Hwan-kyung in quite an emotional state because Ong-ju, who firmly believes “sisters before misters,” broke up with him because she can’t stand hurting Mi-kyung. Thankfully, Mi-kyung realizes her reaction to finding out her brother was dating her bestie was extremely overkill, so she sets out to fix the issue. She tells Hwan-kyung to go get dressed while she waits in the car, but that’s when a pajama-clad Baek-ho — who’d been waiting for her to return home — comes out to talk to her, seeking an explanation for her recent mood. He assumes that she’s mad at him, and he wants her to tell him what’s bothering her so he can fix it.
He’s in the middle of hoisting yet another green flag when Hwan-kyung appears, seeking fashion advice. Suddenly Baek-ho realizes this probably isn’t the best time for him to have this conversation with her, but does that stop him from joining them on their little trip to Ong-ju’s family home? Nope. Did he change out of his pajamas? Double nope. And do they all wind up at the police station because they thought climbing over the wall in order to avoid Ong-ju’s parents (who are major Mi-kyung stans, BTW) would be a good idea? Yup. However, it turns out a police station is the perfect place for a couple — and, way more importantly, best friends — to reunite and reconcile. (FYI, I about died from laughter when Baek-ho gave Hwan-kyung a pity hug to alleviate his disappointment that Ong-ju and Mi-kyung pushed him away in favor of hugging each other.)
Now that she and Ong-ju are besties again, Mi-kyung is noticeably happier and in a better headspace for an inevitable conversation with Ki-se. She confirms Hee-jin is oblivious to the fact that she is his ex-girlfriend and that Ki-se kept showing up at USB Guest house because he was nervous that she would discover Mi-kyung’s identity. She also learns that Ki-se and Hee-jin are divorced but publicly pretending to still be married. Mi-kyung lays into him for being too cowardly to quit and start over on his own, and while she’s ripping him a new butthole, she calls him a terrible mistake that she’s not going to waste time regretting. She knows what’s important, and, at the moment, that’s Potato Lab and Baek-ho.
And speaking of Potato Lab, Mi-kyung has finally reached her limit with Ki-se’s spy. Seung-hoon left all the greenhouses open and exposed to possible contaminations, so Mi-kyung has to stay at the lab overnight to inspect all the plants for aphids. Baek-ho shows up with food, and she asks him how she should handle the whole Seung-hoon situation. Well, he says, you can either wait it out or abuse your boyfriend’s power and have him sent away.
Mi-kyung puts a stop to the conversation when she hears Baek-ho refer to himself as her “boyfriend” because she never agreed to define the relationship. He is adorably flustered and apologizes, but she’s just teasing him. However, she would appreciate him asking her out the old fashioned way. So, of course, we know what’s going to happen next.
Baek-ho kidnaps Mi-kyung from work, using one of her precious half-days so he can take her to a blooming potato field. As he gazes out over the carpet of yellow flowers, he wonders if this is what made her fall in love with potato research. Mi-kyung hesitates, knowing that what she’s about to share with him will give him a peek into her past that she would rather not discuss, but she plows ahead. Without sharing the full details, she explains that “something” happened six years ago that caused her to lose her job, and Potato Lab was the only place within close proximity of USB Guesthouse that was willing to hire her.
Supposedly, she was hired because she seemed “tough,” and when the lab was unexpectedly hit by a late season snow storm, she understood why all her predecessors quit. However, while helping her team clean up the snow and search for samples that weren’t killed by the cold, Mi-kyung found a surviving potato sprout. In that moment, when all hope seemed lost for both her and the potatoes, Mi-kyung found hope. And does Baek-ho find it crazy that she claims to have heard the potato sprout verbally giving her a pep talk? Nope, because he believes what she heard was simply her internal voice reminding her that she always had the strength to move on.
It’s at this point in our story that Baek-ho gets down on one knee and completely freaks out Mi-kyung. “We’re not there yet!” she panics, but jokes on her. He’s not proposing. He got down on one knee because, as he seems to recall, she once claimed she would never date him — not even if he got down on one knee. Everything about this confession scene was *chef’s kiss.* Obviously, it was romantic — sigh, that kiss! — but Mi-kyung took a meaningful step towards Baek-ho by revealing her vulnerabilities, which could not have been easy to do, especially since he’s the one who fired her from the potato lab and has a close relationship with people who harmed her in the past.
But, of course, now that everything is going well for our OTP, it’s time for the metaphorical shit to hit the fan. Things start going downhill when Ki-se’s father dies. Mi-kyung, who had a close relationship with his family before they broke up, attends the funeral to pay her respects. She and Ki-se sit down to eat, and mention of her peanut allergy triggers a series of flashbacks that reveal the reason Ki-se’s marriage to Hee-jin failed. He never got over Mi-kyung, so she was like a ghost that Hee-jin eventually got tired of competing against.
After Mi-kyung leaves the funeral, an emotional Ki-se follows her to the parking lot, where he leans his head against her shoulder and cryptically admits to regretting something. Although both the audience and Mi-kyung can make an educated guess that he’s referring to their breakup, Mi-kyung doesn’t let him explain what that “something” is because she knows, from personal experience, that he’s not in the right frame of mind.
From across the parking lot, Baek-ho watches the exchange, and he’s shooketh — but not jealous as one might expect from a man who’s caught his frenemy hugging his woman. Instead, Baek-ho quickly puts the pieces together, and, after a trip to headquarters, he confirms that Mi-kyung was the woman Se-jin asked him to fire six years ago. He was the one who turned her life upside down and caused her so much pain.
The thing I like about Baek-ho is that he doesn’t even humor the idea of keeping his past actions a secret from Mi-kyung. He’s certain that he will tell her, and the knowledge that the truth will hurt her and likely end their relationship is devastating. He tries to keep his emotions in check by going for long runs, but when a village ajumma invites him to eat with her she immediately senses that he’s keeping something bottled up. This is the first time in his life that he’s cared about something, he admits, and he cries as he faces the strong possibility that he’s about to lose Mi-kyung.
Baek-ho returns to USB Guesthouse that evening, fully intending to confess his role in the events from six years ago, but a phone call from Mi-kyung’s coworkers — a reminder of their camping trip the next day — and fireflies delay him. The moment is gone, but he jumps at the chance to join her and the rest of Team Potato during their camping trip. I suspect he was hoping to create one last happy memory with Mi-kyung before dropping a bomb on their relationship, and he was almost successful.
He started out strong, stepping in to help Team Potato Lab one-up their arch nemesis (the researchers from a sweet potato lab) and booking a very swank glamping site for everyone. But things get bumpy when the young daughter of one of Mi-kyung’s coworkers decides Baek-ho is her Prince Charming and monopolizes his attention for the whole afternoon. Sure, Baek-ho’s magical girl transformation into a tea party princess was super amusing, but the poor guy didn’t get any one-on-one time with Mi-kyung. And then, to make matters worse, the little girl blabbed and told everyone at dinner that Baek-ho had fired Mi-kyung. Suffice it to say, Team Potato Lab’s last hoorah before the harvesting season begins is ruined, and Baek-ho is reminded, once again, of how he destroyed Mi-kyung’s career — not once — but twice.
Mi-kyung and Baek-ho, for obvious reasons, leave the glamping trip early, and on the drive home, she insists that they stop by her secret greenhouse. She sensed that he was upset, and wanted to show him her private oasis where she intends to continue her potato research after she leaves Potato Lab. Unfortunately, her efforts to assure him that she’ll persevere don’t ease his mind because he’s also thinking about what happened six years ago, when his methods were (it’s alluded to) more drastic. Her kindness amplifies his guilt, and because he can’t find the words to say, he gets in his car and drives off, leaving her behind. (Okay, that’s a bit rude, Baek-ho. At least give her a ride home before you go have an angsty meltdown.)
As the window for Baek-ho to tell the truth shrinks, the universe keeps dropping hints to Mi-kyung that she should talk to him. First, another round of coffee with Ki-se ends with her wanting to punch him because he hints that he still has feelings for her, but — more importantly — he cryptically asks if Baek-ho has “said anything” to her yet. Second, Mi-kyung is seated next to Seung-hoon at her favorite Seoul restaurant, and he mentions that a drunk Ki-se once mentioned that Baek-ho had done her wrong. And finally, Mi-kyung learns from the villagers that Baek-ho had cried in front of them. Something is obviously going on with Baek-ho, and Mi-kyung is determined to figure out the cause.
While she waits for him to come home, Baek-ho meets Ki-se at a restaurant. Ki-se confirms that Baek-ho has not told Mi-kyung the truth yet, but Baek-ho, who is not in the mood for Ki-se’s judgmental shit, directs his own self-loathing at Ki-se and reminds him that he was a bigger bastard. Mi-kyung was a stranger to Baek-ho six years ago, but Ki-se cheated on her and left her to the wolves. Ki-se acknowledges his cowardice, but it’s because he made those mistakes in the past that he doesn’t want Mi-kyung to be hurt by Baek-ho. For once, they agree, and Baek-ho sorrowfully admits that he’s going to let her go.
And so the time has come for Baek-ho to be honest with Mi-kyung. The moment is made all the more heartbreaking because she has waited for him until she fell asleep in front of his guest house, and when he comes home, she’s so nervous she rambles on about how she’s been worried that his strange behavior was a sign that he was going to break up with her. All of her fretting made her realize how deeply she feels for him. She hugs him, and the expression on Baek-ho’s face — oof!
His hands reach up, and there’s a noticeable hesitation in the movement, where you just know he wanted to hug her back. But instead of giving into that temptation, he gently pushes her away and confesses he was the one who destroyed her career at Wohan Retail six years ago. He was the one who had her transferred to another department and systematically ostracized and isolated so that she would voluntarily quit. (Oh, Baek-ho, say it isn’t so!) It takes Mi-kyung a moment to comprehend his words, but once she does, her expression says it all. Everything Baek-ho feared has come true. He’s lost her.
Y’all, I’d rather watch a marathon of Sarah McLachlan SPCA commercials than replay that ending scene again. Actually, the entity of Episode 10 was pretty painful to sit through because it was rife with this sad, pitiful situational irony. Mi-kyung was letting go of the past. She was happy. She was optimistic about the future. She was in love. And the whole time we were aware that Baek-ho was marinating in his own guilt, knowing he’d ruined her past and was going to strip her of her present happiness with his confession. Ugh, my heart.
If you’d told me four weeks ago that I’d be eagerly looking forward to this drama’s conclusion, I’d have assumed it was because it was a hot mess that I was eager to ditch. However, despite a very rocky start, the characters and story have grown on me, and I’m in that I-need-to-know-what-happens-and-they-better-get-a-happily-ever-after-or-else-I-will-break-things stage of my drama watching experience. So yeah, next week I’m going to need our potato couple to reconcile — preferably without any sort of unnecessary time skip — because I don’t want to have to replace my television.
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