15.4 - Podcast Review of Episode 4 of Hospital Playlist

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 4 of Hospital Playlist, starring 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. We also discuss Jo Jung Suk, the actor who plays the general surgeon Lee Ik Jun. We discuss:

• The songs featured during the recap: Pachelbel’s Canon in D, played in rock fashion by our five doctors, and Confession Is Not Flashy by Kyuhyun, a remake of Lee Seung-hwan’s 1993 ballad.

• The demands being placed on K-pop performers, inspired by Joanna’s experience at the BTS concert, and why the physical and mental health of performers needs to come before tours, albums, and fans’ expectations.

• Our change in how we feature music on the podcast because of licensing concerns, and our new playlist of Hospital Playlist songs that listeners can play along with during the recap.

• The episode’s many stories about parents and children—and how those relationships can be loving and protective, but also abusive, exploitative, complicated, and heartbreaking.

• Dr. Bong’s entertaining description of the five friends as “The Lacking Five” and what his stories reveal about Chae Song Hwa, Kim Jun Wan, Yang Seok Hyeong, Lee Ik Jun, and Ahn Jeong Won.

• The tragedy in Yang Seok Hyeong’s family—his sister’s death, his father’s affair, and his mother’s stroke—and how those experiences transformed his relationship with his mother and help explain the quiet, devoted man he is today.

• The baby born with anencephaly and Yang Seok Hyeong’s decision to honor the mother’s request that she not hear her baby cry, leading to a fascinating discussion about how hospitals and families handle the birth of a baby who will not survive.

• How the five doctors started their band in medical school, their hilarious younger hairstyles and clothes, their attempts to master Pachelbel’s Canon, and our own memories of orchestras, family bands, Rock Band, and Dance Dance Revolution.

• Matters of the heart: Lee Ik Jun tries to play matchmaker, but it’s Kim Jun Wan who appears increasingly interested in Ik Jun’s sister Lee Ik Sun—and who ultimately travels to her military base claiming he just wants to eat jajangmyeon.

• Jo Jung Suk, the actor who plays Lee Ik Jun: his beginnings in musical theater, his breakout film role in Architecture 101, his many dramas and films, his award-winning performance in Pilot, and his journey toward becoming a singer-songwriter through A-List to Playlist.

References

• K Drama Chat Hospital Playlist OST Playlist

• Confession is not flashy by Kyuhyun on YouTube

• Confession is not flashy by Lee Seung Hwan on YouTube

• Living Organ Donation | organdonor.gov

• Becoming a Living Donor | National Kidney Foundation

• Institutional standard framework and experience of living donor liver transplantation for overseas non-Korean patients at Asan Medical Center - PMC

• Singer-actress IU cancels concert, postpones album release due to worsened ear disorder - The Korea Herald

• Eustachian Tube Dysfunction | Johns Hopkins Medicine

• Stroke - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

• Massive biomolecular shifts occur in our 40s and 60s, Stanford Medicine researchers find

• Jo Jung Suk’s self-titled debut album

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K Drama Chat is a weekly podcast where we take one Korean (K) Drama each season and and recap and analyze each episode. K Drama Chat is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pandora.