A theme is the underlying message of the story. We all know that each episode revolves around a theme. Personally, I don’t like it when the script delivers the message blatantly. For one, it feels patronizing. It’s as if the writer doesn’t expect his viewers to get the message unless a neon sign is flashing, “This is the theme!”

For another, a forced message doesn’t convince anyone but the most gullible. When a theme is overdone, I often suspect the writer of virtue-signaling or covering up a plot hole. Take for instance, in “Hospital Playlist 2,” the “love conquers all” message upends and makes a mockery of the heroine’s characteristic fortitude and prudence.

I like that in this episode, the theme was solidly established although the writer didn’t shove it in my face.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

The theme was introduced with the sounds of the sleepy village. The various sounds emphasized the simple lifestyles:

putt-putting of boats in the sea
strumming of a guitar
humming of credit card machine
wailing siren of the police car
sizzling of grilled fish
grinding of an inkstick on an inkwell
yelling at a taekwondo class
whump-whumping of a baby’s heart on a sonagram, and
the chiming of the wind bell.

These distinct sounds showed everyone going about their daily lives.

In contrast to these sounds, there was the announcement of a package arriving for HyeJin. In a voiceover she said, “This is the sound of Ms. Yoon HyeJin, who’s from Seoul, rushing out to receive a package.”

Her sound was different from the rest because it signaled a commotion, and heralded a “Me! Me! Me!” atmosphere. The deliveries were all for her.

She kept ordering online until the ever-patient Chief Hong (I prefer to call him Chief Hong than Dusik) finally protested behind a wall of delivery boxes.

Hong: What are you doing? Why are you ordering so much?
HJ: There’s quite a bit today. I’m sorry.
Hong: Come on. Seriously. You order from all over the world. The US, Germany, England….They’re from everywhere.
HJ: I just bought some clothes. That’s all. And it’s none of your business.
Hong: Why do you need so many clothes?
HJ: A fashion terrorist like you would never understand

Although their bickering was cute, the whole point of this scene was to display Chief Hong’s disapproval of her excessive shopping. To him, she was wasting money on too many things for herself. She was being reckless with her money. She could have been saving her money in order to return to her beloved city. She was over-indulgent with herself. Blah blah blah.

He didn’t know that HyeJin (HJ) was preparing for a wedding. She was over-compensating because she didn’t want to be pitied. She needed to project an image of success in a fashion face-off with her old college classmates.

But Chief Hong wasn’t HJ’s binary opposition in this episode (remember what I said about “binary opposition”?). It was actually the grandmother, Mrs. Gamri (GR).

The difference between the two ladies came to light on the car ride to Seoul. Sticky potato balls were offered as snack, but HJ declined on the purported reason that she was driving and needed her hands to drive. (To me, she was either being a food snob or didn’t want her clothes messed up. lol)

In response, Chief Hong stuffed the potato ball in her mouth.

But in the other corner of the car, GR also avoided eating the potato ball. Chief Hong noticed it and to stop the others from nagging, she took a bite. She instantly winced. She grumbled that it was undercooked and too tough to chew. In response, the other grannies pointed out that her teeth were at fault here, not the potato ball. HJ offered to look at her teeth at her clinic.

The next day, Chief Hong verified for himself that GR had teeth problems. He noticed that she was eating just the soft rice at the lunch she prepared for them, and even that caused her pain.

So finally, he piggy-backed her to HJ’s dental clinic to get her teeth checked out.

 

lol. A good number of interpretations can be derived from the contrasting images of Chief Hong’s two deliveries: delivering GR to HJ’s clinic, and delivering packages to HJ’s door.

But the most obvious is that HJ was willing to spend on her outfits while GR wasn’t willing to spend on her implants.

HJ recommended implants but GR balked at the cost of the implants. She’d rather have her teeth pulled out.

HJ: Your teeth aren’t just something you can pull out. It could even be life-threatening for the elderly. You won’t be able to eat well, then you won’t get enough nutrients. Your bones will weaken and make hard to walk. It could get really serious.
Hong: (stepping in) Hey, you don’t have to scare her like that.
HJ: Are you short on money?
Hong: (stepping in again) Hey!
GR: What?
HJ: Don’t you have enough money?
GR: Not enough money? What do you take me for? I own a house here and a big area of land. That’s not all. My son works as an accountant in Seoul. Gosh. And my granddaughter goes to Harvard University in America.
HJ: So you just don’t want to spend money on your treatment? Then, I have nothing more to say. You can leave.

I like that Chief Hong attempted to mediate between the two women. He wanted them to come to a middle ground by offering to pay for the service out of his own pocket. Though it meant foregoing his purchase of an item he ordered at the hardware store, he was determined to get GR have the implants.

But the two women were obstinate in their own ways. It was to be expected that a proud old lady like GR would feel insulted by his offer of money. But I don’t think he expected HyeJin’s reason for getting mad at GR offer to pay, too. Chief Hong misread HJ’s anger earlier. When she told him, “A dental clinic isn’t a convenience store where you can ask for whatever you want,” he interpreted that as HJ feeling insulted that her services were being discounted. That is, she was insulted that GR refused to listen to her advice, and thought her fees were exorbitant.

Chief Hong realized that he was mistaken when he called her out for a talk.

Hong: Do you know what those lights are?
HJ: Who cares?
Hong: They’re squid boats. Those fishermen are hard at work. But from afar, those boats just look like pretty lights. Mrs. Gamri has been cleaning squid for decades now. But she never gets sick of them and loves squid the most, although she hasn’t eaten them for years.
HJ: If you’re trying to evoke sympathy, just stop.

Notice the way that Chief Hong communicated his thoughts and compare it to HJ’s blunt style.

Earlier, he told HJ that she could’ve worded her advice to GR “nicely.” He said he understood what she meant, but she could’ve said it differently. He wanted her to talk to GR as if GR was her grandmother.

Now, Chief Hong was displaying what “nicely” meant. In a rambling style, he talked about lights in the distance, then squid boats, then GR cleaning squid, and GR being unable to eat her favorite food for years. He was planting the idea in her head that she could view the problem from another perspective, and that she could understand GR if she were to put herself in GR’s shoes.

In short, Chief Hong was teaching her empathy by trying to personalize the problem.

This is different from HyeJin’s style of generalizing the problem. She used a metaphor of a convenience store. She wanted him to understand her, not by personalizing the problem, but by comparing her relationship to GR to an *impersonal* convenience store.

Hong: (getting straight to the point) I’ll pay for the treatment. But I have a favor to ask you.
HJ: Was is it?
Hong: Keep the implant a secret. Tell her it’s some other cheap treatment.
HJ: (inhaling) I can’t do that. As a doctor, I need to take responsibility for what I do. I must notify my patients of the treatment process.
Hong: (exhaling, lol) Fine. Then just remind me of the total cost. Just tell her that you gave her a discount, and I’ll pay the rest.
HJ: Why are you doing this? She doesn’t want it.
Hong: No. She just can’t.

A bit of nuance here. In English, “can’t” means inability to do something. “Won’t” on the other hand means “unwillingness” to do something. To me, Chief Hong is saying something in between. GR can’t do it and won’t do it because self-denial was deeply ingrained in her.

Hong: (continuing) She’s been selfless all her life. So she doesn’t know how to take care of herself.

To Chief Hong, Mrs. Gamri’s selflessness, self-denial, and self-deprivation were admirable traits.

HJ: So she endures the pain? (snorts) How selfish of her.

Hong: “Selfish”?! She’s the most selfless woman I’ve ever met. She did everything she could to provide for her kids. And even now, she doesn’t want to burden them. Don’t you get it?
HJ: No. I don’t understand. It’s foolish and frustrating to watch.
Hong: Why are you so pessimistic?

By pessimistic, Chief Hong meant that she was being negative, and focusing just on the bad aspect of the situation.

HJ: You have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you know what it means to be a good parent? It’s staying healthy for a long time. They shouldn’t endure pain to save money for their children. They should take care of themselves. Do you get it?

And this is when Chief Hong realized that he was the one who didn’t understand all along.

Nope.

All along, HJ was upset because GR didn’t want to spend money on HER own treatment. Chief Hong was wrong to think that HJ didn’t care for GR. She cared but, like a hedgehog, she showed it in a prickly way.

That’s the theme of this episode: self-care is important. It’s okay to think of one’s own well-being. It’s okay to attend to one’s own needs. It’s also okay to be self-indulgent and selfish.

That’s what Chief Hong told GR later when he paid her a visit. Instead of renewing his offer to pay for the implants, he offered to wash the laundry for her. Then, in his usual roundabout way, he pivoted the conversation to implants without actually talking about implants.

Hong: Grandma, I’m actually upset with you. You accept money from your son, but why not from me? Am I a stranger or what?
GR: Do you want to get drenched again?
Hong: I take it back.

Of course, at this time, neither of them knew that Chief Hong was actually more generous than the son. The son had tuition fees to worry about at the moment, and offered only to pay for dentures in the future.

GR: (listening to the bell) I love the sound of that bell you hung for me.
Hong: Right? Enjoy the sound. And go enjoy a lot of great views and eat a lot of good food. Someone told me that the best thing a parent can do for their child is staying healthy.

HJ told GR the same thing when she dropped by for a visit.

HJ: Toothaches are truly a pity. It doesn’t show so no one but yourself knows how painful it is. Not even your kids. Please come back to the clinic. I can’t do it for free, but I’ll only charge you for the materials.
GR: What?
HJ: But you have to keep it a secret. No one else should know. If people get wind of this, I may have to close down my clinic.
GR: Then you shouldn’t do this for me.
HJ: I heard squid is your favorite food. My mom’s favorite food was sundae. I just want to help you enjoy it again. That’s all.
GR: Dusik must have said something to you. He’s kind but too nosy.
HJ: I agree.
GR: He hung that bell for me.

And that’s the whole point of the “sound” motif for me. The viewers may (or may not, lol) have different takes on the significance of sounds in this episode, but this is mine:

Blessed is he who can hear the sounds that another person makes in the dark and silent recesses of the heart.

Chief Hong is a good listener. He understands the people in the coastal village because he takes time to hear their pain through the “noise” they make.

Their noise is similar the background chatter of the grandmas on the car ride to Seoul, the shocking curses of one of the grandmas at the rude driver, and HyeJin’s insistence that she could drive on her own, and in silence. Normally, Chief Hong can tune out “white noise” and zoom in on what’s essential, painful, and unsaid.

But his weak spot is HyeJin. He can’t quite figure her out yet because of his preconceived notion of who she is.

He realized belatedly that she lied when she said, “My mom passed away. It’s okay. I don’t remember much anyway since I was so little.”

And that’s how the shoe is connected to the whole theme of self-care. Remember how in the beginning he delivered all those packages from the US, Germany, and England, and he lectured her about her spendthrift ways?

He finally understood that her buying spree was her coping mechanism, her way of self-care. She over-compensated because she was still hurting.

At the surface level, it might have seemed like HyeJin only wanted to compete with her classmates from dental school. She didn’t want to look pathetic.

But on a deeper level, HyeJin was simply taking care of her emotional and mental health in the way she knew best. Family gatherings like weddings were a stressful situation for her because they reminded her of the absence of her mother. Like a toothache, her mother’s death was a pain that was visible to no one but herself. She alone knew how painful it was.

Thus, it was just fitting that, in the end, Chief Hong delivered the last package to her: her missing shoe that drifted from nowhere.

Rescuing it and restoring it to wearable condition were his method of apology. Symbolically, too, he was showing her that he understood a little better the pain she was going through.

He indulged her with an extravagant surprise, guaranteed to brighten up her night and day.

I like the ending because it showed that, as perfect as he appeared, Chief Hong could still learn a thing or two from HyeJin.