One of the beauties of “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” is that you can enjoy the series in different ways. The obvious route is to enjoy the show for what it is: a rom-com between a writer with antisocial personality disorder and a psychiatric ward caretaker who has mommy issues.
But the show urges you to go beyond that. The chapters are intriguingly named after popular fairy tales or the titles of the books that Gu Mun-yeong (Seo Ye-ji) wrote. This is also not just a story about Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun) and Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se).
All the characters, even the supporting ones, are allowed to shine. A lesson can be learned from each of their compelling stories. For example, an exhibitionist wants to get acknowledged by his family. A woman feels guilty for fighting with her daughter moments before her death. A couple who wants to love freely but they need to defeat their own demons first.
Then there are also the visual breadcrumbs that “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” director Park Shin-woo and scriptwriter Jo Yong left for us. But fans of the show found them and we’ve compiled them for you.
Here are the easter eggs that we found in the show
The opening credit of odd chapters are in colors, while the even episodes are in black and white
Interestingly, we only dream in black and white.
The opening credits feature items that represent a fairytale
In the series, Mun-yeong tells the story of the Red Shoes. It’s about a girl who could not stop dancing while wearing a beautiful pair of red shoes.
However, another famous character with red shoes is Dorothy. With the witch’s hat next to the shoes, we think more of “Wicked” and ” The Wizard of Oz” than the “Red Shoes.”
Sang-tae’s shirt follows the pattern of his Rubik’s Cube
Zombie Child’s finger moved to point at Gang-tae.
The light above Nurse Ju-ri head changed, like a stoplight
This happened the first time Sang-in (Kim Joo-hun) and Ju-ri (Park Kyu-young) went out for a date. It began with a red light when the conversation was still awkward. Then it turned to yellow, and finally to green when they started enjoying each other’s company.
There are lines that cannot be crossed
Ju-ri and Gang-tae’s time together is very limited. But some fans pointed out that in that one scene they spent time together, there was a line that separated them. If this was truly inspired by Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite”, it means their worlds cannot be together.
Then we have this scene where Sang-tae meets Pil-ong on the bus. There’s also a line separating them. Perhaps, it’s to say that while both suffer a mental health condition, they should be cared for differently.
Sang-tae eventually crossed the line to help Pil-ong out. This is a turning point in Sang-tae’s character. Before this, he was always seen as someone that Gang-tae has to take care of. In this scene, we first realize how capable Sang-tae really is.
The blood from the head of Mun-yeong’s mom formed the shape of a butterfly
Source: Inquirer.net
