Hospital Playlist Drama Review

Drama: Hospital Playlist (슬기러운 의사생활) (Season 1 &2)

Director: Shin Win-ho

Writer: Lee Woo-jung

Cast:- Jeon Mi-do, Jo Jung-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok, Jung Kyung-ho, Kim Dae-myung, Shin Hyun-bin, Jung Moon-sung, Ahn Eun-jin, Kim Jun-han, Moon Tae-yo, Ha Yoon-kyung, Choi Young-joon, Kim Joon, Kwak Soon-young, Kim Hae-sook, Kim Gab-soo, Moon Hee-kyung, Sung Dong-il, Cho Seung-yeon, Kim Hye-in, Jo Yi-hyun, Bae Hyun-sung, Kim Soo-jin, Kim Kang-min and others.

About the show:-

The story is about five friends who have been friends since 1999. They first became friends when they started their Undergraduate education together and have been friends for more than 20 years now. These five friends, Lee Ik-jun, Ahn Jeong-won, Kim Jun-wan, Yang Seok-hyung and Chae Song-hwa, are doctors in their forties and working together at the Yulje Medical Centre in Seoul. The show revolves around the personal and professional lives of these five doctors, the other medical staff at Yulje Medical Centre and the families of the five friends.

Lee Ik-jun : Assistant professor of General Surgery (specialising in liver transplants), Single father to son Woo-joo, divorced from his absent wife

Ahn Jeong-won : A devout Catholic, Son of the founder of Yulje Medical Centre, Assistant Professor of Paediatric Surgery, planning to become a priest like his older brothers much to his mother’s dismay

Kim Jun-wan : Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Childhood friend of Ik-jun

Yang Seok-hyung : Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, most introverted of the five, a divorcee, has a complicated family history but is devoted to his mother

Chae Song-hwa : Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, an ideal doctor, a favourite among the patients and the medical staff/colleagues, known for being brilliant at her job.

(*This review may contain spoilers. If you have already watched the show, please continue reading. If you haven’t watched the show yet, you can still continue reading or you can come back to the review later.)

What I loved about the show:-

슬기러운 의사생활 or Hospital playlist is a two season medical drama based in a fictional hospital named Yulje Medical Centre. This is a story of five friends called 99z, who grew up together since medical school and now work together in the Hospital as Doctors. Their USP is that they are also part of a band that they had formed as youngsters and now continue to meet up after busy days in the hospital and operations theatres and play their favourite tracks even in their 40's.

Medical dramas are extremely complicated to direct and a lot goes into its making. The writing and acting is one hurdle because of the complexity of the medical terms but the body language, the ability to not make a mistake while showing scenes containing surgeries and medical equipment and ambience is the biggest hurdle. The director, writer and the actors are said to have undergone intense training with real doctors and nurses for precise portrayal of their characters.

Another favourite part about the show for me is its making. The makers did not just use background score by other artists. They made sure that their main leads practiced their respective musical instruments and played them while singing their own songs.

Most of the cast members, main leads and the supporting casts, have had a stint in theatre and musicals in South Korea which greatly helped them in their excellent portrayal and acting and singing abilities in the show.

The show required wide scale cinematography and filmmaking, and most of it is shown in the behind the scenes videos uploaded in YouTube under the name 채널 십오야 (channel fullmoon/channel 15ya). My favourite behind the scenes video is their 100 days countdown for practicing Canon. They have worked very hard and I am glad that they have showed their hard work in the making video.

Just like Director Shin Won Ho and Writer Lee Woo Jung's other works, this show also focuses on relationships, family, friends and love and togetherness and much more and they deliver nothing short of a miracle. The show is sheer brilliance and is loved by many Korean drama lovers.

Every episode is filled with lessons, morals and each episode is an opportunity for us to learn and grow.

Medical dramas have a really special place in my heart. This show really is a treasure.

Music: The band Mido and falasol is incredible. The five members have worked super hard and it shows in the output. The music of the show is phenomenal as well.

My favourite tracks –

Confession is Not Flashy – Kyuhyun (Super Junior)

I Like You – Jo Jung-suk

I Like You – Jang Bum-june

The Characters:

This show has some of the best main characters, supporting characters and guest characters and I love each one of them.

1. Chae Song-hwa – I love Song-hwa for her strength, her charming and lively personality, her intelligence, her compassion, her hard work, her encouragement and support towards her colleagues and subordinates, her understanding nature and her love for everyone around her.
2. Lee Ik-jun – I love Ik-jun for his bright and high-spirited nature, his kindness, his love and care towards his son Woo-joo, his unconditional help and support towards his friends and patients, his cheerful personality, his ability to befriend anyone and everyone, and his ability to hold positive and constructive conversations with everyone around him.
3. Ahn Jeong-won – I love Jeong-won for his warmth and affection towards his patients, the families and his friends, his gentle and charismatic personality, his sensitive demeanour, his love, dedication and devotion towards his mother, brothers and his sisters and his respect for his seniors and juniors.
4. Kim Jun-wan – I love Jun-wan for his brilliance at work, his considerate nature despite coming across as cold and aloof, his dedication towards his job, his juniors and his teaching and his patience and understanding towards the woman he loves.
5. Yang Seok-hyung – I love Seok-hyung for his thoughtfulness, his attentive nature, his understanding, his kindness and his compassion, his soft and sweet personality, his mental strength when it comes to his complicated personal life, his selflessness, his sympathy towards his patients, his calmness and his composure towards his students, love for his mother and friends, his responsible personality and his respect, politeness, chivalry and generosity towards his junior/student Chu Min-ha.
6. Do Jae-hak (chief resident/fellow Cardiothoracic Surgery) – I love Jae-hak for his emotional personality, for his attentive nature towards his patients and his colleagues, his devotion towards his wife, his innocence and purity and his friendliness towards all the medical staff.
7. Bong Kwang-hyun (assistant professor for Emergency Medicine) – I love how he is aware of everything about the 99z. I love his camaraderie with the junior doctors, his compassion towards his patients and his students, his bonding with the 99z and his ability to understand that responsibility is bigger than rewards and recognition.
8. Jang Gyeo-wool – I love Gyeo-wool for her straightforwardness, her commitment towards her work, her genuine and sincere feelings towards Jeong-won, for her unwavering love towards her mother and brother and for being untterly uncomplicated and simple amidst the chaos.
9. Lee Ik-sun – I love Ik-sun for being vivacious and vibrant at all points in her life. I love her for being considerate towards her brother, her nephew, her friends and the man that she loves. I love her for her positive outlook and her infectious energy and smile.
10. Chu Min-ha – I admire Min-ha for being diligent in her work. I love her for her focus and determination towards her studies, career and her growth, her attention towards her patients, for being single minded towards Seok-hyung, for her patience with him and for her perseverance.
11. Heo Seon-bin and Yong Seok-min (Third year/fellow and Chief Resident/fellow in Neurosurgery) – The adorable duo. I love them for being sympathetic and empathetic towards each other. I love them for being each other’s support system, for being open-minded in love and life and being vocal about their love for each other and also for being hardworking at the jobs.
12. Ahn Chi-hong (third year resident in Neurosurgery (season 1)) – I love Chi-hong for his calmness, his gentleness and his attentiveness, his perseverance, his strength, his charisma and chivalry and his unconditional love for Song-hwa.
13. Jang Yoon-bok and Jang Hong-do (the twin interns) – I love them for their innocence, for keeping their childlike personality alive and for their efforts, their hard work and their dedication towards their studies and profession.
14. Woo-joo (Lee Ik-jun’s son) – I love Woo-joo for his love for his father, his maturity, his charms and his understanding towards his father Ik-jun.
15. Jeong Ro-sa, Ju Jong-su, Jun Jeon and Jo Young-hye (Jeong-won’s mother, Chairman of Yulje Medical Centre/Ro-sa’s friend, Director of Yulje Medical Centre and Seok-hyung’s mother) – I love them for their energy, their chaos, their fun moments and their bickering.

I want to write about my love for every character in detail but the review would go on forever, so I chose make a list of the main and supporting cast. To every character of Hospital Playlist, I send my love to you.

The Actors, The Director and the Writer:-

This show probably has the biggest and best cast and everyone's hard work and talent made Hospital playlist the success it is today.

For everyone who wants to know which 99z is my favourite, they are all unique and amazing in their own way and they each have a special place in my heart.

But if I really have to choose, I choose the supporting cast because they really made this show what it truly is. The entire cast and their performances are praiseworthy. They, in every sense are my favourite group of cast members.

This drama is another fan favourite and Director Shin Won-ho and Writer Lee Woo-jung's masterpiece. The duo have succeeded in producing some of the biggest and best works in the past and continue to shower us with more beautiful creations and Hospital Playlist is one such creation. We hope to see more knockout productions from this Writer-Director duo in the future and when they do come out, I am sure they will surpass all our expectations.

This drama is one of the best deliveries by the Korean Entertainment Industry. For everyone who has already watched it, you already know why and for the ones who haven't watched it yet, you will know once you do.