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From Wikipedia: “Hospital Playlist” [Season 1, 2020] is a South Korean television series written by Lee Woo-jung and directed by Shin Won-ho. (They worked together in the “Reply” series.) It is the second installment of the Wise Life series, following Prison Playbook (2017–18). It stars Jo Jung-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok, Jung Kyung-ho, Kim Dae-myung, and Jeon Mi-do.
The series is the ninth highest-rated Korean drama in cable television history.
“Hospital Playlist” won the “Best Drama” award from the 2020 Brand of the Year Awards. It was nominated for “Drama of the Year” in the APAN Star Awards and for “Best Screenplay” in the 2020 Baeksang Arts Awards.
How I wrote these episode summaries with no spoilers
1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.
2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.
3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore.
4. I followed this structure all throughout, except for Ep. 12 (Finale) where I included spoilers. Reason — most people want to know if the drama has a good/happy ending or a sad ending before they invest the time in watching it.
Episode 1
An accident occurs while Song-hwa is visiting her friend Seok-hyung at his house during a rainy night; when the ambulance arrives, Seok-hyung reluctantly accompanies the victim to the hospital.
On their way to Kangwoon University Medical Center, Jung-won (a pediatric surgeon) brings up Seok-hyung’s request with Jun-wan (a cardiothoracic surgeon); Jun-wan says that he’ll reject the request. Later on, at the medical center, Jun-wan counsels the mother of a child who needs an operation to seek financial help from the hospital’s “Daddy-Long-Legs” program.
At the ultramodern Yulje Hospital which is run by the Yulje Foundation and where Song-hwa is a neurologist, concerns over the foundation loom as its chairman is comatose. While the hospital’s director confers with Director Ju Jong-su of the foundation, a lawyer counsels Jung Ro-sa, the chairman’s wife. The top two candidates as the foundation’s next chairman are Director Jong-su and the chairman’s youngest son.
Song-hwa comforts a woman who’s despairing of her life because her mother has a brain tumor and her son needs a liver transplant. Later on, when the surgeon who’s scheduled to perform the liver transplant becomes unavailable, Song-hwa recommends an outside doctor to perform the transplant. But her fellow doctors cite the legal problems with her recommendation.
The foundation’s chairman dies, and during his funeral, Song-hwa and Jun-wan are stunned to find out who the youngest son of the chairman is.
Episode 2
| Ep. 1 recap:
Jung-won, Song-hwa, Seok-hyung, Jun-wan, and Ik-jun have been friends since they were freshmen medical students in 1999. While still wearing his Darth Vader helmet, Ik-jun performs the liver transplant. Jung-won is the foundation chairman’s youngest son; he refuses to be the next chairman, however, and endorses Director Jong-su instead. In exchange, he asks for a portion of the profits from the hospital’s VIP ward. He also negotiates a salary increase for Song-hwa and hefty salaries for his friends Jun-wan, Ik-jun, and Seok-hyung if they come to work for Yulje Medical Center. But Seok-hyung refuses, inspite of the hefty salary and the perks that Jung-won offers. Instead, he wants to form a band among themselves. Song-hwa refuses to join the band, but Jung-won and Seok-hyung manipulate her. When one of Jung-won’s patients dies, he meets his brother (the priest) and says that he wants to quit being a doctor and become a priest like him. On his way to a symposium, Jun-wan finds out that Song-hwa’s boyfriend is cheating on her. |
Along with the hospital’s director, Song-hwa and the other neurosurgeons meet their new head, Dr. Min, who’s a media celebrity. After Dr. Min leaves to have lunch with the other neurosurgeons, the hospital director urges Song-hwa to perform the operation on a patient named Gong Hyeong-woo (known as the “subway hero” for saving a pregnant lady off the subway tracks). The director says that his upcoming operation is under a lot of media scrutiny.
Dr. Min seems friendly as the TV crew follows him around, but after a patient’s mother yells at him, he berates the chief resident named Seok-min for not attending to the patient’s needs.
Jun-wan scolds chief resident Do Jae-hak in front of a patient for not following his orders properly. Jae-hak accepts being scolded and apologizes to the patient; later, as he looks for Seok-min, he meets two medical students named Jang Hong-do and Yoon-bok.
Seok-min and another neurosurgery resident gossip about Song-hwa, who has been given the nickname “Ghost” for never being late and for having superhuman abilities. Back at the neurosurgery staff office, Jae-hak tells the two medical students to choose general surgery as their residency.
Ik-jun and the other surgeons vie for the services of a general surgery resident named Jang Gyu-wool. When a more senior surgeon takes Gyu-wool away from him, Ik-jun becomes determined to gain her attention and services by bribing her with food.
Seok-min continues to pester Song-hwa about taking Gong Hyeong-woo as her patient; he says that Dr. Min does not have the expertise to perform the surgery. But Song-hwa refuses, citing her case load.
Jung-won rushes into the ER because of a young boy who’s in a critical condition. After hearing how Gyu-wool talked with the boy’s guardian, without empathy and blaming her for not immediately doing CPR on her son, he takes her aside and scolds her.
Song-hwa meets a friend from high school who suffered from breast cancer and is now in need of another operation. Later, during dinner, Jung-won counsels Song-hwa against taking over from Dr. Min in operating on Gong Hyeong-woo; on the other hand, Jun-wan says she should take over if she’s more qualified. Tensions also arise among them when Song-hwa argues with Jun-wan because he didn’t tell her of her boyfriend’s infidelity.
After overhearing Seok-min berating Gong Hyeong-woo and his wife for refusing to replace Dr. Min as their doctor, Song-hwa decides to talk to Dr. Min about Gong Hyeong-woo. But Dr. Min becomes angry.
Episode 3
| Ep. 2 recap:
Song-hwa sees her high school classmate in a tender embrace with her husband. When Seok-min asks her about how she feels, she says that being single is the best. To resolve the conflict, Song-hwa offers to assist Dr. Min in Gong Hyeong-woo’s operation. Before the operation, she orders Seok-min to apologize to Gong Hyeong-woo; later on, she also says that she knows he wanted her to take over the operation only because of his thesis. Jung-won sees Gyu-wool in a different light as he sees her picking off maggots by hand from a patient’s infected, frostbitten leg. Director Jong-su’s wife dies, and during the wake, he meets Jung-won, Seok-hyung, Jun-wan, Ik-jun, and Song-hwa. When he wonders why none of the guys didn’t become romantically involved Song-hwa, Seok-hyung blurts out that, back in 1999, he confessed his love for Song-hwa, but she turned him down. On her birthday, Song-hwa sees on her table a box with a pair of shoes in it. Flashback ... When Jun-wan warns Song-hwa’s boyfriend to confess to Song-hwa about his infidelity, the boyfriend becomes suspicious about his friendship with Song-hwa. |
Song-hwa’s residents Seok-min and Chi-hong are on edge as she continues to question them about their patients. Meanwhile, to the
disappointment of the other surgeons, Gyu-wool again chooses to assist Ik-jun.
While preparing for an operation on an infant patient, Jun-wan becomes angry when Jae-hak brings the twin medical students Hong-do and Yoon-bok near his patient; he fears that they could infect his patient.
During their lunchtime break, the friends argue over who could sing “Aloha” by Cool better; they remember an event during their medical school days where they were supposed to sing. Ik-jun later invites everyone to go to a karaoke bar, but everyone says that they have things to do.
While using Jung-won’s computer, Ik-jun finds out that Jung-won is planning to quit being a doctor and to become a priest. After he
leaves to see Gyu-wool, Jun-wan wonders aloud to Jung-won if Ik-jun and Gyu-wool are having an affair.
Jae-hak urges Jun-wan to become more comforting towards his patients and their families. But Jun-wan shuts him down, saying that a lot of things can go wrong during surgery.
At the hospital café, the twins interview Jun-wan about why he chose cardiothoracic surgery as his field; they say that Song-hwa chose neurology because there are a lot of things to learn in her field and she likes studying. Jun-wan teases them that he decided to go into cardiothoracic surgery while he was in an Internet café.
Song-hwa allows her resident Chi-hong to finish up an operation, but he becomes nervous when she comments on everything he does.
Ik-jun’s wife Hye-jung returns to Korea from her work in Germany; as they talk in the hospital café, she insists that they talk somewhere with more privacy.
Before operating on another infant patient, Jun-wan speaks to the young mother. At the end of the operation, he allows the twins to come near his patient.
After a tense meeting over an upcoming surgery, the neurology residents and staff ask Song-hwa if they can come with her to her camping trip that weekend so that they can unwind.
Ik-jun gets the news that his son Woo-joo suffered an allergic reaction when Hye-jung took him to a restaurant and unknowingly gave him some peanuts. To find out what actually caused the allergic reaction, he calls up the restaurant that Hye-jung and Woo-joo went to.
Ik-jun prepares to harvest the organs of a brain-dead donor. But at the last moment, he talks to the doctors from Kangwoon University Medical Center and decides to delay the procedure.
Episode 4
| Ep. 3 recap:
Flashback ... Jung-won, Seok-hyung, Jun-wan, Ik-jun, and Song-hwa spend time arguing and enjoying themselves in a karaoke bar singing “Aloha” by Cool. Gyu-wool has a big crush on Jung-won and wants to know what he thinks of her through Ik-jun. When Ik-jun deflates her by saying that Jung-won is planning to become a priest, she says she won’t give up that easily. Ik-jun is stunned when his wife Hye-jung says that she wants to end their marriage. While following up how his son Woo-joo got his allergic reaction, he finds out that Hye-jung might be having an affair. Jun-wan attends the wedding of the woman whose elderly father he’s about to operate on; he also breaks his advice to his resident Jae-hak to never guarantee the successful outcome of a surgery. The twins decide to go into cardiothoracic surgery after Jun-wan allows them to touch the heart of his infant patient. Ik-jun decides to delay the harvesting of organs from the brain-dead donor for at least ten minutes; the donor was his former patient who was discharged the day earlier but who got into a traffic accident. He wants the man’s son not to feel sad every time Children’s Day holiday comes around. Jun-wan finds out that the military officer brought into the ER is Ik-jun’s sister. At the camping site, Song-hwa is surprised when her resident Chi-hong arrives and tells her that her birthday shoes was his gift to her. |
Gyu-wool continues pining for Jung-won; meanwhile, to Jun-wan’s dismay, Ik-jun plays matchmaker to his sister Ik-sun and her best friend, who’s working in Yulje Medical Center.
Dr. Bong tells Gyu-wool and Min-ha (the Ob-Gyne resident) that for a small price, he will tell them everything they want to know about Jung-won, Song-hwa, Seok-hyung, Jun-wan, and Ik-jun. He says that Song-hwa is the nerd who likes to party; Jun-wan may be the best surgeon but is a jerk; Seok-hyung lacks social skills; Ik-joon was the number one in academics all throughout medical school and thus doesn’t have an inferiority complex or prejudices; and Jung-won doesn’t care about material possessions.
Neurology resident Chi-hong finds out that a patient wants to be discharged because he can’t afford the medical fees. When Song-hwa finds out about it, she immediately calls Jun-wan and asks him about the “Grandpa-Long-Legs” program at Kangwoon University Medical Center.
Jung-won and Jun-wan find out that four rooms of the VIP ward have been reserved by Congressman Sim Yeong-su; he’s scheduled for a liver transplant with his son as the donor. Jung-won is surprised because the son used to party with Ik-jun during their college days; Jun-wan, on the other hand, warns Jung-won not to mention Congressman Sim Yeong-su to Seok-hyung.
Jung-won visits his elder brother and talks to him about telling their mother about his plans of becoming a priest.
During a meeting of the Ob-Gyne residents and nurses, resident Eun-won explains to the twins that one of the patients will be delivering a baby with anencephaly (“a serious birth defect where a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull; almost all babies born with anencephaly will die shortly after birth”). Later on, Min-ha complains to Eun-won and Nurse Han about Seok-hyung’s instructions to her about what to do with the baby right after it’s delivered; she says that Seok-hyung is a total psycho.
While they’re having lunch, Song-hwa, Joon-wan, and Ik-joon talk about the various changes in their lives. But they all agree that it’s Seok-hyung who has changed the most among them, turning from being brusque towards his mother to being a mama’s boy. Song-hwa remembers that Seok-hyung changed starting from the time his beloved little sister died.
Episode 5
| Ep. 4 recap:
December 2018 ... On the plane going back to Korea after learning of his sister’s death, Seok-hyung finds out about his father’s affair. His father wanted a divorce, but his mother didn’t want him to find happiness by divorcing him. Seok-hyung asks Eun-won to muffle the cries of the baby with anencephaly by covering its mouth; he also asks Nurse Han to play loud music to prevent the mother from hearing her baby cry. He wants to spare the mother from being traumatized for the rest of her life. Jung-won treats in the ER a child suffering from chest pains because he fell from a table according to the father. Later on, he sees the boy’s twin brother in the ER; to his shock, he finds the boy’s body covered with bruises. Gyu-wool runs after the father along the corridors as he tries to escape, but Song-hwa stops him; later on, the father is arrested by the police for child abuse. Jun-wan visits Ik-sun at her base. Flashback, 1999 ... Song-hwa lies to the others about being a good singer. After being given a last chance by Ik-jun, Seok-hyung proves that he can play a song on the keyboards from start to finish. Ik-jun tries to get into the room of his college friend who’s supposed to donate a liver for his father Congressman Sim Yeong-su. Later on, he calls security to send four men to the VIP ward; he barges into the room and finds, besides his college friend, a man wearing a patient’s gown. |
man who was supposed to donate his liver is an employee of a company owned by Seok-hyung’s father.
The friends have dinner in a restaurant, and Song-hwa asks about the ongoing renovations in Jun-wan’s house. In the meantime, Jun-wan and Jung-won are staying in Ik-jun’s house. They also talk about the continuing refusal of Seok-hyung’s mother to give his father a divorce and of Ik-jun’s divorce. Later on, their band practice is interrupted when Seok-hyung and Ik-jun get calls from their residents.
Ik-jun assures a father who’s reluctant to receive a liver from his daughter. Meanwhile, Seok-hyung meets his patient and her music-loving husband.
Jung-won tries again to convince his mother to allow him to quit being a doctor and to become a priest. While they’re talking,
Chairman Jong-su, the hospital director, and Seok-hyung’s mother arrive; later on, they ask Jung-won to teach them how to play the mafia game.
After breaking up with her boyfriend, Min-ha tells Gyu-wool that she’s now interested in someone else in the hospital. On the other hand, Chi-hong confesses to Song-hwa that he has feelings for her.
Ik-sun tells Ik-jun that an actress asked her about him during her friend’s wedding. Ik-jun says that he dated the actress but later broke up with her.
Episode 6
| Ep. 5 recap:
The Ob-Gyne residents and staff give Seok-hyung a surprise birthday party. Ik-sun thinks that Jun-wan is a burglar and drops him with a roundhouse kick. Later on, at Ik-sun’s base, Jun-wan confesses his love for her. Ik-jun dated actress Go-ara; he meets her in the VIP ward where she had her father admitted. To his surprise, Seok-hyung is visited in the hospital by his father’s mistress. The mistress tells Seok-hyung that she’s pregnant and urges him to tell his mother to grant the divorce his father has been waiting for. After feeling something in her breast, Song-hwa consults a breast cancer specialist and gets a biopsy. |
to have a guardian; on the other hand, he worries about his six-month old patient who needs a liver transplant.
Ik-jun takes Go Ara for lunch at the hospital cafeteria, but she gets a lot of attention from the people there, including some who want to have their selfies taken with her.
While having lunch with Song-hwa and Jun-wan, Ik-jun continues to play matchmaker between his sister Ik-sun and resident Chi-hong; he calls Chi-hong “brother-in-law.”
Jun-wan goes looking for his resident Jae-hak. But Jae-hak is with the other residents (Min-ha, Gyu-wool, and Chi-hong) in the cafeteria, listening to Dr. Bong talk about the hobbies of Jung-won, Song-hwa, Seok-hyung, Jun-wan, and Ik-jun.
After an operation, Jun-wan warns Jae-hak about scams in leasing a house; in return, Jae-hak warns him about Dr. Chun, the newest member of their department.
At the cafeteria, Min-ha gently prods Seok-hyung about the woman he met on the garden. Seok-hyung begins to tell her about his life, but she leaves in haste when she hears that Gyu-wool has been rushed to the ER.
At a restaurant that night, Song-hwa reveals to Jung-won, Seok-hyung, Jun-wan, and Ik-jun that she had a biopsy to determine if the lump in her breast is cancerous.
Episode 7
| Ep. 6 recap:
Ik-jun stays by Song-hwa’s side as she waits to find out the result of the biopsy; after she gets a call from Seok-hyung, Ik-jun tells her of the day Seok-hyung confessed his love for her. He remembers how he comforted Seok-hyung and got him out of the police station after Song-hwa turned him down. To Song-hwa and her friends’ relief, the lump in her breast is benign. During their band practice, the friends remember the time when they were applying to medical school. Chi-hong reveals to Ik-jun that Ik-sun was hurt in a previous relationship and thus doesn’t trust anyone. He also says that he’s interested in Song-hwa. Jun-wan and Ik-sun make plans for their first date. Jung-won is crestfallen when Gyu-wool tells him that the available liver is too big for his six-month old patient. |
Despite the problem with the donor’s liver, Jung-won starts to operate on his six-month old patient.
In the Ob-Gyne department, a little conflict arises between residents Min-ha and Eun-won; Nurse Han cryptically says that there’s an impending showdown between the “fox” and the “bear.”
At the rsidents’ usual get-together in the cafeteria with Dr. Bong, Jae-hak asks Chi-hong why he quit the army; when he finds out how Gyu-wool and Min-ha came to know each other, he blurts out that tgey were Chi-hong’s juniors in the army. Dr. Bong then proceeds to talk about the love life of Jung-won, Song-hwa, Seok-hyung, Jun-wan, and Ik-jun.
Song-hwa allows Chi-hong to be the lead surgeon in an operation, but fellow resident Seok-min warns Chi-hong that if he makes two mistakes, Song-hwa will stop him and take over the operation.
Jung-won becomes concerned for Jun-wan when Dr. Chun and several doctors in the cardiothoracic surgery department are implicated in a bribery scandal involving corporate credit card payments in a high-priced golf course. But Dr. Chun denies any wrongdoing when he’s investigated by the hospital director.
Song-hwa and Chi-hong try to assure their patient, a police officer, that there’s still hope for him to resume his career after the operation. Ik-jun, meanwhile, finds out that his transplant patient has not been taking the prescribed medication and is overcome by despair over her life.
Gyu-wool finds out that resident Joon-hee had dinner alone with Jung-won and is inviting him to watch a movie. Later on, she plans to ask Jung-won to have dinner with her.
Over dinner, the friends ask Seok-hyung if he’s planning to tell his mother about the pregnancy of his father’s mistress.
The next day, as Seok-hyung visits Song-hwa in her office, he finds out from Jun-wan that his father, Chairman Yang Tae-yang, has been admitted into the VIP ward; he’s faking an illness to avoid being investigated by the prosecutor’s office. As Seok-hyung rises from his seat, Song-hwa stops him, afraid that he will confront his father. He assures her that he’ll just meet his patients, but with a grim face, he tells Jun-wan not to treat his father.
Episode 8
| Ep. 7 recap:
After suffering from paralysis during training, Chi-hong quit the army. Jun-wan keeps his romance with Ik-sun a secret from his friends. Ik-jun finds out that his patient learned about her husband’s infidelity after he donated his liver to her. To reassure his patient, he tells her of his own experience with an unfaithful spouse. Seok-hyung’s mother barges into the VIP room where she finds Chairman Yang Tae-yang and his mistress. She pours a bucket of dirty water on the mistress’s head; as Seok-hyung tries to restrain her, she tells Chairman Yang that she won’t grant him the divorce that he wants. Just as Jun-wan feared, Jae-hak is scammed in the lease contract that he signed. |
The residents worry about Jae-hak who has been scammed by his real estate agent; meanwhile, Jun-wan rejects the hospital director’s offer for him to be the next cardiothoracic section chief.
Resident Eun-won becomes traumatized after a patient dies; she disappears, leaving an exhausted Min-ha to pull double-duty.
Jun-wan speaks to the parents whose baby has a rare heart condition; he says that although surgery is the only possible remedy, there’s only 50% chance of it being successful. On the other hand, Ik-jun tells his patient that the tests show signs of liver cancer.
Jung-won’s application to be a priest is accepted, but his mother refuses to give her blessing to his plans.
Jung Ro-sa berates Chairman Jong-su when he doesn’t inform his sons about his accident at home; she also remembers how his sons almost never visited their mother when she was confined in the hospital.
During dinner, when Jung-won’s friends ask him if his father left him any inheritance, he says yes. When Seok-hyung says that his mother is now more adamant about not giving his father a divorce, his friends ask him if that means he will inherit everything from his mother.
Gyu-wool and Jae-hak get into trouble when patients and guardians complain to the hospital director about their words and attitudes towards patients. After being disciplined by the hospital director based on Dr. Chun’s recommendation, Jae-hak decides to resign.
After talking with Ik-jun, Gyu-wool decides to give Jung-won up; later, Min-ha sets her up on a blind date.
Eun-won returns to the Ob-Gyne department, but she passes her responsibilities on to Min-ha. Later on, while Min-ha thinks about resigning, she finds out that their grumpy preterm patient is bleeding profusely. She calls up Seok-hyung, but to her shock, Seok-hyung tells her that she has to deliver the baby herself by Caesarian section. She protests that she’s only a 2nd year resident, but Seok-hyung shouts at her that if she doesn’t do it, the patient and the baby will die.
Episode 9
| Ep. 8 recap:
Jae-hak’s resignation letter disappears after Jun-wan accepts the position as the new chief of the cardiothoracic section. Seok-hyung arrives just in time to take over from Min-ha in delivering the baby. Jun-wan’s operation on the baby with a rare heart condition fails. He asks the parents if they’re willing to donate their son’s heart to the hospital for research purposes; later, he and Jae-hak attend the baby’s funeral. Seok-hyung’s mother is rushed to the ER. |
The friends take turns in looking after Seok-hyung’s mother, Jo Young-Hye. Jung Ro-sa also arrives, bringing food with her; after telling Jo Young-Hye about Chairman Jong-su’s situation with his sons, she invites him to eat with them.
At a restaurant, Seok-hyung tells his friends that his mother finally agreed to grant the divorce; he also tells them that Chairman Jong-su is suffering from the early stages of depression.
Jung-won, Ik-jun, and Dr. Bong see Gyu-wool and her new boyfriend drive up to the hospital. Later on, Ik-jun sees the twin Yoon-bok fighting with her boyfriend over a text message.
Jun-wan meets Ik-sun during the weekend and learns that she’s planning to leave Korea for three to five years to pursue her doctorate. He asks if her plan means they have to break up.
At the garden, Jung-won tells his friends that Dr. Chun is engaged to a female CEO who’s also a board member of the Yulje Foundation. Later, tension arises between Jun-wan and Dr. Chun.
Ik-jun finds out from Chi-hong that Ik-sun went through depression several years ago when her relationship broke up. His usual jovial mood changes when Chi-hong admits that he has feelings for Song-hwa.
Episode 10
| Ep. 9 recap:
Surprised by the change in the physical appearance of the father who offered his kidney to his daughter, Ik-jun agrees to operate. Song-hwa apologizes to a patient and the guardians when her intern misunderstood the instructions and shaved the patient’s head. While patients line up to consult Jun-wan, only a few patients see Dr. Chun. Later, Dr. Chun finds out that the CEO he’s dating is friends with a patient he dismissed rudely. Gyu-wool learns from Jung-won how to explain medical and surgical procedures to patients in simple terms. Jung Ro-sa and Chairman Jong-su watch the friends during their band practice. As Chi-hong waits in a restaurant for Song-hwa, Ik-jun visits Ik-sun at her base and tells her that she can come to him whenever she has a problem. |
Jung-won has marked December 29th on his calendar as his “departure day.” After having lunch with Ik-jun, he reveals to Song-hwa that he’s the mysterious "Daddy-Long-Legs" who has been extending financial help to patients who can’t afford to pay their medical bills. He asks Song-hwa if she can take over the program from him; when she hesitates, he clarifies that funding comes from
the revenues from the VIP ward. He also promises to tell her and their friends why he’s leaving the hospital at the end of the year.
Dr. Chun continues to bicker with a patient, leaving Jae-hak confused on how to deal with the patient. Jun-wan tells Jae-hak that a doctor who gives up on a patient can no longer be called a doctor.
Gyu-wool chooses to assist Jung-won and in the process disappoints Ik-jun. Later, after watching Jung-won comfort a patient who was afraid of injections, Ik-jun asks him point blank if he secretly likes Gyu-wool.
Seok-hyung’s mother and her lawyer meet in Seok-hyung’s office to plan for the next day’s divorce hearing.
Because of their misgivings about accepting the Minister of Education’s wife as a patient, Chairman Jong-su and the hospital director ask Jung-won to talk to Ik-jun about performing the wife’s risky liver transplant.
Min-ha manipulates Seok-hyung into giving her a ride to her subway stop. Meanwhile, after previously finding out from Chi-hong that Ik-sun has been accepted into the doctorate program in the UK, Jun-wan calls her up.
Episode 11
| Ep. 10 recap:
Ik-jun convinces Gyu-wool to pretend that she has a boyfriend in order to make Jung-won jealous; he gives her roses that she brings into the office and shows to the surgeons and to Jung-won. Ik-jun tricks Jung-won into confirming that he is the mysterious benefactor known as “Daddy-Long-Legs.” Min-ha thinks that Seok-hyung is jealous over her text messages and blurts out that she loves him. Song-hwa takes care of Woo-joo when Ik-jun is suddenly called to the hospital. In the morning, things become awkward between her and Ik-jun when he says that spending time with her brings him happiness. Seok-hyung’s father is rushed to the hospital because of a ruptured aorta; after the operation, Jun-wan tells Seok-hyung’s mother that they have to wait several days to see if he will wake up. But he also cautions her that the chances for his survival are slim. Seok-hyung is shocked when his mother says that she won’t continue with the divorce proceedings and that she still loves his father. |
Jung-won finally tells the hospital director that he will resign from the hospital at the end of the year; the director fears that the pediatric
surgery section will have to be shut down once Jung-won leaves.
Ik-jun becomes suspicious about Jun-wan and Ik-sun when Jun-wan unexpectedly visits and brings crabs, which Ik-sun requested earlier. Later on, Ik-sun asks Jun-wan if there’s really nothing romantic between Ik-jun and Song-hwa.
Despite having a day off, Chi-hong goes to the hospital because it’s his birthday. He asks Song-hwa out to dinner, but an awkward
situation arises when Ik-jun gets into the elevator with them.
Ik-jun reassures a wife who’s being pressured by her in-laws to donate her liver to her husband. Meanwhile, Jung-won allows Gyu-wool to be the lead surgeon in a pediatric surgery.
The hospital director tells Chairman Jong-su and Jung Ro-sa that Jung-won plans to resign by the end of the year. Chairman Jong-su advises Jung Ro-sa
that it may be time to let Jung-won go, but at the garden, Jung Ro-sa sees Jung-won and Gyu-wool talking.
The awkwardness between Ik-jun, Song-hwa, and Chi-hong continues during the neurosurgery department party where they and the others play a game of either answering a question or drinking soju.
In her office, Song-hwa tells her friends that she’s leaving Yulje Medical Center.
Episode 12, Finale (with spoilers)
| Ep. 11 recap:
Jun-wan tells Ik-sun that they don’t have to get married if she doesn’t want to; he just wants them to be together for a very long time. During the game with the neurosurgery department staff, Ik-jun confesses that he had romantic feelings for Song-hwa. Song-hwa decides to go to Sokcho for a year so that she can take care of her neck injury. Jung Ro-sa pleads with Gyu-wool to ask Jung-won not to leave the hospital. |
The twin Yun-bok finally finds out that it was Song-hwa who treated her mother years ago and who encouraged her and her twin brother Hong-do to become doctors.
Ik-sun leaves for the UK to pursue her doctorate degree. Later, she sends by return mail the ring that Jun-wan sent to her.
Ik-jun visits Song-hwa in her new apartment and indirectly confesses his love for her. But he doesn’t pressure her, saying that she should take the time to think about her answer.
Gyu-wool finally confesses her love for Jung-won and pleads with him not to leave the hospital; in return, Jung-won kisses her.
Historical / cultural backgrounders and other information
1. In Ep. 9, Gyu-wool learns from Jung-won how to explain to patients or their guardians medical terms and procedures in simple terms. Besides using simple terms, she also uses drawings.
The actress who played “Gyu-wool” is Shin Hyun-bin. She studied Art Theory in Korea National University of Arts. In the BTS video below, she talks about her desire to be an artist since she was in high school. At the 00:55 mark, the video shows the scene where she explains to a guardian, through drawings, the surgery that her son went through. The inside joke is that Shin Yun-bin can draw much better than what was shown in Ep. 9.
2. The building shown in this drama as “Yulje Medical Center” (1st picture on the right) is actually the Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital building located in Gangseo-gu, western Seoul (2nd picture).
From Ewha hospital enjoys PR effect from medical drama ‘Hospital Playlist’:
The TV drama crew started shooting the series at the hospital in October [2019] last year. They used the hospital’s lobby, the cafe, patient care rooms, wards, the Healing Garden on the fourth floor, the underground parking lot, and the 63 Ward as scenes of Yulje Medical Center.
Opened in May last year, Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital won the Excellence Prize of the 2019 Korea Architecture Award and the Grand Prize of the 2019 Korean Green Building Award.
From Wikipedia: The Ewha Womans University is a private women’s university in Seoul founded in 1886 by Mary F. Scranton under Emperor Gojong. It is the first founded university in South Korea. Currently, Ewha is the world’s largest female educational institute and one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea.
Ewha Womans University traces its roots back to Mary F. Scranton’s Ewha Haktang mission school for girls, which opened with one student on May 31, 1886. The name Ewha, which means “Pear Blossom,” was bestowed by the Emperor Gojong the following year. The image of the pear blossom is incorporated in the school’s logo.
3. “Hospital Playlist” has a running joke with two minor characters introduced in Ep. 2 — the twins, medical students Hong-do and Yoon-bok. Major character Jun-wan has several scenes where he forgets the names of the twins or misidentifies them.
In Korean history, Hong-do and Yoon-bok refer to renowned painters Kim Hong-do (“Danwon”), 1745–1806? and Shin Yun-bok (“Hyewon”), 1758–1813. Kim Hong-do’s most famous painting is “The Nineteen Taoist Immortals.” Shin Yun-bok’s most famous painting is “Portrait of a Beauty.”
The 2008 historical drama “Painter of the Wind” starring Moon Geun-young and Park Shin-yang is based on the bestselling historical fiction novel by Lee Jung-myung that took artistic license with the premise that perhaps the Joseon painter Shin Yun-bok had really been a woman.
4. In Ep. 2, the hospital director tries to convince Song-hwa to operate on on a patient named Gong Hyeong-woo (known as the “subway hero” for saving a pregnant lady off the subway tracks). This "subway hero" may have been inspired by a real-life incident where a man rescued a young boy who fell into the subway tracks.
Lessons in photography from “Hospital Playlist” Season 1 (2020) with in-depth analysis of its cinematography
I. In-depth analysis of this drama's cinematography
Index: A. Low angle shots (similar to cinematography of “When The Camellia Blooms” with numerous extreme low angle shots); B. Wide shots from low angle point of view (mostly to show a character’s isolation, fear, loneliness, or crisis); in some shots, the camera pulls out slowly; C. Creative camera movements and great editing; Rack focus; D. Visual cues, including Dutch angle shots; E. Flashback scenes - slight vertical distortion (with free cheat sheet on color palettes “The Psychology of Color in Film” from Studio Binder)
A. Low angle shots are probably the most distinctive feature of the cinematography of “Hospital Playlist.”
Examples of “moderate” low angle shots:
Examples of “moderate” low angle shots with Dutch angle:
Examples of “extreme” low angle shots:
Examples of “extreme” low angle shots with Dutch angle:
In my analysis of the cinematography of “When The Camellia Blooms,” I discussed how the frequent use of low angle shots distinguish its cinematography. I tried to find out if WTCB and “Hospital Playlist” had any connection, but they had different production houses.
The article “Low Angle Shot: Everything You Need to Know” (Nashville Film Institute) gives these definitions:
- A low-angle shot is a shot in which the camera angle is positioned below the eye line of the subject, pointing upward.
- An extreme low-angle shot is positioned below the subject’s feet, offering a sharper contrast in the shot.
I take exception with the NFI definition of “extreme low angle shot” because it’s almost impossible to place an DSLR camera or a movie camera below the subject’s feet (unless the subject is on an elevated place or if you dig a hole on the ground where the camera can be placed). An alternative term for “extreme low angle shot” is “ground level shot.”
The NFI article gives the following effects of extreme low angle shots:
1. Using a low-angle shot can convey power in a character, whether for good or for bad.
2. In addition to showcasing a person or group of people in power, a low-angle shot can also convey that the person in the frame is vulnerable, trapped, or under attack.
3. When shooting from lower, the height of what’s above in the shot looks taller or higher.
Additionally, the article states: “When properly executed, a low-angle shot can help reveal aspects of the narrative, build tension, and convey the emotional state of the subject, all without words.”
The article “Low Angle Shot: Creative Examples of Camera Movements and Angles” (Studio Binder) enumerates three uses of low angle shots:
- They can make a hero seem powerful.
- They can make a hero seem vulnerable.
- They can increase perceived height of an object.
The NFI article also states four ways to use a low angle shot: (1) Classic subtle hero; (2) Extreme low angle; (3) Low angle dolly push, and (4) Low angle establishing shot.
I don’t know if you’ll agree with me, but it seems that sometimes, the cinematographer of “Hospital Playlist” uses extreme low angle shots simply because they create eye-catching images, without regard to the uses of low angle shots mentioned by the Studio Binder article or the NFI article.
B. Wide shots from low angle point of view (mostly to show a character’s isolation, fear, loneliness, or crisis); in some shots, the camera pulls out slowly.
Ep. 1: Jung-won mourns the death of a patient; later, the patient’s mother apologizes to him. From a low angle point of view, the camera pulls out to a wide shot and then fades to black.
Ep. 3: A wife mourns the death of her husband who was released from the hospital the day before; her husband met a traffic accident, and she agreed to donate her husband’s organs. From a low angle point of view, the camera pulls out to a wide shot and then fades to black.
Ep. 6: Jung-won gets the bad news from Gyu-wool that the liver from the donor is too big for his infant patient. From a low angle point of view, the camera pulls out to a wide shot and then fades to black.
You’ll notice that in the shots above, the subject (Jung-won or the wife) remains the same size even as the camera pulls out; this is the effect of a camera movement known as “dolly zoom.”
C. Creative camera movements (including rack focus shots) and great editing
Ep. 10 (visual cue, rack focus, fade to black): Ik-jun and Song-hwa put the trash away and wash the dishes. They’re in an awkward situation because of Ik-jun’s indirect, perhaps unintentional, confession of his feelings for Song-hwa. That awkwardness is reinforced by the line in the foreground window that separates them. As the rain pours down, they become out of focus, and the rain makes the dividing line disappear.
(I just love this cheesy stuff!)
Ep. 2 (tracking shot, pull out, establishing shot): The camera tracks Song-hwa as she walks out a door; as she turns a corner, the camera pulls out to show how huge Yulje Medical Center is with dozens upon dozens of doctors, patients, and visitors walking about on different floors in an establishing shot.
I can’t find the BTS video of this impressive one shot, but it may have been done with an excellently handled drone since Song-hwa can be seen all through out the scene.
Ep. 10 (sequence of pull out, push in, and push in from a high angle point of view): In the first shot, the camera pulls out as Jung-won plays with his young patient who was afraid before of injections. In the second shot, the camera pushes in on Ik-jun, who’s watching Jung-won play with his patient. The third shot is a high angle shot, with the camera pushing in on Ik-jun and Jung-won as Ik-jun asks Jung-won whether he has feelings for Gyu-wool.
(In a later shot, the camera, from a high angle point of view, pulls out from Jung-won as he ponders Ik-jun’s question about his feelings for Gyu-wool.)
Notes:
Push in shots are used to “create subtle intimacy, tension rising, and importance.” From “The Push-in” (YouTube video): “The Push-In, sometimes called the Character Dolly, is a camera move where the camera dollies forward toward the subject of the shot. A short push-in is like an exclamation mark. A long, slow push-in builds drama and heightens the emotional meaning of the scene. The push-in is a powerful cinematic tool for heightening tension and dramatizing a revelation, and it’s one of the fundamental techniques of the cinematographer and layout artist.”
“When the camera pulls out from a character to show empty space around them, it creates a feeling of isolation and loneliness, abandonment, or rejection.” Please read “The Effects of a Push in vs. Pull out” (Cinematography).
Ep. 6 (whip pan): In a whip pan, the camera pans (moves on a horizontal axis) quickly from left to right or vice versa. In this scene, Song-hwa tells her friends that she had a biopsy to determine if she has breast cancer. The camera whip pans from Jun-wan (right) to Song-hwa (left).
I think this whip pan was done with a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera that was attached to the food turntable. The camera panned to the left when Song-hwa rotated the turntable counterclockwise.
Ep. 6 (subtle camera shake): Song-hwa is in her car outside of the hospital where she had her biopsy to determine if she has cancer; the camera shakes a bit to depict her fear and anxiety.
Ep. 8 (obvious camera shake): Min-ha goes into panic when the expectant mother bleeds profusely; she contacts Seok-hyung and other surgeons who might be available. To her shock, Seok-hyung orders her to perform a Caesarian section in order to save the mother and her baby.
Ep. 10 (subtle camera shake): Song-hwa spends the night taking care of Woo-joo because Ik-jun has to deal with a medical emergency. In the morning, when she asks Ik-jun what he does to make himself happy, she’s surprised when he answers that spending time with her — eating food and drinking coffee — makes him happy.
Ep. 5 (push in): The camera pushes in on Song-hwa as she types something on her computer, and she suddenly feels pain on her left breast.
Ep. 2 (visual cue, pull out): Song-hwa is framed by the glass panel of her office door; the camera slowly pulls out.
Ep. 4 (short siding, Dutch angle, close-ups, low key lighting): Min-ha is shocked when Seok-hyung tells her to cover the mouth of the anencephaly baby after it’s delivered so as to muffle its cries.
Ep. 4 (rack focus): Min-ha vents on Nurse Han and fellow resident Eun-won her anger towards Seok-hyung and his order for her to muffle the baby’s cries. As Eun-won becomes out of focus, Nurse Han becomes in focus.
Ep. 4 (cross cutting): Nurse Han reassures Min-ha by explaining that Seok-hyung ordered her to muffle the baby’s cries because he doesn’t want the mother to be traumatized for the rest of her life. That scene cross cuts to the scene where Seok-hyung welcomes his mother who’s at the hospital lobby; the scene then cuts back again to Nurse Han and Min-ha.
Note: “Cross cutting is taking two or more scenes and cutting between them as they progress; it is used to establish actions taking place at the same time, whether in the same place or not.”
C-1. Rack focus: A K-drama isn’t a K-drama if it doesnt have rack focus shots.
In a rack focus shot, an object in the foreground is in focus while an object in the background is out of focus (or vice versa); the object in the foreground then becomes out of focus while the object in the background becomes in focus (or vice versa).
Ep. 6: Song-hwa and Ik-jun wait for the result of her biopsy. As Song-hwa becomes out of focus, Ik-jun becomes in focus.
Ep. 10: Song-hwa is frame left while Ik-jun’s reflection is frame right. As Ik-jun’s reflection becomes out of focus, Song-hwa becomes in focus.
Ep. 5: Jun-wan sneaks up on Ik-sun, who’s cooking some noodles in the kitchen. As he becomes out of focus, Ik-sun becomes in focus
Ep. 8: Min-ha becomes exhausted with doing night shift duty for the past several days. She tries to cope by drinking a non-alcoholic beer. She slumps on the table; as she crushes the beer can and it becomes out of focus, she becomes in focus.
Ep. 4: Gyu-wool listens intently as Dr. Bong tells her and the other residents the secrets of Jung-won, Song-hwa, Seok-hyung, Jun-wan, and Ik-jun. As Dr. Bong’s hand becomes in focus, she becomes out of focus.
Ep. 7: Resident Joon-hee and Jung-won had dinner together: at the lobby, she asks him if they can watch a movie the next time around. As she and Jung-won become out of focus, the stunned Gyu-wool and the nurse become in focus.
D. Visual cues
“Visual cues” are explained in an excellent series of articles from “My Drama List” written by someone with the username “3GGG.”
Popular Visual Cues found in K-Dramas, Part 1: visual ways to esablish a conflict, division, or fight between two or more character
Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 2: boxing to establish a character’s vulnerability, solitude, or fear; comfort and respite; change; danger; showdown
Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 3: Dutch angle
Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 4: Interpersonal cues (using cues simultaneously or one after another)
These MDL articles on visual cues will help you better “read” K-dramas. I prefer, however, the term “framing” instead of “boxing.” I used these visual cues in my analyses of the cinematography of dramas such as “Flower of Evil” and “Start-Up.”
Ep. 10: Ik-jun and Song-hwa put the trash away and wash the dishes. They’re in an awkward situation because of Ik-jun’s indirect, perhaps unintentional, confession of his feelings for Song-hwa. That awkwardness is reinforced by the line in the foreground window that separates them. As the rain pours down, they become out of focus, and the rain makes the dividing line disappear.
Gyu-wool musters up her courage to ask Jung-woon for them to have dinner by themselves alone and in civilian clothes. But Jung-won turns her down.
After Gyu-wool decides to give up Jung-won, Min-ha sets her up on a blind date. While waiting for her blind date, she meets Jung-won in front of the hospital. Notice the lines that reinforce the division between them.
Min-ha is in turmoil about whether to text Seok-hyung or not.
Ik-jun is concerned about his son Woo-joo, who has a fever; he’s urgently needed at the hospital, but the nanny is on a vacation.
Song-hwa begins to be torn between the competing attentions given to her by Chi-hong and Ik-jun.
Seok-hyung gets a call from Min-ha during Christmas Day, asking if they can have dinner together; he decides to turn her down.
When two or more characters are within a frame, it could either mean unity or conflict, depending on the context. In this scene, Ik-jun is happy that the father got himself fit and healthy so that he can donate his liver to his daughter.
Jun-wan finds out that Jae-hak has filed his resignation because he was disciplined for his rudenesss towards a patient and his daughter. In order to help Jae-hak, he decides to accept the hospital director’s offer for him to be the new cardiothoracic section chief.
Song-hwa is framed by the glasss pane on her office door.
A patient’s guardian profusely gives thanks to Jun-wan; notice the two frames (a square and a circle) that surround the guardian.
D-1. Dutch angle shots as visual cues
E. Flashback scenes - slight vertical distortion; predominant earth colors
An earth tone is a color that is commonly observed in nature such as sea, sky, vegetation and land. Any tint or shade commonly found in nature can be considered an earth tone including browns, greens, reds, yellows, oranges, greys, whites and shades of black.
The article “How to Use Color in Film: 50+ Examples of Movie Color Palettes” (Studio Binder) has a free cheat sheet on color palettes most often used in films. The size is 1200 by 5397 px; you can use it as a handy reference guide when you watch K-dramas or movies to know what the colors signify.
II. Lessons in photography from “Hospital Playlist” Season 1 (2020)
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| Low angle shot, Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Low angle shot, Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Reflection |
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| Low angle shot, Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Reflection |
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| Linear perspective |
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| Natural frame |
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| High angle shot, Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Keystoning |
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| Short siding |
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| Establishing shot |
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| Linear perspective |
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