In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 12 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the story is Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Are Gang Tae and Meun Young fated for each other? Are they in an ill-fated relationship?

In this episode, Gang Tae and Meun Young get closers. Meun Young is happy to have the brothers in the house and she likes her house again. She and Sang Tae are working on her new book. But the episode turns dark when Gang Tae finds a family photo in Meun Young’s room. Meun Young’s mother is obscured in the photo, but Gang Tae realizes she is wearing a butterfly pin.

Later, when Sang Tae recounts to Gang Tae and the directory the story of how their mom died, Gang Tae realizes that Meun Young’s mom is very likely their mom’s murderer. He feels like he was just starting to live a normal life and now he just wants to run away. Worse, he found an envelope on Sang Tae’s desk with a butterfly and a note saying, “I’ll come for you soon.”

There are side stories involving a PTSD patient, Ju-ri and the publisher, Jae soo and Sang Tae, and Meun Young’s dad. We also talk about the low birthrate in Korea, the two numbering systems in Korea, and the BTS members going into the military.

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 11 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is The Ugly Duckling. Family comes up a lot in this episode. Jae-soo is upset that Sang Tae doesn’t consider him family, even though he’s been following the brothers around for ten years. Gang Tae wants Sang Tae to be the adult in the family, able to accept others, including and especially Meun Young, who he says is the loneliest person he’s ever known.

This episode opens with Park Ok-ran visiting Meun Young and the two of them getting into a confrontation, which leaves Meun Young with a cut on her hand. Gang Tae rushes to the cursed castle and is relieved to find that Meun Young is okay. When he tries to go after Park  Ok-ran, Meun Young gets upset. Gang Tang tries to calm her down, tells her to count to three, then gives her a long, passionate kiss.

Gang Tae tells Meun Young the story of Sang Tae’s traumatic memory, tells her that he must stay by Sang Tae’s side, and she must stay by his side. Meung Young tries talking to Sang Tae, urges him to come home and be her illustrator, threatens him with breach of contract for moving out, and ultimately asks him to be her older brother. In the end, Sang Tae becomes the older brother to both Gang Tae and Meun Young. 

At the end of this episode, a dark figure enters the cursed castle, sits at Meun Young’s dresser in the basement, and looms over the sleeping figures of Meun Young, Gang Tae and Sang Tae. Who is she? What is the butterfly pin that she pulled out of the dresser? Is it related to the butterfly that Sang Tae is so afraid of?

In this episode, we also talk about the Korean family register and the multi-balms that Korean women put on their faces and necks to make themselves look dewey and glow.

Reference:

• How multi balms became Korea's biggest beauty trend in 2022

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 10 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is The Girl Who Cried Wolf, based on The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Meun Young says the boy was lonely up on the mountain, which is why he kept crying wolf. When the wolf did come, nobody believed him. Meun Young believes that if even one person had believed him, he would not have died.

The episode opens with Sang Tae announcing to the hospital that Gang Tae wanted him dead and that he pushed him (Sang Tae) into the river. He is eventually given sedatives and put into an isolation room. A devastated Gang Tae pushes Meun Young away, telling her that he has woken from a dream and he should have focused instead on his brother. Sang Tae eventually goes home with Ju-ri’s mom. Whe Gang Tae comes home, he apologizes for lying to Sang Tae, for saying that he wanted him dead, for wishing his brother was normal. Sang Tae comes out of his wardrobe and comforts a sobbing Gang Tae.

Meanwhile, Meun Young threatens Gang Tae, who has rejected him. She goes to Ju-ri’s house, asks Ju-ri’s mom for seaweed soup because it’s her birthday, and then gives the doll Mang Tae back to Sang Tae.

The episode also featured:

• Ju-ri and Meun Young drinking together, and Ju-ri slapping Meun Young in a drunken state
• The publisher and Jae-soo fighting over who is to blame for the debacle between Sang Tang, Gang Tae and Meun Young.
• Meun Young’s dad tried to choke Park Ok-ran, whom he heard singing “Oh my darling Clementine” and reading The Murder of the Witch of the West

At the end of the episode, Park Ok-ran hits a caregiver on the head with a rock and then escapes from the hospital. Gang Tae figures out that she is headed to the cursed castle, so he races to Meun Young. Meun Young answers a knock on the door and finds Park Ok-ran standing on her front step, wishing her a happy birthday.

References:

• How seaweed soup became Korea’s traditional birthday dish
• South Korea’s obsession with fried chicken explained
• 8 restaurants you’ve seen in K Dramas 

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 9 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is King Donkey Ears, the story about the King who had donkey ears and told his hairdresser to keep it a secret. After many years, the hairdresser could no longer hold the secret in, so he shouted to the forest that the king had donkey ears.

The show opens with Gang Tae and Meun Young arguing over going on a trip; they clearly have different ideas for this trip. They ultimately go up to the mountains, visit a spectacular suspension bridge, and spend the night at a guesthouse. They even run into A-reum and Jeoung-Tae, who have run away together, but ultimately decide to separate until they are both recovered enough to be together successfully. Before leaving the guesthouse, Gang Tae gives Meun Young a bouquet of flowers, the flowers he was never able to give her when they were kids.

So much happened in this episode, but the most important scene is when Sang Tae confronts Gang Tae and accuses him of lying because Gang Tae and Meun Young went away together without telling Sang Tae the truth. Sang Tae asks Gang Tae who likes more, him or Meun Young, and then shouts that Gang Tae told their mother every day that he wanted Sang Tae to die, and Gang Tae pushed him into the frozen river and left him to die.

This episode also featured:

• The growing relationship between the publisher and Ju-ri
  Meun Young’s dad saying Meung Young’s just like “that woman,” who was a monster who killed someone and whom he killed.
  The mysterious patient Park Ok-ran taking her book “The Muder of the Witch of the West” from Nurse Park

References:

• Filming locations for It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
• What do chrysanthemums mean?
• What do chrysanthemums means? 

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

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 7 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is The Cheerful Dog. Gang Tae takes care of Meun Young after her nightmare, then takes the day off to spend the day with her. Later, Meun Young’s class at the hospital is canceled and she decides to take Eun-ja’s mink wrap as compensation. When Gang Tae objects, Eun-ja lets Meun Young have it, saying her burden has finally lifted. Gang Tae drinks with Jae-soo and when he comes home to Sang Tae, he has a realization that his mother did love him after all, remembering times when his mother bought him jjampong and invited him under the umbrella with her and Sang Tae.  

The publisher gets drunk at a convenience store and sees an equally drunk Ju-ri, who lashes out at the publisher and then ends up getting a piggyback ride home from him. At the end of the episode, Meun Young’s dad tells Meun Young that she is just like her mom, but Meun Young says no. At home, she cuts off hair, her burden, the hair that her mom would never let her cut. Gang Tae fixes her haircut and then tells her she’s pretty.

References:

• Mang Tae Doll on Etsy
• Oh My Darling Clementine on Wikipedia

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 6 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode Gang Tae and Meun Young admit to each other that they knew each other in childhood, Sang Tae moves in with Meun Young and becomes her exclusive illustrator, Gang Tae eventually moves in to the cursed castle as well, we learn more about the incident where Gang Tae and Sang Tae fell through the ice in the frozen lake, a hospital patient thinks she’s Meun Young’s mom and greatly upsets Meun Young, the hospital director has a clandestine meeting with one of his patients in a linen closet, the publisher and art director try unsuccessfully to convince Meun Young to come back to her old life, and Gang Tae promises Meun Young that he won’t leave her after witnessing her have a terrible nightmare.

Joanna and Jen recap the episode, discuss the show, and then talk about Korean BBQ.

References:

• The Story of Bluebeard
• Korean BBQ vs. American BBQ

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 5 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, Gang Tae searches for Meun Young in the pouring rain and finds her. He tries to take her to a motel, but neither has any money, so they end up at Gang Tae’s apartment. Meun Young ends up staying the night, so Gang Tae has to fabricate an excuse to keep Sang Tae and Jae-soo away. When Joo-ri comes home the next day, she confronts Meun Young, who tells Joo-ri that she confessed her feelings to Gang Tae and he is her. They end up fighting and Gang Tae throws Meun Young out. Sang Tae realizes that Gang Tae lied to him to keep him out of the apartment and is once again upset with his brother. We learn more about Meun Young’s dad and Meun Young’s relationship with Joo-ri when they were kids. At the end of the episode, Meun Young convinces Sang Tae to live with her and be her illustrator. When Gang Tae goes looking for his brother, Meung Young invites him to come to the cursed castle. The episode ends with Gang Tae looking up at Meun Young, who is standing on her balcony, echoing the time when she was younger and Gang Tae came to her home’s gate to deliver her flowers, only to be rejected by Meun Young.

References:

• The Story of Rapunzel
• Filming locations
• Moon Gang Tae’s house filming location 
• Meun Young’s cursed castle filming location

Jen is on vacation, so Sung Hee is filling in. In this episode, we recap and analyze episode 4 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. The children’s story from this episode is Zombie Kid, the boy who couldn’t feel emotion and was only interested in eating. The assemblyman’s son causes havoc at his father’s political rally; he is chastised by his mom and his father tells the hospital director that his son will forever stay in psychiatric hospitals. Meun Young upsets Gang Tae with her talk of parents abandoning useless children, and children pushing away demented parents. But when her father tries to choke her, Gang Tae has a change of heart and goes to look for Meun Young in the rain. We have an important flashback of Meun Young as a young girl, her mom brushing her hair, and her mother lying face down in a pool of blood. 

We do a recap of the show, and then we dive deep into the episode. We discuss:

• The song Hallelujah by Kim Feel
• The Zombie Kid story and how we think this story is about a boy who ultimately was looking for warmth and love from his mom
• How Gang Tae is going through a transformation; he’s showing more emotion
• How Gang Tae and Meun Young are both childlike and childish in this episode
• Gang Tae’s flashbacks of his mom prioritizing Sang Tae when the boys were younger
• How Sang Tae is infatuated with Meun Young and he has another episode when Gang Tae yells at him
• How this episode is about each character’s need to be seen
• Our thoughts re: why Meun Young’s dad said “die” and “why are you still alive?” when he saw Meun Young
• How we need to know more about Meun Young’s mother, the circumstances of her death, and her relationship with her daughter
• Two characters who we think will become really important: Nurse Park and Ju-ri’s mom
• The K Drama elements we see in this episode, namely:
  • Flowers
  • Food
  • Wrist grabs
  • Umbrellas
  • Lots of crying, especially by Gang Tae
• How in Korean slang, telling someone “do you want to come over to my place for ramen” means “do you want to spend the night together.?”
• Our favorite Meun Young outfits
• Our favorites lines from the episode
• The amazing cinematography in this episode
• The wonderful animations in this show

References:

• Magnolia Festival in Taean 
• Cinematography of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
• Filmmaker Reacts to It’s Okay to Not Be Okay Cinematography and Sound Design

In this episode, we recap and analyze episode 3 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix from 2020. Meun Young shows up at OK Hospital because she misses Gang Tae. Her father is at the hospital, but she doesn’t seem to care about him. The hospital director asks Meun Young to teach a literature class and Sang Tae to paint a mural at the hospital. Meun Young kidnaps a manic patient at the hospital, who turns out to be the son of a famous assemblyman. They stop at a campaign event for the assemblyman. The son gets up on stage and tells the residents that he is the assemblyman's son, that he is mentally ill, and the ugly duckling of the family. 

We do a recap of the show, and then we dive deep into the episode. We discuss:

• The song My Tale by Park Won
• Our impressions of episode 3
• How it’s clear that Meun Young and Gang Tae have known each other since they were kids
• This episode’s children’s story of Sleeping Beauty and the theme of destiny
• The many times that Gang Tae seems to have changed his mind about Meun Young and being with her
• How we see another side of Meun Young, the vulnerable side
• What we think of the OK Hospital Director
• The story of the assemblyman’s son, Min-seok
• Mental illness in South Korea and the US
• The K Drama elements in this episode
• Our favorite Meun Young outfit
• Our favorite lines from the show
• Brene Brown’s work on fitting in and belonging
• Seo yea-ji’s background and acting career

References:

• Brene Brown on True Belonging