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| Source: Netflix |
“Only those who have suffered truly understand suffering”
Introduction
Series Name - Its Okay To Not Be Okay
Directed by - Park Shin-woo
Genre - Romance, Psychological, Drama
Language - Korean
No. of Episodes - 16 (70-85 mins)
Plot Synopsis
Moon Gang-tae lives with his autistic older brother Moon Sang-tae. Since Sang-tae witnessed their mother's murder, they have frequently moved from town to town. Everywhere they go, Gang-Tae works as a caretaker at a psychiatric ward. While working in a hospital, he encounters Ko Moon-young, a well-known children’s book writer who is said to have an antisocial personality disorder.
Due to some circumstances, Gang-tae is forced to work at the OK Psychiatric Hospital in Seongjin City, the same city where they all grew up. Moon-young, on the other hand, develops a romantic obsession for Gang-tae after learning that their pasts are intertwined. She joins him in Seong-jin, where the two brothers and Moon-young gradually begin to heal each other’s emotional scars.
Drama Review
Far from a fluffy rom-com, ‘It's okay to not be okay is a deeply emotional ride, a dark melodrama that takes you through the lives of different people stumbling through life, trying to deal with their trauma and mental illnesses. Each episode opens up gates to all sorts of difficult feelings and internal struggles.
From the first episode, I knew that this drama would not be an easy watch. At times, so many emotions flowed in that it was difficult to wrap my head around everything that was going on. The emotional journey that every character is on unravels very naturally and smoothly which makes every experience all the more realistic and satisfying to watch, so much so that by the time you realize, you’re already attached and invested in their stories.
For me, the best part of the drama was the fairy tales and how they connected to the lives of the characters. Though these stories were meant for children’s books, each one had a deeply profound message, conveying the reality of life in the darkest way possible.
There were two stories that I loved the most. The first one is The Zombie Kid, a story about a mother who gives everything to her child except love, unable to realize that that was the most important. It shows how parents sacrifice a lot for their children but all that the children need is their love, not the material things.
The story at the end of the drama, Finding The Real Face, was the one that described the whole journey of our main trio. In the story, the Shadow Witch had stolen the faces of the Box Man (Sang-tae), Masked Boy (Gang-tae), and the Emotionless Princess (Moon-young). But in the end, they realize that what the witch really stole wasn’t their happy faces but their courage to find happiness.
This story and the drama as a whole teach us that it takes courage to overcome life’s struggles and find our own happiness. Navigating through life is not easy and you have to go through bumpy, confusing paths. But one must tread on these paths, no matter how difficult and unknown they might be, to be steered in the right direction to find happiness.
Main Characters of the Drama
1. Ko Moon-young (Seo Ye-Ji): The character that had the best development in all of K-drama history. It wasn’t too apparent and didn’t feel like it was shoved down our throats but came very naturally at its own pace over the course of 16 episodes. Not only is this character well-written but also played splendidly by Seo Ye-Ji.
Moon-young is a beautiful character with all her flaws. It wasn’t as if she changed into a completely different person by the end. She just found people, a family to be exact, that accepted her unfiltered, stubborn, a bit psychotic but vulnerable self, with whom she could be herself and convey her emotions instead of hiding them.
2. Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-Hyun): Gang-tae is a character that is almost crumbling under the responsibility of taking care of his autistic older brother, thinking that's the sole purpose of his being. As a result of always having to move to new places, he is unable to have any deeper relationships with people. In the midst of all this, his patience, love, and desire to treat his brother preciously are unchanging.
Seeing his gradual change from ‘Sang-Tae's brother who takes care of him to ‘Moon Gang-tae who wants to live for himself and find his own happiness’ was truly a touching experience. This is a character that requires subtle acting and isn’t supposed to stand out too much and to be able to play such a character without being overshadowed by others, Kim Soo-Hyun did a great job.
3. Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-Se): Now this is a character you can’t help but love. A complete show-stealer. I completely loved the scene in episode 2 when he goes for the book signing. We get to see how Sang-tae sees the world around him; completely different from our faded, dull world, he is innocently popping with colors.
Oh, Jung-se’s portrayal of the child-like Sang-tae was perfect. In the beginning, he didn’t want to share his little brother and believed that he belonged only to him. But Sang-tae tries his hardest to break free from his childhood trauma and steps up and develops into an older brother for both Gang-tae and Moon-young and becomes their emotional support.
The Bottom Line
I didn’t talk about romance because I felt that romance was just a tiny piece in the humongous puzzle. However, there’s no denying the excellently matched pair’s chemistry with each other. Moon-young and Gang-tae’s healing journey together was very organic and believable as they went through many ups and downs rather than being some magical story that’s just convenient.
No matter how much I praise the writers, it will never be enough for this one. In each episode, we are fed with amazing, consistent writing. Even the side characters all had beautiful character designs and stories. The hauntingly beautiful and ethereal OST was truly the cherry on top and added the final touch to this already phenomenal drama.
IMDb ratings - 8.8 on 10
Written By - Sanjana Chaudhary
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