There’s a series of posts on the show – they’re all super convincing 😀

To be fair, there are sites and posts up on other places, like soompi, where there’s an impassioned defence for both IkSong and Winter Garden. So it’s all a matter of perspective. You see what you want to see, or you interpret it the way you want to. (That’s another thing I like about the writer-director collaboration – it’s truly a masterpiece if they can use the same piece of work to elicit wildly different opinions from the audience, AND keep them interested till the end!)

thanks so much!! <3

That’s true!! To be honest, I wasn’t gonna pick up on this drama. But I saw the recap on DB and subscribed on Netflix just to watch this lol. Was really worried about R88 happening all over again but when I saw how precious their friendship is, I stayed. And now I wish Songhwa can be just her independent self with 4 loving friends. hahaha.

Thanks btw for all your input! That was a new perspective!!

And now I just realised how the preview from Ep 10 will play out in the future (with Gyeo-wul laughing with Jungwon)…

You’re welcome! Yes, friendship goals are definitely the ones to root for, even for me. It’s very endearing and so normal. My own friend circles come to mind every time I watch them together.

Let’s see how eps 11 and 12 play out! The show has done its job in keeping everyone engaged and interested, for sure. I haven’t seen this degree of active viewership for anything else (except maybe TK:EM, which seems to be tiring people out already with the PPL, though!)

Yes I read them for fun because I do think there’s an over analysis there. But her analysis is pretty good if you see from a writers lens that it could’ve just gone this way too. But I do think the probability of those theories coming true in the drama is quite less. So yeah that way they can be far fetched and looking into much into the source material.

Oh jbtw I think that way for The King. For Hospital Playlist though the PD Writer team is very smart. And they love to trick the viewers. So I don’t think packmule’s theories are so far fetched regarding that show because they can surprise the viewer anytime.

Theories that I especially found convincing (for HP don’t watch eternal monarch so didnt read those) was IJ and Jang Gyueol being end game (even if I’m a strong winter×garden and IJ×SH shipper) and the only reason I’m even entertaining it after the low key confession scene is because of the history of the writer director duo. If it were any drama, I would have shot them down in one go.
Theory that I think she over analysed is the scene where Song Hwa refers to Jung Won as “Father Ahn” when she’s getting ready to go to her friend’s wedding (the exact thing she said was “ofc I should come, Father Ahn is buying after all). The blogger establishes a long chain of how song hwa knows about Jung Won’s plans because she called him “Father Ahn”. I feel there’s a simple explanation for it. The friends all know that Jung Won is a devout catholic and they know that at the end of every year Jung Won seriously considers joining priesthood which is why she called him “Father Ahn”.

Another analysis that I liked was when she interprets the conversation between Jung Won and Ik Jun about kids (that kids don’t lie and pretend but adults do) as Ik Jun fooling himself that he isn’t attracted to Jang Gyueol and Jang Gyueol pretending to still like Jung Won so that she will have reasons/excuses to interact with Ik Jun. And then she links that convo with the car scene!! It was really solid and well done.
But then I felt like she went overboard when she said that Ik Jun left immediately after Gyueol’s call “like a boyfriend would”. Again I feel like there’s a simple explanation for this behaviour. Because Gyueol is a resident, she definately must have called because of an emergency patient and since he’s a doctor it is required that he drop everything and be there as fast as he can!

Agree with you on the the “Father Ahn” and going to Gyeo-wul like a boyfriend would. At the very least, Ik jun and Gyeo-wul have established a mentor-mentee relationship that’s very comfortable (kinda like Songhwa with her residents but Songhwa’s more professional and establishes boundaries and unlike Ik jun who treats everyone as his close friends).

And that’s the thing about this PD-writer duo… can’t they have another interesting formula besides the one that they’ve used three times already? XD hahahha

thanks everyone for your viewpoints! This has been an interesting discussion and I am learning a lot!

I’m not following TK:EM, so I don’t know what her theories for that show are like. HP is convincing, because, like I said, it’s a matter of wanting to be convinced 😀 I thought this ship was the one that would eventually sail, and she’s feeding that idea! Equally, I felt early on that IJ-Gyeo-ul would sail (starting with “pick me pick me” – so obv.), and this feeds that.

I reiterate what I said earlier – the writer-producer are basically practicing and perfecting their art. They’ve used the formula before (5 friends + guessing game), and now, it’s just a matter of seeing how cleverly they can disguise the same formula in new ways. They’re both having a lot of fun. The best we can do is have fun with them. That’s exactly how I’m looking at this show. I’m especially in awe of how they can use the same piece of work to get the audience swinging between extremes and get passionate about their positions. As an observer of the ‘form’ of dramas (i.e., as a work of fiction meant to entertain, amuse and engage the audience), this is playing out beautifully.

I watched both R88 and R97 fairly passively (I didn’t live watch), and honestly, didn’t even know this guessing game was a thing until after I finished and started reading about the shows. But when I got into it, it seemed like a lot of fun. It’s like a childrens’ puzzle, and keeps you engaged.

I haven’t seen any other drama do that in the same way. Usually, other dramas tend to elicit emotional responses (happy/sad/hate/anger/joy), or empathetic responses (exactly like my life/ I know people like that), and while this show is doing all that as well, it’s got an added flavour, and a change like this from the usual fare is always welcome.

Agree. The show hasn’t really shown us what would make him give up his childhood dream. I guess that’s why it has seasons. Or something going on behind the scenes which has not been unveiled to us as yet.