It’s that time of the week again when I wake up to my most anticipated drama of the season wondering what the show has in store. I haven’t been disappointed so far and it’s no different this week. In fact, it could be that Episode 5 is my favourite one so far of this installment. It’s brimming with all kinds of Shin-Lee magic within Yulje and without. For the first time since the new season began, I’ve actually enjoyed the band’s song-of-the-week. I didn’t mind last week’s with its upbeat tempo but this week’s number was more up my alley. And Jo Jeong-seok’s musicianship is amazing as usual.
Wahhh, life is certainly looking up when I get an article from my favorite this early in the morning! :) I'm also eyeing the wonderful 40 min podcast - but that will have to wait until the weekend, unfortunately.
Sooooooooo... To add.
I feel like we’ve been fed that ginormous snow crab dinner - only the writers haven’t warned us to fast for 8 hours beforehand.
Seriously, yesterday's show was even a little bit too much of everything... When I was watching the Korean stream in real-time, I wanted to pause it after each scene to dissect and process. But the show kept going like a high-speed train, and I might need to rewatch Ep. 5 a couple (or ten) more times to catch up. (My pile of work is looking at me incredulously. Sorry, work. Just a few more minutes.)
I’ll just do one tiny scene here, to celebrate the amazing talents and through-the-roof chemistry of actors Yoo Yeon-seok and Shin Hyun-been and the great characters the authors created for them. (At this point, I really wonder if Gyeol was supposed to be this great multi-layered, multi-functional character from the very beginning or if she has won over the writers in the process of filming. Because Yoo Yeon-seok, I totally get you when you can’t shut up about this character in your interviews. Her journey is a unique and extremely addictive story.)
So, my two cents about the iconic date scene, a master class in “show not tell”. It’s 3 minutes and maybe 10 seconds. And within these 3 minutes, we get overstuffed with food for thought... I’m not going to gush much, I’ll just list what I learned.
Gyoel came to her weekend date directly from the hospital (because she has to go back there later if the subtitles don’t lie) - and Jeong-won is driving her around. After dropping her off, he’s going to pick up Jun-won. He continues taking care of Jun-won in this way, subtly, silently. He even made him breakfast, and that’s just too adorable.
Also, Gyoel is an organic part of this domestic ecosystem now. It is unclear if it is her first visit to her boyfriend’s apartment. But she seems to know her way around the kitchen island at the very least. I laughed out loud at the meager amounts of food she was offered this time. But hey, Jeong-won cooked for her. And shelled her crab despite his allergy. And promised to buy her more said crab in the future (or procure it from Song-hwa for free which is more believable).
Then they speak a little about residents being busy. And it struck me that they really have very little time either for themselves or for each other, given their profession and schedules. All they have is snatches. A few days is something of the realm of dreams, even staying the night (and the writers took pains to establish that she is not staying over, lol) is difficult. A couple of hours is what they usually have - hence the non-existent awkward stage and the intensity of simple everyday interactions. They have to use every chance to learn about each other, learn from each other and grow the relationship, slowly, surely, precisely. No time for drama. No time for petty jealous things like, “Why do you hang out with your friends without me, and all entertainment I get is an indoors date night with leftover crab?”
Their priorities are also very much aligned - first comes work (serving people, really), then Gyoel’s studies, then their time together. And Jeong-won is obviously there for a long haul, aiming at forever. Waiting a year to go on a mini-holiday together is nothing to him. But this break in the conversation, “What could happen in a year?” signalized a shift. They both know their honeymoon period is coming to an end. Which is why he asks her to always tell him things. And she asks him to always show affection to her. (Out of context, this request may seem weird, because Jeong-won is showering her with affection at the moment.) Communication and affection are two pillars of a healthy long-term relationship. And those are the basic rules they negotiate right away, telling each other what they need. Jeong-won needs transparency, conversations, words. Gyeol needs assurance, action, touch.
It’s very fitting that at the dawn of this relationship, the girl who is generally bad with words and expressing feelings was the one to confess. And the Professor who preaches moderation and responsibility would answer this confession with a reckless kiss (or two). But those were atypical behaviors for them. When the first-love glamour wears off, they will revert to being just people with their own strong points and weaknesses. That’s why Jeong-won and Gyeol needed to make promises to each other - to stay open, supportive, and available, even in the midst of an emotionally charged hospital setting. *sigh* That will be the last time we see them so fluffy, I think. But what we had was wonderful.
I could go on with this thesis for another three to seven pages but the main point is, I really, really love Hospital Playlist in all its richness and “thought-provoking-ness”, and Ep. 5 is my favorite too!
Let us feast on Episode 5 together and discuss it to death!!!
This is, by far, my favorite episode of this season. There's something magical about this episode that I just can't put my finger to. Plus, it was a breather from the heavy episode 4.
Avoidance is a common theme in episode 5: Ik-Sung avoiding Jun-Wan, Ik-Jun and Ik-Sun never touched the elephant in the room, Song-Hwa summarizing that Seok-Hyeong avoided his marital problems, Gyeo-ul somewhat avoiding confiding with anyone about the domestic violence (or maybe it's not really avoiding with Gyeo-ul but more on she's just used to doing things her way).
For bidulgi, I honestly don't know where this is going. I do want Jun-Wan to be happy, though.
I just cannot handle Seok-Hyeong's mom. My goodness! I'm at a loss for words. Good thing that Rosa was there to reprimand her. But I'm glad to see that Seok-Hyeong acknowledged his (non) efforts towards Shin-Hye.
I'm very pleased to see Seok-Hyeong instantly following Song-Hwa's advice about asking "useless" questions/replies, especially to people he feels most comfortable with. I squealed in delight when Min-Ha called and Seok-Hyeong asked more details about the gift. I wouldn't be surprised if Song-Hwa turns out to be the ship captain of GomGom because it has been said in Season 1 that Seok-Hyeong only listens to Song-Hwa's advice and the rest of the boys are just fillers. Hahahaha!
Min-Ha continues to grow on me. She has a lovely personality. Aside from being both Armys, I understand better why Gyeo-ul and Min-Ha are best friends. They're both resilient, see the best in people, and just want to be good doctors.
I love the quick scene of Min-Ha and Gyeo-ul where Gyeo-ul saw Min-Ha walking with Seok-Hyeong. Gyeo-ul didn't want to disturb the two and deliberately stepped out of the way, completely understanding that this is a moment of Min-Ha with Seok-Hyeong. Any best friend would immediately relate with that!
WinterGarden! This relationships is rich. It is very likely that Gyeo-ul was exposed to domestic violence in her family, hence, her instinct to always do something against the abuser. This explains a lot why she ran after the DV dad in season 1 and now, the DV husband. It is also likely the reason why Gyeo-ul asked Jeong-Won to reassure her of his love once a day. I agree with you that her stoicism was brought about by circumstance. Given that she also appears to be the eldest in the family, she needs that stoicism to take care of the people she loves.
Ik-Jun yelling for Gyeo-ul is always comedy gold. He's just like an older brother who really cares for her. It's not shown but I'm sure he knows that Gyeo-ul and Jeong-Won are talking and is yelling to also mess with them. Hahahaha!
Episode 5 did a one-year time jump to 2021. I'm glad that PD did that because I seriously don't want HP to deal with Covid. But what I like the most about the time jump is that WinterGarden's relationship continues. It's a nice departure from the few K-Dramas I watched where the chaebol son feels pressured to get married quickly.
Any 41-year-old bachelor might feel that pressure to marry quickly but I'm glad that WinterGarden are taking their time building their relationship.
Speaking of chaebol son, I particularly enjoyed the appearance of Dong-Il, the priest brother of Jeong-Won. The scene between Rosa and Dong-Il shows me that this family is truly special. For those who criticize Jeong-won as being too aegyo, the Rosa-Dong-Il scenes show that this kind of aegyo runs naturally in the family. Just like Jeong-Won, Dong-Il shows childlike innocence. The way he yelled 옴마 many times and the way he kept showing the rainbow to his 옴마 was just adorable. So Jeong-Won being aegyo to people he loves and feels most comfortable with is something that has always come naturally in his own family.
Finally, I don't think the secrecy of WinterGarden's relationship will be the focus of the next episodes. It's safe to assume that within a year, people would have known that they are a couple. I honestly don't want HP to focus on that when there are more stories about WinterGarden that can be explored.
To end, I think and I hope episode 6 will be a fun episode since the preview shows that it would be all about the current interns. There's a quick clip of Gyeo-ul saying that she's used to taking care of GS by herself but she's now handling more interns. This is good character development as Gyeo-ul might be shown taking a more authentic leadership role rather than just being an individual contributor.
It is also likely that the 99s's time as interns will be shown. I can't wait!
Turns out ik jun really didn't know about his best friend dating his sister, well i guess some one like ik jun not always update about something, hehe. That's remind me on s1 ep 9 if i'm not mistaken, about ik jun's case on a father who wanted to give his heart to her daughter, ik jun thougt he knew about people and world, but then he reflected it again at the end of the day after seeing the dramatic changes of the patient's father.
About ik sun and jun wan, i have no comment yet, i want to wait the development of their story. It excites me to be honest, and i'm not gonna blame one party at this point. I'm sure writernim won't give bad solution for them, and also i'm so sure that ik jun has plan for them.
Some say that in this season gyeo-ul is ooc but i don't think so, i think it's her character development. I mean people always change because of one or few moments that happen in their life. And she falls in love, of course there's the difference in her. And i always love her scene with jeong won, not just the romantic part but also it always reveal something about their character.
Min ha as always be this cute girl that i'm rooting for. Just be patient, girl!
Overall i'm taking this episode with so much light heart, compare to the previous episode. And the ost is getting better and better. Yeeiyy (song hwa mode)
I wanted to add a few words about the DV case in this episode. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the DV case in season 1 either. Both stories called for a major suspension of disbelief because of the way they were presented. They are very, very telegraphed, don't you think?
We have those sketched villains and very sympathetic victims, but it all looks like a problem from a textbook with a ready-made solution provided on the back rather than a story imbued with life and emotions like, say, Eun-ji mother's story. Even the set of reactions we get from our favorite doctors is curated. And I think it is deliberate, whether because of the TV rating, or the wish to avoid strong triggers, or the intention to cover this topic later in a different way.
In theory, these DV stories require action scenes, confrontational scenes. But the confrontations we get on the screen are more like Ik-jun and Jeong-won's cigarette breaks. Sure, we see the cigarettes. We don't see the smoke or the smokers' reaction to the process of smoking. Again, I think it is deliberate. The filming crew is surely talented enough to pull off a good action scene, despite the fact that Shin Hyun-been is a tiny thing with ballerina's arms. But they chose not to. They telegraph.
They don't focus on Gyeol's pain after being knocked down. They don't show Jeong-won's anger at seeing his gf hurt. They skirt around the reasons why Ik-jun or the nurse didn't tell her about the problem (well, it might be because they had no time with her being busy with procurement and other stuff - but it still requires some suspension of disbelief). They focus on the solution - and convey it via the heartfelt ER conversation everyone is sure to remember.
At the same time, the topic of abuse seems to be important for the writers - they repeated this story twice and hinted at trouble at Gyeol's home. Maybe when we get there, they will tell it differently. Or maybe it will remain a delicate detail on a greater canvas of life. It's just curious how they did it here. I'm in awe :)
You always crystalise my thoughts about each Hosplay episode so well - thank you! I totally agree that winter Garden as a couple are communicating much better than Bidulgi couple. Perhaps they both, being first loves of each other, have no baggage whatsoever and are just open, welcoming and basking in each other's love, as couple should be. So happy to see them everytime they appear together on screen.
There was certainly alot to unpack snd we do have a time jump so I'm looking forward to see how each character, major or minor, continues to grow. Gweoyul's backstory would be an interesting one (and yes, I suspect too that things at home aren't great). The interns and residents would be interesting to watch. Im rooting for Hongdo because, goodness this one is so blur!
I can't say how happy I am to find your blog and read your reviews about this drama. Your thoughts are so on point! Every episode of Hospital Playlist keeps getting better and better. When I thought that this week was the best, the next week, they always show something better. Everything in this week was so good, starting from the story line to the songs. Gosh, I love both "I Like You" and "Already One Year". My greedy heart wants both of the songs covered by Cho Jungseok.
Storywise, everything that happened in episode 5 is the best out of all episodes so far. Episode 5 was paralleled with season's 1's episode 5, where our wintergarden, especially gyeoul encountered an abuser. Season 1 showed gyeoul was injured by the abuser and all alone, ignored by jeongwon, while in season 2, it was showed that she has someone comforting her after being injured by the abuser. I don't know if jeongwon's silence about gyeoul's extreme action is a good thing or not, but perhaps it was hidden for something to be shown in the future. Like something that will be connected to gyeoul's back story? But I'll just leave it to the writers and do my part to enjoy the show.
Btw, can I look forward for your detailed thoughts about our wintergarden in this episode? Nevermind if you don't have any, I'll still be here lurking your blog. Hehe... I hope you don't mind :).
Might I just comment, the kisses are so full of signifance that I don't understand when people say that they are all fluff and fan service. As far as I have seen, they have been using the WinterGarden screentime so efficiently, with their use of visual metaphors and symbols, choice of dialogues, and even locations. Even the ER embrace is so visually-rich with symbols of promise and intimacy between the couple. I also agree with how the ER scene seems to portray their partnership, beyond the mentor-mentee relationship. Whereas before Jeong-won was towering over Gyeo-ul, they are now both sitting side by side showing Jeong-won's effort to meet Gyeo-ul halfway and portraying them as equals. There was no space there for judgment, only for comfort, support, and mutual understanding.
I've already said a lot about episode 5 but I'll add a few more. Just bear with me because this is the only place I'm comfortable sharing my thoughts with. Hahahaha!
Song-Hwa aware of the Tteokbokki Club:
* The Tteokbokki Club is an exclusive group of 5 people. It's either Ik-Jun or Seok-Hyeong who told her about the existence of this club but it's highly likely that the info came from Ik-Jun. After all, Ik-Jun declined Song-Hwa's lunch invitation because of this pre-arranged Tteokbokki Club lunch. Min-Ha greeting Song-Hwa naturally feels to me that they had a few more interactions before that.
* Seok-Hyeong calling Min-Ha as "Min-Hayah" is additional proof that he's very comfortable with Min-Ha. I'm not Korean (I'm learning the language, though) but I've read that add "yah" as suffix can be a sign of affection. Even using 우리 (our) is a sign of affection as it is collective term used to say that you're part of the family.
* Lastly, I'm loving Shin Hyun Been more. She's a great actress and she delivers her lines differently, depending on who she's acting with. Her voice tone is different when he's talking to Min-Ha, Ik-Jun, Jeong-Won and her mom. We all know what tone she uses with Jeong-Won but I noticed that her tone is lower and a bit more serious with her mom. That's good acting.
That's it!! I hope I don't observe more things from the rewatch. I've already said a lot! Hahahahah! Thanks for bearing with me!
Hi! I love reading your blog since season 1, it's like you put the words in my head into writing. I can't say much since all of you here have expressed the same opinion like mine. But I still want to point out that it seems Jeongwon is really confident in love, he plans his vacation with Gyeoul in a year ahead, not so grand gesture but shows that he's so sure about Gyeoul. He's a man with vision, his dream about children hospital says a alot, I'm wondering if we gonna see how he puts Gyeoul into his "future plan".
Oh another thing, I'm quite surprised with the talk about the demanding fans in the last blog, until I saw it by myself. And it doesn't stop I guess?
I enjoy reading the blog and all the comments down !! Literally the summarized version of all my thoughts !! Looking forward to many more !! Will just say iam simply in love with hosplay cuz all of my thoughts have already being mentioned by everyone here !!.
As always, I enjoyed reading your blog :) Looking forward to your in-depth analysis of this ep, which is also my fave one so far. I am so excited about ShinLee's plans for Wintergarden esp for Gyeoul. I am happy that we are finding more things about Gyeoul even though she is a supporting character.
I also felt a bit unsettled by the fact that Ikjun did not let Gyeoul know about the presence of the guards although the nurses knew about it. I am not aware of how the rules are but it seems like a plot hole that the only GS resident was kept in the dark about this. It seems that this scene has been set up for us to see that domestic violence really triggers Gyeoul and is an important part of her background.
The ER scene is very meaningful. Jeongwon, in his civilian clothes instead of scrub, is there for Gyeoul not as a professor but simply as his boyfriend. That's why Dr. Bong was there to reprimand Gyeoul instead.
I loved reading your post and I'm so mad at myself for discovering this mine so late! I so relate to a lot of points you have given considerate thoughts to. But I see there is still a confusion as to how did GyeoUl not know of the DV but IkJun and the senior nurse did. To give a clearer picture I want you to recollect an incident where GyeoUl and IkJun are on their rounds and IkJun suddenly asks her about the husband. Just then, it's shown that GyeoUl gets a call for a surgery by another professor and she excuses herself from the round. Thereby making it just IkJun and the senior nurse to go check on the patient and that exactly is where he finds a bruise on her forehead, which confirms DV.
This was my perception of this entire question since I found it weird that they would cut GyeoUl off with a phone call the minute she comes on screen.
The writers have deliberately removed GyeoUl from this revelation predictably used as a leverage for her hasty reaction later that night, without going the call-the-security-guards way. This I think was a seed planted for building up of GyeoUl's own case of DV back home, and how she is traumatised about it enough to fight a drunk abuser alone.
Wahhh, life is certainly looking up when I get an article from my favorite this early in the morning! :) I'm also eyeing the wonderful 40 min podcast - but that will have to wait until the weekend, unfortunately.
Sooooooooo... To add.
I feel like we’ve been fed that ginormous snow crab dinner - only the writers haven’t warned us to fast for 8 hours beforehand.
Seriously, yesterday's show was even a little bit too much of everything... When I was watching the Korean stream in real-time, I wanted to pause it after each scene to dissect and process. But the show kept going like a high-speed train, and I might need to rewatch Ep. 5 a couple (or ten) more times to catch up. (My pile of work is looking at me incredulously. Sorry, work. Just a few more minutes.)
I’ll just do one tiny scene here, to celebrate the amazing talents and through-the-roof chemistry of actors Yoo Yeon-seok and Shin Hyun-been and the great characters the authors created for them. (At this point, I really wonder if Gyeol was supposed to be this great multi-layered, multi-functional character from the very beginning or if she has won over the writers in the process of filming. Because Yoo Yeon-seok, I totally get you when you can’t shut up about this character in your interviews. Her journey is a unique and extremely addictive story.)
So, my two cents about the iconic date scene, a master class in “show not tell”. It’s 3 minutes and maybe 10 seconds. And within these 3 minutes, we get overstuffed with food for thought... I’m not going to gush much, I’ll just list what I learned.
Gyoel came to her weekend date directly from the hospital (because she has to go back there later if the subtitles don’t lie) - and Jeong-won is driving her around. After dropping her off, he’s going to pick up Jun-won. He continues taking care of Jun-won in this way, subtly, silently. He even made him breakfast, and that’s just too adorable.
Also, Gyoel is an organic part of this domestic ecosystem now. It is unclear if it is her first visit to her boyfriend’s apartment. But she seems to know her way around the kitchen island at the very least. I laughed out loud at the meager amounts of food she was offered this time. But hey, Jeong-won cooked for her. And shelled her crab despite his allergy. And promised to buy her more said crab in the future (or procure it from Song-hwa for free which is more believable).
Then they speak a little about residents being busy. And it struck me that they really have very little time either for themselves or for each other, given their profession and schedules. All they have is snatches. A few days is something of the realm of dreams, even staying the night (and the writers took pains to establish that she is not staying over, lol) is difficult. A couple of hours is what they usually have - hence the non-existent awkward stage and the intensity of simple everyday interactions. They have to use every chance to learn about each other, learn from each other and grow the relationship, slowly, surely, precisely. No time for drama. No time for petty jealous things like, “Why do you hang out with your friends without me, and all entertainment I get is an indoors date night with leftover crab?”
Their priorities are also very much aligned - first comes work (serving people, really), then Gyoel’s studies, then their time together. And Jeong-won is obviously there for a long haul, aiming at forever. Waiting a year to go on a mini-holiday together is nothing to him. But this break in the conversation, “What could happen in a year?” signalized a shift. They both know their honeymoon period is coming to an end. Which is why he asks her to always tell him things. And she asks him to always show affection to her. (Out of context, this request may seem weird, because Jeong-won is showering her with affection at the moment.) Communication and affection are two pillars of a healthy long-term relationship. And those are the basic rules they negotiate right away, telling each other what they need. Jeong-won needs transparency, conversations, words. Gyeol needs assurance, action, touch.
It’s very fitting that at the dawn of this relationship, the girl who is generally bad with words and expressing feelings was the one to confess. And the Professor who preaches moderation and responsibility would answer this confession with a reckless kiss (or two). But those were atypical behaviors for them. When the first-love glamour wears off, they will revert to being just people with their own strong points and weaknesses. That’s why Jeong-won and Gyeol needed to make promises to each other - to stay open, supportive, and available, even in the midst of an emotionally charged hospital setting. *sigh* That will be the last time we see them so fluffy, I think. But what we had was wonderful.
I could go on with this thesis for another three to seven pages but the main point is, I really, really love Hospital Playlist in all its richness and “thought-provoking-ness”, and Ep. 5 is my favorite too!
Let us feast on Episode 5 together and discuss it to death!!!
This is, by far, my favorite episode of this season. There's something magical about this episode that I just can't put my finger to. Plus, it was a breather from the heavy episode 4.
Avoidance is a common theme in episode 5: Ik-Sung avoiding Jun-Wan, Ik-Jun and Ik-Sun never touched the elephant in the room, Song-Hwa summarizing that Seok-Hyeong avoided his marital problems, Gyeo-ul somewhat avoiding confiding with anyone about the domestic violence (or maybe it's not really avoiding with Gyeo-ul but more on she's just used to doing things her way).
For bidulgi, I honestly don't know where this is going. I do want Jun-Wan to be happy, though.
I just cannot handle Seok-Hyeong's mom. My goodness! I'm at a loss for words. Good thing that Rosa was there to reprimand her. But I'm glad to see that Seok-Hyeong acknowledged his (non) efforts towards Shin-Hye.
I'm very pleased to see Seok-Hyeong instantly following Song-Hwa's advice about asking "useless" questions/replies, especially to people he feels most comfortable with. I squealed in delight when Min-Ha called and Seok-Hyeong asked more details about the gift. I wouldn't be surprised if Song-Hwa turns out to be the ship captain of GomGom because it has been said in Season 1 that Seok-Hyeong only listens to Song-Hwa's advice and the rest of the boys are just fillers. Hahahaha!
Min-Ha continues to grow on me. She has a lovely personality. Aside from being both Armys, I understand better why Gyeo-ul and Min-Ha are best friends. They're both resilient, see the best in people, and just want to be good doctors.
I love the quick scene of Min-Ha and Gyeo-ul where Gyeo-ul saw Min-Ha walking with Seok-Hyeong. Gyeo-ul didn't want to disturb the two and deliberately stepped out of the way, completely understanding that this is a moment of Min-Ha with Seok-Hyeong. Any best friend would immediately relate with that!
WinterGarden! This relationships is rich. It is very likely that Gyeo-ul was exposed to domestic violence in her family, hence, her instinct to always do something against the abuser. This explains a lot why she ran after the DV dad in season 1 and now, the DV husband. It is also likely the reason why Gyeo-ul asked Jeong-Won to reassure her of his love once a day. I agree with you that her stoicism was brought about by circumstance. Given that she also appears to be the eldest in the family, she needs that stoicism to take care of the people she loves.
Ik-Jun yelling for Gyeo-ul is always comedy gold. He's just like an older brother who really cares for her. It's not shown but I'm sure he knows that Gyeo-ul and Jeong-Won are talking and is yelling to also mess with them. Hahahaha!
Episode 5 did a one-year time jump to 2021. I'm glad that PD did that because I seriously don't want HP to deal with Covid. But what I like the most about the time jump is that WinterGarden's relationship continues. It's a nice departure from the few K-Dramas I watched where the chaebol son feels pressured to get married quickly.
Any 41-year-old bachelor might feel that pressure to marry quickly but I'm glad that WinterGarden are taking their time building their relationship.
Speaking of chaebol son, I particularly enjoyed the appearance of Dong-Il, the priest brother of Jeong-Won. The scene between Rosa and Dong-Il shows me that this family is truly special. For those who criticize Jeong-won as being too aegyo, the Rosa-Dong-Il scenes show that this kind of aegyo runs naturally in the family. Just like Jeong-Won, Dong-Il shows childlike innocence. The way he yelled 옴마 many times and the way he kept showing the rainbow to his 옴마 was just adorable. So Jeong-Won being aegyo to people he loves and feels most comfortable with is something that has always come naturally in his own family.
Finally, I don't think the secrecy of WinterGarden's relationship will be the focus of the next episodes. It's safe to assume that within a year, people would have known that they are a couple. I honestly don't want HP to focus on that when there are more stories about WinterGarden that can be explored.
To end, I think and I hope episode 6 will be a fun episode since the preview shows that it would be all about the current interns. There's a quick clip of Gyeo-ul saying that she's used to taking care of GS by herself but she's now handling more interns. This is good character development as Gyeo-ul might be shown taking a more authentic leadership role rather than just being an individual contributor.
It is also likely that the 99s's time as interns will be shown. I can't wait!
Turns out ik jun really didn't know about his best friend dating his sister, well i guess some one like ik jun not always update about something, hehe. That's remind me on s1 ep 9 if i'm not mistaken, about ik jun's case on a father who wanted to give his heart to her daughter, ik jun thougt he knew about people and world, but then he reflected it again at the end of the day after seeing the dramatic changes of the patient's father.
About ik sun and jun wan, i have no comment yet, i want to wait the development of their story. It excites me to be honest, and i'm not gonna blame one party at this point. I'm sure writernim won't give bad solution for them, and also i'm so sure that ik jun has plan for them.
Some say that in this season gyeo-ul is ooc but i don't think so, i think it's her character development. I mean people always change because of one or few moments that happen in their life. And she falls in love, of course there's the difference in her. And i always love her scene with jeong won, not just the romantic part but also it always reveal something about their character.
Min ha as always be this cute girl that i'm rooting for. Just be patient, girl!
Overall i'm taking this episode with so much light heart, compare to the previous episode. And the ost is getting better and better. Yeeiyy (song hwa mode)
I wanted to add a few words about the DV case in this episode. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the DV case in season 1 either. Both stories called for a major suspension of disbelief because of the way they were presented. They are very, very telegraphed, don't you think?
We have those sketched villains and very sympathetic victims, but it all looks like a problem from a textbook with a ready-made solution provided on the back rather than a story imbued with life and emotions like, say, Eun-ji mother's story. Even the set of reactions we get from our favorite doctors is curated. And I think it is deliberate, whether because of the TV rating, or the wish to avoid strong triggers, or the intention to cover this topic later in a different way.
In theory, these DV stories require action scenes, confrontational scenes. But the confrontations we get on the screen are more like Ik-jun and Jeong-won's cigarette breaks. Sure, we see the cigarettes. We don't see the smoke or the smokers' reaction to the process of smoking. Again, I think it is deliberate. The filming crew is surely talented enough to pull off a good action scene, despite the fact that Shin Hyun-been is a tiny thing with ballerina's arms. But they chose not to. They telegraph.
They don't focus on Gyeol's pain after being knocked down. They don't show Jeong-won's anger at seeing his gf hurt. They skirt around the reasons why Ik-jun or the nurse didn't tell her about the problem (well, it might be because they had no time with her being busy with procurement and other stuff - but it still requires some suspension of disbelief). They focus on the solution - and convey it via the heartfelt ER conversation everyone is sure to remember.
At the same time, the topic of abuse seems to be important for the writers - they repeated this story twice and hinted at trouble at Gyeol's home. Maybe when we get there, they will tell it differently. Or maybe it will remain a delicate detail on a greater canvas of life. It's just curious how they did it here. I'm in awe :)
You always crystalise my thoughts about each Hosplay episode so well - thank you! I totally agree that winter Garden as a couple are communicating much better than Bidulgi couple. Perhaps they both, being first loves of each other, have no baggage whatsoever and are just open, welcoming and basking in each other's love, as couple should be. So happy to see them everytime they appear together on screen.
There was certainly alot to unpack snd we do have a time jump so I'm looking forward to see how each character, major or minor, continues to grow. Gweoyul's backstory would be an interesting one (and yes, I suspect too that things at home aren't great). The interns and residents would be interesting to watch. Im rooting for Hongdo because, goodness this one is so blur!
I can't say how happy I am to find your blog and read your reviews about this drama. Your thoughts are so on point! Every episode of Hospital Playlist keeps getting better and better. When I thought that this week was the best, the next week, they always show something better. Everything in this week was so good, starting from the story line to the songs. Gosh, I love both "I Like You" and "Already One Year". My greedy heart wants both of the songs covered by Cho Jungseok.
Storywise, everything that happened in episode 5 is the best out of all episodes so far. Episode 5 was paralleled with season's 1's episode 5, where our wintergarden, especially gyeoul encountered an abuser. Season 1 showed gyeoul was injured by the abuser and all alone, ignored by jeongwon, while in season 2, it was showed that she has someone comforting her after being injured by the abuser. I don't know if jeongwon's silence about gyeoul's extreme action is a good thing or not, but perhaps it was hidden for something to be shown in the future. Like something that will be connected to gyeoul's back story? But I'll just leave it to the writers and do my part to enjoy the show.
Btw, can I look forward for your detailed thoughts about our wintergarden in this episode? Nevermind if you don't have any, I'll still be here lurking your blog. Hehe... I hope you don't mind :).
Might I just comment, the kisses are so full of signifance that I don't understand when people say that they are all fluff and fan service. As far as I have seen, they have been using the WinterGarden screentime so efficiently, with their use of visual metaphors and symbols, choice of dialogues, and even locations. Even the ER embrace is so visually-rich with symbols of promise and intimacy between the couple. I also agree with how the ER scene seems to portray their partnership, beyond the mentor-mentee relationship. Whereas before Jeong-won was towering over Gyeo-ul, they are now both sitting side by side showing Jeong-won's effort to meet Gyeo-ul halfway and portraying them as equals. There was no space there for judgment, only for comfort, support, and mutual understanding.
I've already said a lot about episode 5 but I'll add a few more. Just bear with me because this is the only place I'm comfortable sharing my thoughts with. Hahahaha!
Song-Hwa aware of the Tteokbokki Club:
* The Tteokbokki Club is an exclusive group of 5 people. It's either Ik-Jun or Seok-Hyeong who told her about the existence of this club but it's highly likely that the info came from Ik-Jun. After all, Ik-Jun declined Song-Hwa's lunch invitation because of this pre-arranged Tteokbokki Club lunch. Min-Ha greeting Song-Hwa naturally feels to me that they had a few more interactions before that.
* Seok-Hyeong calling Min-Ha as "Min-Hayah" is additional proof that he's very comfortable with Min-Ha. I'm not Korean (I'm learning the language, though) but I've read that add "yah" as suffix can be a sign of affection. Even using 우리 (our) is a sign of affection as it is collective term used to say that you're part of the family.
* Lastly, I'm loving Shin Hyun Been more. She's a great actress and she delivers her lines differently, depending on who she's acting with. Her voice tone is different when he's talking to Min-Ha, Ik-Jun, Jeong-Won and her mom. We all know what tone she uses with Jeong-Won but I noticed that her tone is lower and a bit more serious with her mom. That's good acting.
That's it!! I hope I don't observe more things from the rewatch. I've already said a lot! Hahahahah! Thanks for bearing with me!
Hi! I love reading your blog since season 1, it's like you put the words in my head into writing. I can't say much since all of you here have expressed the same opinion like mine. But I still want to point out that it seems Jeongwon is really confident in love, he plans his vacation with Gyeoul in a year ahead, not so grand gesture but shows that he's so sure about Gyeoul. He's a man with vision, his dream about children hospital says a alot, I'm wondering if we gonna see how he puts Gyeoul into his "future plan".
Oh another thing, I'm quite surprised with the talk about the demanding fans in the last blog, until I saw it by myself. And it doesn't stop I guess?
I enjoy reading the blog and all the comments down !! Literally the summarized version of all my thoughts !! Looking forward to many more !! Will just say iam simply in love with hosplay cuz all of my thoughts have already being mentioned by everyone here !!.
As always, I enjoyed reading your blog :) Looking forward to your in-depth analysis of this ep, which is also my fave one so far. I am so excited about ShinLee's plans for Wintergarden esp for Gyeoul. I am happy that we are finding more things about Gyeoul even though she is a supporting character.
I also felt a bit unsettled by the fact that Ikjun did not let Gyeoul know about the presence of the guards although the nurses knew about it. I am not aware of how the rules are but it seems like a plot hole that the only GS resident was kept in the dark about this. It seems that this scene has been set up for us to see that domestic violence really triggers Gyeoul and is an important part of her background.
The ER scene is very meaningful. Jeongwon, in his civilian clothes instead of scrub, is there for Gyeoul not as a professor but simply as his boyfriend. That's why Dr. Bong was there to reprimand Gyeoul instead.
I loved reading your post and I'm so mad at myself for discovering this mine so late! I so relate to a lot of points you have given considerate thoughts to. But I see there is still a confusion as to how did GyeoUl not know of the DV but IkJun and the senior nurse did. To give a clearer picture I want you to recollect an incident where GyeoUl and IkJun are on their rounds and IkJun suddenly asks her about the husband. Just then, it's shown that GyeoUl gets a call for a surgery by another professor and she excuses herself from the round. Thereby making it just IkJun and the senior nurse to go check on the patient and that exactly is where he finds a bruise on her forehead, which confirms DV.
This was my perception of this entire question since I found it weird that they would cut GyeoUl off with a phone call the minute she comes on screen.
The writers have deliberately removed GyeoUl from this revelation predictably used as a leverage for her hasty reaction later that night, without going the call-the-security-guards way. This I think was a seed planted for building up of GyeoUl's own case of DV back home, and how she is traumatised about it enough to fight a drunk abuser alone.