The Show That Promised Heartbreak and Delivered — With a Side of Chaos, gangsters, and a Lot of Abandonment Issues

TV Drama Name: Mr. Plankton

Where to watch: Netflix ← *Click for direct link*

My Rating: 7/10

Average Rating: 8.6/10 (MyDramaList)

One Sentence Description: Mr. Plankton will make you laugh, swoon, ugly-cry, and think ‘why is everyone abandoning everyone?’ — as a dying man, his ex, his ex’s fiancé and a gangster chase closure across Korea.

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Disclaimer: This review is 100% my opinion — I’m not here to hate, just to share my thoughts! Also, SPOILERS AHEAD, so proceed with caution if you haven’t watched yet. Watch it, come back and let’s see if you agree. Let’s keep the discussion respectful and fun! 💕

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WARNING: I hope you’ve already seen this show and know what the deal is. But in case you don’t or whatever the case may be, I felt like I should add in a little warning. This show has mentions of su*cide and slight mentions of mental health struggles. And since this is a review, I do also talk about this (in relation to the movie only). Please be aware of that before you continue and be mindful of it. Stay safe ❤️

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*Want a more detailed description? click here!*

Simple Description

Lovely Runner follows Im Sol, a devoted fan who travels back in time to save her favourite idol — only to become the reason he keeps dying.

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The Review

The Good

Casting

I think we can all agree that seeing Byeon Woo Seok and Song Geon Hee for 16 episodes was one of the best parts of the whole film. The cast in general was pretty attractive but they definitely helped me get through this.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was honestly the best part of the whole show. The song he wrote for her was so good and the other songs were really good too.

Sun Jae’s Love

When reading other people’s comments and reviews, I saw that many people found it obnoxious and too much. For me, I thought it was super cute. I won’t lie, when he was kissing the air in that one scene, it was weird. But his secret smiles and other things were cute. Even though I talk about this in “The bad” section, I liked how desperate and in love they were. My favourite romances are the ones where they are destined to be together no matter what. My only issue (which I talk about below) was that it was undeserved love. If their love story was a bit deeper, this would’ve been a lot better.

The Bad

Get ready. It’s going to be a lot..

Time Traveling without a clue

Watching Im Sol fumble through time with absolutely no plan really made me question her priorities. Her first reaction after he dies? “I must avoid him at all costs.” Not “Let me stop the serial killer” or even “How can I protect him this time?” Nope. Just straight to ghosting him. That was her first idea? Avoiding him should’ve been the last thing on her mind. There were so many different things she could’ve tried, and yet… nothing. When she returned to 2023 after he died again, she didn’t try to regroup or strategize — she just kept reacting with pure emotion. It honestly felt like she was thinking like a lovestruck teenager rather than a thirty-something-year-old woman with a shred of common sense, who’d lived through trauma and knew what was at stake. It’s ironic, really — she’s so laser-focused on “saving” Sun Jae, yet she doesn’t actually make a proper plan to do it. Where was all that wisdom she mysteriously acquired when dealing with Tae Sung? It’s like she reserved her brainpower for scolding him and left nothing for tackling life-and-death situations.

Im Sol’s Main Character Energy and Zero Survival Skills

This one ties into the first point but deserves its own spotlight. Im Sol’s complete lack of awareness when it comes to the dangers of a serial killer was not just irritating — it was downright baffling. Like… What do you mean you’re going to lure the serial killer out alone without telling anyone — not even the police — what you’re doing? Then you stroll down a sketchy alley in hopes he follows you, with no backup plan. NO BACKUP PLAN??

What was she expecting to happen? If he had followed her and kidnapped her, no one would’ve known where she was! She was nineteen, no match for a grown man, and still thought she could wing it? That wasn’t brave — it was reckless. And again, she’s a 30-something mentally, so this isn’t giving “desperate girl with a crush,” it’s giving “have you learned nothing?”. Sure, maybe her life in a wheelchair had sheltered her to some degree, but that doesn’t excuse total obliviousness. If anything, her circumstances should have made her more cautious, not less.

Sun Jae’s death, especially in In Hyuk’s hometown, was totally on her and painfully avoidable. Not because he was too noble or protective, but because she consistently undervalued her own safety. She knew the serial killer was there, so why didn’t she just at the very least tell someone what was going on? Why not team up with the police or at least clue them in on his location? You don’t need to be a detective to figure that one out — it’s basic survival instincts.

The Plot Device A.K.A the Villain

What was Young Soo even supposed to be? What a waste of a villain. He had no backstory, no motive, and no depth. He was weirdly obsessed with Im Sol in every timeline, and we never found out why. Why her? Why every time? He didn’t even feel like a real character — just a random device to create drama when things got too peaceful. Instead of actually doing, you know, serial killer stuff, he spends most of his time conveniently popping up to stir up drama for Sun Jae and Im Sol. For someone who was such a major threat to our leads, he was paper-thin in terms of development. What could’ve been an intriguing and terrifying character ended up as little more than a plot device.

And don’t even get me started on his death. That was so anticlimactic it was funny. We’ve got this allegedly terrifying guy who’s been stalking Im Sol for years, and he gets taken out by a truck? That’s it? No final confrontation, no poetic justice, just… splat. He was lucky enough to evade police all this time, but unlucky when it came to crossing the street? Okay.

Since he was so tied to both Sun Jae and Im Sol, his ending should’ve involved them somehow (see: my “What I Would Do” section). When he got hit, I honestly thought he’d somehow survive and crawl away to cause more chaos later. But no. Just a rushed, lazy ending for a villain who was never really fleshed out in the first place.

A Love Story That Did the Most

Their love was sweet if you zoom in on the small moments. But if you look at the bigger picture? Too much.

Im Sol’s side:

I understood why she loved him — those moments were sweet — but it was also all she cared about. The way she prioritized him over everything else became, well, a lot. She literally had the chance to go back in time and yet she barely used it to reconnect with her family. She could’ve spent it with her family, mend old relationships and, most importantly, her grandma. Her grandma had dementia, and she had a golden chance to make more memories with her while she still could… and she barely did. It was like Sun Jae was her whole world, and everyone else was just background noise. Yes, she prevented the fire and saved a few lives, but the emotional weight of her family was never prioritized. It made her love feel all-consuming in a way that didn’t quite sit right.

Sun Jae’s Side:

Listen. I loved his soft obsession as much as the next person, but his reasoning didn’t hold up. It all started with one rainy-day encounter, some candies, and a yellow umbrella, and suddenly he was ready to move mountains for her? Be so for real. One umbrella moment and suddenly he’s writing songs, calling her on purpose at the hospital, and never forgetting her or the candies. It was cute… but also insane. And remember — this was happening in timelines where she actively avoided him, which makes the obsession even less logical.

And let’s talk about his attitude. Why was he playing so hard-to-get? If he’d been secretly in love with her this whole time, why was he so cold and standoffish in the beginning? He acted like she was creepy and annoying (she kind of was, let’s be honest), but then we find out he’s been obsessed with her this whole time?! The disconnect was frustrating. He didn’t make it easy for her, and once you realize he had feelings all along, his cold behavior becomes even harder to justify.

The Friend & Brother Duo No One Asked For

Let’s talk about the friend/brother dynamic — or, more accurately, the train wreck that was Hyun Joo and Im Geum. For starters, the deep love Hyun Joo had for Im Geum felt wildly undeserved. His nonstop stupidity caused so many problems for her that it’s hard to believe she stuck around. Like when he blew all their money on some random friend’s company AND gave away the lottery numbers — how is that not a breaking point?? Also, sidenote: why did everyone believe his drunken lottery ramble? He was just a random drunk guy yelling numbers, but everyone was like, “Let’s invest!”. Make it make sense.

Anyway, back to their relationship. She had three kids with this man-child who kept making dumb decisions, and we were supposed to root for them? I don’t know what it is about K-dramas and husbands losing all the family money on bad investments, but it’s such a thing. Their relationship was so overdone and unnecessarily dramatic that every scene they were in was a struggle not to skip.

Purposefully-dumb characters are the worst, and Im Geum was the textbook definition. Im Geum was such an ick. Take the camp retreat, for example, where he sobbed over an ex. That moment alone was so cringe-worthy, I would’ve needed a break from Im Sol just for being related to him. Their relationship should’ve had far fewer scenes, leaving them as true side characters instead of minor main ones. Less would’ve been so much more.

Grandma Knows Everything?

Can we pause for a moment to discuss the grandma? What was going on there? She somehow knew everything about the past without the watch — and managed to time travel — but we never got an explanation for how any of that was possible. How is she clued in on all the details when even Sun Jae wasn’t able to figure it out until the very end (and only after reading a script about it)? She was one giant plot hole that the writers seemed content to ignore, leaving her character unfinished and confusing.

The Drama Refused to End

This drama dragged. By episode 12, I was begging for it to end. It just kept going in circles. Sol avoids him, he chases her, she caves, they get cute, he dies. Rinse and repeat. How many times can we watch the same pattern before it gets old? The later episodes were so full of fluff that I found myself zoning out more than once. It was exhausting. At some point, you have to ask yourself: are we watching a drama or running a marathon? Just end it already!

The Ending

Let’s break this down into two parts:

Controlled time travel

All series long, the time travel felt random and story-driven. Then suddenly, in the final round, she manages to travel to the exact moment he fell in love with her? Really? It just so happens that this one time, she gets to land precisely where she wants to? Be so serious. It was way too coincidental to be believable and felt more like lazy storytelling than anything else.

The Paralysis That (Conveniently) Didn’t Happen

In her final life, where she stops Sun Jae from falling in love with her, what exactly happened to the night she was supposed to be paralyzed? Sun Jae being there didn’t directly cause her accident, so how was she able to sidestep that fate this time around?

There’s no way she could’ve stayed in her 19-year-old body long enough to avoid the incident entirely. Logically, when she got hit without Sun Jae’s intervention, the taxi driver would’ve just… finished the job. But no, he apparently just decided to stalk her quietly for years. YEARS. Why? Are we really supposed to believe that removing Sun Jae from the equation was enough to make this guy switch from serial killer to silent spectator? The logic here was nonexistent.

Sun Jae’s Su*cide

Let’s tackle this one because it’s small but incredibly confusing. Did Sun Jae actually jump on purpose? In that first timeline, the media said he did due to depression, but in another timeline, he explicitly states that he’s never been depressed and blames the media for spreading rumors. So was his depression unique to that one timeline, or was something else going on? Because Young Soo clearly had resentment towards him either way. Did he push him? He was even at the concert that night. Did he manipulate the situation? Are we just supposed to connect the dots ourselves or was that another thread they forgot to tie up?

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What I Would Do

This will be short because, honestly, this show left me with mostly vague feelings and me simply thinking, “I’d just… do everything differently.” 🥲 But let’s break it down.

A Love that Actually Makes Sense (Sun Jae’s Side)

In my version, Sun Jae’s deep, obsessive love for Im Sol would actually make sense. Remember how she fell for him because his kind words gave her the courage to live? I’d create a parallel moment for him — something heartfelt and impactful.

Maybe after he injures his shoulder and is told he’ll never swim again, he’s devastated. That same night, maybe his dad slaps him, and everything feels like it’s falling apart. He ends up sitting somewhere alone, clearly upset — and that’s when she finds him. She comforts him, says something beautifully sentimental about how pain is temporary and life still moves forward. And suddenly, she’s no longer just “that girl from the rain” — she’s someone who sees him. Someone who helps him breathe again. We can still have the iconic running in the rain scene but that wouldn’t be his reason for loving her. It’d be the first time he notices her and is intrigued- but definitely not head over heels at that point. This added scene transforms the shallow crush into something deep and real. He starts noticing her — non-creepily — and realizes she’s this bright, hopeful person. And that brightness? It helps him. Deepens his feelings. Makes everything click.

Or, you know, something. Anything.

The Villain: A Plot Device No More

It’s painfully obvious from my earlier rant, but the villain desperately needed a backstory and some actual depth. He wouldn’t just be a generic plot device to stir up drama for the couple — he’d have a genuine reason for targeting Im Sol. Maybe he’s a full-blown serial killer who’s murdered multiple women, all of whom resemble her. Or maybe he fixates on her for a more twisted, personal reason. Whatever the angle, we’d understand why he’s obsessed with her.

And his death? Yeah, I’m redoing that too. Since he was so weirdly obsessed with both Sun Jae and Im Sol, they’d both play a role in taking him down. Remember that scene where she tried to lure him out to the countryside? Yeah — in the final life, it’d be something similar only this time, she’d have an actual plan and not just winging it. She’d be working with the police, but of course, they’d get held up. She ends up alone with the killer, tension builds, and then — bam! Sun Jae shows up. They fight. It’s chaotic. The police finally arrive, and right as the villain tries to end it all, Sun Jae gets stabbed. The villain gets shot by police and dies. This time, however, Sun Jae survives — finally breaking the cycle of his endless deaths. The curse breaks. He stops dying. Closure.

Im Sol Actually Acts Her (Mental) Age

While we’re here, I’d also upgrade Im Sol’s survival instincts. She’d try. She’d make plans. She’d try to run, fight back, avoid danger. But the villain? He’s just one step ahead every time. This would create real tension instead of frustration over her recklessness. Maybe there’s a phone call where he tells her she’s like a curse — that everyone who helps her dies. So if she still ignores him, we at least get why. She’d fail multiple times trying to save herself and Sun Jae, but she’d never stop trying. In short, Im Sol would behave like an adult should, making logical choices and showing a genuine effort to survive- not a character the plot needs to constantly be helpless.

The Brother and the Friend: Less Drama, More Growth

Let’s tone down the obnoxiousness, shall we? Im Geum would get some much-needed character development. Instead of being pathetic from start to finish, he’d actually grow and mature over time.

Hyun Joo’s love for him would feel more justified if he wasn’t constantly screwing things up. I’d let him win the lottery because, let’s be honest, he needed a win. They’d have far fewer scenes, leaving them as proper side characters instead of minor main ones. Their dynamic wouldn’t steal focus from the actual story, and we wouldn’t have to sit through so much unnecessary drama.

Grandma: The Secret Timekeeper

Finally, let’s talk about the grandma. She’d get a proper explanation for her mysterious knowledge. Maybe she’s the one who gave Im Sol the special watch or maybe she gave the watch its power because she has some kind of ability herself. Perhaps she’s a “timekeeper” of sorts, and when she talks about “jumping through lives” (which we assumed were dementia-related) she’s not confused, she’s actually telling the truth. This way, she’s given a backstory that would add depth and tie everything together nicely.

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Final Thoughts

Lovely Runner had the potential to be something amazing. With a unique premise, a visually blessed cast, solid acting, and an OST so good it’s playlist-worthy, the foundation was definitely there. But somewhere along the way, it felt like the writers were so focused on delivering a swoon-worthy love story and making the male lead the ultimate simp that they forgot… everything else. Sure, they wanted Sun Jae’s “love at first sight” moment to be iconic, and while it was memorable, it didn’t quite hold up when you figure out it’s the reason he constantly dies for her and loves her so deeply that his only competition is the ocean (dumb comparison? maybe. But you get my point).

Between plot holes big enough to time-travel through, a love that didn’t feel earned, a villain who was more plot tool than threat, and side characters who somehow took up way too much space without adding much, it all fell flat. It seems the audience were too dazzled by the good-looking leads to notice — or admit — how much this show was lacking. As one commenter put it, without this cast, the show wouldn’t have achieved even half the buzz it got, and I couldn’t agree more.

With the constant loop of tragedy, confession, reset, and rinse-repeat, even I started to feel like I was stuck in a time loop. And this isn’t just a Lovely Runner problem — K-Dramas everywhere: just because you can do 16 episodes doesn’t mean you should. Sometimes, less really is more.

In the end, Lovely Runner was less of a sprint and more of a stumble — but hey, at least we got some great tunes, chaotic drama, and enough slow-mo stares to last us a lifetime.

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What did you think about this? Did you agree with anything or were we not on the same page at any point, haha?

Please let me know your thoughts and I’ll see you next week!! 💕

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