Sweet But A Little Too Slow

The first season of Hospital Playlist was so impeccable that it really set my expectations high for the second season. Hospital Playlist 2 was great but not up to par for a few reasons.

One is that the episodes this season felt very slow. I know romance is not the main focus of this drama but I also know that it's one of the reasons why the second season was highly anticipated. Everyone, including me, was eager to see how the stories of the couples will unfold. This part of the drama just seemed to drag on for too long. The romantic relationships of the other couples don't really blossom until the last few episodes. Moreover, some of the couples (*coughs* Chu Min Ha and Yang Seok Hyung) were given way too little screentime. Instead, we get an overabundance of Jang Gyeo Wool and Ahn Jung Won. I found some of their romantic moments cringeworthy even though I shipped them so much in the first season. Maybe it's just me but I felt like they lost their spark once they got together.

Another bummer for me is that the side characters that I enjoyed watching a lot in the first season got pushed aside - the twins, Yong Seok Min and Heo Sun Bin, and even Woo Ju. Yes, they're supporting characters but it felt like their roles became even more minor. Even Min Ha as a doctor and not as Seok Hyung's love interest could have gotten more screentime.

Lastly, the final episode was anticlimactic and unnecessarily long. Perhaps it’s to make up for the episodes that they missed in the earlier weeks but it was just not quite compelling despite that 2-hour running time. Also, a lot of the things that could have happened in the earlier episodes were packed into the finale as if to clearly imply that it’s over and that there will be no third season. And again, characters that I wanted to see didn’t appear that much. On the bright side, I loved hearing all the OST’s play in the drama one last time.

All that is to say, it shouldn't have taken that long for the other couples to get together. In exchange for the slow pacing, I at least wish the other couples and supporting characters appeared more in each episode.

Nevertheless, Hospital Playlist still remains to be a top-tier drama, and even though the second season was not as enjoyable for me, each episode never failed to make me smile, laugh, cry, and sing out loud.

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A Bad Mashup of Genres

A mystery thriller and a romance drama in one? Definitely sounds interesting to me but this drama executed that mashup so poorly it felt like I was watching two completely different shows. The synopsis of this drama would make you think that the plot would revolve around the murder mystery but literally after the first two episodes, there's pretty much no more correlation between the lead couple's story and the murder mystery story. Not to mention they barely gave the latter a decent amount of screentime. Every episode is 80% Da Jeong and Young Do flirting, 10% the cops trying to solve the murder case, 5% Ian Chase's backstory, and 5% the side characters.

Now, the lead couple's relationship is actually heartwarming and their chemistry is off the charts. Their dialogues were nice and comforting although a good amount may have sounded better on paper. There were a lot of internal dialogues/monologues that were too poetic and philosophical that they felt a little forced. It's like the writer had a collection of poems lying at home and decided to use all of them at once. As for the romance plot, it was insanely slow and boring. Literally nothing was happening. They were talking, walking, eating, and driving - repeat that for 14 episodes. There was no solid conflict (the conflict that they had was completely pointless), no climax, nothing.

I’m especially disappointed in the murder mystery plot because I expected so much from it. The writing was so sloppy and it ended up being a useless addition to the story. The writers could have done away with it and it wouldn’t have any impact on the lead couple’s story at all. Ian Chase was the most interesting character for me and I really wish we saw more of him and his backstory.

If you're into slow-burn romance dramas without an exciting plot, I guess this might be worth giving a try. You can pretty much ignore the whole murder mystery plot and just enjoy watching the lead couple. If you came here for the thriller, give this a hard pass.

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Failed Fantasy Drama

Had high hopes for this drama but it just didn't live up to my expectations. I wouldn't say it started out amazing but it was intriguing and quite interesting at first. A few episodes later and it got boring real fast. Lots of filler episodes and scenes that added no contribution to the story at all. Lots of moments that didn’t make sense to me and had no substance whatsoever. I personally think it started to fall apart when the leads fell in love out of nowhere. There was literally no development to their romance; it all happened in a blink of an eye like *poof* and they were head over heels for each other.

It was painfully boring that I had to watch every episode at 1.25x speed (1.5x for the second couple’s scenes because I couldn’t take them) just to get through this snoozefest.

The writers tried to be philosophical with this drama but failed horribly with the storytelling. The story dragged on for way too long when the entire thing could've been done in 12 episodes or even less. The only reason I hang on to this drama is because of Seo In Guk and Park Bo Young, both my fave actors.

On a positive note, the cinematography, acting, and OST's were great.

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Boring and Disappointing

I will keep this short because I have nothing but negative things to say about this drama.

The games were boring and anticlimactic, the plot is extremely predictable, there were way too many annoying characters and unnecessary drama, cringeworthy acting from some of the supporting characters (don’t get me started on the VIPs), the cinematography was not as good as I expected from the trailer, and lastly, the ending was so bland.

If you're looking for a suspenseful survival game type of drama, watch Alice in Borderland instead. I'm still giving it a rating higher than 5 because as much as the plot is predictable and banal, I still paid enough attention while watching and it was fun guessing what would happen next.

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Gritty Yet Captivating

Stories of bullying in the Korean Military are not unheard of yet we never truly know the full extent of this problem. This drama gives us a visual of just how bad that bullying is, and depicts it in a way that is so raw and real to the point where it can be disturbing or hard to watch.

Every episode is intense and packed with a good balance of action, heart-wrenching moments, and comedy. I have to admit that I was not fully immersed until the third/fourth episode but that's not to say that the drama did not start out great. It did, however, the writing could be just a tad bit better (not sure if the webtoon writer is at fault or the drama writers). The drama just gets more captivating in the following episodes.

All the actors were phenomenal but Koo Kyo Hwan was definitely a scene-stealer. He deserves a special mention for providing that comic relief in this dark and heavy drama. He really was a breath of fresh air whenever a scene would get too intense.

I would imagine that this drama did a realistic portrayal of the dark side of the Korean Military as the original webtoon was based on the writer's real-life experience. This is not a drama that will let you breathe you a sigh of relief in the end. It stays true to its core - gritty and brutal. Overall, this is a thrilling series that will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. It may be short with only six episodes but it left me with lingering feelings and a heavy heart.

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A Thrilling Ride

As a huge fan of Kingdom seasons 1 and 2, I wasn't very excited for this as I was expecting a whole third season and not a mere special episode. I was sad that this spinoff had a completely different cast but that's understandable because it's supposed to be a backstory to the first two seasons. This spinoff is centered around Ashin, who was very briefly introduced at the end of season 2. I was sad about not seeing my favorite cast members but oh boy, I was not disappointed by this episode at all.

The stunning quality of the visual effects, cinematography, and overall production shouldn't come as a surprise if you've seen the earlier seasons. The acting was great as to be expected from Jun Ji Hyun although she didn't have much lines. She also appears rather late in the show but I didn't really mind it since I loved watching the young Ashin. Such an amazing actress at such a young age. Lastly, the plot was nicely written and served its purpose of filling the viewers in on the history of the plague. I had some unanswered questions until the very end but it's not really over until it's over. You have to watch until the very last minute!

If there is one thing you can expect from this spinoff, it's the same high-quality production as in the first two seasons. I keep talking about the earlier seasons but honestly, anyone can watch this without having seen the rest of the series. Overall, this is a brilliant special episode and I want to give props to the whole Kingdom crew for once again living up to its hype.

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