Season 3 is comparatively more dramatic, and perhaps more case-focused than our previous seasons, but I do think that we get enough of what makes us love this series, to make this worth the watch.
Alongside – and often, in the midst of – the bigger cases that Show serves up, we get to see our characters grow in themselves, and in their relationships with one another, as they wrestle with the various challenges that come their way.
And, along with all that, Show does give us the warm, hopeful feels, along with lashings of poignance, that we’ve come to know and love, from this series.
Just three years ago, if you’d told me that I’d be spending precious drama hours binging a medical show – for fun – I wouldn’t have believed you.
Medical shows have just never been my thing, y’know? 😅
But then, a couple of years back, you guys voted for Dr. Romantic as a group watch (Open Threads listed here), and that’s how I ended up watching – and very much enjoying – Season 1 of this show.
Some of you guys then told me that Season 2 was arguably more enjoyable than Season 1, and so I had vague good intentions of checking out Season 2, but that never happened, because of all the other shows always clamoring for my attention – until now.
Why now, you may ask? Well, it’s because Season 3 is finally here, I want to check out Season 3, along with everyone else.
(And once again, this means that it’s basically FOMO to the rescue, ha. 😅)
I feel like the most effective, succinct way to describe this show, is a sentiment that I saw floating around the interwebs; that this show is very much My Mister – but with romance.
That’s high praise, because most drama fans agree that My Mister is a masterpiece of a drama – and I do think that this show deserves that praise.
To my eyes, this is as thoughtful and as carefully conceived, and as nuanced and faceted, and as illuminating, organic and visceral, in the watch experience, as My Mister.
Our entire cast is excellent, but Kim Young Kwang and Lee Sung Kyung truly stand out, as our leads.
As a bonus, the music is lilting and lovely, in a manner that amplifies Show’s sweet melancholy.
Cheerful, sweet and engaging, this show is easy to love.
The conflicts and character journeys all feel relatable and real, with poignant coming-of-age struggles taking centerstage.
The friendship-to-romance is treated with sensitivity and good humor, and the search for meaning and identity underscores everything with a lovely heartfelt poignance.
The excellent cast makes everything pop, and Nam Joo Hyuk is more melty – and more excellent – than I’ve seen him, ever.
If there’s one thing that Doctors has taught me, it’s that medical dramas are really not my thing.
I mean, I already knew, going in, that I’m generally not one to get at all excited about medical emergencies and the like.
Still, the positive buzz and high ratings got me curious enough to dive in (sometimes I am too curious for my own good, I think!) – and when I eventually became bored with Show at large, Kim Rae Won’s strong, leap-off-my-screen warmth persuaded me to stay.
His deep velvety voice and crinkly, cozy-toasty smile didn’t hurt either.
You know how, when you drive past an accident on a highway, and your brain says not to waste time staring, since that’ll just slow down traffic even more, but as you crawl past in your car, the curious cat in you can’t help but stare in morbid fascination anyway?
Yep. That’s sorta what happened with me and Cheese In The Trap.
Because I wasn’t able to keep current with the episodes as they aired, I was only at episode 8 (ish?) when all the behind-the-scenes drama erupted and everyone got really upset with Park Hae Jin’s heavily reduced screen time in the last third of the drama.
A big part of my brain said then, that I ought to just drop the drama and look away while the going was good, but the curious cat in me was morbidly fascinated by it all. Was it as bad as everyone said, I wondered.
I guess there’s something to be said for spoilers, since I went into the finale stretch having had the ending quite thoroughly spoiled (I couldn’t help reading ending spoilers, even though I’m usually much more spoiler-phobic; not only was I morbidly fascinated, I was also – at times, anyway – trying to decide whether or not to keep watching).
That prepped me for the ending really well, and in the end, I didn’t actually hate it. Gasp!
A quirky confection that is as sweet as it is strange, It’s Okay serves up an oddball-flavored 3-in-1 love package exploring romance, friendship and family, with a big dose of dysfunction and dramaland psychiatry on the side.
Show is not always big on the logic nor on the medical accuracy, but its characters and relationships are consistently delivered with heart and nuance, helping us to buy into and believe in its world, no matter how surreal things sometimes get.
Excellent performances by our leads as well as many of the secondary characters, together with some very sparky OTP chemistry, help to sweeten the deal.
At its heart, It’s Okay’s charm is that it’s an imperfect show peopled by imperfect characters, to appeal to an imperfect audience.
