Hospital Playlist season 2, episode 12 recap – the finale/ending explained

This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series Hospital Playlist season 2, episode 12 — the ending/finale explained — contains major spoilers.

Read the recap of the previous episode.

This feels like the end, and if rumors are true, it probably is the end of Hospital Playlist. It’s sad, but it is a high-end production that takes a lot of time to produce, and the cast is super popular and wanted on other projects. This gives season 2 an inevitability that we will never see these characters again. I’m sure many of these episodes will be appreciated over and over again on rewatch sessions. Let’s recap what is potentially the final ever chapter.

Hospital Playlist season 2, episode 12 recap – the finale

There’s plenty that happens in the 2-hour finale, but there are some main takeaways. The chapter opens with the usual hustle and bustle of hospital life. Ahn Jeong-won has a child patient that has the option for a difficult procedure. The mother is now considering giving it a shot as she wants to feed her child properly. It’s a small bowel transplant. The professor wants to think about it as the survival rates are not as promising. Jn-wan discusses surgery on another child patient that has Marfan syndrome — the procedure has been delayed multiple times for various reasons. There’s plenty of serious medical events in the finale.

Probably for the last time, we get to see the friends get together for lunch, however, Ik-jun is not there. Song-hwa reveals that she and Ik-jun are dating, but they assume as friends. She has to clarify that they are actually dating. Later on, Seok-hyeong tells Song-hwa that he’s dating Min-ha and she’s super happy for him. It then sinks in for Seok-hyeong that Song-hwa is dating Ik-jun, and he’s super happy for her too. Episode 12 brings plenty of happy endings. Following this, the series gives the fans what they want — we witness a romantic Song-hwa and Ik-jun; flirting, teasing, and full of love. To be honest, nothing has really changed at all. They were always like this, which is what makes the entire situation wholesome.

As for Jun-wan and his child patient Eun-dam, he’s struggling to breathe properly. He makes the mother aware that it is a high-risk surgery, and he wants to expedite it as soon as possible as they are running out of time.

Min-ha tells Seok-hyeong that she’s waited a long time for him. And so they kiss, and it feels like a long time too as the pair enjoy their presence with each other with a passionate embrace. It’s easy to be equally happy for these two than all the other couples.

As the finale nearly comes to a close, there’s plenty of urgent surgeries and panic. It’s a combination of crises coming from ICU and existing planned surgeries. Like every episode beforehand,  Hospital Playlist gives the audience the reality of life in a hospital — the good and the bad: life and death. And as we round out this series, we must appreciate the effort that they’ve put in. There is death in episode 12, and Song-hwa has to deliver the news to the family, and it is heartbreaking. But it’s coupled with successful outcomes — it’s a constant cycle of bittersweetness that faces these doctors.

Ahn Jeong-won drops a bombshell — he’s off to the USA to research and study — he wants to specialize in bowel transplants too. Surprisingly, Gyeo-ul is coming with him. He tells them a year will fly by, but there’s sadness in the room. Ik-jun feels it will be their last jam session. We get that jam session, and it is as wholesome as it always has been.

The ending

As the chapter ends, Jun-wan meets Ik-sun. There’s a feeling of hope for this couple as they hug it out. There’s no way they will not move forward from here. They love each other. Also, Hospital Playlist decides to end on a happier tone; Jae-hak’s baby arrives, and there’s elation. This is also coupled with the news that the chemotherapy has worked well on his wife.

The episode ends with the main characters outside the hospital looking at the beautiful sky — if that is not closure, then I don’t know what is. However, as it’s a hospital drama, we can’t rule out completely that this will not return.

Additional points

• As for Gyeo-ul and Ahn Jeong-won, things are calming between them as they find clarity. Gyeo-ul wants to introduce him to her mother as she’s explained that she loves him.
• Jun-wan, Ik-jun, Song-hwa, and Ik-sun enjoy karaoke together. Song-hwa does the usually terrible vocals, but Ik-jun looks at her with love in his eyes.

What do you think of Hospital Playlist season 2, episode 12 (the finale), and the ending? Comment below.