What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:
*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*
TV
Hospital Playlist 2 (2021) – Ep 1-2
The Yulje crew is back!
And they are just as good as ever. The show picks up exactly where it left off, and it feels like the cast hasn’t missed a beat since they ended the last season. With a few meta jokes about how Ik-joon’s (Jo Jeong-seok) kid seems to have grown overnight, the show returns to all it’s usual shenanigans.
The first episode seems intent on wrapping up all the cliffhangers it left us with at the end of the first season, and staying true to her signature style, most of them turned out far less dramatic than they seemed. Seok-hyung (Kim Dae-myung) goes to see his ex-wife after he learns that her father is admitted to the hospital. Jun-wan’s (Jung Kyoung-ho) returned ring was cleared up with a quick phone call and it turned out that Ik-soon (Kwak Sun-young) just wasn’t home when it was delivered. Jeong-won (Yoo Yeon-seok) and Gyeo-wool (Shin Hyun-bin) are officially a couple, and Song-hwa (Jeon Mi-do) neatly turns Ik-joon down on his hypothetical offer to date.
I like that the show continues to give us interesting doctor-patient interactions. It can often get quite boring when you have a case-of-the-week format, but Hospital Playlist has always excelled in making us connect with the patients that visit Yulje, because they aren’t there just for the week.
The most interesting patient so far was Kim Su-jeong (guest star An Si-ha), who comes to the ER after she realizes that her water has burst before her baby has even completed half its term. Not only does she serve to provide an interesting medical situation, but it also helps to show us the contrast between the different doctors at Yulje. Min-ha (Ahn Eun-jin) notes how the same patient examined within the space of a few hours by two different doctors completely changed the outlook. It also gave us an incredible insight into how Seok-hyung works as a doctor, something that did not get nearly enough attention last season. I want to know more about the inner workings of his mind, since he seems like the most thoughtful of the group.
On a personal front, they all continue to have various levels of struggles and success. Jun-wan and Ik-soon are going strong, and it makes me happy to see them communicating with one another. Song-hwa’s mystery coffee fairy on the other hand makes me nervous for another one-sided crush, much like we were teased with Ahn Chi-hong (Kim Joon-han) and the shoes last season.
I have no doubt that the show will continue to be insightful and heartfelt, and I’m excited to see what Writer Lee Woo-jung and Director Shin Won-ho have in store for us. I’m equally excited to see some excellent covers by our in-house band, Mido and The Parasols.
Racket Boys (2021) – Ep 1-8
This show is so wholesome it’s killing me with cuteness! It’s not everyday that we get to see a show about competitive middle school badminton, but Racket Boys is about so much more than that. The show manages to encompass the financial struggle of family forced to move from the city to the countryside, and how they try to fit in with the people around them. The school itself is looking for someone to turn their team around and bring back their former glory. Finally, it deals with the stresses of being a teenager, especially teenagers that have adults constantly pushing them and relying on them for their own glories.
After having watched Prison Playbook, and knowing that the same writer was in charge here, I was sure that the ensemble dynamic would be excellent. What I wasn’t expecting was how I would love each one of them. From the hot-headed Hae-kang (Tang Joon-sang) to the reserved Se-yoon (Lee Jae-in), I have yet to find a character that I dislike. The coaches may seem strict and the townspeople prickly, but ultimately those are just facades they put on to protect themselves, and you understand where they might be coming from.
By far my favourite character is Hae-kang. I love how he so many dichotomies in him. He’s competitive but carefree, walking with an air of confidence that only a fourteen-year-old kid can. However, he often shows a maturity far beyond his year, whether it’s towards his sister (Ahn Se-bin), Se-yoon or the kindly halmoni Ome (Cha Mi-kyung) next door, that I sometimes forget that he’s just a middle-schooler who likes playing video games and wants his mom (Oh Na-ra) when he’s hurt. I was already blown away by Tang’s acting prowess in Move to Heaven, but Yoon Hae-kang is a masterful character when placed in his capable hands. He is absolutely slaying it, and I love him even more every time he smirks and says “It’s me! I’m Yoon Hae-kang!”
When the rest of the kids are added into the mix we get true magic. Each of them brings their own brand of charm, whether it Yoon-dam’s (Son Sang-yeon) leadership, Se-yoon’s cool-headedness, or the optimistic dynamic duo of Woo-chan and Yong-tae (Choi Hyun-wook and Kim Kang-hoon respectively). They really take Coach Bae’s (Shin Jung-keun) words to heart: “We win as a team. We lose as team.” And they do pretty much everything else as a team too, including being embarrassed by Coach Yoon (Kim Sang-kyung) and protecting other teams from Hae-kang’s violent outbursts.
Going forward, I’m looking forward to see how the team continue to bond. Now that they know Hae-kang isn’t going anywhere, the Racket Boys seem much more at ease. I’m also loving the lovely innocence of the way that the writer is developing the lovelines between Se-yoon and Hae-kang, as well as the more direct approach with Han-sol (Lee Ji-won) and Yoon-dam.
Colourful Granny 