“It’s Okay To Not Be Okay” Episode 2 Recap

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay continues to be hauntingly engaging leaving viewers entertained with mixed feelings settling in the pit of their stomachs.

Although not as equally well-versed in the world of drama reviews, I will do my best to deliver a recap that maybe new to your eyes, but hopefully will deliver a fresh perspective than you’re used to.

Episode Recaps: | 01 | 02 | 03 |

I focused on plot progression and important character details since I’m a sucker for character growth. I also took down small details that may be critical in future episodes.

Episode 2: The Lady in Red Shoes

With tension building in the atmosphere, Moon Gang Tae (Kim Soo Hyun) and Go Moon Young (Seo Ye Ji) face each other as his memories flashback to a girl he used to follow around as a kid. Subtle details implying that the girl is Moon Young progress by revealing that after she saved him from drowning in a frozen lake, he began to pursue her only to see that she is a weird girl with a hobby of ripping butterflies apart.

They end their conversation with Gang Tae telling her that his memories were never good or beautiful when she asked if she reminded him of a girl that made his memories pleasant. Cue CEO Lee (Kim Joo Hun) and his assistant Seung Jae (Park Jin Joo) carrying juice boxes and a package of her new book. Seung Jae asked Gang Tae if he was here for Moon Young’s autograph, making him embarrassed since he refused to accept anything from their company earlier.

Gang Tae leaves with a signed book, in it an invitation for Sang Tae (Oh Jung Se) to come to her book signing event tomorrow, despite CEO Lee’s efforts to pay Gang Tae with the money hidden in the juice box. After Gang Tae leaves, Moon Young tasked Seung Jae to get background details on him, mumbling to herself how she wants him.

After discovering the invitation in the book, Gang Tae asks Jae Soo (Kang Ki Doong) to go with Sang Tae at the book signing. Joo Ri, introduced in the last episode as the nurse who had to go to Moon Young to get her signature, visits Jae Soo’s chicken restaurant asking about how he and Gang Tae has been.

Joo Ri then visits Gang Tae in one of his part time jobs and talks to him, imparting that they have an opening in the psychiatric hospital she works in. Hearing that the hospital is located in their hometown, Seongjin City, flashbacks ruled Gang Tae’s mind: his mother’s death and the start of Sang Tae’s phobia of butterflies, the latter claiming that a butterfly killed their mother.  After she told him there’s space in her house for him to board at, Gang Tae declines Joo Ri’s job offer.

The next day, Jae Soo wasn’t able to show up on time to accompany Sang Tae to the book signing event because he was too drunk from drinking with Joo Ri. Gang Tae goes along with his brother instead, instructing him to wait for his turn in the line as he looks at him from afar.

“It’s okay, I’m here.”

A phone call from Jae Soo distracts Gang Tae, not seeing him get distracted by a child dressed up as his favorite dinosaur. He approaches the child, the parents thinking that Sang Tae is there to harass the boy. The father grabs Sang Tae’s hair, causing him to have a panic attack. Gang Tae notices and runs to his brother, covering him with his jacket to calm him down.

Moon Young watches from afar, deciding if she should help Gang Tae and sure enough she did. She tells the father to apologize and when he refused she grabbed his hair, proving her point that Sang Tae was harrassed by him. The mother comes to the rescue of her husband but in return, Moon Young cursed out at her, the author apathetic to the attention she’s getting from her actions.

After the commotion, Sang Tae calms himself down in a closet of the book store while Moon Young and Gang Tae talk outside the door. They were approached by a book critic, asking if Gang Tae is Moon Young’s boyfriend. He warns him and tells him of her past. With the sudden death of her mother and the current state of her once successful father in a psychiatric hospital, the critic told Gang Tae that it wouldn’t be wise to be with someone like Moon Young.

The critic walks out and Moon Young goes to follow him despite Gang Tae’s efforts to make her stay. She catches up to the critic in the stairwell with the latter threatening to end her career by revealing that she has antisocial personality disorder. She retaliated by attempting to stab him with a pen but stopping at the last second just to push him down the stairs. Talk about brutal.

Gang Tae sees the last part of the quarrel, teaching Moon Young the butterfly hug technique to help her deal with her unpleasant tendencies. With another exchange of harsh words, Gang Tae wishes to never see Moon Young again with the latter calling him a coward, just like in the past.

Gang Tae goes back to a sulking Sang Tae only to cheer him up by revealing that he bought a dinosaur encyclopedia for his brother. Jae Soo, who was waiting for them to come home, apologizes to Gang Tae for not showing up. Gang Tae tells Jae Soo to stop following them and settle down to stop suffering.

Packing up to leave town, Gang Tae asks Sang Tae if it’s alright with him to go back to their hometown. Gang Tae, who was weary of his brother’s answer, sighed in relief when he gave a positive answer rambling about how there was good jajangmyeon in that city. Sang Tae also responded that he was the brave big brother and that it made sense if Gang Tae was scared of going back because he was the younger brother.

Back in the comforts of her hotel suite, Moon Young wakes up to Seung Jae’s report on Gang Tae’s background, discovering that he was from Seongjin City. Busy trying to fix Moon Young’s career, CEO Lee tries to think of ways to deal with the issues without Moon Young’s presence. Seung Jae confesses that she might be the reason why Moon Young was missing, telling the CEO of her secret project.

Moon Young talks with CEO Lee as she drives to Seongjin City, telling him about Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the Red Shoes and how she found her own red shoes that she could never be apart from. She visits OK Psychiatric Hospital, Gang Tae’s new workplace, and approaches the baffled caregiver, telling him how much she missed him.

Peak Points and Musings

Backstory Clarity

The backstory that connects all our characters together is finally being woven into some sort of understandable tapestry. Seongjin City seems to be the place where their story began and the characters returning to their starting point is a good way to indicate how the story will eventually unfold. So far, aside from Joo Ri’s obvious relationship with Moon Young, Gang Tae and Jae Soo, it’s Gang Tae’s memories that are filled with the richest clues that hints about what happened then.

The World in the Eye of Autism

It was refreshingly fun to see the drama help the viewers peek into what the world looks like from the point of view of Sang Tae. In a series of scenes as the two brothers are on the way to the book signing event, we see how colors pop and how inanimate objects move in a cheerful way, sort of seeing how the surroundings have the appearance of acting according to the Sang Tae’s excited mood.

Gang Tae’s Imperfections

In episode one, we were introduced to a Gang Tae that is hard working and agonizingly optimistic. Here we see through the cracks of his hard facade, seeing the trauma of a young boy who had to grow up in order to care for his brother translate into running from the fear of the unknown. In his conversation with Jae Soo, he revealed that he thought he was running away from the imaginary butterflies that affect his brother but the reason was they were running away because he wants to.

All in all, I’m getting hooked episode after episode of this series. As a person who is very choosy of the dramas she watches, I have a feeling I would enjoy It’s Okay to Not Be Okay because of its interesting portrayal of characters with mental illnesses. I am looking forward to what Moon Young would be up to next and if a series of unfortunate events would cause her to change. I will also be interested to see how Moon Young and Gang Tae’s unnerving tension towards one another will turn into romance later on in the series.

Don’t miss It’s Okay to Not Be Okay episodes! It’s on Netflix!

Photo Credits: tvN

Photos: tvN

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