Preview: Potato Lab follows the story of feisty Kim Mi Kyung, a researcher in a potato lab and So Baek Ho, her difficult boss. This series is an exciting romance set in the suburbs and I can't wait to see how the relationship between our two strong leads will go.

Recap

We open on a rolling montage of lush fields and beautiful landscapes. Then a man walking in a field hears the question "What do potatoes mean to you?" and he responds that potatoes mean beauty to him. It turns out this is a very tacky, very awkward intro video for a potato company, as more people look at the camera and share what potatoes mean to them. This company is Sunnyeo Foods, the top potato chips producer, where our leading lady works and we see that the intro is the opening of a presentation at... a potato conference? Here, Mi Kyung is persuading members of the Potato Association in a rural town to sell her company potatoes at a subsidized price. However, her convincing skills are no match for the council, which is mostly made up of elders, and she is forced to give in to them.

Frustrated about how things are done at the company, she yells that she hopes Sunnyeo Foods goes under before she leaves. A shooting star travels in the sky, hinting that her wish will come true.

We see a brief glimpse of So Baek Ho (Kang Tae Ho) walking through a tunnel in the dark towards a building labeled 'The Taste of Heaven; Sonnyeo Foods'. My first impression is "that man meannn" from his appearance. We're taken to a welcome dinner party for the staff member whom I initially thought was Mi Kyung's long-time assistant from their interactions. This group is obviously very dedicated to their potato business. Their toast is literally "We are potatoes."

Meanwhile, Baek Ho interrupts an investment meeting with a man who seems to be a fraud and stops the agreement just in time. He suggests saving Wonhan Retail in a more noble way. We understand what this means when the Sonnyeo Foods team gets a call that an M&A has happened and they've been acquired by Wonhan Retail. Cue fast clips of Mi Kyung walking away from the Wonhan offices in tears and setting her ID card on fire. Oooh... a dramatic backstory?

Baek Ho arrives at the office to grudging praise from his colleagues on his successful acquirement of Sonnyeo Foods. Apparently, he is the star of the planning department and this is not a new occurrence. Just as he coldly declines their invite to lunch, Baek Ho is called out at the request of a former director who's making a scene at the entrance. Baek Ho calmly dodges the man's attempt to cause a scene, and after managing to get him alone in a room, logically talks him out of his vengeful attempt to beat him up. He reminds the man that killing him would result in debts that he cannot pay till he's well over 100 years old.

The rest of the coworkers finally unlock the door and enter to find that Baek Ho has subdued the man and is holding him to the ground. I already said this before, but Baek Ho is COLD.

After the police come to take the man away, Baek Ho goes back to the house from earlier and fixes the Sonnyeo Foods sign. There's clearly a backstory here for him as well.

Mi Kyung arrives home to meet her bestie and younger brother doing a French concept... party? Apparently, they're doing this to cheer her up because of the news of her company but she's more upset about the fact that her brother has insider information from buying Wonhan stocks. It's a betrayal. That night, lying in bed, she thinks back to getting the news earlier and then goes for a ride to clear her head. She arrives at a green room for potatoes, and her passion for her work is obvious in how she goes around the space, checking each sprout and making notes.

Baek Ho on the other hand is looking at this big strategy board, which tells me the backstory may be bigger than we think.

The next day, the Sonnyeo team arrives at Wonhan's big office, determined to show just what they're made of. They've been summoned to sign agreements and get their ID cards, but it's deeper than that for them. It's a power move by Wonhan and they must show that they're not that easy to. After cheering "potatoes" for confidence, they come out in a hilarious slow-mo montage. However, all their bravado is humbled in the fast-moving corporate space.

While the team is at Wonhan, Baek Ho is here to inspect the potato lab. I'm a little scared for our lab team at this point. After taking some ridiculous ID photos, they get a call about Beak Ho's visit and are hurrying out when a director heading towards them has Mi Kyung lying flat on the floor to hide her face. A series of flashback images shows us that this is Mi Kyung's ex-boyfriend. Recognizing her, he hurries back just in time to see her. Cornered, she flips him off and walks off. He hurries out to find her but she's already gone.

The potato lab team meets Beak Ho inspecting their offices and before they can fully marvel over his good looks, he rails into them, pointing out how many resources they're wasting. The team immediately dislikes him, especially, of course, our leading lady. She complains about his ambushing them with an inspection, and he robotically points out that this is the essence of an inspection as informing them beforehand would give them enough time to cover up their excesses.

Like she did at the beginning, Mi Kyung loudly yells a wish for something to hit him in the head. Moments later, as he leaves, a magpie flies over and pecks him on the back of his head. A serious chase ensues, in which the bird chases Baek Ho until he falls and rolls down the hills of a potato plantation. I can't help giggling when his life starts to flash before his eyes mid-roll. Mi Kyung takes him to the hospital, and she ends up asking him about the job security for her team. HE promises her there are no plans to fire anyone on her team, and she leaves, relieved.

Back home, Mi Kyung is holed up in her room, upset about the events of the day. She confides in her friend, telling her about seeing her ex - Park Ki Se, at Wonhan. She cries about the fact that he seems to be doing well after all that he's done to her.

Her friend easily pulls her out of her sober mood by making her laugh in a short moment, and I'm not gonna lie, I love how relatable this scene is.

Baek Ho receives a mysterious call that makes me feel somewhat uneasy in the meantime.

Mi Kyung leaves for work after greeting her brother and bestie. They live in a pension and it seems they've got a guest coming soon. I Kyung gets to work to find that her boss is being fired and the signage in front of the office is changing from Sonnyeo to Wonhan. So this is what that mysterious call was about. She scoffs at the memory of Baek Ho's promise to her the day before and swears to show the new boss from Wonhan hell.

Back home, she gets a cigarette, which apparently, she's trying to quit. Just before she lights it up, it starts to rain, and she devolves into a yelling fit asking the Wonhan bastards to let her move on already. She flops to the ground crying, and Baek Ho comes to stand over her with an umbrella. Thinking it's her brother, she snaps at him to leave but is surprised to find out it's Baek Ho. He apologizes for being a Wonhan bastard, startling her out of her reverie.

We have an epilogue with her bestie who's a writer asking her younger brother about the romance trope where the hated boss is a neighbor. They both agree that it is too cliche - LOL - and we end the episode here.

As far as first episodes go, this was pretty mild. And while I purely started watching this to see Kang Tae Oh's smile, I genuinely enjoyed Lee Sun Bin's depiction of Mi Kyung in this first episode. It's giving unhinged with an undertone of passion and pain. I'm curious about the back story between herself, Ki Se, and Wonhan. I also noticed the drama dropping hints about Baek Ho's deeper connection to Sonnyeo, I'm intrigued by this aspect of the story as well.

Finally, neighborhood hijinks are coming in episode 2 and I honestly can't wait to see how that plays out. One thing I know for sure, our leading lady is going to give Baek Ho a run for his money. Or as we say in Nigeria, she is going to show him pepper.