Hospital Playlist: Episode 5

by lovepark

These five friends promise their patients to do their best, which means working long nights and rushing back to the hospital at odd hours. Despite dealing with life or death situations on a daily basis, doctors and nurses are people just like us. They experience love, heartache, fear, and joy because at the end of the day, even heroes are humans.

 
EPISODE 5 RECAP

In the emergency room, Jung-won checks a young patient and curses under his breath. He orders Gyu-wool to call the police, suspecting the patient’s father for child abuse, but the father overhears their conversation and runs. Slipping off her shoes, Gyu-wool chases after him.

While Jung-won checks the other twin’s x-rays to prove his hunch, Gyu-wool weaves through the crowded hospital and finds the perfect moment to tackle the father. She successfully brings him down, but he kicks her away and breaks free. Just as he makes his escape, a water jug comes flying towards him. Song-hwa to the rescue!

The police question the father about abusing his children, but he denies the allegations. He challenges the doctors’ assumptions, but Jung-won presents even more evidence of abuse, revealing the other twin’s previous fractures. With that, the police take him away, but the father turns back and sneers at Jung-won, vowing to seek revenge.

Gyu-wool waits expectantly for Jung-won to praise her, but he turns to Joon-hee and compliments her on the x-rays. As for Gyu-wool, Jung-won tells her to get the operating room ready, and she visibly deflates.

Dropping by Jung-won and Joon-wan’s office, Ik-joon rummages through Joon-wan’s sweets drawer as he updates Jung-won about Politician Shim. The politician tried to trick the hospital by switching donors, and both friends scoff at the politician’s audacity.

Ik-joon wonders where Joon-wan is (while munching on his stolen chocolates), and Jung-won tells him that he went out today. They assume that he has another girl, though they doubt the relationship will last longer than three months.

Checking his phone, Jung-won gasps and shows Ik-joon the news about the fake donor working for Seok-hyung’s father. Meanwhile, Seok-hyung leaves the surgery room, and in the hall, he reads about the scandal with a grim expression.

That evening, all five friends meet at a restaurant, and Song-hwa asks about Joon-wan’s home renovations. During the construction period, Joon-wan and Jung-won (who’s freeloading off his friend) are staying at Ik-joon’s place.

Seok-hyung drowns himself in cola instead of alcohol since he’s on call, and points out that his family is like the bean powder (which is a phrase in Korean meaning a messed-up family). Ik-joon doesn’t deny it, and the friends take turns badmouthing Seok-hyung’s father. When it’s Jung-won’s turn, he tells the group that back in college, Seok-hyung’s father asked him to buy a pack of cigarettes without giving him money. (“And he still hasn’t paid me back.”) Hahahaha!

They ask Seok-hyung how his mom is taking the news, and he says that she doesn’t seem to care. Ik-joon says that she should get a divorce like him, and Song-hwa marvels at how they’ve grown so much, being able to discuss such topics with ease.

Ik-joon defends his actions, turning to Seok-hyung for support, but Seok-hyung tells him that divorce is a sin. He admits to feeling guilty towards his ex-wife since she suffered a lot because of him and his family. Without missing a beat, Joon-wan looks at Ik-joon and tells him, “You did good, getting that divorce.” Heh.

Song-hwa tells the others to hurry since they have a lot to do tonight, and after dinner, the friends gather at Seok-hyung’s house for band practice. They play “Deep Night” by Crying Nut, but in the middle of the song, both Seok-hyung and Ik-joon gets calls from their residents. The song lyrics perfectly reflect the remaining trio’s feelings as they sing, “Don’t leave me behind.”

At the hospital, Ik-joon’s patient refuses to accept his daughter’s liver, so Ik-joon promises to make sure his daughter’s surgery will be painless. At the same time, Seok-hyung runs to the treatment room at full speed and is met with a handful of confetti. His department wanted to give him a surprise birthday party, but from his look, it seems their surprise cut a few years off his lifespan.

Also celebrating Seok-hyung’s birthday are the abandoned three friends (it’s so sad but funny), and Seok-hyung’s mom brings them some snacks. She asks Song-hwa if she wants to stay over since it’s late (“Seok-hyung’s room is clean”), and her friends silently mouthed at her to sleepover. Pwahaha!

In contrast with Politician Shim, the liver transplant patient and his wife show much more concern for their daughter (the donor), and unlike the politician’s son, their daughter seems more than willing to donate. When the day arrives, the father cries before entering the operating room, feeling guilty for taking his daughter’s liver.

Meeting with a patient and her doting husband, Seok-hyung tells them that the mother is doing well so they shouldn’t worry. Fond of Seok-hyung and his manners, the wife offers to introduce him to someone if he’s single, and Seok-hyung fumbles for his words before politely turning her down. The husband also has a question and asks if he can sing during the birth, which leaves Seok-hyung at a loss for words.

During surgery, Joon-wan hears from Jae-hak and the others about the new doctor in their department, Dr. Chun. He’s famous for being scary to his patients, and the scene cuts to Dr. Chun living up to his reputation. He dismisses his patient’s questions and ends the meeting within minutes.

Song-hwa meets with her residents, and after Chi-hong goes over a case, she asks them about lunch. Seok-min tells her that Jae-hak is buying them food, but Chi-hong wants lunch with Song-hwa instead (which catches Seon-bin’s eye). Song-hwa agrees to treat him, and though the other residents now change their minds, Song-hwa tells them that they’ve missed their chance.

Ik-joon finishes his portion of the liver transplant successfully, but hearing a commotion from the other room, he pops in to help the fellow in charge of removing the father’s liver. Once things are settled, Ik-joon tells the fellow that Dr. Kwon (a skilled doctor at their hospital) didn’t even get to see a liver during his first solo surgery and lets the younger doctor know that it’s okay to struggle as long as they improve.

Jae-hak drops by the bank, and the teller congratulates him on saving over 100 million won (roughly $82,000). He tells his wife the good news as he goes back to the hospital to treat the others… to street food. Seok-min and Seon-bin sigh at their lunch, and Jae-hak promises to buy them meat next time.

They ask him what he’s doing with his savings, and Jae-hak tells them that they’re leasing a house tomorrow. Seok-min warns him about the recent real estate scams, but Jae-hak ignores his advice. Seon-bin thinks that he should have kept a little for a vacation over the weekend, but the chief residents ask what a “vacation” and “weekend” are.

Jung-won visits his mom who prepares an assortment of vegetables from her garden for lunch. He badgers her to eat a more balanced diet, but Rosa says that she gets all her nutrients and motions towards her box of vitamins.

While they eat, Jung-won mentions his intentions to become a priest, but Rosa gets up from the table to get some sauce. Jung-won tries again, but this time, Rosa shoves food in his mouth to silence him. She tells him not to join because she would be too lonely, and Jung-won drops the topic as he fans his hot mom with some leaves.

Jong-soo and his cousin (the hospital director) drop by Rosa’s house and are tasked with removing the poop from the anchovies. Not following her orders, Jong-soo removes the heads entirely, giggling with the director about their trick, but Rosa catches them red-handed. Jong-soo raises his hand in repentance while the director shifts all the blame onto his cousin. These two are such a riot!

The third guest is Seok-hyung’s mom who came dressed to the nines. Jung-won asks if she wants coffee, but when she asks him why he isn’t married, he twirls around and returns to the kitchen. Rosa comments on her uncomfortable outfit, but Seok-hyung’s mom says that she is dressed comfortably. Rosa’s and the director’s expressions are priceless.

As they eat noodles, Jong-soo asks about mafia game since his grandson wants to play it with him. Jung-won tells him that they can play it today, and Seok-hyung’s mom says that it sounds fun since The Godfather is also fun. She’s hilarious.

Jung-won explains the rules to the group, and the others seem eager to play. Rosa suggests having a prize for the winner, so Jung-won pulls out recital tickets he got from Jong-soo. This prompts another round of questions directed at Jung-won’s love life, so he tells them that he’s in love with the Lord, which earns him a smack from Rosa.

Before they start playing, Jung-won tells them that he’ll choose the mafia at “night” and then the game begins when it’s “morning.” The adults interpret the instructions literally, and Jong-soo makes sure that everyone is free this afternoon. Jung-won’s look of disbelief just makes everything funnier.

Jung-won starts their first round, but when he chooses Rosa as mafia, she announces her identity to the whole group before the game even begins. After these initial hiccups, the group finally plays a real round of mafia, and everyone is busy trying to prove their innocence.

The director questions Jong-soo who says that he isn’t mafia but then changes tactics and claims to be mafia. Rosa wonders how he runs the hospital, and Jong-soo says that the hospital has been doing better since he took charge. He even comments on the free publicity they’ve been getting because of someone’s husband. The shade!

Most of the suspicions land on Rosa, and when it comes time to vote, even Jong-soo is in favor of killing her. Unfortunately, mafia wins, and Jung-won reveals Jong-soo’s true identity as mafia. Rosa smacks his drink in his face and accuses him for always being a weasel since their schooldays. She then wipes his wet clothes, but still mad at him for tricking her, she puts him in a headlock while cleaning his face. Hahaha!

After a day of fun, Seok-hyung’s mom talks with her son over the phone, and to his surprise, she enjoyed her time at Rosa’s house and wants to come next week as well. She tells him that she hasn’t laughed this much since turning old. She thanks Seok-hyung and asks him to pass on her gratitude to Jung-won as well.

Gyu-wool eats with Min-ha and Nurse Han, and they talk about Min-ha’s failed date last weekend. She tells them that she broke up with him because he turned out to be a materialistic jerk, and Nurse Han mentions Min-ha’s wish to have her first kiss on Christmas.

Gyu-wool is surprised that Min-ha hasn’t had her first kiss, either, but Min-ha calls her crazy—she meant her first kiss of the year. She tells the others that she’s planning to confess, but before she shares who her new crush is, she and Nurse Han are called away since the affectionate couple is here to give birth.

Meanwhile, Joon-wan runs to the ER and sighs over a patient who should have come in much sooner. Jae-hak tells him that the patient and his father are living paycheck to paycheck, so they might be worried about the cost. Joon-wan points out the patient’s condition and says that money isn’t the problem right now.

In her office, Song-hwa finds flowers on her desk and looks concerned by their presence. Back in the delivery room, the wife gives birth to a healthy child, and the husband sings a song to commemorate the moment. When he turns to serenade her, the wife whispers to Seok-hyung to stop him, but he just chuckles at the loving couple.

Ik-joon’s liver transplant patient opens his eyes, and the first thing he does is ask how his daughter feels. She tells her father that she’s fine, but he knows that it probably hurt and apologizes. The family cries, and in the corner, Ik-joon turns around to hide his tears behind his face mask. I can’t tell if I’m crying or laughing anymore.

Joon-wan prepares for surgery and goes outside to inform the father who has just arrived. Joon-wan tells him that his son will need a prosthetic valve, and the father grabs his arm, begging him to use the most expensive one they have. Joon-wan grabs the father’s hand and promises to use the best valve in the world.

In her office, Song-hwa suddenly stops working and grabs her chest, looking pained, but pretends nothing happened when her door opens. Ik-joon tells her to go home and then turns off her office lights as he leaves.

Chi-hong drops by next with a cup of coffee and asks if he can stay for a while. Song-hwa tells him to sit and gets right to the point: does he like her? Her bluntness catches him off guard, but Chi-hong admits that he has feelings for her.

He apologizes and tries to explain his sincerity, but Song-hwa cuts him off. She tells him to stop liking her, but Chi-hong says that this isn’t something that he can just stop. After stewing in awkward silence, Chi-hong excuses himself and leaves.

Joon-wan drives Ik-joon who tells him that his sister is staying over for the night. However, a call from Gyu-wool sends Ik-joon back to the hospital, so Joon-wan arrives at Ik-joon’s apartment by himself. Seeing Ik-soon in the kitchen, Joon-wan sneaks up behind her to scare her, but Ik-soon feels his presence and roundhouse kicks him in the face. Joon-wan falls to the floor looking terrified.

As Ik-joon leaves the hospital, he invites Gyu-wool over to his place since Jung-won is staying for a while, but he can’t do today since his sister is here. Gyu-wool asks if his sister is good at martial arts, and Ik-joon brags about her fifteen degrees and specialty kicks.

Having experienced Ik-soon’s fighting skills firsthand, Joon-wan now has a swollen face and a pair of broken glasses. He calls her kicks deadly, and she explains that she thought he was a burglar. (Joon-wan: “What kind of burglar enters using the passcode?” Ik-soon: “A new type of burglar?”)

Ik-joon laughs as he eats his noodles, and Ik-soon “helps” Joon-wan apply medicine by holding up a mirror for him, though she keeps bringing it down as a joke. She suddenly asks her brother if he ever met a celebrity before, since an actress asked about him at her friend’s wedding.

Joon-wan shows her a photo of Go Ara, and Ik-soon says that it’s her. Ik-joon admits that he once dated the actress, but they broke up because they lived in such different worlds. Ik-soon squeals at the new information, expressing her doubts, and Ik-joon complains about her always questioning him: “You wouldn’t even believe me if I said mom and dad are a couple.” Pffft.

Ik-soon wonders where she’s sleeping tonight, and Ik-joon tells her to use Joon-wan’s room. She gasps, “together?” and her brother scolds her for talking nonsense. Joon-wan is sleeping on the sofa today, and Ik-soon looks at him sympathetically. Joon-wan calls her out for being fake, and Ik-soon laughs since she was caught.

Early the next morning, a ringing phone wakes Joon-wan who groggily answers it. Ik-soon forgot her phone and asks Joon-wan to mail it to her base, but he offers to bring it to her, instead. He finds her outside the station eating toast, and when he hands over her phone, she gives him a present: another fake bird.

Ik-soon does have a real gift for him, though, and takes out some chocolates. She pours some of the candy into his hand, but tips the bottle too far as a joke. She does it a second time, and Joon-wan laughs at her antics.

She stops playing around and hands him three pieces, but as Joon-wan takes the chocolate, he holds her hand. She stares at him wide-eyed, and Joon-wan asks if he ever told her that he liked her: “Go out with oppa.” Smooth.

Ik-joon visits a new patient in the VIP ward, and the patient marvels at the nice room, telling them that his daughter is paying for everything. Ik-joon asks the nurse who the daughter, and right behind them, she enters. Go Ara waves at Ik-joon, mentioning how it’s been a while, and he smiles back at her.

Seok-hyung answers a call and is dumbfounded by the caller: it’s his father’s mistress. As he goes out to the hospital garden to meet her, Min-ha sees Seok-hyung in the hall and follows behind him. She stops by the café to order two drinks, but when she steps outside to greet him, she notices him with a lady and throws the drinks away.

The mistress asks Seok-hyung to persuade his mom to divorce his father, but Seok-hyung flat out tells her “no.” She informs him of her pregnancy and then has the gall to mention his mother’s illness. She hopes for both parties to act like adults, and believes Seok-hyung will do the right thing since he’s smart. Once she leaves, Seok-hyung sits in a daze and takes a few deep breaths to keep his emotions under control. (Ugh, she can take his trash father and never come back for all I care.)

Song-hwa meets with a doctor, and from the poster on the wall, she seems to be a breast cancer specialist. The doctor expresses worry about the lump on Song-hwa and suggests a biopsy. Song-hwa agrees to stay since it’ll only take twenty minutes, and after getting dressed, she lays in the dark room by herself. Her shoulders shake slightly as she breathes, and she grips her hands tightly together.

 
COMMENTS

First things first, I really hope Song-hwa will be okay. The final image of her alone in that room, not as a doctor but as a patient, really brought home the message that doctors are humans, too. When they’re sick, they can get scared and look lost in a hospital just like their patients. While any of the five friends being ill would be terrible, it’s especially disheartening to see Song-hwa like this because she almost seemed impregnable and flawless. However, it’s clear that this incident has shaken her up, and if she does have cancer, I hope she can confide in her friends and find comfort with them as well. So far, the friends have taken a hands-off approach when it comes to family and more personal matters, but this time, I hope they can all rally around Song-hwa if she needs them when the time comes. Granted, all this worrying may be for naught, and there could be another time jump in the next episode that brushes past this incident. However, unlike with the previous incidents (Ik-soon’s injury, Joon-wan’s visit to the base, etc.), I hope the show doesn’t skip through the details with this storyline because it seems cruel to tease the audience with a cancer scare and not provide more information. While I understand the need to cut some things from the plot, this isn’t something you casually drop and not develop further.

Besides the last scene with Song-hwa, the show continues depicting doctors and nurses as regular people who just happen to do extraordinary things for their jobs. They have crushes, hang out with friends, and have older family members who don’t know how to play games. A part of me enjoys the residents and the various crushes they have on their respective doctors, but as depicted in this episode, it’s not always a good thing. Though I felt bad for Chi-hong having his hopes crushed, I understood Song-hwa’s reservations and need to firmly set boundaries at work. Likewise, Gyu-wool’s crush is adorable (because she’s adorable), but I want the show to quickly reveal Jung-won’s opinion of her because that colors how I feel about her actions (and Ik-joon’s meddling). All we know so far is that Jung-won wants to become a priest, and unless the show tells us otherwise, they might unintentionally portray Gyu-wool’s crush as inappropriate if she does make a move. Right now, she hasn’t really done anything, so I’m enjoying her obvious (yet not really obvious) crush on Jung-won because it’s cute and funny. As for Min-ha, she’s growing on me, but I’m dubious about her crush on Seok-hyung. Unlike Chi-hong or Gyu-wool, it’s not immediately evident why she likes Seok-hyung, especially when she was talking poorly about him before. If anything, it would make more sense for Eun-won (the other resident) to have a crush, but I guess that would be too similar to the other residents. In fact, maybe the show wants me to think Min-ha likes Seok-hyung, but her crush is someone else entirely (wouldn’t explain the coffee scene, but maybe she just likes wasting food).

This might just be me, but the show reminds me of old Korean sitcoms (a genre that I loved despite its flaws). The episodes feel like vignettes knit together, and though the story has a linear timeline, you don’t necessarily have to watch every single scene to get the general gist of the show. There’s also an eclectic bunch of characters and their various relationships centered around a main setting with a core premise. For the most part, I really like this tone, and the show sometimes has so many jokes jam-packed within a scene that every line is essentially a punchline. My favorite example this episode was the mafia game which was comedy gold. From the ridiculous image of Jung-won fanning his mom to the last scene of Rosa putting Jong-soo in a headlock, that entire sequence was a riot from start to finish. There were so many jokes in there from the hospital director acting like the youngest of the bunch, to Seok-hyung’s mother getting everything wrong while trying to act elegant, to Jong-soo giggling like a child and acting like a little boy around his best friend. However, what makes the show so good is that even these comedic moments are used for character growth, and the show balances the funny with the emotional so well. At the end of the night, Seok-hyung’s mother tells him that she hasn’t enjoyed herself this much in a long while, and I was both happy for her for finally experiencing joy but also sad that no matter how much Seok-hyung changed to help her, it would have never been enough. That isn’t to say that there aren’t some shortcomings with this format (the quick succession from one character to the next), but overall, I think Hospital Playlist makes it work while adding a more modern sensibility to it. In general, I love the way the show layers emotions within scenes, which often means that I’m laughing then crying then laughing again. A great example of this was when the liver transplant patient was meeting with his family after the surgery, and in the corner, Ik-joon covers his eyes with his face mask so people don’t see him cry. It’s a touching scene (that contrasted nicely with Politician Shim), and I loved Ik-joon’s response to it.

Besides the writing and directing, the acting continues to amaze me and really elevates these characters. From the main friends to the supporting cast, everyone is so perfectly cast in their roles. Yoo Yeon-seok is Jung-won, and captures his multifaceted personality into one cohesive portrayal that makes him feel interesting and lovable rather than one-dimensional. Jeon Mi-do fills the screen with her presence, and simply commands attention as Song-hwa, depicting both her strength and compassion (it’s no wonder why Dr. Bong wants to write a biography about her). Jo Jung-seok is killing it in this role with his comedic timing and general exuberance, making full use of the character’s energy and confidence while not coming across as overbearing. Kim Dae-myung is also wonderful as Seok-hyung, and his acting prowess really showed in the garden scene with the mistress. Though Seok-hyung tries to hide his emotions and remain stoic, you can see the subtle flashes of hurt, surprise, and indignation towards this woman who feels no ounce of remorse. Finally, Jung Kyung-ho makes Joon-wan more swoon-worthy than he has any right to be from the way he carries himself and delivers his lines. In one moment, he’s glaring at Jae-hak for making a mistake, but in another, he has hearts pouring out from his eyes as he confesses his love. That last scene between Joon-wan and Ik-soon was absolutely precious, and I already love them together. Also, in case you didn’t know, Joon-wan’s official character description changed and now mentions Ik-soon in it!

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