Resident Playbook

Tries to capture the warmth and camaraderie of a hospital drama, but falls short of the emotional chaos and adrenaline of series like Dr. Romantic or Trauma Code: Heroes on Call. While the friendships are undeniably wholesome and the occasional slice-of-life moments land well, the romantic pairings feel mismatched and underwhelming. The chemistry between Du Won and Oh Yi Young, as well as Um Jae Il and Sa Bi, felt forced - in fact, Oh Yi Young and Um Jae Il had more spark than the actual leads. The show had potential, but the lack of intensity and emotional pull makes it a "just okay" watch. I stayed for the friendships, not the love stories.

This is a fun show. Perhaps not as good as the Hospital Playlist series from which it was spun off, with four leads who collectively and individually don't match up to the megawatt charisma of the five leads of the parent show. By confining the leads to the Ob-Gyn section of the Yulje Hospital, the variety of cases is not as great either. But still an enjoyable watch with an engaging cast. I am looking forward to a medical show in which the senior doctors treat the younger ones with a little more patience and kindness - there's one saint in this show and a lot of abusive behavior. Just as abusive parents beget abusive children, abusive doctors make miserable role models for their subordinates and will turn even the best of them into similarly abusive replicants. I'm wondering what our four residents will be like when they do a follow-up show in a few years time.

I must also protest the incessant and obtrusive Subway product placements. Leave aside that I consider Subway one of the less desirable fast food chains, and even accepting that eating fast foods is the lot of first year hospital residents and, this being a Korean show, meals are always needed to fill up every episode, I just don't want any product, even one I like, to be in my face the way it is in this show. My recommendation: fast food forward through every Subway-infected scene. You won't miss one morsel of the plot. If we must have product placements, please may we have a bite more subtlety?

The characters in Hospital Playlist were smart, multifaceted and layered. Their relationships were interesting and well, adult...not to mention their relatives and family friends. You were watching young brilliant people coping with work, love and rare leisure time.

The foursome in this show are well...idiots...at least at first. You have the inept guy, the stereotyped robo-girl, who has no emotional connection or empathy with patients, the bratty fashion girl who is addicted to shopping and the last girl who is somewhat boy crazy. There is a ridiculous head doctor whose over-the-top abusiveness serves no purpose except for entertainment I guess, and adding drama. In addition, there's an evil witchy doctor...change the "w" to a "b".

I stuck with it and grew to like the lead female who turns out to be the most appealing of the four. The romance she has with her brother-in-law's brother is sweet although at times a little too innocent. Definitely rated G.

I am certain there are some who can't get through the first episode because it comes off as rather juvenile... but stick with it. It can be emotionally touching and funny at times.

Unlike Japanese drama, Korean drama has A LOT of yelling at others. It is something you just get used to after a while, but it is not so bad in this series.

The five Hospital Playlist star doctors all make cameo appearances. That was a delight to see!!

A spin-off of Hospital Playlist, Resident Playbook is centered around 4 1st year residents, as they go through the chaos in their daily routine of hospital life.

Although the story starts well, with day-to-day medical emergencies encountered by doctors in real life. While the show was good, but it didn't meet my expectations and was a par show compared to another medical drama released this year, The Trauma Code.

The main characters didn't have an impact and while I love Go Youn Jung, she didn't seem at her best with this drama. The positives include good real-life medical setting with a sense of urgency and chaos and honest part played by the side characters. The negatives I would say are the leads, as expectations were high from them and a bit stretchy runtime with less emotional impact.

Overall, Resident Playbook is a good medical drama show that shows a real side of medical life, but couldn't reach the heights of being excellent due to a stretchy runtime with little plot and disappointing main leads.

My Rating : 3.5/5.

When I first started watching this series, I had my doubts. While I enjoyed the first few episodes, I found them to be just OK. The acting was great but the story was somewhat plodding. The medical cases were fine but the main characters were rather one dimensional and that doesn't really change until toward the end of the season. Having seen Go Youn-jung in Alchemy of Souls, I know she has a much broader range than what is shown in the first part of this series so I blame the directing. Fortunately, in the second half of the series, the actors are allowed to start showing growth with their characters and the show becomes much more engaging.

A big part of the series are the stories of the patients themselves. Those become very engaging and will take you on a roller coaster of emotions...from joy of a birth to the passing of a cancer patient. The stories cover a wide range of OBGYN cases. The actors for these stories are excellent and bring a great deal of feeling to the show.

Another aspect of the show is the steady stream of cameos. While I wasn't familiar with all of them, the ones I did recognize brought another interesting angle to the show. I especially liked bringing in some of the leads from the predecessor show for guest appearances.

Finally. They did a great job with wrapping up the season appropriately while leaving the door open for a second season to follow the residents thru their second year. I really hope we do see a second season!