by Michael McCarthy
As I am sure you all must know, there was a popular Korean medical drama called Hospital Playlist. It was centered around these five doctors who went to school together and were all good friends. When they were younger, they were in a band together so one of the characters tells the other characters that she’ll only do what they’re asking her to if they start up the band again. So even though it was a medical drama, in each episode the band would get together and play one song. Usually an old Korean song. The show would’ve been great without that but somehow the music part was always a highlight of the show.
In any case, Hospital Playlist went for two seasons but it felt like it was longer because most of the episodes were an hour and a half long. Some were even longer. So even though it was two seasons, it probably had the running time of a four or five season show. Anyway, it was one of my favorites.
Now there’s a new show called Resident Playbook, which I know many of you are also watching. It’s centered around four first year residents in the OB/GYN department of the same hospital where Hospital Playlist took place and some of the people who were in Hospital Playlist make cameos or have small parts in it. But here’s the thing: I really want to love this show. But even though it’s focused on four residents, there is one character that it focuses on a bit more. And that character is very difficult to like. The young woman was a first year resident before but quit for some reason. Then she was unemployed and ran up 50 million won in credit card bills so her family insists that she go back to the hospital and do her first year residency again because she needs the money. So she goes back to the hospital and starts doing a first year residency all over again. However, her heart is not in it. She says multiple times that she’s only doing it until she pays off her credit cards then she is going to quit. She seems like a pretty lethargic and depressed individual. The other residents really want to be there and are really positive people but this main resident that it keeps focusing on more so doesn’t want to be there. Who the heck wants to watch a medical show where the main character seems bored and irritated all the time and constantly gets things wrong because she isn’t passionate about it? Half of the show is just her getting yelled at by her superiors for messing things up. And it’s making it pretty depressing and frustrating to watch.
I am halfway through the fourth episode. The show is still airing in Korea on weekends. Netflix adds a new episode every Saturday and Sunday. Anyway, I’m halfway through episode four and we still don’t know why the young woman quit her residency previously. Meanwhile, nothing has yet to happen to make her change her perspective. I keep hoping she’ll save some patient’s life or something and it will make her actually want to be a doctor and the show will stop being so downtrodden but they’ve yet to explain why this woman is like that or have her change her spirits and it’s getting pretty annoying. I am going to stick with it because hopefully they’ll explain her character soon and she’ll change her perspective but in the meantime it’s not particularly fun to watch.
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