Categories: K-dramas

Action Movies to the Countryside Mental Hospital in Episode 3 of It’s Okay to Not be Okay as Ratings Go Back up to 5.940%

I can’t get my arms around either the plot or ratings of tvN drama It’s Okay to Not be Okay and it’s all in good ways. This drama keeps me off kilter and every scene feels meaningful and thrilling, I was riveted to episode 3 and there is so much to talk about. The drama setting moves from Seoul to the countryside of Sungjin which will be the setting from here on out, much like the seaside town of Sokcho played a key role in the same PD’s last drama Encounter. Sungjin is where Kang Tae and Sung Tae have been running from, the “butterfly” that killed their mom and the place of cruelly dashed hopes and dreams. It’s telling that Kang Tae goes back to both run away from Moon Young but also because Moon Young calls him out on his run away/avoidance two step self-preservation personality.

Moon Young follows and what ensues is brilliant – she becomes the crazier than the mental patients literature teacher at the hospital and plays a key role in helping cameo crazy guy played by Kwak Dong Yeon (so awesome) get some much needed catharsis with his flashing and self-destructive behavior as a stand in for fatherly validation. Each scene between Kang Tae and Moon Young sizzles with sexual and mental energy but there is also countless nuggets of great storytelling to feast on. This drama is so good I can’t even, Kim Soo Hyun you are like a savant of drama picking dude. There is also another reunion, the director of the mental hospital is played by Kim Chang Wan who acted as Kim Soo Hyun’s good friend/fake father in You From Another Star.

ockoala

View Comments

    • Watching on Netflix in US. This drama is one of the best I've seen in a while. It is so unexpected.... the reactions of the actors in some scenes are hilarious! There is other drama to compare to IOTNBO! (MY opinion)

  • Whatever koala why are not posting backstreet rookie ratings??? Which got really high?? Are u triggered?? Lol anyways backstreet rookie will save kdramaland 2020 because of kim yoo jung

      • omg. this is so funny. i have to laugh. 8.3% ratings (for a public channel) and 5.9% (for a cable channel). i guess you don’t know how viewership ratings work in korea. ??‍♀️ a greater than 5% rating for a cable channel is already considered a “great” rating while a 7.5% to 12% rating for a public broadcast in korea is considered “average”. lol the 1st half of backstreet rookie’s 4th episode was 4.6% which is considered “poor”.

        try to learn about korea’s viewership ratings from here:
        https://aminoapps.com/c/k-drama/page/blog/understanding-viewership-ratings/g01h_6u4blLnz8WZNlB3WNRed7eBg7

      • I dont understand whether those mentioning kim yoo jung are fans or antis
        If u actually r fans i dont think u need to mention her everywhere to create fan war becoz this post is not abt backstreet
        I m kim yoo jung fan and this behaviour even i cant tolerate becoz u indirectly causing harm to ur idols
        And success of any drama is a team effort the credit goes to everyone even the failure
        So if u actually a fan plz stop it becoz its not doing good to our idol

      • @Yas.

        I guess the 7-12% average needs to be adjusted because after 2016, ratings get lower and lower. Hence, in my opinion, the average now is 5-10% for a public channel.

      • Are you suffering from antisocial personality disorder yourself? Because the way you are talking.... You know one of the main traits of antisocial personality disorder is display of arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated. Not to mention having poor prognosis and being callous, cynical and disrespectful to others. Your words exhibit all those signs. You should try to get diagonsed once.

      • To those who r saying backstreet rookie rating not high
        I think it is high considering all the negative comments and cancellation issues surrounding it and its just 4th episode
        Lets wait and see becoz no one can predict future
        Just being positive for my backstreet team
        Fighting

      • @ana

        Whether or not there are controversies or (rumored) cancellatiion request- this does not change the fact the BSR got low and average viewership ratings on the first and second part, respectively. Im just saying.

    • Sorry, look at the rating for tv chosen and you really can’t call backstreet rookie rating as high. It has improved for sure but not high, Is only 6+% if you average out the two epi and it is aired on free public station.

    • Technically neither It's Ok Not to be Ok nor Backstreet Rookie have HIGH ratings. Other dramas from last year and early this year had much better ratings in those time slots.

      • You're right. I don't like Park Si Hoo at all, but it's quite impressive how his drama can achieve such ratings on a small cable network like TV Chosun.

    • Backstreet Rookie?
      *chokes*

      It's not watchable to me unfortunately, and I like both Jo Chang-wook and Kim Yoo-jung

    • Lol TV Chosun is the real winner here, getting 6% despite being on a smaller channel and with Park Sihoo as the male lead.
      But of course Koala only focus on Its Okay as male lead is KSH.

      • You know why Koala or anybody sane shouldn't talk about Park Shi Hoo. If you want to support a shady guy, do it yourself. We don't want him mentioned or hyped here.

      • I don't even like him, but I am mocking Koala for choosing KSH's drama to report on every episode's ratings to invite traffic as it would definitely incite fanwars from Backstreet Rookie fans and LMH fans.

      • i love park si hoo in saeguk! i noticed that psh reallly can bring a high rating even in cable channel. the obly exception is the one with sonh jihyo. but all of his drama in cable channel got a high rating. miss him in my princess

    • really high??don't be delusional please.. among all of sbs kdrama in fri sat slot, they are the most bottom one in term of rating

  • Lovely episode.

    I laugh so hard at the deer scene rofl

    There were things I had problems with in this episode but I enjoyed it regardless ^^

  • I'm glad KSH choose this project. I really admired the directing and cinematography, the writing is something else. At the end of ep 3 when Kang Tae pictured himself jumping at stage, I can see and feel his emotion, how he has suppressed all the negative emotion and try to be okay all the time. It's not healthy,you know.

    And the chemistry between main leads, cannot get enough of the shirtless KSH with Seo Ye Ji.

    Btw, i also really like Backstreet Rookie, the style is awesome, like watching manga alive on screen. I'm blessed with those two dramas to watch on my weekend :)

  • So biggest paid drama actor of decade and king of last decade cant even bring doubke digit u like cloy and twom.
    Producets didnt pay that chrck for acvlaim but for ratings. It is average at maximum . And there is no profit pre airing for this.
    Top most actors and this is what he brings? His gans told me he will brkng 20% on cable easily. On netflix it is doing ok. But here people told me netflix is irrelevant as well. So now dont use it as criteria.
    Ksh last project was flop n this one is below average. For that paycheck he delivers this?

    • If you are judging a show on the basis of ratings, why are you even watching it? Aren't you wasting your time as well as our time by writing such comments which nobody cares for. Tell me something are you frustrated from life and do you need a scapegoat to take out that frustration on? If you feel so high and mighty, what are you even doing here among us bitching about the show and actors?Just go and watch CLOY again instead of wasting time n words here

    • Over 5% rating on TvN is not bad. You said The King would bring 20% ratings and it was even shown on a FREE public channel. Did you forget your own words? As long as you are not the one paying KSH, what are you bitter about?

      • I doubt he got paid for 5% lmao.
        Excuses. And here some people were saying this drama is doing good on netflix. Hypocrisy is thing here.
        King actually made profit. What bout this one lmao

      • making profit or not does not concern me at all if this is the only reason you are picking on about this drama. The acting in this drama is superb. The directing is also excellent. The King is just a mess in everything. So what if the King made profit, what have you gained from that as an audience?

      • First if a cable drama is getting above 5% then it is doing well and average rating is 2-3 for cable dramab. CLOY is about North Korea which south Korean likes...and same with TWOM. They have targeted 15% ratings which is quite high for cable drama. This drama have not completed even 25% of it. Atleast wait for 8-10 episodes. IOTNOB is healing drama which is rare in Korea. Everyone is saying this is a Gem/ masterpiece. On Netflix it ranked 6th worldwide with just two episodes that means it is getting profit. It is doing far better than TEKM which air on public channel. Remember CLOY got above 10% in its 8 th episode which means they have time to bounce back.

    • He's doing very well considering he has no star writer, big budget production and popular female lead.

  • Goes to show that tvN sat-sun ratings have really taken a dive after the boost it received starting spring/summer of last year with Arthdal Chronicles and Hotel del Luna, peaking early this year with CLOY. Hope it increases further. It's a good drama.

  • Watching this drama makes me think and feel all sort of emotions. I couldn't help but shed tears at some scenes. The loneliness, the monster that lives within us, society standards and our own identity. this is a journey for not only the leads but people that are just little different than others. You can't change your destiny but you can try to find a way to live it your way. When a drama makes me ramble on that just means how good it is. PBIO fighting!

    • same here. I almost teared up while watching some scenes in Episodes 1 and 2 and i got scared in Episide 3. . Will continue watching this drama. I do hope that the viewrship rating will increase in the succeding episodes. Fighting Cast and Crew of Its okay to not be okay.

      • yea I hope the prod team and the cast know how much this drama is appreciated. It's such a gem and they can be proud for it, regardless of what naysayers might say. When a drama is good, it will leave an impact this way or other.
        I'm still a mess after ep4, mygosh this drama really TT

  • I watched Ep 3 raw last night because, well, I was very curious whether the show would keep up its quirky storytelling and tone. I was definitely not disappointed.

    On board with koala about the themes being explored here. On the surface it seems a bit detached from reality but when you examine the characters, you see so many emotions. Pain, sadness, love, innocence, envy, jealousy, anger...and certainly, on deeper examination, crazy people do exist in our everyday lives. Even the seemingly normal ones have some kind of crazy inside.

    The actors are superb at portraying these emotional nuances. Great casting job. Hopefully they keep the story alive and bring it to a good close.

    I haven't watched kdramas in well over 3 years as I felt drama quality had dropped a lot. After seeing everyone clamoring over CLOY, I thought I would check out some of the new stuff and came upon this, it's a good revival for me. And no, I didn't watch CLOY straightaway and might not do so any time soon.

    As for Backstreet Rookie, I checked it out purely due to Kim Yoo Jung. Story-wise and storytelling-wise, nothing on IONTBO but it is very cute. Both dramas should have its own followers. Perhaps KYJ might want to select a different role next. This seems to be a similar role to Clean with Passion? Even the cute, comic-book like presentation is similar to that drama plus the much older male lead. I understand as a very young actress, she might want to avoid the heavy, mature roles but after this and maybe after taking a break, she can come back with more mature offerings. She can certainly pull it off.

  • I hope this drama tone back the comedic sense, it doesn't match the overall vibe, just it took off guard while watching ep 3

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