South Korea · Drama · 2021
Hospital Playlist Season 2
Binge Brief
- Twelve episodes aired on tvN on Thursdays at 9 p.m. KST, from 17 June to 16 September 2021.
- The premiere on 17 June 2021 scored 10.007% nationwide (Nielsen Korea), a new high for a tvN drama opener.
- Episode 12 on 16 September 2021 reached 14.080%, the season's best, and the 12 episodes averaged 12.002%.
- A special filled the regular slot on 29 July 2021, and episode 7 followed on 5 August.
- The OST was released in 12 parts between 18 June and 17 September 2021, starting with Lee Mu-jin's "Rain and You".
- Filming, first planned for December 2020, was pushed to late January 2021 because of COVID-19.
Synopsis
Hospital Playlist Season 2 is the second run of tvN's Korean drama about five doctors who met at medical school some twenty years earlier and now share the corridors of Yulje Medical Center. Over 12 episodes aired in 2021, they operate, train residents, look after their families and still find evenings to rehearse as a band.
Each of the friends carries a different specialty. Lee Ik-jun (Jo Jung-suk) is an assistant professor of general surgery bringing up his young son on his own, and Ahn Jeong-won (Yoo Yeon-seok) treats children in pediatric surgery and has long thought about becoming a priest. Kim Jun-wan (Jung Kyung-ho) takes the cardiothoracic cases, Yang Seok-hyeong (Kim Dae-myung) works in obstetrics and gynecology, and Chae Song-hwa (Jeon Mi-do) is an associate professor of neurosurgery.
The new season starts from the loose threads of the first. Ik-jun has already told Song-hwa how he feels and is waiting for her answer. Jun-wan sent a ring to Lee Ik-sun (Kwak Sun-young), who is studying in the United Kingdom, and the package came back to him. Jeong-won answered the confession of general surgery doctor Jang Gyeo-ul (Shin Hyun-been) with a kiss, and Seok-hyeong, who turned down resident Chu Min-ha (Ahn Eun-jin), has just picked up a call from his former wife.
Much of the running time goes to the wards rather than to romance. Do Jae-hak (Jung Moon-sung) of cardiothoracic surgery and Heo Sun-bin (Ha Yoon-kyung) of neurosurgery are back, and patients' relatives shape several stories: in the first episode, the mother of a child named Yeon-woo keeps returning to the hospital where her child's brief life was spent.
Director Shin Won-ho and writer Lee Woo-jung kept the one-episode-a-week rhythm, with long Thursday night instalments that follow the staff through ordinary shifts instead of chasing a single medical crisis. Several members of the Hospital Playlist season 2 cast also sing parts of the soundtrack, which came out as a new OST part each week.
Why it still gets watched
Season 2 opened stronger than season 1 had. Its first episode on 17 June 2021 drew 10.007% nationwide, the best start a tvN drama had recorded up to then, where the 2020 premiere had managed 6.325%. Apart from a dip after the late July break, the numbers kept climbing, and episode 12 closed the run at 14.080%.
The music is the other pull. The actors rehearsed for months so they could play and sing the band's songs themselves, and Jo Jung-suk's "I Like You" won Best OST at the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards, while Lee Mu-jin's "Rain and You" took the same category at that year's Melon Music Awards. Outside Korea the season streams on Netflix.
Hospital Playlist Season 2 cast
Themes and messages
Season 2 leans on how love looks different once four of the five friends, all approaching forty, try to say what they feel to each other. In a 2020 interview, director Shin Won-ho said people that age no longer fall for someone at first sight the way they did in their twenties, since years of relationships and disappointment change how they read another person's feelings. That plays out through Lee Ik-jun's long wait for Chae Song-hwa's answer and through Kim Jun-wan's on-and-off attempt to reach Lee Ik-sun, both built on patience rather than a sudden spark.
Interesting facts
tvN moved Hospital Playlist Season 2's eleventh episode out of its usual Thursday slot on 2 September 2021, since the channel carried South Korea's World Cup qualifying match against Iraq that night instead. Episode 11 aired the following week, on 9 September 2021, a full two weeks after episode 10 had aired on 26 August.
Episodes
| Ep | Title | Air date | Status | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The five doctors settle back into hospital routine while Jang Gyeo-ul grows uneasy over a patient's mother who keeps returning to see her. | 17 Jun 2021 | Aired | 10.007% |
| 2 | Chae Song-hwa commutes between Seoul and Sokcho for a VIP surgery patient as a mother with a high-risk pregnancy fights to save her unborn child. | 24 Jun 2021 | Aired | 10.071% |
| 3 | Lee Ik-jun takes on a father-to-son liver transplant case while Kim Jun-wan has to break serious news to a patient under his care. | 1 Jul 2021 | Aired | 10.604% |
| 4 | News about Lee Ik-sun's accident unsettles Jun-wan, and Heo Seon-bin learns a hard lesson while monitoring a patient after surgery. | 8 Jul 2021 | Aired | 10.972% |
| 5 | Gyeo-ul fields a noise complaint tied to one of Ik-jun's patients, and Yang Seok-hyeong finally tells Song-hwa something he has kept to himself. | 15 Jul 2021 | Aired | 12.399% |
| 6 | Yun-bok and Hong-do begin their internships while Gyeo-ul starts as a fellow, and all three find the new titles harder than expected. | 22 Jul 2021 | Aired | 13.151% |
| 7 | An overbearing guardian tests Ik-jun's usual charm, and Chu Min-ha's manner with a cafeteria visitor causes friction on the ward. | 5 Aug 2021 | Aired | 10.643% |
| 8 | Jeong Rosa's worsening memory frightens her, and Song-hwa is thrown by an unexpected diagnosis affecting someone close to her. | 12 Aug 2021 | Aired | 13.120% |
| 9 | A hospital director's table tennis tournament turns the five friends competitive, and an ambulance call has Ik-jun and Jun-wan's phones ringing at once. | 19 Aug 2021 | Aired | 12.892% |
| 10 | A long-planned Seoraksan trip for the five friends runs into trouble from the start, while Do Jae-hak and his wife get news they were not expecting. | 26 Aug 2021 | Aired | 12.704% |
| 11 | Word of a Yulje doctor's sudden accident sends the friends rushing to the emergency room as Song-hwa faces a patient whose prognosis is uncertain. | 9 Sep 2021 | Aired | 13.387% |
| 12 | As the season closes, sudden crises keep the hospital as busy as ever while each of the five friends chooses the path they want to follow. | 16 Sep 2021 | Aired | 14.080% |
Soundtrack
Starting the player loads Spotify, which sets its own cookies.
| Track | Artist |
|---|---|
| Rain and You (비와 당신), Part 1 | Lee Mu-jin, 18 Jun 2021 |
| In Front of the Post Office in Autumn (가을 우체국 앞에서), Part 2 | Kim Dae-myung, 25 Jun 2021 |
| I Like You (나는 너 좋아), Part 3 | Jang Beom-june, 2 Jul 2021 |
| I Love You More Than Anyone (누구보다 널 사랑해), Part 4 | Twice, 9 Jul 2021 |
| I Like You (좋아좋아), Part 5 | Jo Jung-suk, 16 Jul 2021 |
| Superstar (슈퍼스타), Part 6 | Mido and Falasol, 23 Jul 2021 |
| To You (너에게), Part 7 | Yoo Yeon-seok, 6 Aug 2021 |
| Is It Still Beautiful (여전히 아름다운지), Part 8 | Seventeen, 13 Aug 2021 |
| Reminiscence (회상), Part 9 | Jung Kyung-ho, 20 Aug 2021 |
| It's My Life, Part 10 | Yoon Mi-rae, 27 Aug 2021 |
| Running in the Sky (하늘을 달리다), Part 11 | Hynn, 10 Sep 2021 |
| Butterfly, Part 12 | Jeon Mi-do, 17 Sep 2021 |
Awards
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best OST | Jo Jung-suk, "I Like You" | Won |
| 2021 | Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best OST | Lee Mu-jin, "Rain and You" | Nominated |
| 2021 | Melon Music Awards | Best OST | Lee Mu-jin, "Rain and You" | Won |
| 2022 | 8th APAN Star Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Shin Hyun-been | Nominated |
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Hospital Playlist season 3?
No third season of Hospital Playlist has been confirmed. Director Shin Won-ho first planned three seasons over three years, but after Hospital Playlist Season 2 ended in September 2021 he said he was unsure about going on, citing exhaustion among other problems. Jeon Mi-do has said the cast take turns pressing him about it. tvN's 2025 spin-off, Resident Playbook, moved the focus to residents.
Who is in the Hospital Playlist Season 2 cast?
The five leads of Hospital Playlist Season 2 are Jo Jung-suk as Lee Ik-jun, Yoo Yeon-seok as Ahn Jeong-won, Jung Kyung-ho as Kim Jun-wan, Kim Dae-myung as Yang Seok-hyeong and Jeon Mi-do as Chae Song-hwa. Shin Hyun-been, Ahn Eun-jin, Jung Moon-sung, Ha Yoon-kyung and Kwak Sun-young return in supporting parts, and producer Na Young-seok has a cameo in episode 10.
How many episodes does Hospital Playlist Season 2 have?
Hospital Playlist Season 2 has 12 episodes. tvN showed one a week on Thursday nights from 17 June to 16 September 2021, with no new episode on 29 July, when a special took the slot, or on 2 September.
Is Hospital Playlist Season 2 on Netflix?
Yes. Hospital Playlist Season 2 is available on Netflix, which lists the show as Hospital Playlist and offers it with a paid subscription. In South Korea the season first aired on tvN.
What songs are on the Hospital Playlist Season 2 OST?
The Hospital Playlist Season 2 OST came out in 12 weekly parts from 18 June to 17 September 2021. It opens with Lee Mu-jin's "Rain and You" and has tracks by Twice, Seventeen, Yoon Mi-rae and Hynn, along with songs sung by Kim Dae-myung, Jo Jung-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok, Jung Kyung-ho and Jeon Mi-do.
What was the Hospital Playlist 2 special?
The Hospital Playlist 2 special was a special episode that tvN aired in the drama's usual Thursday slot on 29 July 2021, during a one-week break between episode 6 and episode 7.
What rating did Hospital Playlist Season 2 get in Korea?
Hospital Playlist Season 2 averaged a 12.002% nationwide rating over its 12 episodes, by Nielsen Korea's count. It began at 10.007% on 17 June 2021 and rose to 14.080% for the final episode on 16 September 2021.
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