This was a "meh" episode. Mostly , it was a torture session for the FL, as she kept having to endure more gossip and rumors and, well, bullying from various directions. Also, in large part, she got a big fat FAIL from her boyfriend, Feng Teng, for not properly guiding her about the anniversary event even though she point-blank asked him about it. His failure to just simply talk to her is getting old. His inability to just tell her things keeps causing her problems and it's not really funny anymore. It's getting old and it would be nice if the show started to show some character growth on his part to start to address this.
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This episode finally got most of the main characters to clarity on who loves who. Only Lishu remains still a little uncertain of where she should be going romantically now, though the episode closed with a pretty direct sign post for her.
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I think the problem with this show is that while the story wants to portray the ML, Feng Teng, as emotionally reserved and aloof, possibly somewhat due to his parent's death, they have gone overboard. It's one thing to make him difficult to read by the FL, Shanshan. But he is near impossible to read even by the viewing audience. Which makes him very, very hard to empathize with. Especially since many of his decisions do not make sense from a normal healthy male romantic sense. His inability to communicate is not a new disability for C-Drama ML's, but he's taking it to an extreme that just isn't healthy and certainly doesn't make him attractive as a romantic partner. Communication is a hugely important part of any healthy relationship so who would want to be in a relationship with someone who can't seem to communicate? He keeps leaving her hanging out to dry, gaslit with no information about what he's doing or thinking and making her vulnerable to gossip and rumors again and again. Oh, and my goodness, could Shanshan's two besties be any worse at relationship advice? They are both so negative and always talking her down and predicting the worst for her relationship! Thank goodness Manager Yan (Feng Yue's husband) stepped in at one point with some really encouraging words and advice to her!
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It's a slow, awkward process but between her very moving and heartfelt confession and his sincere kisses, the two finally clarify that they are both in love with the other to each other and become a couple. Now to see how well they can BE a couple moving forward.
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Why did he force her to get so drunk?Why did he kiss her but then accuse her of pursuing him? What was the meaning of his accusation of her being a traitor?Is all this some problem with the translation? Or is the intention of the script writers that Feng Teng is just that confusing of a character? Because I sure as heck can't figure him out and I don't blame the FL for being totally confused. I can't blame her for wanting to back away from someone who is so confusing to her.
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Another episode with real forward progress in terms of character growth for the FL. A little annoying that they've introduced some cliche' drama tropes (the classic childhood friend who secretly is in unrequited love with ML). But that's understandable in order to provide some jealousy drama from the FL side. Hopefully they won't go overboard with psychopath characters or anything crazy like that.
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Finally, some actual character growth by both the FL and the ML. Not a lot. But each seemed to move forward a little from their stunted starting points finally. Feng grows in that he's starting to crystalize that he does care for Shanshan but can't be so careless with the impact on her life his actions (and inactions) have caused. And Shanshan seems to finally be growing past her stupid childish infatuation with creepy Handsome Qi. She's finally starting to see him as the player that he is. Please, please, let this progress continue forward and not regress for the sake of stupid plot gimmicks!
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The "Xue Shanshan and the Boss are having lunch Please don't disturb them." bit was so funny and made this episode great.
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I hope they aren't going to waste too many episodes dragging her infatuation with the inappropriate Zheng "Handsome" Qi. He's creepy and inappropriate. I get it that his character is used to women letting him do whatever he wants, but in a workplace, he was WAY too close to Shan Shan in that interview. If he was an ugly man, everyone would be screaming, "Sexual harassment!", for the same inappropriate behavior. If the script writers think his behavior is, "OK", just because he presents has 'handsome' then they are disgusting. Further, the whole plot idea that he's pursuing ShanShan purely to goad Feng into doing so is disgusting. It makes her into a game for him because she could have real feeling for him. He should only do so if he really has sincere intentions. But I guess the writers think that's funny?
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It's Okay to Not Be Okay Episode 16
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Amazing how much better things got once the story shed itself of that stupid evil-mommy-dearest sub-plot. The final episode returned to where it should have gone as of episode 12 and had a beautiful ending.Loved how they tied up multiple old side plots. And yes Kang Sun Deok (Ju-Ri's mom) definitely deserved all that praise and thanks.
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It's Okay to Not Be Okay Episode 15
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The fact that Gang-Tae shows up alone, without police help is just so stupid. Immediately proceeds to turn his back to a psychopath as he goes to check on his brother - more stupidity. Proceeds to think he can talk and rationalize with a psychopath - despite having years of experience in mental care - more stupidity. Watches as the psychopath picks up a weapon - more stupidity. ( Aside: Flashback to 20 years ago shows FL's mom using a laptop that looks far more '2019' than it does '1999'. ) Then lets her totally push his buttons like he was still a little boy and pretty much invites her to stab him. Which she does. Granted, the ML never seemed to be the smartest kid on the block at any point in this series, but this sequence seemed just too stupid even for him. And all that is on top of the absurdly unrealistic idea that the FL's mom survived all this time in the first place. So sad ho much this series has jumped the shark over these last couple of episodes.And man, frankly, I'm really tired of Gang-Tae. He's so emotionally locked up he's near useless. Thank god Sang-Tae had the common sense to just knock the witch out. Sang-Tae (who also saved Kang Pil Ong in an earlier episode) is definitely the hero this show desperately needed, since the ML certainly never was. And of course the plot then leans into the cliche' trope of the FL rejecting the ML 'for his own protection'. As if that really makes any sense given that her mom was finally absolutely caught. Come on, writers! Do better.And then what's up with the silliness of Jae-Su and Sang-Min not telling the others the truth about what happened? The witches arrest is now a police matter and thus a public matter! What are they being deceptive about it for? And then this doesn't even seem relevant later on.Oh well. Despite all the flaws in the plot, the actors and production crew all do a marvelous performance at delivering within this mess of a script. They are all still wonderful to watch. And Kang Sun Deok is still the best mom character ever! Once again she comes through with a clutch base-hit, this time in helping overcoming the aforementioned FL 'rejection' plot-trope.
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It's Okay to Not Be Okay Episode 14
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I really loved this show through the first 12 episodes. Among the many reasons was how it flipped a lot of tropes upside down (having the FL be a socio-path that you actually loved and sympathized for being one of the biggest flips). But this whole 'mommy-dearest-returns-from-the-dead' arc is just stupid and not credible. On top of that, the heavy reliance on lack of communication (not answering phones or text messages, staring speechlessly without talking, etc., etc. ) and 'white lies' between the various protagonists is just so annoying. Not informing everyone of 'Nurse Park' being a psychopath is just absurd irresponsibility on the part of Gang-Tae & the Director.. Not telling his brother is one thing. Not telling those around him who to be protecting him from is insane. And the FL & ML not talking to each other very much in order to 'protect the other' is just so stupid and cliche'. Basically the plot became utter trash in this episode.This episode has dragged out long stretches in scenes with nobody actually talking or doing anything. Blatantly just filling up screen time now to drag this out. All those complaints about the plot said, I can't fault the cast or crew as the actors especially are really delivering on some powerful scenes. The scene with Sang-Tae spoon-feeding Mun-Yeong porridge got me so choked up. Both Seo Yea Ji and Oh Jung Se are just phenomenal.
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It's Okay to Not Be Okay Episode 13
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This episode was overall very good. Much better than the prior couple with good progression of all the characters ... but they now have this fairly contrived evil-mom-returns sub-arc looming over everthing. I get it, it will add a couple of extra episodes to the series in order to resolve. And I guess that makes money. But it feels very gimmicky. The obvious open question now is whether the nurse is a psycho fan who is pretending to be the mom (like the patient) or if she really is the mom, somehow having survived and come back. If they try to play it off as the latter, that's going to destroy any credibility because there is just no physical way she could have survived both the fall (cracked her head open with massive blood loss) AND being dropped with weights to the bottom of the lake. So it has to be just a psycho doppelgänger. Which would make it once again a bit of sub-plot recycling which has already happened a lot in this series.
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It's Okay to Not Be Okay Episode 12
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The 'mom twist' wasn't really all that surprising but felt really contrived. More disappointed with the ML's regressive response to it. It feels like he's going in circles as a character. Every time you think. he's showing progress towards being mentally healthy he retreats back behind his wall of self-absorbed martyrdom. To be honest, while I understand that a big part of this story is supposed to be about his growth towards mental health, to this point the series, he is just NOT a likable character. He shows flashes of goodness but most often is just an insensitive self-absorbed jerk. And I especially hate the stupid plot trope of "I won't reveal this dark secret to her in order to protect her". It's such a stupid over-used dumb plot device.
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It's Okay to Not Be Okay Episode 11
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Gang-Tae finally seems to have been able to understand and move past contrived guilt and instead to rational responsibility as a reason to care for his brother. The latter state of mind allows him room to also be responsible to others and, most importantly, to himself. Loved the scene where he talks to Sang-Tae about what it really means to be a family by using the example of the cartoon character Gil-dong's inclusiveness. His years of learned skills working with patients and his understanding of his brother are on full display as he walks through this conversation. This episode is perhaps my favorite so far because it is crystalizing real growth in several characters. Obviously Gang-Tae, but also Sang-Tae, Ju-Ri , Sang-In and Jae-Soo. Oh, and I have to give another shout for how much I love the character of Kang Sun Deok . She's just the best mom.
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