Review of season one of Hospital Playlist / 슬기로운 의사생활

One of my greatest talents in life has been procrastinating on the shows and movies I’ve been meaning to watch for the longest time. There are so many things I’ve told myself I am going to do by the time I am 24, but here I am with a to-watch and to-read list of thousands of books and movies.

I know I will probably never get to everything, considering the way content is just churned out now, but I’m going to try my best. In the Korean drama world, I definitely know I am not going to get through all of these television shows, but a girl can definitely try.

I was trying to watch Hospital Playlist years ago, when it first came out. And, like so many other things in my life, I ended up just not watching it. There were so many other dramas I wanted to watch first, so this got pushed back for several years.

But because I had a ton of free time before I bounced to Korea to study abroad, I watched it! I was also using it as listening practice of sorts, which really helped when I arrived in Busan.

Let’s get into the review!

The story of one hospital and the team of doctors working within it.

This is a drama that kind of has an ensemble cast, so we’re not focusing solely on one or two characters. Instead we have a handful of doctors that are all connected because they work in the same hospital, albeit different departments.

In total, there are five doctors we’re talking about. They’re all a bit older, so they’re established in their careers. We have Jeong-won, who is the son of the hospital’s founder, and is now one of the assistant professors over in pediatric surgery. However, he has a grand plan to quit the work at the hospital and just become a Catholic priest.

There’s Seok-hyeong, who works over in obstetrics, who is really good with his patients, although tend to perceive him as distant. We also have Ik-joon, who is an assistant professor over in general surgery and a single father. Despite this, he always remains a constant smiling figure.

We also have Jun-wan, who also is seen as distant. He’s also the head of cardiothoracic surgery at the hospital. Finally, we have Song-hwa, who is a female doctor with a great personality and charms all of her patients and colleagues with it.

Rather than focusing on what they do throughout their jobs, what I really like about this series is that it tries to humanize these doctors. Instead of simply defining them as doctors, it does a great job of demonstrating how they’re people who struggle and have bad days just like everyone else.

Despite the many difficulties that are thrown their way throughout the course of the series, there’s something they have to do at the hospital, and they show up for their job. I could especially relate to the son who didn’t want to actually do his job and pursue his passion.

Feel like a lot of people, especially in South Korea, are pressured to do things they don’t want to do. And we’re allowed to change our minds later in life, which is what he did. He didn’t want to do this anymore, but fears the response if he did end up quitting his job.

There’s also a great bond between these characters, and chemistry between the actors, which also made it enjoyable to watch. However, I did find myself starting to get bored towards the end of the season, which is why I have been dragging my feet on season two. I’ll get there eventually!

Overall Thoughts

I truly am glad I finally got around to watching this show. I want to watch more medical based shows after seeing Dr. Slump, which I genuinely enjoyed a lot, but simply was procrastinating yet again.

The lesson of this story is to not procrastinate—but will I stop doing it? Probably not. There are so many things I need to do in life, but perhaps I need to make more time for the things that matter.

Anyways, Hospital Playlist is a beloved classic now for a reason. There’s good acting, a solid storyline, and characters to care about. We needed more older representation in dramas, and I think we’re finally hitting that sweet spot where older people are having their time to shine.

Next give me series about ahjummas and ahjussis! I need more representation of the elderly too. But seriously, I love seeing people not in the early twenties/high school years on screen these days.

Go watch this if you haven’t already and want to!

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.