oh jung-se

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 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:

• How to refer to older brother or sister in Korean
• You’re Cold by Heize on YouTube 

Gang Tae faces off with head nurse!  Moon makes a hard decision about her future with Gang Tae.  Sang Tae shows Moon his homework.

1:11;27: Episode 16 (The Final Episode!)
Moon visits her mother in prison.  Mr. Lee organizes Moon and Sang Tae's book reading.  The Doctor pays Sang Tae for the mural.

The Doctor and Gang Tae check the cameras to find the vandal.  Moon (Mun-yeong)  comes to grips with a devastating revelation.  Moon wants to publish a long lost story.

A hospital patient deals with her issues with her dad.  Sang Tae is learning how to draw butterflies.  Mr. Ko's (Moon's dad) back story is finally revealed.

Moon (Mun-yeong) drops everything to have lunch with Gang Tae.  Sang Tae and Gang Tae decide to stop running away from butterflies.  Gang Tae, Sang Tae and Moon take a portrait together.

Moon (Mun-Yeong)  takes care of Gang Tae's fever.  Moon tries to get back into Sang Tae's good graces.  Sang Tae begins to act like an adult.

Sang Tae gets admitted to the psychiatric hospital.  Moon (Mun-young) and Gang Tae have it out at the beach.  A mysterious patient escapes from the hospital.

Moon (Mun-young) tells Sang Tae that they are best friends.  Gang Tae and Moon go on a trip together.  Sang Tae has a huge meltdown at the hospital.

The doctor interrogates a mysterious patient. Moon (Mun-young) and Sang Tae fight over a gift.  Gang Tae loses his composure with a visitor at the hospital.

Gang Tae takes a day off of work to take care of Moon (Mun-young).  Mr. Lee and Judy (Ju-ri) spend some quality time together.  Moon asks a patient at the hospital for compensation after getting her class canceled.

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Sang Tae and Gang Tae get into a huge fight.  Moon tells Sang Tae the story of Blue Beard.  Moon has a surprising visitor at the hospital.

Gang Tae takes Moon (Mun-young) back to his apartment!  The publishing company finally goes broke trying to cover up Moon's shenanigans.  Judy (Ju Ri) confesses her feelings to Gang Tae.

Gi Do's (hospital patient) antics make Gang Tae reflect on his own childhood.  The politician, Man Su, goes to the hospital to deal with his son's (Gi Do) behavior.  Gang Tae reads Moon's (Moon-young) book, The Zombie Kid.

Gi Do's (hospital patient) antics make Gang Tae reflect on his own childhood.  Gang Tae reads Moon's (Moon-young) book, The Zombie Kid.

The hospital director asks Moon (Mun-young) to teach a creative writing class.  A new patient, Min-Seok, checks into the hospital. Moon leads Gang Tae on a car chase!

A new patient, Min-Seok, checks into the hospital. Moon (Mun-young) leads Gang Tae on a car chase!

Gang Tae takes Sang Tae to the book signing.  A creepy stranger knows about Moon's (Mun Young) personal secret.  Gang Tae finds the courage to move back to his home town.

The author, Mun Young (Moon) writes children's books from a really dark space.  Gang Tae bounces around from hospital to hospital, but we do not know why.  The publisher tries to cover-up Moon's actions at the book reading.