Jen is on vacation, so this episode has Joanna and Sung Hee.

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 8 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is Beauty and the Beast. Joanna and Sung Hee disagree on the overall theme of this episode: Is it Stockholm Syndrome, where Gang Tae has become enamored of his captor, Meun Young? Or is it a story about how Gang Tae’s love is healing the monstrous Meun Young? We also argue that neither Meun Young nor Gang Tae can be the beast, since they are both so gorgeous!

We talk about how Meun Young and Gang Tae are loosening up, learning to smile, and starting to enjoy each other’s company. But trouble is brewing between Sang Tae and Meun Young. Sang Tae doesn’t like Meun Young’s shorter hair, he is angry that Gang Tae gave the nightmare catcher Mang Tae to Meun Young, and he doesn’t want to share Gang Tae. Meun Young, meanwhile, knows that Gang Tae and Sang Tae will never be separated and she wants to join the brothers under the metaphorical umbrella. 

The poor publisher has become enamored of Ju-ri and he’s now living in Ju-ri’s house, in a bid to win back Meun Young’s favor, save his company, and win Ju-ri’s heart. We meet a mysterious patient at the hospital, who walks the halls at night, singing Oh My Darling Clementine. Finally, when a patient’s ex-husband punches Meun-Young, Gang Tae punches him back and is suspended without pay. He leaves the house, seemingly not upset, but smiling, as he runs to Meun Young and asks her to go on a trip. “Let’s go,” he says!

References:

• Little by Little on YouTube, with English and Hangeul lyrics 
• Jhoon Rhi, the father of American Taekwondo, dies - 
• Quora discussion on the popularity of Taekwondo in the US