The premiere of "Resident Playbook" kicks off with Oh I-yeong's harrowing dreamscape, where she is suffocated by an avalanche of debts and the haunting memory of abandoning her medical career. Awakening in a sweat-drenched panic, she hastily makes her way to the bank, only to confront the stark reality: she owes a staggering 50 million won by the end of the week. Unable to meet this deadline, the bank officials stone-heartedly insist on a certificate of employment—a document she no longer possesses due to her resignation. Her earnest pleas about her profound disdain for medicine fall upon indifferent ears, and under the specter of legal repercussions, I-yeong finds herself compelled to return to the hospital where her internship had once concluded.
Through a heartfelt conversation with her sister, Oh Ju-yeong, the sisters unravel their family's tragic tale of bankruptcy orchestrated by their father's duping by a supposed friend. This financial cataclysm also crushed I-yeong's aspirations of running her own hospital, a dream nurtured by her father's promise that she could forego her medical career post-internship.
At the Jongno branch of Yulje Medical Center, the first-year residents are unveiled. Kim Sa-bi, a paradigm of textbook brilliance, is a perfectionist to the core but woefully devoid of emotional intelligence. Pyo Nam-kyung, a high school acquaintance from I-yeong's past, remains a vague silhouette in her memory. Eom Jae-il, a former K-pop idol turned medical aspirant, is fiercely dedicated but often irritates his mentor with his overzealous, albeit misguided, endeavors.
As the episode unfurls, I-yeong is tasked with observing a C-section performed by the infamously exacting Professor Seo Jeong-min, who is dubbed "the witch" by her fellow residents. Meanwhile, Sa-bi methodically attempts to secure consent forms from cancer patients, treating the process with robotic efficiency akin to checking boxes, her manifest lack of bedside manner glaringly evident.
During a surgery, I-yeong finds herself flustered when asked to dispose of a suture. Uncertain of the proper disposal method, she hesitates—only to be swiftly dismissed from the operating room for her ignorance of such a basic procedure. Later, it transpires that I-yeong's OB-GYN senior, Gu Doo-won, is also her sister's brother-in-law, the very person who facilitated her return to the hospital despite her profound reluctance.
The following day, Doo-won entrusted her with the responsibility of monitoring one of Professor Seo's patients. Misunderstanding the situation, I-yeong presumed the patient was fully dilated and promptly contacted the professor, only to discover her assumption was incorrect. Meanwhile, Doo-won watched as Sa-bi mechanically sought consent from a patient battling recurrent cancer, critiquing her apparent lack of empathy.
Later that day, I-yeong noticed the same patient going into labor and hastily escorted her to the delivery room. However, fate had other plans as the delivery unexpectedly unfolded in the hallway. Although Professor Seo reprimanded her, a fleeting, almost imperceptible smile of approval crossed his face, perhaps acknowledging I-yeong's swift thinking and innate instincts. After enduring a marathon of an exhausting day, the residents were finally granted permission to return home.
The next morning, Ju-yeong remarked that perhaps assisting with the delivery might finally bring I-yeong down to earth. Yet, in another delivery room, I-yeong relapsed into her reluctant, detached demeanor. The episode concludes with a fellow doctor recognizing I-yeong, hinting at a shared past and teasing the promise of further character depth and development.
