A beautiful heartache

I love a show where I am so engrossed in the alternate universe it has created, and—when I’m done—leaves me in awe of the team of people who have created it.

The score is perfection. It reminds me of my favorite regency pieces while seamlessly interweaving modern pop and it plays the balance game so well. Furthermore, when there was no BG music was even more notable. This drama goes off the beaten path so often and with the skill that is only mastered in the way a team of experts with freedom could.

While it diverges from the norm with the score, it also announces its uniqueness in the first episode by mixing mediums of animation, claymation, and beautiful wardrobe. You’re not immersed into an alternate reality: In fact, the characters’ world is identical to yours. Yes, they believe in love and there’s sadness, but the power of the mind is its own character as much as it is IRL, and rightfully so.

I was most uncomfortable by the treatment of people with social and emotional disorders. Let me be clear though: It wasn’t ham-fisted, haphazard, or even irresponsibly done. As someone who frequently discusses these treatments in her line of work, I am always über conscious of characters portrayals when those characters are on the fringes of society due to no fault of their own, and kudos to this show for its very deliberate effort to be responsible. Oh Jung-Se is perfect in his role as a brother with autism spectrum disorder, and he acts only in a way that he (and maybe Lee Kyu-Hyung!!!!) could.

Though, all the actors deserve their props. Every Adam’s apple and unfocused peripheral hand was in character, and these actors have superb control over their vessels to perform as they did for this show. This cannot be done without an amazing team, and so, everyone involved in the making of “It’s Okay...” deserves 10 stars.

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This second act will punch you in the gut.

Truthfully, I was looking for a new drama, saw this recommendation almost a year after first watching it, thought hard about what I’d write, and went to watch it again only to stop myself because I had not yet written this review.

You’ll read many other lengthy reviews, so here’s what you need to know:
1) This drama’s beginning and ending are worlds apart. Other than introducing the general disposition of the characters, this second act will leave you in a tizzy with no care for anyone you’ve met at the beginning but our three main characters.
2) The storyline is a sliver of the realistic tragedy that (hopefully) few live in. We meet protagonists who are merely trying to get by. In so many ways they are confronted by love, and every single time they acquiesce to finally accept the love they didn’t think they could have (romantic and fraternal), other powers rip the rug out from under them.
3) Despite all the depressing content, this show is worth watching for the resilience that our characters scrape to have. The main couple does an amazing job of portraying two people who are bewildered to find their other half, reject it, and find that they are more tormented to be without each other. And while the show is not rife with sexiness, the chemistry between both actors is constantly smoldering just below the surface so you feel both their relief and tension each time they are together.

Mild spoiler: As you watch this show you will be mad at other characters for threatening our heroes’ happiness, and then afterwards you’ll be mad at the writers for bringing to life such people only to experience such heartache.

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Decent show needs label “Trigger Warning: SA”

From an analysis of the story and it’s uniqueness in kdrama world, this drama meets the mark. It is of an intelligent female judge, Judge Park (played by Go A-ra) who fights unwaveringly for the law to be as nuanced and considerate as the every-day man may need. Why? Because she’s lived life with a silver spoon and without—she knows that behind every person is a story. In many ways, this drama is a literary romance that makes you want to champion for change. Furthermore, the drama takes a very hard look at the working and sometimes personal lives of people of varied social status, so you appreciate a plot that is not filled with clichés and product placement (though there is the mandatory karaoke scene) for the sake of familiarity. As a social justice drama (not to be mistaken with a courtroom drama), every victory, even the minuscule ones or missed ones are high stakes, and in reality, these circumstances are always high stakes to someone. The drama is, at its essence, different by being heavy on the heroine’s journey and light on the leads’ romance, but most times it’s well-written enough that the lack of romance is okay.

Acting:
When we delve into the acting, this drama gets harder to review. There are some incredibly strong (and seasoned) supporting characters—both men and women— who pull you into their lives and love journeys with almost no hesitation. They are definitively crafted and their growth is reasonable (though accelerated... but it’s a drama). Quite frankly, the second leads carry far more than their weight of this dramas as they too deal with gender roles, harassment, and romance. I wish I could guarantee that my review for acting of the leads is unbiased, but this is not true. You’ll either love or be unimpressed/ unbothered by the male lead, Kim Myung Soo who plays Judge Im. The ticks of his character are often overdone, but fortunately they are short lived and only serve as comedic reminders about Im’s discomfort. Kim Myung Soo really excels by playing with the camera... so perhaps this is the work of the director and composer, but every moment our male lead finds himself love struck is completely endearing and cute. In many ways, our female lead is equally as cute when romance is on her mind, but as this is really her story, we see her more frequently deal with the constant trauma of civil and criminal cases more than love. Generally, Judge Park responds the same way but with varied sequence: Furiously, curiously, and empathetically. Go A-ra deserves a commendation here: She can cry on cue. The number of cues, though are... so, so, so, many.

A few thoughts:
If you are a kdrama viewer who watches with more than your heart, I hate to say it, but you have two choices: 1) Suspend reality in a way you never have before, and/or 2) Do NOT watch this drama with the comments on. The suspension of reality is NOT for time traveling parallel universes, but for meeting yet another female character who lacks the intelligence to apply new information; It is for the sheer volume of liberties taken by the heroine in a high stress and high profile job; It is for this social justice drama thinking it is dressed as a courtroom drama. Also, do not watch this drama in a platform with real time comments because, while you may go to the comments for clarity, you will leave focused on many other aspects of production for which your subconscious was doing tumbles to help you avoid, and now these distractions will be all you will see.

Story:
It’s worth noting that the plot can feel slow at times. This may be because of the slooowwwwwwwwww progress of romance between the main leads and the repetitive nature of some of the court cases; obviously, for our heroine to grow she must deal with a specific type of case before she overcomes the trauma of her own past, but the sheer amount of sexual misconduct addressed (NOT shown), while realistic, may be very triggering for some.

Conclusion:
Truth is, it is rare to find a perfect drama: There are few perfect dramas (despite the liberal scores of 10s given). The heart of the writer is bleeding and each case is compelling. Unfortunately, the writers felt we’d only sympathize if they used the actors to model how we viewers should feel. At this, Go A-ra becomes exhausting because despite this being a drama where her character is to grow—she flatly does not though every one else does. There are some characters where it’d be nice to excuse, but foolish to excuse (No. I will not be gaslighted to think the alcoholic father’s bleeding heart redeems him for failing to support his OWN very-struggling family.). STILL, the individual moments of justice soar where the characters, and romance do not.

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