Skip to main content

2.2 - Episode 2 of It's Okay to Not Be Okay

In this episode, we recap and analyze episode 2 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix from 2020. Sang Tae attends a book signing by Meun Young and gets in trouble when he touches a kid wearing a dinosaur costume. Gang Tae comes to his rescue and Meun Young intervenes, causing a huge scene when she gets mad at the child’s parents. While waiting for Sang Tae to calm down, Meun Young asks Gang Tae to be her safety pin. She ends up pushing a book critic, further jeopardizing her career. We also find out that Gang Tae and Sang Tae’s mother was murdered and Sang Tae says it was the butterfly that killer her. Jae-soo and Gang Tae realize it’s time to move again, before the butterflies appear. Sung Hee comes back as our guest!

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:


  • The song Breathe by Sam Kim, a Korean-American singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist.

  • What we thought of this episode.

  • The children’s story in this episode, namely the Girl with the Red Shoes by Hans Christian Anderson.

  • Obsession and what things in the show cannot be separated.

  • How we see the world through San Tae’s eyes as he is walking toward the book signing.

  • How Gang Tae, Sang Tae and Mun Yeoung are all distorted in their emotional reactions to the world around them.

  • What we think the butterflies mean.

  • What we know about the Moon brothers’ mom being murdered.

  • How we learn more about Meun Young, specifically about her parents.

  • How Meun Young seems to get herself in trouble when Gang Tae is around.

  • How Meun Young debated whether or not to help Gang Tae when they were little kids, and at the book signing.

  • The triangles forming between the characters.

  • The K Drama elements we see in this episode, and there are a lot of them.

  • Our favorite Meun Young outfit.

  • Our favorite lines from the episode.

  • Kim Soo Hyun, his career, his military service, and how he decided on It’s Okay to Not Be Okay as his comeback show.

  • How the South Korean parliament is considering a law that would allow internationally recognized K Pop stars to complete their military service in just three weeks.


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

  1. AnonymousApril 2, 2025 at 4:36 PM

    I really liked your takes on the inseparable things referring to the tale of the girl with the red shoes. Also I enjoyed your analysis of the relationship of Gang Tae and Sang Tae and how all of the main characters are distorted in their emotional reactions. You're acknowledging their different behaviours and Sang Tae's autism without playing it down or being disrespectful which is an important criteria in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment on this episode!

Popular posts from this blog

5.4 - Review of Episode 4 of Mr. Queen

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 4 of Mr. Queen, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Shin Hye-sun as Kim So-yong, Kim Jung-hyun as King Cheojong, Seol In-ah as Jo Hwa-jin, Na In-woo as Kim Byeong-in, and Choi Jin-hyuk as Jang Bong-hwan. We discuss: Then songs we played during the recap: Conspiracyby Kim Deuk-su  and Lost Memory by Howl.  Last week’s episode was so funny, while this episode is really dark and there are bad guys everywhere.  The Queen has figured out that it was the King who tried to kill her in the alleyway.  The King is still desperately trying to figure out what the Queen knows.  The many plots to frame someone for the Queen falling into the lake.  The Queen accuses the King of going after her because she’s weak; this makes him wonder if the Queen is plotting against him or if she really is someone different.  Jo Hwa-jin goes to Grand Dowager Queen to confess they she pushed the Queen into the lake When the King tries to defend Jo H...
1 comment
Read more

11.5 - Podcast Review of Episode 5 of When Life Gives You Tangerines

Today, we’ll be ing Episode 5 of When Life Gives You Tangerines , the hit K Drama on Netflix the hit K Drama on Netflix starring IU as Oh Ae-sun and Park Bo-gum Yang Gwan-sik. We discuss: The song featured during the recap: Spring in a Heartbeat by Park Sung-il, a beautiful instrumental piece that plays during the heartwarming scene of Ae Sun and Gwan Sik on their boat with their growing family. The complex and emotional back-and-forth between two timelines—Ae Sun and Gwan Sik’s love story and their daughter Geum Myeong’s journey—and how it adds depth to the drama. A powerful conversation about shame, gender roles, and vulnerability inspired by Gwan Sik’s struggle to provide for his family and Brene Brown’s research on shame. Ae Sun’s desperate visit to her grandmother, who gives them money to buy a boat—a game-changing gift that symbolizes hope and a fresh start. The emotional weight and cultural significance of the language used between Ae Sun’s grandmother an...
17 comments
Read more

11.1 - Podcast Review of When Life Gives You Tangerines

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 1 of When Life Gives You Tangerines , the hit K Drama on Netflix starring IU as Oh Ae-sun and Park Bo-gum as Yang Gwan-sik. We discuss: The song featured during the recap: Midnight Walk by d.ear. The song feels nostalgic and represents Ae-sun’s longing for the past. The deeper themes of family, love, and survival that make this show feel unique compared to other historical K Dramas. The emotional opening with an elderly Ae-sun reflecting on the word "eomma" (mom) and how it carries deep significance throughout her life. The realistic and historical setting of Jeju Island, which makes this drama feel different from the more fantastical K Dramas we have covered before. The contrast between the English title, When Life Gives You Tangerines , and the Korean title Pokssak Sogatsuda , which means "You’ve worked hard" in Jeju dialect. The introduction of young Ae-sun and Gwan-sik and how their childhood relationship sets t...
17 comments
Read more