'It's Okay, It's Love' Ends On A Happy Note And With High Ratings

"It's Okay, It's Love" ended with high ratings and on an optimistic note. The drama, which attempted to portray mental illnesses in a sympathetic light, did just that, even if it occasionally confused viewers about the disorders it wanted to portray.

Mystery novelist Jang Jae Yeol, expertly played by Jo In Sung, was described in the drama's promotional material as being obsessive compulsive but he wasn't by any clinical definition. He did like his home neatly color coordinated but his compulsive behavior stopped there. Some reviewers described him as schizophrenic. But while his character did have one dangerous delusion, seeing and talking to someone who did not exist, that person was created by his mind as a way to cope with a traumatic childhood. The character made sense most of the time and otherwise was well grounded in reality.

His problem was more closely related to post traumatic stress disorder although his delusion was extreme.

And yet one thing the drama did portray very accurately was how mental illness can affect the lives of the people around you. It might be easier to love someone with a physical disability than a mental problem, as you can never predict how that person is going to act. That was the case for Jang Jae Yeol's psychiatrist girlfriend Hae Soo, played by Gong Hyo Jin.

She wanted to support him and love him as he was but she knew he needed help.

In the end, thanks to her help, Jang Jae Yeol took medication and recognized his delusion for what it was. He accepted his flaws, realized he should not feel guilty for what happened in his childhood, and learned to truly love himself. That's a tall order for anyone.

The character returned to his successful career, enjoyed love and had a family.

It was a happy ending if not a realistic one. In real life, creative people may find that medications such as those that are used to treat schizophrenia interfere with their ability to be creative, but in this happy ending it did not.

Nor did either character even briefly consider the possibility that any of Jang Jae Yeol's problems or that of his family were hereditary and might come into play when he had a child.

But being negative about the treatment of mental illness was never the intention of this drama.

"It's Okay, It's Love" had a happy, hopeful and optimistic ending, bringing the drama from 11.4 percent in the ratings on Monday to 12.9 percent for its finale.

In second place, "My Spring Days" jumped from 8.1 to 8.7 percent, while "Blade Man" fell from 6.6 to 5.7 percent.