Resident Playbook somehow just doesn’t reach the level of Hospital Playlist, leaving me somewhat disappointed after watching it. I don’t think it’s a terrible show, but even if I put aside the fact that it’s a spin-off, I would expect to still be amused, so maybe it’s the long episodes, or the fact that not much happens, that makes it a little bit of an exhausting watch. Even to play it in the background is a bit odd, considering it’s all about the OB-GYN unit. I really do want to like the show; in fact, I genuinely love Go Youn-Jung in this. She shines as a confused yet determined doctor who might have finally found something to live for, but I suppose that’s not enough to keep me interested in an entire show, especially if each episode drags on for an hour and 20 minutes at least. Anyway, rather than complain, I’ll just have to hope it gets better as time goes by, though we’re already halfway through. With that said, let’s get straight into episodes 5 and 6.
Spoiler Alert
Why Is Yi-Young The Way She Is?
Episode 5 of Resident Playbook focuses on two cancer patients that Yi-Young has to look after. The two women are mothers who care deeply for their 10-year-old kids. One of the kids is relatively mature, while the other just wants to play his games. Yi-Young ends up spending quite some time with the mature kid because her mom asks Yi-Young to eat with her. Meanwhile, Jae-Il learns to read an ultrasound properly after calling his senior doctors a dozen times to “confirm” what he’s done. In this episode, we see a different side to Do-Won, who feels under pressure because he has to monitor the juniors and give them harsh feedback. We see him give this harsh feedback, but calm as a cucumber. He tells Jae-Il that figuring out how to do an ultrasound isn’t something to rejoice about, because everyone around him can do it too; when you’re causing inconveniences for other people, it’s called incompetence. At the same time, when he sees Yi-Young yell at an intern instead of treating her kindly, he tells her that she can’t be treating interns like that. He’s firm but still considerate, obviously making Yi-Young feel more drawn to him.
It happens to be Yi-Young’s birthday, and she gets the same coupon from all her colleagues because they’re all in a rush and don’t know what else to get her. She thinks to herself they’re oddly similar at the most random times. On the other hand, Do-Won tells her he’ll say yes to anything she asks for before they reach their floor in the elevator since it’s her birthday. She asks him if they can eat together and go see a movie, and he dodges by saying, sure, they can with their siblings and colleagues. However, the real surprise comes when Yi-Young asks him if she can like him. He says yes at first, but when he gets out of the elevator, he says she should only do so if she wants to make things awkward for them.
Meanwhile, Sa-Bi has to talk an old woman into a uterine surgery, which the woman refuses to undergo. However, the professor teaches Sa-Bi how to handle the situation emotionally by showing her how to talk to an elderly patient without making her feel overwhelmed. He tells the woman that she’s dealing with these issues now because she worked too hard trying to raise her two children, so it’s time she gets better for her sake and theirs. This seems to work, and Sa-Bi learns something new. It is at the end of episode 5 that we’re hit with a wave of emotion, because the young girl who trusts that her mother will come back every time she’s sick, because that’s what‘s happened so far, learns that her mother is going to die for real this time. This is when Yi-Young steps in almost as a guardian angel for the little girl, because she knows what it’s like to lose a mother. Yi-Young tells her that people will tell her to stop crying, to pretend everything is okay, and to stay strong, but she should cry as much as she likes and not hide her emotions. She also talks about how this leaves a massive hole in the heart that’ll never be filled, and that’s okay. In the end, we see Yi-Young just waking up at home. When she realizes she’s alone, she bursts into tears thinking about her mom. Also in this episode, we see Yoo Yon-Seok return to take the little girl because his foundation is helping.
Is Do-Won Okay With Yi-Young Liking Him?
Episode 6 focuses mainly on Nam-Kyung and Sa-Bi not getting along because they’ve got personalities that are poles apart. Nam-Kyung even complains about Sa-Bi to her first patient, and she overhears everything but thinks it’s about Yi-Young. They both get yelled at for not doing work that they could easily help each other out with. All they need to really do is improve communication. On the other hand, Jae-Il really gets the hang of the ultrasounds and acts on Do-Won’s advice. When a worried patient comes in complaining of having random pains, he reassures her by checking her ultrasound slowly and in detail. This makes the patient very happy, and when she comes back, she specifically asks for him. This time, he notices that she’s got something strange in her ultrasound. When he calls Dr. Seo, the professor, she says there needs to be emergency surgery to get the baby out now. The surgery goes well, and everything seems okay, but the mother asks the professor, Is it okay for her to stop worrying now? The professor says no, and that this is only the beginning. She talks about how her own mother is 70 but still calls her up because she’s worried she’s not eating.
On the other hand, Yi-Young’s patient has a very doting husband, but Yi-Young seems to be the only one in the hospital who doesn’t see him as such. Throughout the episode, all the doctors and nurses give him compliments because he’s always talking about how nothing should happen to his wife. The fear is that she may need a hysterectomy if the doctors can’t stop excessive bleeding during the birthing process. But, after the surgery is over and the baby comes out fine, the man tells his wife that she’s worked hard and that she should get ready for a second baby, this time a boy. This happens in front of Yi-Young and all the other doctors. The patient then whispers to Yi-Young what to tell her husband, and in front of Do-Won, she curses out the patient’s husband, calling him all sorts of names because that’s the message his wife wants to give him. This makes Do-Won smile. On the other hand, Yi-Young’s sister and her husband are trying to have an IVF baby and have been doing so for a while. Her sister Ju-Young clearly tells her husband that if it doesn’t work this time around, she’s going to stop trying. Unfortunately, she gets a phone call from the fertility clinic that the eggs didn’t fertilize successfully. At the same time, her abdomen is hurting really badly in the subway, so I wonder if the situation is worse than they know.
Meanwhile, Yi-Young is in the car with Do-Won on the way home because they have to go see their siblings. He gets a call from Dr. Myeong, who informs him that he’s no longer a co-author of their research paper but that she’s made him the second author because she had to rewrite a bunch of his sections. Do-Won simply tells her he’s driving and doesn’t really react to the situation, though he’s clearly angry. Later in the episode, Yi-Young and Do-Won have to go to the conference where Myeong presents the paper the two of them wrote together but pretends it’s her own. She then tells Do-Won that he was probably too busy to put in more effort in the paper, so she took credit for it, but she’s sure he’ll get another chance soon. Yi-Young overhears this conversation too, and instead of pretending not to hear it, she tells Myeong that she overheard her twice but never once heard her apologize. Do-Won doesn’t say anything, and Myeong pretends to apologize with a smile on her face, but we all know what this means for Yi-Young in the future. That she will be treated poorly by Myeong.
At the end of Resident Playbook episode 6, Do-Won and Yi-Young are drinking in a playground, and Yi-Young repeats the cussing she did earlier. This makes Do-Won laugh, and he asks her if she doesn’t like him anymore because she’s able to speak that way in front of him. She says she’s the kind of person who cusses in front of the people she likes too. He asks her if she can do it again, but she thinks he means ask him the question about liking him again. He corrects her, and she amuses him again, making them both laugh out loud. Of course he likes her too, but we’ll have to wait at least another 3 episodes for him to admit it to himself.
