It’s Okay to Not Be Okay – Episode 10 Recap & Review

Happy Birthday

After the previous dramatic episode, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay returns as we see how our three main characters deal with Sang-Tae’s outburst. They still have a long way to go but so far, the drama has done a great job with their character development and interactions with each other. The actors carry on giving some excellent performances too, delivering an original and eye-opening drama.

Episode 10 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay starts in the aftermath of the confrontation; Sang-Tae has been given a sedative and is now sleeping. The director suggests to Kang-Tae that his brother stays there for a few days and gets some fresh air. As he starts walking aimlessly, Moon-Young follows him. After finally getting his attention, Moon-Young suggests going to eat somewhere.

Kang-Tae tells her to go home though as he needs to be with his brother. Moon-Young tries to reason with him about the past but Kang-Tae reveals that he did want Sang-Tae to die that day and that she should have let him drown in the ice lake.

Haeng-Ja is concerned about Ms Park’s recent change in mood. She has a chat with her and the woman acts very strangely, asking questions about Kang-Tae and his brother while at home, Jae-Su and Mr Lee argue over Moon-Young as the former blames her for the brothers’ argument.

Kang-Tae returns to the hospital and spends the night sitting down outside his brother’s room. Ju-Ri explains to another nurse that having autism is shutting the world around and when Sang-Tae is ready to let Kang-Tae in, he will open the door again. In the morning, the director arrives in Sang-Tae’s room and tries convincing him to come out by taking Kang-Tae in his office. The latter tells the director that he thought his brother had forgotten all about that day at the lake. The director explains that autistic people have great memories and suggests that he comes back to work.

Kang-Tae later meets with Jae-Su and admits that being with Moon-Young was an impossible dream. Now that he is awake, he will carry on focusing on his brother. After starting work again, he is visited by Moon-Young. He tells her that they shouldn’t have met again and wants her out of his life. This upsets her greatly as she reminds him that he promised to never leave. He insists though and tells her that she was a one time event and walks off while she screams at him.

The next day, Haeng-Ja brings a giant plush dinosaur to Sang-Tae. As they talk about the dinosaur story, Dooly who adopted a baby dinosaur, mentions that his mother was good to him but not to Kang-Tae. Meanwhile, Soon-Duk speaks to Kang-Tae and tells him that even though he hurt her daughter, she doesn’t want them to move out. She will take Sang-Tae home today and tells him to concentrate on himself for now.

As he watches them leaving the hospital, Kang-Tae asks Ju-Ri for a favour; get some of his things from Moon-Young’s house. He then returns home to his brother and apologises to him for running away when he fell in the lake and wishing that he died. He begs him not to abandon what they have. Sang-Tae comes out of his hiding place, hugs his brother and asks him not to abandon him.

Back in Moon-Young’s mansion, Moon-Young and Ju-Ri sit together and drink wine. It’s here Ju-Ri admits that she’s jealous of her. After a few bottles, a very drunk Ju-Ri lets it all out to Moon-Young calling her mean and accusing her of taking the one thing she wanted. After Ju-Ri passes out, Sang-in arrives and finds her asleep on the table. He speaks to Moon-Young about the way she treats people and mentions that she misses Kang-Tae.

The next morning, Kang-Tae happens to take the same bus as Ju-Ri. As they talk, she asks him why he is talking so casually to her. We then see a flashback of the night before when Sang-In brought a very drunk Ju-Ri back home. She confronted Kang-Tae about how he has been treating her and told him to start speaking more casually.

At the hospital, a sick Kang-Tae thanks Haeng-Ja for giving the toy dinosaur to his brother. She asks him if Sang-Tae is close to Ms Park Ok-Ran and warns that she is quite unstable and provokes other patient. As Kang-Tae walks into the garden, we see Dae-Hwan hearing someone hum the usual song.

He follows it to Ok-Ran and asks her why she is humming that tune. She asks him why and if he will kill her again. This triggers something in him and he strangles her, repeating that he has to kill her or he will die. The staff quickly come to stop him though and as they take Ms Park away, he shouts that he should have killed Moon-Young too as she is a monster.

The director and Kang-Tae then discuss the latest incident in his office. The former concludes that Ok-Ran either knows a lot about Dae-Hwan’s wife or she could indeed be her.

In the evening, Moon-Young waits for Soon-Duk to come back home. She asks the woman for some food and when she chose seaweed soup, the woman concludes that it is her birthday. After eating, Sang-In gives her a necklace and mentions her writing a new book again. She walks away from him though and heads to see Sang-Tae, giving him Mang-Tae back. She reveals that she wants him instead as they are best friends.

Sang-Tae accuses her of being a liar though as she lies about going away without him. She then tells the story of the boy who cried wolf and explains that he lied because he was lonely.

In the hospital, Kang-Tae learns that Ok-Ran has run away and mentions that today is an important day. Believing that she may be Moon-Young’s mother, Kang-Tae worries and rushes out. At the same time, Moon-Young hears a knock and as she opens the door, she finds Ok-Ran there with a party popper and wishing her happy birthday, which is where the episode ends.

The Review Write-Up

Kang-Tae has been living with the same guilt and sense of responsibility towards his brother all his life, sacrificing his own happiness in the process. The last couple of episodes have seen him trying to be happy and thinking of himself but unfortunately he has realized that it may not work. This episode brought more emotional moments for our characters and I wonder if they will manage to find happiness in the end.

It’s worth mentioning Soon-Duk (played by Kim Mi-Kyung), our favourite Ajumma, as she has been acting as a mother to the brothers and even selflessly feeding Moon-Young on her birthday despite what the woman has done. This has been quite touching to see, while by contrast evidence points that Ok-Ran may be Moon-Young’s mother. If this is the case, it promises to be dramatic and we should hopefully finally find out just what happened in the past.