This drama was marked as ‘Not Interested’ by me and for ages, I ignored the signs to watch it. My dad watched it and loved it. My friends watched it and loved it. Even Netflix has recommended it multiple times since its release and I stubbornly refused to watch it.

It was only after binging Dr. Romantic and Dr. Romantic 2 in a week that I finally wanted to start this drama. But no! Season 2 was airing and I would have to wait until SEPTEMBER to watch Season 2 so no, I must not start Season 1. What if I can’t wait for all of Season 2 to air once I finish the first season? (I plan to watch the rest of S2 as it airs)

So I put it off. At this point, it was difficult. Netflix showed Hospital Playlist at the top of every list they could think up. As expected, who has that much self-control when the drama you want to watch is basically being served on a platter? So obviously, I watched it.

Upon further research after watching Ep 4, I found that the writers are the same as Reply 1988! It was yet another one that I had put off for YEARS until a few weeks ago and which I love as well, but I digress. And armed with this knowledge, these Easter eggs stood out more to me, from a few seconds of the OST or even a cameo from the Reply 1988 cast. It was nice to see them. My only gripe is the timeline of Hospital Playlist (set in 2019) and Reply 1988 don’t fit particularly well (so that character cameos don’t quite make sense) but I can overlook that for fangirling’s sake.

So what do I like about this drama? Honestly, the list would go on and on. Every scene was meaningful. I could feel emotions for each character, as minor as they each are. But most of all, I love that this drama is mostly slice of life. There’s no super-evil villain out there to destroy what our MCs have built up, and the plot mostly revolves around the lives of our MCs. It’s heartwarming and fun, almost like I’m with my own group of friends that I haven’t seen in a while. I like that it’s not ridiculously fast-paced and suspenseful like other medical dramas, but more realistic, kinda like how one would expect a doctor’s job to be like at a big hospital: dealing with anxious patients, irritating colleagues that don’t pull their weight as well as night shifts, emergency calls, etc.

The finale wasn't my cup of tea, but watching this in 2021, I know there is a 2nd season that will hopefully address the things that the writers left to the audience's imagination. But it wasn't too bad, definitely cheering on a romance between a certain professor and resident!

The *main* thing I don’t like about this drama is probably the fact that the cast is MASSIVE! I felt so confused keeping track of names and faces and honestly, I even forgot the names and faces of characters if they got an outfit change. However, it’s completely understandable why there was such a big cast though. A hospital as big as Yulje would likely have even more doctors, nurses and patients in real life, so I really can’t fault this drama at all.

Other than that, the acting is spot-on, I loved how the actors really brought out their characters, and I absolutely LOVE the soundtrack! Using a song in each episode was really smart! The songs picked really fit the main events in each episode, plus, I got to expand my music taste, so no complaints there!

As for watching it again, I would definitely go through it all again. For this watch, I would argue that I’ve binged it since I finished all of it within a week. BUT, if I’m going to watch it again, I would probably wait a year or so, and then go through the episodes slowly, maybe a few episodes every weekend or something like that. It’s definitely not one that I would binge again.

If you got to the end, thank you for reading this review, and apologies for all the faff…