The Weekend Binge: “Resident Playbook”

Director Shin Won-ho and writer Lee Woo-jung are the duo responsible for the Reply Series, Hospital Playlist (Seasons 1 and 2), and Prison Playbook. The heartwarming k-dramas have become international hits by focusing on the everyday lives of friends in various circumstances who somehow turn into a community. This time around, Shin and Lee become series creators and mentor rookie director Lee Min-soo and writer Kim Song-hee in Resident Playbook, a spin-off of Hospital Playlist. 

The Plot

Unlike the '99ers in Hospital Playlist who were expert doctors in their field, the first-year OB-GYN residents in Yulje Hospital (Jongno branch), are young, inexperienced, and lost. Oh Yi-young (Go Youn-jung) would much rather have quit medicine but a large debt forces her to return to work. Pyo Nam-kyung (Shin Si-an) is a fashionista whose dating life is as exciting as her medical cases. Former idol member  Um Jae-il (Kang You-seok) is a little too passionate about diagnosing his patients with rare and fatal conditions. Kim Sa-bi (Han Ye-ji) is textbook brilliant but has difficulty developing her bedside manner. Fourth-year resident Goo Do-won (Jung Joon-won) has his hands full trying to get the first-years in check. As the four go through their first year of residency, they interact with older doctors, nurses, patients, and caretakers, causing them to rethink their vocation as healers and their friendship with each other. 

The Review

It’s hard to watch Resident Playbook (RP) without comparing it to its successful older sibling Hospital Playlist (HP). I was pleasantly surprised, however, that it didn’t come out a loser. RP did the right thing by not marketing itself as the competition. Instead, it slipped right into the HP lore and did homage to the world that fans already know and love. But it also still had more stories to tell. That’s the great thing about these slice-of-life k-dramas. They view the ordinary world as interesting enough and so there’s never a need to head into makjang territory. 

One of the most underrated life experiences is reflecting on how deep friendships develop and grow over time. The young doctors start off uncomfortable and wary around each other. Their obvious personality and background differences make the audience wonder if they’ll ever really gel. Through the thoughtful script by Kim and artful direction of Lee, we get a glimpse of the often overlooked moments when acquaintances turn into friends, experiences turn into inside jokes, and defences get lowered brick by brick. 

Go Youn-jung, whom I last saw as the tough and motherless student making sense of her superpowers in Moving, is believable as the reluctant doctor who struggles with keeping her temper. It’s her growth we’re initially invested in because, like her mentors around her, we know she’s got what it takes to be a great doctor if only she would give it a shot. We’re also rooting for her very open but respectful one-sided love. RP keeps the tradition of introducing crush-worthy green flag male leads.  

Kang You-seok reportedly auditioned several times before landing the role of idol-turned-doctor Um Jae-il. But it’s hard to imagine any other young actor straddling the roles of both cute and annoying newbie with puppy dog eyes, and competent empathetic doctor. Yet, Kang makes it seem so natural. So natural, in fact, that I only belatedly learned that he played IU’s insufferable younger brother in When Life Gives You Tangerines. His full commitment to his idol role by dancing and singing in a music video produced purely for the drama, captured even the interest of k-pop fans who created a whole timeline for his character prior to his becoming a doctor. 

As with HP and with the Reply Series, the stories are rarely about events and are always about the characters. Thankfully, RP manages to keep us invested in a plethora of fleshed out side characters, who are neither entirely virtuous nor villainous, and who make up the Jongno Yulje community. The running cameos from the HP series are a tribute to the loyal fans who are making room for new characters to love. 

While still meaningful and poignant, the storylines are lighter than the ones tackled in HP and reflect the viewpoints and concerns of a much younger generation. The first-years are only just getting the hang of being adults–dealing with difficult bosses, managing stress, building their careers, falling in love, and coming into their own. 

Each episode runs for more than an hour each, but I barely noticed it. The whole series takes about a year with the ups and downs, highs and lows of the young doctors. The literal translation would have been Someday, A Wise Resident's Life, which I think would have been more apt. All in all, Resident Playbook is a hopeful, youthful, and insightful watch---rather like a warm hug on a cold day.