Skip to main content

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:


### 

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment on this episode!

Popular posts from this blog

4.14 - Episode 14 of 25, 21

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 5 of 25, 21, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Tae-ri as Na Hee-do and Nam Joo Hyuk as Baek Yi-jin. We discuss: The songs we heard during the recap: Their Friendship by Yoo Jong Hyun and Will by Byon Dong Wook. Ko Yu-rim’s decision to switch her nationality and fence for Russia because of her family’s financial troubles. Coach Yang’s efforts to secure the best deal for Ko Yu-rim and how devoted she is to Na Hee-do and Ko Yu-rim. How Sung Hee blames Baek Yi-jin for not managing the distance between himself and his friends. Now that he’s broken the story of Ko Yu-rim’s move to Russian, he is deeply unhappy and regretful. How the two most important people in Na Hee-do’s life, her mom and Baek Yi-jin, have hurt the third most important person in her life, Ko Yu-rim. We wonder if it would have made a difference if Baek Yi-jin had NOT been the first to break the story; what if he were second or third? How Na Hee-do and Baek Yi-ji as a couple are so di
4 comments
Read more

3.15 - Episode 24 of Mr. Sunshine

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 24 of Mr. Sunshine, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Lee Byung-hun as Eugene Choi, Kim Tae-ri as Go Ae-shin, Yoo Yeon-Seok as Goo Dong-mae, Kim Min-jung as Hina Kudo, and Byun Yo-han as Kim Hee-sung. We discuss: How we love this final episode of Mr. Sunshine and will miss these characters, whom we’ve come to love and admire! The lovely and amazing music in this K Drama. How the ending is heartbreaking but the show’s creators told us all along that we would have a sad ending. Ae-shin and Eugene have figured out a way to be together, even though they are not really together. Eugene’s final sacrifice is so tragic. He is the man Joseon needed, but didn’t deserve. Eugene’s life mission, as well as Dong-mae’s, was to help Ae-shin live. Hui-seung found meaning in his life, thanks to the people of Joseon. Was Ae-shin’s life path influenced by Dong-mae calling her a spoiled, noble fool so early in her life? Ae-shin is a noble who was respected and revered b
Post a Comment
Read more

2.14 - Episode 14 of It's Okay To Not Be Okay

Jen is sick, so Sung Hee is filling in. In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 14 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the story is The Hand, The Monkfish. We think this story is autobiographical for Meun Young, whose mom thought she was perfect and protected her and kept her in the cursed castle. We learn that Nurse Park is Meun Young’s mom and turns out that she killed the Moon brothers’ mom. It also appears that she killed Meun Young’s dad by pulling the plug on the machines keeping him alive. Meun Young runs away when she learns who her mom is. We learn more about Meun Young’s mom, including her medical background and how she stayed at the hospital for 20 years to watch her husband suffer. At the end of the show, Do Hui Jae convinces Sang Tae to go with her and they end up at the cursed castle, with Sang Tae unconscious or dead. We talk about how Gang Tae, Sang Tae and Meun Young are processing the fact that Nurse Park is Meun Young’s mo
Post a Comment
Read more