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2.1 - Episode 1 of It's Okay to Not Be Okay

In this episode, we recap and analyze episode 1 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix from 2020. In this first episode, we get introduced to celebrity children’s book author Koo Meun Young (Seo Yea-ji), compassionate caregiver Moon Gang Tae (Kim Soo Hyun), the talented, autistic Moon Sang Tae (Oh Jung-se), and the long suffering nurse Nam Joo-ri (Park Gyu-young). The characters intersect when Meun Young does a book reading at the hospital where Moon Gang Tae works, and when Joo-ri travels to Seoul to get Meun Young’s signature for surgery that her father needs.


We do a recap of the show, and then we dive deep into the episode. We talk about our first impressions of the show and what we loved about the first episode. We discuss:


  • You’re Cold by Heize, one of the songs from the OST

  • The 18 elements that seem to exist in most K Dramas, specifically:

    • Beautiful actors

    • Crying, by both women and men

    • Gorgeous OSTs (original sound tracks)

    • Food; there's lot of eating in K Dramas

    • Alcohol; drinking by both men and women

    • The trip and catch

    • Piggyback rides

    • The back hug

    • Product placements

    • Holding hands

    • The wrist grab

    • Flowers

    • Love triangles

    • Umbrella scene

    • The quirky best friend

    • The Deep Lean

    • Beautiful or arresting clothing

    • The Arm Rest

  • Other possible K Drama elements, specifically:

    • A singing or karaoke scene

    • A gazing at some scenery standing side by side scene

    • A conversation about whether it’s okay to talk casually with each other

    • A grandfather or chairman character

  • The opening stop motion animation about the girl with no friends

  • What we know about Koo Meun Young

  • What we know about Moon Gang Tae

  • What we know about Moon Sang Tae

  • The K Drama Elements that show up in this episode

  • Our favorite Meun Young outfit


We close with a discussion about how to refer to older brother or older sister in Korean.


References:


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K Drama Chat is a weekly podcast where we take one Korean (K) Drama each season and and recap and analyze each episode. K Drama Chat is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.

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