K Drama Chat Weekly

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 9 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is King Donkey Ears, the story about the King who had donkey ears and told his hairdresser to keep it a secret. After many years, the hairdresser could no longer hold the secret in, so he shouted to the forest that the king had donkey ears.  The show opens with Gang Tae and Meun Young arguing over going on a trip; they clearly have different ideas for this trip. They ultimately go up to the mountains, visit a spectacular suspension bridge, and spend the night at a guesthouse. They even run into A-reum and Jeoung-Tae, who have run away together, but ultimately decide to separate until they are both recovered enough to be together successfully. Before leaving the guesthouse, Gang Tae gives Meun Young a bouquet of flowers, the flowers he was never able to give her when they were kids. So much happened in this episode, but the most important sce...

Jen is on vacation, so this episode has Joanna and Sung Hee. In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 8 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is Beauty and the Beast. Joanna and Sung Hee disagree on the overall theme of this episode: Is it Stockholm Syndrome, where Gang Tae has become enamored of his captor, Meun Young? Or is it a story about how Gang Tae’s love is healing the monstrous Meun Young? We also argue that neither Meun Young nor Gang Tae can be the beast, since they are both so gorgeous! We talk about how Meun Young and Gang Tae are loosening up, learning to smile, and starting to enjoy each other’s company. But trouble is brewing between Sang Tae and Meun Young. Sang Tae doesn’t like Meun Young’s shorter hair, he is angry that Gang Tae gave the nightmare catcher Mang Tae to Meun Young, and he doesn’t want to share Gang Tae. Meun Young, meanwhile, knows that Gang Tae and Sang Tae will never be separated and she wa...

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 7 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is The Cheerful Dog. Gang Tae takes care of Meun Young after her nightmare, then takes the day off to spend the day with her. Later, Meun Young’s class at the hospital is canceled and she decides to take Eun-ja’s mink wrap as compensation. When Gang Tae objects, Eun-ja lets Meun Young have it, saying her burden has finally lifted. Gang Tae drinks with Jae-soo and when he comes home to Sang Tae, he has a realization that his mother did love him after all, remembering times when his mother bought him jjampong and invited him under the umbrella with her and Sang Tae.   The publisher gets drunk at a convenience store and sees an equally drunk Ju-ri, who lashes out at the publisher and then ends up getting a piggyback ride home from him. At the end of the episode, Meun Young’s dad tells Meun Young that she is just like her mom, but Meun Young say...

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 6 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode Gang Tae and Meun Young admit to each other that they knew each other in childhood, Sang Tae moves in with Meun Young and becomes her exclusive illustrator, Gang Tae eventually moves in to the cursed castle as well, we learn more about the incident where Gang Tae and Sang Tae fell through the ice in the frozen lake, a hospital patient thinks she’s Meun Young’s mom and greatly upsets Meun Young, the hospital director has a clandestine meeting with one of his patients in a linen closet, the publisher and art director try unsuccessfuly to convince Meun Young to come back to her old life, and Gang Tae promises Meun Young that he won’t leave her after witnessing her have a terrible nightmare. Joanna and Jen recap the episode, discuss the show, and then talk about Korean BBQ. References: The Story of Bluebeard Korean BBQ vs. American BBQ ###  K Drama Chat is a weekly p...