Hospital Playlist (2020) A Tribute to Ahn Chi-hong

I woke up this morning to news that Kim Jun-han will not be reprising his role as Ahn Chi-hong in Season 2 which I found difficult to believe considering what a huge role he had in the first season. They spent so much airtime building his character only for us to find out now that he was a one-season only character. I am not someone to get hysterical about these things. Nothing would be gained by that but it seems to me in hindsight that they made us fall in love with the character only to turn him into a rival for Ik-jun. 

Of course that does sound somewhat reductionist because the Ahn Chi-hong that we grew to love is much much more than that. His story is in actual fact an inspiring one. A career military officer who had achieved captain status only to find himself struck by a rare medical condition that would impede his ability to advance through the ranks in the army especially when he had been touted as a future general. It must have been a crushing blow. However, instead of wallowing in self-pity and taking the easy way out he goes into medicine opting for a specialisation in neurosurgery. The man has guts and is a great role model for his juniors. I was convinced that he would make a fantastic chief resident. 

Everyone who has read anything I've written about the show knows that he's one of my favourites. Partly because of his heroic trajectory, partly because he's a deeply caring individual. He has been to the school of hard knocks and come out swinging. In most ways, he's a much more fleshed out character than the likes of Ik-jun, Song-hwa and even Jeong-won. He's very down-to-earth, and as a clinician he is still finding his rhythm. 

I personally had no problem with his one-sided crush on Song-hwa. I thought it was thoughtful and sweet. Even if he was her "student", he was mature (only a couple of years younger) with plenty of life experiences of his own. He demonstrated a stability of character all throughout. Even Song-hwa praised him in front of Ik-jun, saying he was going to be a good chief because he was diligent and caring. I accepted the fact that Song-hwa wasn't interested in him that way but I certainly didn't think there was anything inherently wrong with his persistence.

There needs to be a balance in the way we understand characters. A well-written character (not talking about makjang here) should have their strengths as well as flaws and quirks. Just because they do things we don't approve of occasionally doesn't mean that they should be written off as evil people, unworthies or no-hopers. This kind of polarised approach was definitely an issue during the show's airing in the way some fans were discussing Gyeo-ul, Ik-jun and Chi-hong. 

Chi-hong crossing the line with Song-hwa and Ik-jun is consistent with his disposition and his military background. Surely a man with a spine should put up a bit of a fight. Whatever we feel about what he did, it can't be denied that his actions on those occasions were not beyond the pale. I don't like that he was demonized by viewers to the point where he was accused of thinking more highly of himself than he should. I can't agree with that. I never saw that and the show itself reminds us that his perseverance in life is praiseworthy, an example to others who find themselves in a similar position.

I am writing this because I think if we make enough noise he could be brought back in cameos and as a recurring character. That is certainly my hope because I believe the world of Hospital Playlist would a little emptier and poorer for him not being around.

Hospital Playlist (2020) Winter Blossoms

I have often heard it said among my fellow Winter Garden travellers that the quality they most appreciate about Jang Gyeo-ul is the fact that she's relatable. In other words, she's someone they can easily identify with because she makes mistakes and is on a journey of self-development. It's a perspective that I share. Seemingly flawless characters have their place but like Superman without kryptonite, they're predictably going to save the day without breaking out in a sweat. Of course we need them too but us mere mortals identify most with those who plod along like the rest of us. Their journey on some level mirrors ours. Furthermore, a character like Jang Gyeo-ul is needed in a show like Hospital Playlist to ground it. Hospitals (especially drama hospitals) function as life saving stations and those at the top of their game apparently have god-like powers to mediate life and death. And if we forget, the residents are also there to remind us that doctors never stop being lifelong learners.

Our first encounter with Dr Winter aka Jang Gyeo-ul is also Ik-jun's first encounter with her outside the OR. She's notably efficient but her highlighted flaw seems to be her lack of empathy for caregivers and guardians who are desperate for good news. Jeong-won's... Mr Empathy on steroids... initial impression of her is rather negative. It's a mild clash considering their personalities and levels of experience. Then he does his brief but understated impersonation of Mr Darcy when he says, "She doesn't suit me." (Or "She's not my cup of tea") When he overhears her giving a patient's caregiver the bad news, he is quick to whip out his professorial hat and chastise her... in essence for her lack of empathy and irresponsible way of speaking to patients. He demands that she own her words. The vast majority of us would agree with him on that. Gyeo-ul could do better in how she interacts with others. She's a straight shooter that needs a filter. It's a learning event signalling the start of not only her growth arc in the course of those featured months but their slowburn romance. For me it also begs the question as to why no one else had pulled her up on her bedside manner prior to this. After all, she's a third year resident. Something was sorely lacking in her education. Much can be said about this including the favouritism she enjoyed but I suspect that on a metaphysical level the show insists that they were destined to notice each other early on. The "noticing" being the key thing here. But also it's the bumpy start to their relationship that will go beyond work. Later in a flashback we note that she had already noticed him from Day 1 but for him something else had to happen for him to notice her.

In an interesting case of role reversal from the usual Kdrama male and female stereotypes, Gyeo-ul is introduced as the less empathetic of the two of them. In a real enough way she is a character designed exclusively to complement his. It bears repeating that they replicate the Yin-Yang dynamic to a T. Whether one likes it or not, her arc was intertwined with his from the first day she set eyes on him. For her it was love at first sight, for him it was in all likelihood, love at first maggot. At the start she shyly pushes forward to get closer to him but later she pulls away when she wrongly believes her cause to be a lost one. He-who-wants-to-be-a-priest, on the other hand, pushes her away with uncharacteristic coldness. Yet he feels the irresistible pull. Little by little he moves towards her. Until he finally succumbs. The seemingly cold, emotionless third year GS surgeon gradually thaws under the tutelage of the professor who falls for her. His affection for her overrides his own misgivings while inadvertently doing its magic in taking her forward as a clinician. Even when they're not sure about each other, the impact seeps through the masks. It is inescapable. 

Gyeo-ul's sense of efficiency is highlighted when she shows up at the ER to deal with the homeless man squirming around with the frost bitten leg. In an uncalculated act of respect for the patient, she gets the job done when others stand around repulsed by the sight. With no ulterior motive she does what Jeong-won accused her of being incapable of doing on an earlier... dignifying the homeless man by treating him like any other patient with no expression of discomfort. This scene completely reframes our understanding of her. Her underdeveloped communication skills don't come from a place malice but a place of lack. Whatever her faults might be, she comes from a place of sincerity and diligence. So when Ik-jun says she seems to work hard and when Jeong-won dismisses it at first, the show repudiates his hasty judgment of her unequivocally. So what Gyeo-ul needed was someone... or in her case... two people to give her a chance to better herself and give her the right kind of push in the right direction.

Her relationships with Ik-jun and Min-ha brings out another side to her. With Ik-jun, she's his little sister. He's her confidante not only because he is Mr Nosy Parker but because he genuinely cares. With him she was freer to be more animated. With Min-ha, Gyeo-ul shows an unexpectedly wry sense of humour. She gently pokes fun at her best friend's preoccupation with looks and Min-ha takes it all with good-natured indignance. As she interacts with them in the first season, we see her not just as a resident but someone who could easily be our next-door neighbour or a relative even albeit an introverted one.

I often wondered why we seldom got to see her in the OR very much as someone who is a General Surgery resident. The only GS resident who was very much in demand. In fact, from our perspective she seemed to spend more time in the ER or the PICU. A lot of obviously has to do with her dynamic with Jeong-won which the show made the decision to focus on. She also served as a contrast to Do Jae-hak and vice versa. He was apparently better one-on-one with patients while she was in all likelihood a much stronger surgeon. As Jeong-won gravitates closer to her towards the end of the calendar year, her presence in the OR increases. Before that we are given glimpses of her progressively becoming a more well-rounded clinician. The show spotlights an occasion in the PICU where she interacts with the mother of a patient. Jeong-won is present at the time and overhears the exchange. Once again the deficiencies in her communication skills are brought to the forefront. However, rather than pulling her aside and chiding her, Jeong-won takes responsibility for the situation and explains things in simpler, layman's terms. This provides Gyeo-ul with a model to work from. The mother whose anxiety distracts from paying full attention later returns and seeks further clarification. Gyeo-ul, rather than parroting what Jeong-won had done, took it on board but made the effort of simplifying things further with quick diagrams. She is rewarded here with an effusive hug from the anxious guardian whose relief is palpable. For Gyeo-ul, in Episode 9, this is a moment where she makes a leap in her clinical skills and experiences first hand the joy of getting it right. Her teachability and lack of resentment is my favourite things about her. Even when corrected, she takes it all in her stride and makes effort to improve. As I said elsewhere, she's not one to hold grudges. It didn't prejudice her against Jeong-won. She proved herself willing to learn and proved that she could thrive under the right kind of guidance.

One of the things that impresses me about this show is the way Gyeo-ul's looks are downplayed. She's proud of her own frugality in the manner of dress. Her hair is completely dishevelled after chasing down the DV dad. Her entire face swells up when she has her anaphylactic episode. Later when she's recovering in the ER, she looks the part. On top of that she keeps her glasses on most days. And as my online friends have noted, there's no big makeover before the big confession. So as far as looks are  concerned, she's not exactly a standout. But she is widely beloved and valued regardless of how she looks.

For a so-called side character, her popularity seems disproportional. From what I've seen around the web, her pairing with Jeong-won resonates with so many because of her. She's easy to root for and many of us champion their cause because we champion hers. She's one of us. He is the man that brings that rare smile to her face. More importantly, he is good for her as she is good for him. Our Dr Winter blossomed beautifully in a garden cultivated especially for her.

Hospital Playlist (2020) Shin Hyun Bin's Audition Clips

When I wrote my last post about the WG dynamic a couple of days ago, I had no idea that the showrunners of Hospital Playlist would be releasing clips of Shin Hyun Bin's auditions the next night. Because there has been so much uncertainty in Soompi lately, I had decided to rewrite a few posts that we'd lost when the "Clubs" feature got lost in the internet black hole. That was one I had been itching to rewrite and finally had the time to do it.

I found the audition clips helpful in that they confirmed what the vast majority of us had already suspected... that the WG love line was established very early on. Both Shin Hyun Bin and Yoo Yeon Seok knew that it was on the cards before they had even met each other. They were given that piece of information right at the start presumably because they wanted the actors to prepare their respective roles with that in mind. From the way Shin-Lee described the character, I concluded that SHB nailed the character perfectly. She was able to capture all the facets and nuances of Jang Gyeo-ul. It was delightful too that her artistic abilities came in handy as she studiously prepared for her part in Episode 9. The other half was also impressed  at how they transformed the very attractive SHB into someone that might be considered "plain". The fact that they took the trouble and told SHB that they wanted to downplay her looks was very telling. The emphasis on her ordinariness validates my thinking on the subject.

It was noteworthy that they wanted to tell the story of the WG romance largely from the perspective of Gyeo-ul to emphasize aspects of her personality -- her straightforwardness and her innocence. That was something I had highlighted myself in the past. I was also chuffed to hear the PD say that the romance wasn't meant to be dramatic... or in my words... the main thing. I always understood that he wanted to keep the hospital coming and goings the main thing and in that context there would be some romance. According to him, the progression was always going to be slow because it is slated to be a multi-season drama. As far as I'm concerned, it validated my point that the WG dynamic is not a seat-warmer or stepping stone for Jeong-won and some other female.

Despite all that, it came to my attention that there are still some who doubt the long-term viability of the WG couple. The timing of my last post on the WG couple on hindsight was rather interesting. I don't need to rehash what I've already written except to say that the showrunners have spoken and they have given their characters a great deal of thought, not leaving any room for doubt. The fact that they asked SHB if she knew this was a multi-season show is suggestive. Sure, there are vested interests who think that there is wiggle room to postulate more theories because in their particular schema, they have no room for someone like Gyeo-ul to ever turn the head of someone like Jeong-won, as if he's a paragon of perfection and she is the chief of sinners.

Hospital Playlist (2020) The Life and Loves of Chae Song-hwa

Yesterday after posting my article on the WG dynamic, I was asked whether I thought Song-hwa would end up with Ik-jun or Chi-hong. It's a question I've been asked about and debated before so I thought it might be good to address it at some length here.

To put some background to this and lay all my cards on the table, it seemed to me quite early on... by Episode 4 to be exact, that the drama was indicating in no uncertain terms that Chi-hong had romantic feelings for Song-hwa particularly as he was the only one that showed up at the camping ground. To be honest I was amenable to the idea of a male subordinate being in a relationship with his workplace supervisor especially because Chi-hong was/is an immensely likeable human being who was/is mature and down-to-earth. There's a relatable authenticity about him that I gravitate to. I, like a lot of others thought he was great husband material from everything we saw. Personally I wanted this one to happen... probably even more than Winter Garden because I thought it would be really groundbreaking in some way if it did. The power dynamics would be fascinating to explore. Plus... I adored Chi-hong (still do) and wanted him to have his happily-ever-after. I was frankly annoyed with what the show did with him... and made him an enemy of many viewers for "crossing the line" in Episodes 10- 11. I was uneasy about that although he wouldn't be the first male in a Korean drama that did it and I understood it as an expression of the military man in him: All's fair in love and war etc etc. What I resented about that whole incident was how the drama seemed to be using Chi-hong to spur Ik-jun on to make his confession... truth be told.

I can see why people love their Ik-Song. Jo Jung-suk always has great chemistry with his co-stars and many perceive him to be the male lead. Some people have a thing for musicians. :D I enjoy Ik-jun -- the good, the nutty and the friendly. I'm certainly very neutral about the whole thing so I'm not necessarily in the front row cheerleading for them to be a couple. But I'm a canon sort of person 9.5 times out of 10.

The reason why I remain neutral and I certainly won't be putting all my eggs into that basket is because of Song-hwa herself. All of this rests on how she perceives the men and her relationship to them. I've heard it said that she's a hard one to read but I personally don't think so. Her role in this first season is very specific... as I've said in my episode retrospectives. She sees herself as the Sage. That's absolutely clear when Jae-hak walks into her office and she rejects IJ's overtures to tempt her with food. It's obvious where her priorities were then. The thought of being confessed to by two men close to her... one a student, the other a very old friend... is deeply unsettling. I think there are good reasons for that. She resists a change in dynamics with them because she values what they already have. That's why she tends to date outside her immediate circle of relationships. Why would she want to disrupt the status quo for an uncertain romantic outcome and lose everything as a result? 

Now that the entire first season has aired, I am very doubtful that Song-hwa will change her mind about Chi-hong. It seems like the show has burnt that bridge sadly. With Ik-jun, I frankly don't know. There are two more seasons to go so and since Ik-jun's one of the Flawed Five and very keen, he may have another shot at this. Plus he has secret weapon U-ju.

The possibilities as far as I'm concerned are as follows:

1) Song-hwa could end up being a contented single 40-year-old career woman even after 3 seasons. It would be groundbreaking to say the least. For a Korean drama that is. It would certainly, as I've said to online friends, overturn a familiar trope that a "lead" female character "has to" ride off into the sunset with one of the male leads. It would also put to rest once and for all the argument that Writer Lee U-jung only knows how to write Reply type stories.

2) Song-hwa ending with Ik-jun is definitely a contender because of the foundations that the show has already laid. Once upon a time these two people liked each other but they moved on. One of them even got married to someone else and had a child from that relationship. However, for them to pair up as I've said on other occasions, she will want to be sure that all the other men have their happily-ever-after. I say this because I'm sure that both Song-hwa and Ik-jun moved on in consideration for their friendship with the other guys. This is a friendship that has lasted 20 years surviving all kinds of tumult so it stands to reason that she's chosen to prioritize it. She won't want to shake things up until she's sure that there won't be a falling out among the Five because of this.

3) Song-hwa could end up with someone else we haven't met as yet. Someone from church maybe. This is the least likely scenario but I'm throwing it out there for public consumption. Again, it would be out-of-the-box thinking on the part of the show for her to be dating or married to some nobody guy outside of the hospital context at the end of season 3.

4) We could all be wrong and Song-hwa might change her mind down the track about Chi-hong but I'm not optimistic because of how Episode 12 ended for them. Still, she's not going to be in Sokcho forever, I imagine.

As I've said, everything hinges on what happens with her next season. Except for some random unreliable doctor from outside the hospital, romance wasn't really on the agenda for her in season 1. She was everybody's adviser, teacher or confidant. That's an amazing thing that the show did to be honest. And to give the most significant romance arcs to so-called side characters can be said to be almost innovative by Kdrama standards.

Hospital Playlist (2020) The Epistemology of WinterGarden

I imagine that everyone who is reading this knows that for one reason or another I became some kind of online defender of the WinterGarden pairing. No one is more surprised about that than I am. It was never my intention to promote a fictional romance for its own sake and go to battle for it. It was ludicrous then as it is ludicrous now. Although I am thankful that people enjoyed what I had to say and I don't take that for granted, the reason why I jumped into the fray was because I believed at the time that the show was being misinterpreted and sending open-minded viewers into confusion, rage and angst. It's true that people are entitled to their opinions... I don't begrudge them that (it's a tv show after all) but they're not entitled to twist the facts to suit their own purposes. Or at the very least, they shouldn't get a free pass for doing so. 

These days I've become very fond of the WG dynamic. I liked Gyeo-ul first and then I gradually became fond of Jeong-won. Even in Episode 3 I could see what the showrunners were doing but I didn't get onboard from the start because I don't watch medical dramas for romance. At around Episode 5 I became convinced that the show was serious about developing a connection between them so I climbed into the bandwagon prepared for the fact that this was going to be the stuff of slowburn. An aspirant to the priesthood being paired up with a shy unassuming 3rd year GS resident... it wasn't going to be love at first sight. (Love at first maggot maybe) But the show seemed to be tying their dynamic to the question of whether Jeong-won was staying or leaving. Time and time again, there were voices saying that it was a one-sided crush. This is how it went... Jeong-won is Mr Nice Guy and he's lovely to everyone. He's not romantically interested in Gyeo-ul blah blah blah. You know the drill. Of course I kept an open mind but over time, the charge that it was a one-sided crush became less and less convincing. Especially when the camera continued to firstly, focus on Jeong-won's reactions to Gyeo-ul's doings and then frames them together in shots as they interact in the ER, the PICU and of course the OR. Why do that... if she's just a "side" character with a cute "one-sided crush"? It made no sense to me unless I am supposed to conclude that Ahn Jeong-won notices or interacts Jang Gyeo-ul in a way that is outside the norm. 

In Episode 4, when they're both waiting for the lift to arrive, why focus on a back shot of the two of them? Why is the Mr Nice Guy Ahn Jeong-won being awkward and doesn't initiate the hello? Why can't he have a normal conversation with her like he does with other women in the hospital if he's really as nice as we're told? Then during the OBGYN-Pediatrics conference, he glances at her devouring chocolate cakes. Later as he gets up in readiness to leave, he pushes two packets of her favourite cakes across the table to her. The point being that he only does it for her. Not for anyone else. If he is such a nice guy like everyone insists that he is, why doesn't he distribute the rest of the confectionery to everyone present the way she did at the start of the conference?

In another episode, Hui-su, a familiar presence in the ER tells Bae Jin-hui that Jeong-won agreeably goes out with women at work whenever asked so she's nothing special to him. This gives Gyeo-ul, who overhears this exchange, food for thought and she seeks him out. However, when Gyeo-ul puts the question of dinner to Jeong-won, he turns her down quickly citing a visit to mother on the weekend as his excuse. Why does the show do this? To tell us that Jang Gyeo-ul is nothing special to him? That he finds her abhorrent? So why lie about his weekend? If he apparently goes out with female staff routinely, why doesn't he do it in this instance? He's clearly breaking the pattern of the norm for some reason. This instantly made me suspicious. What's even more compelling is that the show goes to the trouble of setting up both scenes as obvious contrasts. 

From Episodes 2 to 12, there are repeated instances where we are asked to look at Jeong-won's behaviour towards Gyeo-ul as a series of exceptions. In his mind, she is an exception and stands out among all the women. Even if a viewer doesn't particularly like Gyeo--ul or Jeong-won, it can't be denied that the show puts them together in such an obviously consistent way that no one can say that the resolution to their slow burn romance came as a surprise. And if anyone wasn't that convinced, the show brought in the scrub nurse and Rosa to tell us unequivocally that Gyeo-ul is special to Jeong-won and that he treats her differently.

These are the facts. The show gives us plenty of them. Sure, it's possible to say that the way the romance was constructed and developed was not to your liking. I can appreciate that opinion. People have unmet expectations of what a romance looks like. People don't all like the same things. But that doesn't change the facts that were put in place over time to highlight that these two people had a particular dynamic that was exclusive to them. 

To deny that is to deny the story that the show is telling. That's the part I find baffling. In all my years of watching dramas I've never come across such a systematic reinterpretation of a drama that's not a fanfic or parody by disregarding facts or dismissing them because of egregious bias. I have my own criticisms of the show... particularly regarding what they did with Chi-hong towards the end but I'm not going to insist that despite all that's said and done, Song-hwa is secretly in love with him because she doesn't know her heart just because it's my preference. Song-hwa has spoken loudly and clearly. I take it at face value. Moreover it's consistent with the rest of her behaviour in the show even with Ik-jun. There is an objective reality that exists in the drama where the characters do and say things. If we can't trust any of that because it doesn't mesh with our prejudices then what can we trust? The quality of evidence for one's position has to be there. 

It's obvious that our battle was in large part to do with deep prejudice against Gyeo-ul and possibly certain unmet expectations. Expectations that Song-hwa, the female lead has to be at the centre of a reverse harem or a love triangle. The men have to be fighting over Song-hwa... apparently... it's a given because we're drama watching bots and because Kdrama writers have no creativity. The irony of course is that Song-hwa by the end of the first season is happily single after not being all that happy to be confessed to, not once, not twice but at least four times. Moreover, why would a 40 year old woman be in a middle of a love tussle with men she's known for years? It doesn't make sense. Jeong-won least of all because he'd signed up for the idea of religious celibacy for years. As I've argued, the show is unerringly logical and the people behind it have a profound understanding of human behaviour. People don't change easily. When they do it's because of upheavals in their lives. So for Jeong-won to not go to the priesthood, it has to be something very very different. Exceptional even.

Gyeo-ul was the show's choice for Jeong-won for many good reasons. I've outlined many of those in my episode retrospectives. But most importantly she is meant to be a balance to his over empathetic nature. His calling was always medicine. He got it right the first time but the emotional baggage that came with the job eventually took a toll on him. We are told that pediatric surgeons are a scarce breed of doctors. Jeong-won works on his own. Gyeo-ul was the only GS resident. So it makes sense that he would eventually gravitate towards her because they would be thrown together daily in a professional capacity. The reason why the camera lingers on him while she's picking off maggots is because it is a record of a significant paradigm shift for him. Why do it otherwise? It was supposed to be her moment and yet it became his moment too because he was forced to change his mind... and think more favourably of her. Whatever his reasons for being there in the ER, his being there changed him, her and eventually them. 

If for instance, Jeong-won is meant for someone else, why would the show go to all the trouble of setting up all these moments and confirmations? The question that I have for those who say that the Winter Garden is a mere flash in the pan is this: What is the evidence for that? Why are the facts that were given to us insufficient? Because the conclusion of the first season validates what most of us understood the show to be doing. That means that we followed the evidence accurately and came to the right conclusion ahead of time. This isn't just a mere matter of being happily delusional which is the delight of fanfiction writers everywhere. This is about claiming a kind of authority... about who has the right to speak and say what's what. If someone can look at the confession at Episode 12 and say that it's just somebody's dream, why can't I say that the whole show is somebody's dream? Why don't we take it to its logical conclusion? At what point is the show real and at what point is it a dream? Who gets to decide that? 

There's an easy answer to that of course.

I'm fine with non-canonical pairings. I have been known to enjoy well-written fanfics of non-canonical pairings. But I hope I know the difference. In a way the battle wasn't about Jeong-won and Gyeo-ul but about who had the right to tell us how to think about the show.

To insist vociferously even now that Jeong-won and Gyeo-ul are not the endgame isn't just a preference issue. It's, I think, missing the point. There are reasons why Jeong-won didn't fall for Song-hwa, Bae Jin-hui and all the other women who have been a part of his life journey. All of that feed into who he is as a man and the overall messaging of the show. People make plans. Life is unpredictable. Unpredictable things happen. People change their minds. To me that's the big story of Hospital Playlist. Furthermore let's take a look at Gyeo-ul. She's not exactly strikingly beautiful or charismatic. Not your typical lead Kdrama lead female. I imagine that's the objection from some quarters. But that's exactly the reason why Jeong-won fell for her. It wasn't for her looks first and foremost because he was surrounded by beautiful women his entire life. He saw another side to Jang Gyeo-ul during the maggot scene. That beautiful, gracious act made her beautiful to him. There's a well-known verse from the Old Testament in the Bible that relates to this:

The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT)

As far as I'm concerned, everything in Hospital Playlist happens for a reason. It's a show that does things very deliberately. The moral universe is one that has a place for all kinds of people including Jang Gyeo-ul. Do we dare say only outwardly attractive people deserve to be loved? Don't we agree that this show pays Ahn Jeong-won the highest compliment... by insisting that he is a man of great substance because he can do better than judge a woman by her appearance?

Hospital Playlist Retrospective Season 1 Episode 12: The Kitchen Sink

A gentle reminder that this post will contain many spoilers for the entire drama not just for the episode under discussion.

Continuing on the characterization of Song-hwa as the archetypal Sage, it is clear that this is the part that she relishes. And it is the persona she defaults to at every opportunity. Repeatedly she eschews all attempts to be an object of romantic fantasy or attainment. When Chi-hong tells her that he will follow her to Sokcho, she shuts that idea down faster than he can gather his thoughts together, telling him that this will be detrimental to his career. As far she's concerned, she's his professor first and foremost. The lines remain intact between them. When Ik-jun tries to take her out for a meal, she rejects that in favour of playing the in-house counsellor to other members of staff. Do Jae-hak pushes him aside unceremoniously. As Seok-min says, she's better than a professional. Hence the queue outside her office ready to receive pearls of wisdom from her lips as she dispenses advice about everything under the sun.

Even though Ik-jun offers a second confession, it's unclear where she stands with regards to him. While she celebrates other pairings and become privy to them, she doesn't seem especially interested in being paired off herself with any of those already within her circle of influence. At this point, she is most comfortable as teacher, counsellor, advisor, sage and confidante. According to Jeong-won she's a mind reader because she was able to pinpoint his decision to stay. "Psychic" was the word that she used to describe herself, an idea that fits perfectly with her Sage persona. As his confidant, she is able deduce the identity of the mysterious special interest that is foremost in his mind.

It isn't surprising of course that the Sage of Yulje has observations of human beings couched within the metaphor of food consumption, when one considers her propensity for gluttony. (The running gag excuse of having 3 older brothers to contend with.) According to her as she waxes philosophical, there are 3 kinds of people in the world:

1. Those that are happiest when they are eating something.
2. Those who are happiest when they are eating alone.
3. Those for whom watching others enjoying good food makes them happier than when they themselves are eating

To illustrate the first two points, the show cuts to her friends. Jeong-won, on the other hand, epitomizes the third. Which is an astute observation of him. Even though he complains when he doesn't get to the food quickly enough because of Song-hwa and Jun-wan, he gets a big kick out of seeing other people happy. Personally I think this is part of his leadership skill set and his philanthropic bent. And it is why in spite of what he put Gyeo-ul through, I forgive him his sins because I am sure it caused him no end of heartache to know that he caused her so much grief.

For me the only real twist (if it can be considered one) in the finale is Song-hwa's relocation to Sokcho. At the start of the drama she was the only who was already working in Yulje but at the end she's the only one not working at the main hospital. The others were recruited by Jeong-won in a bid to take control of the VIP wards to fund the Daddy-Long-Legs scheme. Song-hwa has also now been given charge of the scheme and vehemently insists on holding on to it.

Ik-jun's role as Trickster spills over into his adorable and delightful relationship with his son U-ju. Their dynamic is one that always has me alternating between smiling like an idiot and oohing and aahing. While I don't think U-ju is quite ready for Mensa just yet, he does demonstrate a social precocity in his interactions with Dad. Plus he has all the making of a trickster himself. A little chip of the old block. It's obvious that U-ju is the joy of Ik-jun's life. He relishes every moment he has with the little fellow.

Speaking of parenting, one of the best moments in the drama to my mind was the accumulated sequence of events outside the OBGYN waiting area. There was something both humorously familiar and poignant about it for someone who has been there. Not only did it effectively highlight Seok-hyeong's understandable popularity among the expectant ladies but it was such a powerful example of showing over telling. It was, in short, a great television moment. My obstetrician once said to me that delivering babies is not an exact science and that's certainly showcased here. All these expectant mothers impatiently waiting for their turn, complaining about how slow the queue is moving. They all want a piece of Seok-hyeong and that's the price they have to pay. So there's a bit of whining. Until an expectant mother in her final trimester discovers that she's miscarried and bursts into heart-rending sobs which is reverberated up and down the waiting room. Immediately, the complaining stops, everyone is quiet. Nothing needs to be said. They all have an inkling as to what's happened. Some of the mums-to-be caress their bumps in silent gratitude that they still have their babies. Their perspective completely shifts from feeling sorry for themselves to feeling sorry for the poor woman who has lost her baby. No comments are needed. No editorializing required. It's a fantastic storytelling moment.

This is one of the things I love about the show by the way, this deep respect for the audience to be in step with what's going on without having to be spoon-fed.

On this occasion we see Seok-hyeong as the archetypal Caregiver. He is attentive to his patients' needs, he is thorough, he is kind and he is patient. He tells the poor woman who has miscarried to take her time and have a good cry. This is in large part what the episode is about. The Five as Caregivers. Despite their contrasting personalities, the one thing they have in common is their passion as clinicians. They are great doctors not because they are perfect human beings but because they care about their patients and give it their all. They go above and beyond. They bend over backwards to ensure that every avenue has been explored. This is why we have scenes of Jun-wan sleeping in his office. Or of Jun-wan missing the chance to farewell Ik-sun because he puts his focus on his dying patient and the grieving parents. Ik-jun learns sign language so that he can communicate with his transplant patient's deaf son. This is what "calling" or "vocation" is about.

Chi-hong too has his moment where he understands the ramifications of the vocational side of his job. Temperamentally, he is a good fit for medicine because he's kind and good with people. He is, as Song-hwa notes, thoughtful and conscientious. The brain tumour patient from episodes ago, Kim Hyeon-su returns to thank him and gift him with a pen. He tells Chi-hong that he's returning to work at the police initially as a desk jockey. What Chi-hong did for him by giving him hope seemed to surpass the importance of the actual surgery itself. It speaks volumes about the impact of the psychological aspects of the healing process.

One has a feeling that he will be a good chief resident of NS. He will put his best foot forward but despite the desires of his heart, I don't see him being successful with Song-hwa. Her note to him comes purely from the perspective of the Wise Mentor.

In the course of this episode Jeong-won eventually comes to the realisation that medicine was always his true calling. What Ji-yeong's family does here is remind him why he became a doctor in the first place. They provide him with the final piece of the puzzle. When they tell him that he's a great doctor and thank him repeatedly, he is led to realise that he was able to do something that not too many people in the country can do. All the goodwill in the world wouldn't be enough to save the little girl. Aside from concern and passion, what is also needed is skill. The truth of the matter is that he will never be happy doing anything else. Saving lives and then being the bearer of good news is what drives him to do good, better and his very best. For him to finally realise what the rest of us have known since the beginning is freedom. This truth has set him free.

Because he is now free he can stop obsessing about the priesthood. He has taken stock of his life and he now knows what his path should be. Now that the priesthood question is out of the equation he can stop worrying about his feelings for Gyeo-ul and move on with her. Looking at this scene in the PICU, she has become his comfort zone. He has unconsciously positioned himself very close to her for someone who is supposed to be heading for the priesthood. The longing has always been there. His heart has been steering towards her.  He is literally drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Work affords him these opportunities to be close to her even if he can't/won't verbally tell her how he feels.

The way they're framed in this scene shows that words are really unnecessary between them because of their time spent working together which has finally brought them to this place of sympatico. One gets the feeling looking at this that he's within millimeters of holding her hand. Although by this point she's been told that he has feelings for her, she hasn't acted on that piece of information. She is reluctant to plead with him to stay but she's also unconsciously eager to be up close and personal so there's no discomfiture on her part.

While she has been given ammunition by Rosa, Gyeo-ul buries that insight. In hindsight it was probably for the best because it can't be said then that Jeong-won gave up his dream to be a priest solely because of her. She waited until she realised what would be lost to pediatric medicine if he left. There's no doubting that she was a factor but as it is with life, it's never just the one thing. Furthermore, it shows how considerate she is of Jeong-won's feelings that she sat on this information and told no one about it, including her long-time confidant, Ik-jun. I've always believed her to be a remarkable person underneath that frumpy, stoic exterior. Jeong-won saw that in the maggot scene which is for me these days when it all began for him.

I have always loved Ik-jun and Gyeo-ul's platonic mentoring-confidant relationship. For a busybody, Ik-jun is very discrete. I've always loved how she sees him as her big brother and that comfortable aegyo side comes through during their interactions. And of course I love how he approves of her for Jeong-won and says so loudly and clearly. He has tried hard to be her fairy godfather. So it is fitting that he is the one who asks the question that leads to the flashback of the first day Gyeo-ul met Jeong-won and inadvertently fell for him. It's such an adorable moment and it makes me think so much better of her because it means that she never took offence at the way he pulled her aside and chided her for not communicating better with the guardian. She took that in her stride and continued liking him in spite of it. Or maybe even because of it. Because as she told Ik-jun all that time ago, that Jeong-won is a man of principle.

While the first day flashback was hers, the ER flashback was Jeong-won's. It was a crucial piece of evidence for the audience. When he finally kissed her, all the longing that was there in that flashback came to the fore. All the hesitation was no more.

Of course it was more than that. It showed how much he wrestled with his feelings for her. That's also proof that when he lied to her in Episode 8, it wasn't because he didn't like her. It's also proof to me personally that when he watched her being driven off in the black SUV that he was full of longing and regret. He didn't just have feelings for her, he was in love with her to the point that he was seriously questioning his trajectory towards the priesthood.

The song that was playing as he dawdled outside the ER was Jeong Mi Do singing "I Knew I'd Love You" introduced initially by Ik-jun as his drunk de facto confession to Song-hwa at the karaoke. These lines are particularly suggestive:

Again today I'm calling you like a habit
You answered so warmly
You made me the happiest person in the world
I love you so much

In my opinion it speaks to when Jeong-won calls Gyeo-ul at the start of the episode while she's about to have her ramyeon. It did look like he become accustomed to calling her to organize and to assist his surgery.

And in relation to these lines cause me to wonder who is the first person here being referred to here? We know she fell for him at first sight. But the song plays while he's standing outside the ER so it does beg the question. I'm not bothered by the ambiguity.

I knew I'd fall in love with you
The day we first met
Even if you start to shake
From our love fading over time
Then I'll hold on to you just like you did for me

The day we first met
Even if you start to shake
From our love fading over time
Then I'll hold on to you
Don't worry hold my hand
Just like that first day

The main thing is that Jeong-won realises that he'd kept her waiting long enough. Just like what Seok-hyeong said at the Christmas Eve gathering at his place. "I don't want to waste time. My time is too precious for that. I want to live doing the things I like and the things that I want to do now."

While everyone is looking at Seok-hyeong as he talks about his decision not to run his late father's company, Jeong-won is the only who looks down presumably because what Seok-hyeong says hits too close for comfort. It seems to parallel the cafeteria scene and ER flashback after he hears about Gyeo-ul's anaphylactic episode. Everyone else is looking up and elsewhere but he is looking down troubled and preoccupied. It seems to be a precursor to some major decision regarding Gyeo-ul. But on Christmas Day, he finally makes up his mind to cross the line to be with her, subsuming the professional into the personal or vice versa. He in everyday wear, she in work clothes.

(When I thought I had said everything I could say about the Winter Garden couple, I prove myself wrong yet again.)

It's a pity though that Seok-hyeong doesn't take his own advice with regards to Min-ha who texts an invitation to dinner but while his tumultuous relationship with his father is over by the end of the episode, the show reminds us that there's still that other piece of baggage that he's lugging around. He gets a call from his ex-wife as he's leaving work on Christmas Day. 

As his personal arc in this season has largely revolved around his dysfunctional family dynamics, it was always clear that his love line with Min-ha did not have that same degree of urgency as the Winter Garden one. I have very little doubt that Seok-hyeong is romantically interested in Min-ha despite all his protestations. Ik-jun seems to be of this view as well. It's commendable that he wants to protect Min-ha from all the anguish of the past but it's not entirely he's choice to make. Besides she's good for him. While she may seem to be intrusive at times, she brightens him up. He's so much more comfortable with her now than he used to be. They too have come a very long way since she called him a "sloth" or a "slug".

For Jun-wan he receives a return package on Christmas Day. It's the parcel that he sent weeks earlier to Ik-sun containing the ring that he has wanted her to have for some time. It's a quandary that he resolved by asking Jae-hak for his advice. These days, I really adore their dynamic. They've become quite a team and their banter never gets old. I enjoy seeing them working out of the differences and then becoming confidants. Each of them bring something to the relationship: Jun-wan is the more experienced clinician and Jae-hak has his experience of 10 years of a stable marriage. Neither man is too proud to ask the other for help when they need it. It's a sweetly humorous moment too when Jae-hak channels the grumpy side of Jun-wan.

One of the unpredictable things of life is that people change their minds because people change. It's almost an iron-clad rule of life. Ik-sun who didn't want jewellery or rings just a couple of month ago is now amenable to the idea. I wonder too now if she's become amenable to the idea of marriage because of the return package. Her change of heart and possible return might also have been foreshadowed by her unexpected visit to the hospital at 2am some weeks earlier. (The date I'm thinking of is 1 December 2019.)

The presence of the medical students remind me one last time as the season wraps up that the hospital is still a place of learning. As Hong-do roams around the hospital with Ik-jun, he learns not just from observations but when he is quizzed on medical facts. Ik-jun counsels him that it isn't enough that he has good interactions with patients, he needs to know facts as well. Belying his trickster facade, Ik-jun is a serious doctor and mentor.

Christmas Day is a day designated by the show for the celebration of miracles... the miracle of modern medicine in particular. As the doctors do their rounds, patients are discharged and given good news. Ik-jun sends his grateful liver transplant patient home, Jun-wan farewells his hemothorax patient in his usual business-like fashion and the family celebrates over home-cooked kimchi jigae. Seok-hyeong finally has good new for the miscarriage prone expectant mother. She's arrived at the safe place where she need not have to fear a premature birth. Seeing both her and her husband weeping tears of relief and joy had me on the verge of tears myself. They'd made it through one hurdle after another. It was like watching Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life... a perennial Christmas favourite done in Hospital Playlist style. There are echoes of the 1946 film in the resolution of Jeong-won's arc. A discontented man who wished he was someone else and somewhere else finally realises that he was always in the right place at the right time. Without him the likes of Ji-yeong and a roll call of other lives he had touch would be a completely different story. His journey to rediscover himself is done.

At the end of the season it seems to me that The Virgin (Jeong-won) and The Bachelor (Jun-wan) are both now in serious relationships with their significant others. Jun-wan was always ahead of the game because he didn't have any of the misgivings that Jeong-won did in jumping into a dating relationship. While I wouldn't say that Jeong-won has caught up ;), their respective arcs this season are the most complete in terms of where their goals were at the start. While Jun-wan was able to keep the identity of his significant other a secret all this time because she's not a colleague, I don't think that's going to be possible for Jeong-won while all eyes are already on them to one degree or another. It always amused me that Jun-wan was eager for Ik-jun to know that he was dating his sister while the latter kept fobbing him off with excuses. The common denominator in their individual tracks was as simple and as cheesy as the power of love. Falling in love for the both of them and their significant others was transformative. It changed Jun-wan into a more outwardly compassionate doctor. He learned to be more comfortable about showing his feelings. It reshaped Jeong-won's view of himself as a religious celibate in the making. It healed Ik-sun from the hurts of a past relationship. And it caused Gyeo-ul to become a better clinician. These romances were a means to an end bringing these individuals to a place where they needed to be in service of the medical side of things.

The outcomes I don't think were really ever in doubt. I never found the show particularly difficult to follow or read.  The cues and patterns were always there. I have read criticisms of the writer's and PD's style to game the audience but I never found it to be the case. For humour perhaps (like Prison Playbook) but as far as the character arcs were concerned, it was always fairly clear where things were headed.

The first season was a blast. It seems that the more I watch this show, the more I see. This speaks to its quality. While this might be a burden that they will now have to bear, I'm expecting much of the same for the second season.