It's Okay to Not Be Okay - TV Series Review

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Moon Gang-tae (played by Kim Soo-hyun) is a caregiver for a psychiatric hospital. He always moves from town to town following his autistic big brother, Moon Sang-tae (played by Oh Sung-je), who is in his care. Every time his bother gets in trouble, either at his special school or for other reasons, Gang-tae decides to move town and have a fresh start again with his brother.

At one hospital event with children’s book author, Ko Mun-yeong (played by Seo Yea-ji), Gang-tae encounters this eccentric author. There is an incident where a patient runs out of his room. He is looking for his daughter who went to Ko Mun-yeong’s book reading. He tries to kidnap his daughter so she won’t be sent to an orphanage. Mun-yeong tries to stop the man from killing his daughter and Gang-tae tries to help the patient, but ends up getting stabbed by Mun-yeong's knife. That was the first encounter between Mun-yeong and Gang-tae. Mun-yeoung's publisher, Lee Sang-in, tries to bribe Gang-tae so that he won’t sue Mun-yeong because of the accident. Gang-tae refuses the bribe money and instead asks Mun-yeong to autograph his brother's book because Sang-tae loves all her books. In the book to Sang-tae, Mun-yeong writes that she would like to have a picture together with Sang-tae. They meet again at another book signing event and another incident happens again between Mun-yeong and Gang-tae.

After several encounters with Gang-tae, Mun-yeong decides to “have” Gang-tae for herself and even follows Gang-tae move to another small town, where both Gang-tae and Mun-yeong grew up. In this old place, one by one their past is revealed. Gang-tae and Mun-yeong met each other when they were very young in this small town.

Working as a caregiver at OK Psychiatric Hospital in this little town, Gang-tae later finds out that one of the patients at this hospital is Mun-yeong father who was admitted to this hospital after killing his wife, Mun-yeong’s mum. A lot of suspicious events had been happening at the hospital, especially since Mun-yeong came back to this small town.

The first couple of episodes of It’s Okay not to be Okay are very dark. The director brought lots of dark scenes but with beautiful shots to bring Gang-tae and Mun-yeoung's broken characters to life as a result of their past trauma, which is full of dark and sad experiences. When Gang-tae was just a little boy, he witnessed his mum being murdered, while Mun-yeong witnessed her dad killing her mum and then tried to kill her as well.

Despite their broken souls, both Mun-yeong and Gang-tae are able to heal people around them in their own way, but not themselves. They make other people come out from their %%hiding places, face their guilt and accept who they are, but not themselves.

It’s Okay not to be Okay narrate things that are taboo to talk about, especially in some Asian countries, such as being gay and mental issues. It’s Okay not to be Okay is also Kim Soo-hyun’s first comeback to the screen after enlisted for almost two years of military service. His acting in this 16-episode South Korean drama got a lot of praise and brought this drama into one of the most-watched dramas in 2021. Kim Soo-hyun's acting also can be seen in another popular drama Queen of Tears .

It’s Okay not to be Okay received Technical Award for Costume at Baeksang Arts Award 2021 (the highest award for excellence in film, television and theatre in South Korea). Part of it because of Seo Yea-ji's character who always shows off an envy-inducing wardrobe, wearing pieces from fashion houses such as Alexander McQueen, Dolce & Gabbana, Miu Miu and more, along with highlighting up-and-coming Korean designers. A lot of places shown in the drama become very popular tourist destinations, including the blue suspension bridge, the longest and largest pedestrian bridge in South Korea and one of the most popular attractions in Gangwon province. The bridge is 200 metres in featured in the drama is length and 100 metres in height, offering incredible views of cliffs and mountains in the distance.

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