New Season, New Song
Episode 1 of Hospital Playlist Season 2 starts with Seok-Hyeong getting a text from Min-ha asking him to have dinner. He hesitates for a second but turns her down. He then receives a call from Yoon Sin-Hye who tells him about Yoon Seon-Ju getting a CT scan due to a cerebral haemorrhage. We then cut to Min-Ha, looking sad after receiving the text but deciding to pretend she’s on a date with herself anyway. Meanwhile, Jun-Wan gets a call from Ik-Soon as she is taking a break from studying. After telling her how much he misses her, Jun-wan mentions that the ring has been returned to him. Ik-Soon seems surprised as she explains she has been in all week. She later video calls him and explains that the postman must have come when she stepped out for a bit. They wish each other merry Christmas and exchange a cute “I love you.” Back in the hospital, Seok-Hyeong updates Sin-Hye and her mother on her husband’s condition and does his best to reassure them. Sin-Hye explains that her father collapsed just before having dinner, then asks Seok-Hyeong to take her to get something to eat. He’s unable to refuse and follows her. Just as they head outside, Min-Ha sees them walk out as she returns to the hospital. Jong-Su and Ju-Jeon have dinner with Ro-Sa and Young-Hye. Ro-Sa receives a call from her son and is excited when she hears that he is coming over this weekend. She then tells her friends that he is not quitting the hospital and thinks that he may have a girlfriend. Ik-Jun gets ready to go cycling. As he says goodbye to his son, he is surprised to see how big he is getting. He heads out on his bike but when Ik-Jun takes a break, he sees two old men walking. Suddenly, one of them starts vomiting before collapsing on the floor with a seizure. He quickly tends to him and the ambulance arrives soon after. When he arrives at the hospital, Ik Jun is surprised to see Song-Hwa pulling over. She tells him she is there to do a lecture and the two head inside for some coffee. In the morning, Gyeo-Wool tends to her patients while Jun-Wan performs surgery. Jeong-Won starts working too and visits one of the children in the pediatric ward. Chae-Eun just had a liver transplant and has been feeling very down. She asks the doctor how long she will be able to live with her new liver so Jeong-Wong does his best to reassure her. After performing a surgery, Song-Hwa meets with Seok-Min and Sun-Bin and the three catch up. They discuss an upcoming lecture and how Ik-Jun has been requested to lead it. Song-Hwa then enters her office and finds the latter and Jun-Wan fighting over snacks. She quickly closes the door and tell them he will do it. Meanwhile, Seok-Hyeong takes Min-Ha aside and berates her for answering his call while she was in the middle of dressing a patient’s wound. She apologizes of course, and this seems to knock her confidence even more. An old patient (Yeon-U)’s mother comes to say hello to the nurses and brings some gifts. She sees Gyeol-Wool and starts talking about Yeon-U who unfortunately passed away in hospital. Gyeol-Wool receives a call and has to leave very quickly without speaking to he grieving mother. The nurses later wonder why Yeon-U’s mother keeps coming to the hospital, especially as her child died here. They wonder if it’s because she is there to find out if they made a mistake and may want to sue them. In the pediatric ICU, Jun-Wan heads to see Eun-Ji, who is waiting for a heart transplant. There, he finds Jae-Haek and Hong-Do looking at the little girl through the window. Being his usual strict self, Jun-Wan puts Hong-Do on the spot and asks him a medical question about the condition of the little girl. In the OB-GYN unit, Min-ha and Professor Yeom Se-Hee have to tell a 19-week-gone pregnant woman that her water has broken and that unfortunately, her baby will not survive. It is too early to be born because his lungs will not be developed enough. The future mother is devastated and bursts into tears. She later asks for Seok-Hyeong as she has heard that he has saved an 18 week old baby and his mother in a similar situation before. Min-Ha relays all this to Seok who agrees to see the patient. He heads into her room and tells her that there is a slim chance of survival and that he’ll try his best. Min-Ha later sits at her desk, looking very defeated. She then relays what happened to Gyeo-Wool and how different the chart now looks on that patient since Seok-Hyeong saw them. As their shifts end, Jeong-Won takes Gyeo-Wool to dinner. She mentions that Ik-Jun has been asking her if they are together so Jeong-Won tells her he is happy if they start telling people. Gyeo-Wool asks to go watch a movie on the weekend and then starts talking about Yeon-U’s mother. She wonders why she has been coming so often and if it’s anything to do with her. Jeong-Won tells her she does it because she just wants to talk about Yeon-U given no one else remembers her child since she practically grew up there. He suggests that she takes the grieving mother to coffee one day as it will help her. Late at night, Min-Ha shares a cup of coffee with Seok-Hyeong, discussing his decision about their pregnant patient. Seok-Hyeong believes the baby and mother want to fight to live so he wants to try as well. Min-Ha then bravely asks him who Professor Yoon Seon-Ju’s daughter is to him. He replies that she is his ex-wife so she takes that opportunity to ask him out. Seok-Hyeong tells her that he is busy tomorrow. Min-Ha still smiles and leaves, looking a little happier. As our four doctors wait for Song-Hwa, they start teasing each other about their potential new love interests. Ik-Jun asks Jeong-Won if he is going out with Gyeo-Wool. He quickly tells him to mind his own business and mentions that Jun-Wan is seeing someone who lives in the UK. Ik-Jun is surprised and tells him to asks his girl if she knows Ik-Soon. Song-Hwa arrives soon after and takes the boys in her new car. Later on, Yeon-U’s mother arrives in the hospital to pick up her umbrella and gives the nurse another food package. Gyeo-Wool sees her and asks to have coffee together. Yeon-U gladly accepts and the two leave. While they drink, Yeon-U mentions that she knows she is coming to the hospital too often. Gyeo-Wool mentions that she knows she can sometimes be very quiet and blunt, but insists that she can always talk to her about Yeon-U as she knows about her just as much. They spend a very emotional and heartfelt moment together as the mother explains how she has been feeling. We then cut back to the five doctors as they rehearse their new song with very powerful lyrics about love and heartache. Afterwards, Song-Hwa drives Ik-Jun to the hospital. In the car, they listen to the song they just recorded and remain quiet. As the episode closes, Sin-Hye comes to the hospital to have dinner with Seok-Hyeong. She tells him she wants to do this with him more often, while Song-Hwa comes back to see Ik-Jun. She is here to give him her answer; she tells him not to tell his friend how he feels as she thinks it will become awkward between them. She thinks that the girl would say that she would want them to just stay best friends.
The Episode Review
Our favourite doctors are back and even though it has been a year, it also feels like we never left them. This second season starts very strongly and keeps the same tone and pace as before. This show continues to deliver a great slice of life drama as we follow all our characters and pick up where we left off last year. The story is still just as endearing and we can’t help but root for all five of them. Jeong-Won seems so much happier now that he has decided to stay in the hospital and looks quite content with Gyeo-Wool. The latter also had an emotional moment with Yeon-U’s mother, which helps her character grow and shows a more human side to her persona. There is still good banter between the five friends and it is always a pleasure to watch them all interact when they get together. There are still secrets to be revealed as Jun-Wan still hasn’t told Ik-Jun that he is dating his sister. I wonder how he will react! Meanwhile, Seok-Hyeong remains quite cold towards poor Min-Ha. While he is an excellent doctor, he does lack a little in the emotion department. The episode ended with quite the ambiguous conversation between Song-Hwa and Ik-Jun. Did she really turn him down? Or was she oblivious that he was talking about her? I don’t think we will find out straight away but for now, Hospital Playlist opens this second season with a warm and engaging first episode.
