From lonely boys to hilarious food situations to seeing people in unexpected places, this week Hospital Playlist covers it ALL. We have a good episode here, with some jumps and lurches. We get health news of a couple of parents that surprises us a little, and Seok Hyeong deals out a few surprises of his own.
Loneliness
We begin with Jun Wan and Jeong Won sitting together at the kitchen table drinking beer and not confiding in each other about their problems. “You ok?” one asks. “Yes, I’m fine,” replies the other. Neither of them is fine.
Meantime, Rosa sits alone in her room thinking about having Alzheimers. She pulls the covers up over her head and cries herself to sleep.
Telzeytalks: Ahh, these people are all so lonely in the midst of friends. Why don’t Jun Wan and Jeong Won talk to each other? Nobody ever admits anything.
Karie the Maknae: It’s so hard to watch these friends struggle and feel like they can’t confide in each other. This is why keeping secrets isn’t helpful! But Rosa….oh my heart, Rosa. What a thing to struggle with, feeling like your whole self is slipping away.
Kmuse: One of the things I do find interesting about this show is how little our friend group talks about their romantic life with each other. Is this really how friends interact in South Korea? If you know, send us a note in the comments.
Food Stories
Ik Soon is in Seoul for some training and is staying with Ik Joon. For breakfast she boils a dozen eggs, and when Ik Joon tells her eating that many will give her gas, she impressively whispers to Uju that the gas is an important secret defense against invasion! Ik Joon tells her not to teach his kid anything weird. She pleads innocence and peels an egg and gives it to Uju. He fakes eating it, and then pretends to pop it out of his eye. Ik Joon groans as Ik Soon rushes Uju out the door to the school bus. She returns to tell Ik Joon she will be back for more training in two weeks, and will come up on the premium night bus, since she has to come after work and will have missed the last train.
The five friends get together for lunch, but Jeong Won is late because he finally gets a call from Gyeo Wool. She says she still can’t talk much, but her mom is doing well. When Jeong Won joins the group, he finds that Song Hwa has ordered tteokbokki, and requests the mild one. Ik Joon rattles off that they have “mild for gentle boy, spicy for piggy one and two, and beginner’s level for muggles like us.” The “us” seems to be himself and Seok Hyeong. Jun Wan asks, “What’s a muggle?” Cue twinkly music. Ik Joon asks Seok Hyeong, “Don’t you know, either?” To which Seok Hyeong spits out, “Shut up, Malfoy.” They continue to tease Jun Wan about not knowing anything about Harry Potter.
Hong Do brings in ice cream for everyone in his department, and the nurses hand them out. Min Ha comes in, and as they give her one she says she has a feeling it will be a quiet night. When asked about other superstitions she tells them an old one, that if you eat something your junior brought in, the hospital will be rammed with patients that night. Everyone looks apprehensive at this. She looks pointedly at Hong Do and demands, “You didn’t bring this did you?” “What shall we do?” he asks pitifully, as the phone starts to ring.
Telzeytalks: These stories are all pretty cute. I wondered about all the time spent on Harry Potter jokes, but then it occurred to me that Ik Soon’s “night bus” might actually be the “knight bus” from Harry Potter. So maybe some magic is coming up?
Karie the Maknae: Has Jun Wan been living under a rock for the last 20 years? YIKES. That was a fun moment, though, watching the fans stick it to the muggle. And Ik Sun’s auntie jokes are hilarious and almost as good as Ik Jun’s dad jokes. Nothing will ever beat Ik Jun getting a Darth Vader helmet stuck on his head, but the gas thing? Yeah, I may have laughed hard at that.
Kmuse: The Harry Potter jokes were my second favorite scene of the episode. My first being Gyeo Wool and my favorite mom meeting later in the hospital. I just am so happy to see some humor in episodes that are overly serious. I have to admit that the nonstop sick parent gloom was stressing me out.
How did we not notice?
Rosa finally tells her friend Jong Su that she is afraid she has Alzheimers. That night she falls getting out of bed and bonks her forehead, and when he hears about it he takes her right in to the ER. Much to Rosa’s surprise, Song Hwa diagnoses the problem as hydrocephalus, which makes Jeong Won feel guilty that he didn’t notice anything wrong. Jong Su teases Rosa that she’s the only person who has ever been grateful she had hydrocephalus.
Last episode, Song Hwa talked about her mom being a hypochondriac. Today, when her mom comes in for an appointment, she doesn’t go in with her or even see her, because she has a surgery. But the doctor calls Song Hwa with the news her mother has Parkinson’s disease, and that she noticed the symptoms as soon as her mom walked in. Song Hwa sits in her office, crying about how impatient she’d been with her mother, when Ik Joon comes. She tells him the story, and he offers to give her a ride home to see her mom.
Telzeytalks: I noticed that Ik Joon stood patting the cabinet a few times, as if he would have rather patted Song Hwa on the shoulder or hugged her, but felt he couldn’t do it. The best he could do for her was drive her home in the middle of the night.
Karie the Maknae: My heart went out to our doctors this week. There are certain diseases whose symptoms are easy to dismiss, and it sounds like their parents both had them. I’ve beaten myself up for missing the signs of a significant disease in one of my kids (she’s just fine, btw), so I just wanted to hug them both and tell them that EVERYONE misses things, even well-trained doctors.
Kmuse: Did I mention all the parent illnesses stressed me out? It hits way too close to home for me to truly enjoy the story arcs.
Is it worth it?
Ik Joon’s liver transplant patient from Mokpo returns, with an appointment to see Jun Wan this time. He has heart trouble now, and Jun Wan finds an inflammation of a heart valve that needs surgery. If they decide to do that, he will be the oldest patient Jun Wan has ever performed this surgery on.
A 78-year-old woman comes in with a brain tumor that has spread from the breast cancer she had a few years ago. She at first says she doesn’t want treatment because she won’t live much longer anyway, but the family goes out in the hall to think about it. The daughter is for it, even though she is concerned about going through cancer treatment again, but the son is against it because he is worried about the cost.
Two daughters bring in their elderly father who has always had trouble talking and breathing, but is getting worse. Jun Wan tells them there is a hole in the atrial wall and a leaky tricuspid valve. Immediately one daughter says her dad is too old for surgery, but he speaks right up and says he wants the surgery so he can have a chance to have a life like other people.
Telzeytalks: I’m glad at least that this week we have adults being ill, and not the little babies we’ve had so much of lately. It’s a really contrasting view, to consider the options of doing surgery for older adults. I was peeved at that brother, and it was pretty good when his sister accused him of taking their mom’s money for his business!
Karie the Maknae: These were hard decisions for everyone involved this week, but I loved seeing the changes of heart and the end results. My favorite had to be the man who wasn’t ever able to breathe well, but after his surgery his voice was so strong and steady!
Kmuse: Repeating the sentiments of my last few comments. I really do wish we had a lot more plot movement on our friend group. I felt that they really pushed the elderly illness this week and it felt unbalanced. I was fine with our hottie doc’s mother maybe having Alzheimers and finding it was something else. But then we got case after case after case and it was a bit overwhelming.
If they care, they will come
Rosa vows she can take any treatment Song Hwa decides on; she’s going to beat this illness! She is admitted to the hospital for a few days so they can drain the cerebrospinal fluid. The last night before going home, Jeong Won and Jong Su come to talk to her. They are surprised by another visitor when Gyeo Wool suddenly walks in. Rosa is delighted that Gyeo Wool came to see her and not to see Jeong Won, and doesn’t quite want her to leave!
All our senior patients decide to go for it. Song Hwa meets the son of the 78-year-old woman at the funeral hall of the hospital. A good friend of his has died, and it changed his whole attitude. He realizes that life is precious and is extra gentle in caring for his mother.
Min Ha faints from stomach cramps and is taken to the ER. Hong Do accidentally texts the whole department instead of just the residents, but only one of the professors actually goes to see her. The others just send messages. Seok Hyeong shows up very concerned, and Min Ha bursts into tears as he awkwardly pats her pillow.
Telzeytalks: I recall that in the first season Gyeo Wool had been taken to the ER and wondered if Jeong Won would visit her. Min Ha had said, “If he cares, he will come.” They didn’t know he actually showed up though, because he stayed out in the hall.
Karie the Maknae: Rosa being so delighted that Gyeo Wool came to see her was so much fun to watch. She’s going to be a great mother-in-law when she finally gets the chance! Also, my daughter and I cracked up SO HARD to Min Ha and Adorable OB. She thinks she’s hallucinating him, and he can’t quite bring himself to make contact with her, so he pats the pillow instead. This was situational humor at its absolute finest.
Kmuse: Awwww Min Ha thinking she was hallucinating was so adorable. And you could tell that Seok Hyeong thought so as well. I can’t wait till he finally agrees to date her.
Is it magic?
Jun Wan goes home to Changwon for his mother’s birthday. It’s on the south coast of Korea just west of Busan, a four-hour drive away from Seoul. The party runs late, and he misses the last train back to Seoul. He calls Ik Joon to get him a ticket for a bus, because he doesn’t have the app and Ik Joon does. Ik Joon tells him the earlier buses are full, so he has to take the midnight one. As he sits down in his seat and closes his eyes, Ik Soon walks past him to a seat in the back. He sits up and turns around and meets her gaze.
Telzeytalks: Who doesn’t think that Ik Joon scheduled Jun Wan on this bus because he knew Ik Soon would be on it? We had better see them talking to each other on the bus in the next episode! They are really doling this story out to us one teaspoon at a time, aren’t they?
Karie the Maknae: I totally think Ik Jun took the opportunity here — I think he’s known about them for a long time now. Ik Sun and Jun Wan just need to TALK and get things sorted out. She ended their relationship abruptly and messily and he needs closure.
Kmuse: I am a huge fan of matchmaker Ik Jun. That said, I have to admit I was a bit put off by Ik Soon doing the whole noble idiocy schtick. I am never a fan of people deciding what is best for their significant other in the case of illness. NOT A FAN…
Thoughts and Feelings
Telzeytalks: The events of this episode helped ease the loneliness that we saw at the start. Rosa has her son’s attention, and Gyeo Wool shows up as well. Rosa also gets to use her long-neglected piano skills and play with the band! And Jun Wan gets to see Ik Soon again. We are ending on a promising note. Here’s hoping the best for next week!
Karie the Maknae: I loved every minute of Rosa being the substitute keyboardist. I hope it happens again! And the fact that she’s subbing for Seok Hyeong because he went to see Min Ha in the ER makes it even BETTER.
Kmuse: Rosa’s smile was just epic. Love love love her.
Until the next set of rounds, we remain —
The Fangirls
Dramas with a Side of Kimchi