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Anne's avatar

Thank you once again for sorting out my own thoughts and impressions with your calm, composed, and overall brilliant writing. I'm so lucky to have stumbled upon your blog. <3<3

When your concept is “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”, you can get away with a lot of things.

You can get away (albeit barely) with not giving the audience the much-hinted marriage, proposal, or secret relationship reveal.

You can give them another non-flashy confession, this time a kiss-less one (because the unspoken quota of one kiss per episode has already been spent on the excellent GomGom couple), and that confession would basically serve the same purpose. (Of giving more hints, lol).

Everyone was hoping for a big bang in the finale, but we got a poetic sunset instead, alluding to “Me to You, You to Me” lyrics. And Jeong-won’s story went back to its genesis, only with him embracing his true vocation and setting out to become even a better doctor with a helper by his side.

I always spoke about how I love HP’s “showing, not telling” principle. After this episode, I realized that ShinLee mastered “telling, not showing” too. There were so many things we haven’t been shown (i.e. the ocean), though TV production would make it beautiful and memorable. But the dialogue was just as effective, if not more effective, in its simplicity, it was never too expository. Each episode is like a Polaroid photo - at first, it’s just bits, and pieces, and spots,

but the more you wait and observe, the fuller the picture is.

I am in absolute awe of this show. It’s one of the kind on every level. It is perfect even in its imperfection - you could guess that the production of the last episode was a tad bit rushed, and a lot of material (around 20 to 30 minutes of screen time) ended up on the cutting room floor.

The scenes are very trimmed, they barely have “air” around them, and some of them felt like surgical replacements of some other ideas (the dinner-confession and the Jeong-won's sudden decision to go to the US for a year); and the team definitely had to choose what to put into their patchwork script and what to take out, so they left only the essential plot vehicles (the staircase hug, the double date, closure for patients’ stories) and crème de la crème entertainment (the joint performance of the Lee siblings a special highlight among them). Even the throwbacks (something old) were used to show the growth of the character - same people, same situation, but Seok-hyeong is somehow chill about riding crowded elevators, and Jun-wan may skip the quiz and offer the exhausted interns a ride home.

I am mostly stunned with how intricately (though imperfectly) everything was done in this episode. Also melancholic, because I don't want it to end, and rewatching my favorite parts would only make the longing worse. But I'm here today with a grateful heart and a sincere hope for another season in a couple of years.

It’s been a pleasure and an honor watching Hospital Playlist 2. And sharing this pleasure with you, wonderful ladies, tripled my weekly joy. <3<3<3

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AABattery's avatar

Thank you for this post... I have been having the same struggle after E12 on how to put my feeling into words. I have been waiting for your post as your words always help me process better and present the same feelings I share in ways I could never do. And you certainly did it again with E12.

To start with the positive, I have to say that as long as E12 was, I enjoyed almost every second of it. I loved seeing Seokmin's and Gyeoul's growths in their skills and confidence handling challenging surgeries, the doctor-patient-family dynamics and the difficult dilemmas, the interactions between the 5 (esp. the conversation between SW and SK in the courtyard), and it was so nice to hear the two talented musical drama ladies sing in the karaoke. The challenge for me was feeling that there is still a void even after all those wonderful 120+ mins. To use some of your words, I did not "dislike" the episode as I laughed and cried with it just like the other ones, but I just wish there could be even more, esp knowing this could be the end and there are no more episode in sight to help tie up the loose ends / present finalities in the storylines that they have spent the last 23 episodes to develop.

I totally agree with you that they appeared to be in a hurry wrapping up all the storylines with a somewhat happy endings, maybe to please all the shippers now there is no definite S3, and it cost some necessary details in storytelling to more deeply touch and impact the viewers. It is almost like the Chinese term 隔靴搔癢 (trying to scratch your itch from outside your boots). Take WinterGarden for example, I, too, totally love their two scenes together, but I also wish they could have taken some more time to deal with the development a little deeper (and I wish the same for all the other couples). I am very aware of the fact that this is not a rom com, but if they have set up all these love lines and esp GW with all those hints on marriages, I somehow feel that we were robbed at the end with nothing more than these two scenes together and the news that they'd leave for the US together for a year.

I personally actually love the ending of JW leaving Yulje for a year to enhance his skills in small bowel transplantation. Like SW said, he is the person that is most happy when seeing others enjoy food, so the choosing of this specific specialty is very matching with his character, as it is the only way to help some of his little patients enjoy food like others. Even though it was just a one-year program, his mind probably was on something else (e.g. his earlier life plan) to give it a thought prior to this season, and his uneasiness shows he still needs more experience to help more kids. GU is the person that knew how difficult the procedure is, how JW is the best Yulje could offer, but at the same time how anxious he could be w/ only 1:2 success rate so far, and how she can help him focus. I have no doubt she was fully supportive of, probably even encouraged him to pursue the one-year stint. So as a contrast to S1 when he wanted to leave Yulje for good to run away from suffering patients and attraction towards GU, him leaving Yulje now just temporarily to fully embrace his calling to heal more children, and to have GU by his side, in my opinion, is a wonderful twist and ending message. However, all these wonderful and logical developments got rushed in the presentation, and I was first left wondering how did they go from him not even having met GU's mom, and not even thinking about this specialty, and within a 2-3 weeks span, to the point that he is already set for studying in the US and she is coming alone? It was not until later I got to appreciate the meaning behind this ending.. but how about GU? Surely he would not be that inconsiderate to her career to ask her to just take a break and follow him. And it is already not logical for him to get a study arrangement so quickly, let alone having another one arranged for her. And whether she is there to study or not, surely JW would not have her come with him without first making very serious commitment, with the only fitting one being, in my opinion, marriage, right? Then how did he manage to meet the mom (who has just recovered from DV), propose, and ask her to follow him all in that short span? And why did ShinLee not even give us any hints about all?

I think I was torn between what to expect... I expect this to be slice-of-life so I did not expect all happy fairy tale endings, but also because it is supposed to present somewhat realistic, "ordinary" life or doctors, I cannot reconcile all the quick / rushed developments with the lack of details 😣. And while I appreciate how this drama is not for lazy viewers and requires more detailed digestion to connect dots and comprehend the underlying message, I am noticing myself having to do a lot of interpretation and "extra scenes" in my mind this time - to the point I wondered if I was watching a detective show 🤣.

But having said all the above, I echo that I love this show, warts and all. The positive impact the show has brought to its viewers, me included, has been amazing. I will miss the weekly routine of waiting for content anxiously on Thursday, and looking forward to reading comments here the days after. I personally truly hope there will be a S3 or at least some special episodes to tie a even better bow on it, but with or without it, it is still one of the shows that touched me the most emotionally and helped many of us go through a challenging time with inspiring stories and positive energy.

Thank you again!

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