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Finished. 9/10. 

Fantastic and one of the most hooked Netflix series I've watched since 'You". Props to the beautiful cinematography and acting/character development we witness throughout the show. Totally invested in the characters. 

 

@nudge This might be up your alley. 

Sang Woo my favorite character by far. His character development from being a smart humble man, to doing what ever necessary to win, to then finding humanity in him again and killing himself. Brilliant. We really don't know how any of us would react in situations like this when our lives + life changing money is on the line. Praying there is a season 2.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Finished. 9/10. 

Fantastic and one of the most hooked Netflix series I've watched since 'You". Props to the beautiful cinematography and acting/character development we witness throughout the show. Totally invested in the characters. 

 

@nudge This might be up your alley. 

 

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Cheers, will give it a go... Saw that it's on Netflix, but didn't have the time to check it out yet!

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I finished it and I echo what @Cicero has said. What a brilliant surprise this show. I was initially hesitant when I saw it on the new releases just because of the stupid name and the pink costumes on the preview poster, but after hearing good things I gave it a try and I’m bloody glad I did. Deserving of the success it’s received.

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Watched it on a whim when I saw the trailer as the concept reminded me a bit of the Running Man (which I loved). I really enjoyed it for the most part. The surreal setting and pastel colors really made it stand out, like a children's playground meets M.C. Escher.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

While I think it was great for the most part, some things did really put me off.

First it was the VIPs. Their actors were just fucking horrid. I know it's probably difficult to find good American actors in Korea during a pandemic, and from what I've seen on IMDB these were television actors living in Korea, but holy shit did they do their best to kill what was otherwise a great episode. The dialogue, the delivery, the cheap suits, it was all so trashy and didn't fit in at all with the overarching tone of the series. Had they just shown the VIPs but given them as little dialogue as possible, it would've been a much better episode.

The big reveal at the end that it was the old man all along felt super underwhelming. Now, I'd accidentally picked up a spoiler halfway through the series that it was him, so the shock effect wasn't there, but what I take issue with is more his motivation for creating the game, which was essentially 'we did it for the lolz'. I expected something deeper and darker. But no, it was just people with too much money doing it for a cheap thrill, which is kind of what we'd been showed already with those VIPs anyway.

I also didn't like the final scene as its sole purpose was to set up a season 2, and it didn't make much sense to me that he would turn back and try to stop them.

Speaking of things not making sense, episode 2, while providing a great insight into some of the characters, felt unnecessary to me when it came to the premise of 'they voted to go home'. I know the point was to show how desperate and hopeless these people were in their day-to-day lives, but honestly, if you were just witness to 250 people being gunned down, would you rather just go to jail for your debts or go back to that place to have a 1/200 shot at winning that money? I understand some people wanting to have stayed, like that gangster, but I would've expected the vote to be more like 95/5 than 50/50. Similarly, I did not find it believable that there was a 93% return rate of the surviving contestants when the game resumed. I know they were desperate, but survival instinct trumps just about everything else, and no sane human, no matter how hopeless, would voluntarily return to such a place. Obviously there's no way to know for sure as it's a completely fictional scenario, but this is how I felt about it.

Don't get me wrong, I still loved the entire thing, but it just seemed oddly inconsistent in places.

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20 hours ago, Cicero said:

 

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Yeah, he was an interesting character for sure, though I think he was cold and calculating from the beginning. He knew what the second game was going to be, using Sae-byeok's information. He's the one who suggests the team split across the four forms, and then picks one of the easiest forms for himself. He then gradually 'evolves' from simply not sharing information to deception and then outright killing two people with his own hands.

It was kind of interesting to think about where I'd draw the line in such a situation, even though there's obviously no way of truly knowing. Sad as Ali's death was, I would've probably done the same as Sang Woo if the only alternative was a bullet in my head. Don't know if I'd be able to outright kill people in that situation, though. I'd like to think I wouldn't be.

That whole Ali 'saga' was interesting of itself, as I suspect Sang Woo somehow figured the teams would do a 1v1 rather than work together (it was what I suspected would happen as soon as they announced teams of 2, and I was kind of surprised more players didn't at least entertain the thought of this not being about cooperation). So he picked the player with the least knowledge of Korean culture in order to gain an advantage. That they then proceed to play an easy-to-understand game that relies completely on chance is beyond me, but hey, the plot needed a heartbreaking deception. I also wonder if Sang Woo's kindness towards Ali earlier in the season was all based on the thought that he would eventually be able to exploit the man's kindness and naivety. Sang Woo voted to stay in the game, so it would make sense that his actions would be based around the idea that the game would resume at one point.

I'm also not sure if Sang Woo found back his humanity near the end, or he simply preferred death over facing the grim reality that awaited him in his normal life. I suspected the latter, myself. Let's not forget the reason he was in there in the first place was that he was willing to commit fraud and use his own mother's livelihood as leverage. He was not a good man even before starting the game; rather he was good at keeping up appearances through deception, which is also how he got so far in the game.

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On 29/09/2021 at 12:40, nudge said:

Barely managed to sit through the first episode... Not for me, I'm afraid 🙈

Was the violence too much?

Gonna watch the last episode tonight, think it's been brilliant myself.

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2 minutes ago, Devil said:

Was the violence too much?

Gonna watch the last episode tonight, think it's been brilliant myself.

Nah, not because of the violence as such; I don't mind it that much (though in general I don't like it when movies/TV series use gore and violence just for the shock factor). I simply didn't like the aesthetic, the characters, and the whole premise. Too much psychopathy at all levels for my liking xD

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2 hours ago, Devil said:

Just finished it, I'd already part started the final episode.

Roll on season 2.

Editing your comment since what you said is technically a spoiler.

I've also yet to watch it so thanks.

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On 24/09/2021 at 19:42, Cicero said:

Needs a thread. 3 episodes in already and its fantastic. 

Did you binge watch it? I'm on epidode 4 already. 

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40 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

I did... taking a break and watching it over a couple of nights is for lightweights

I was going to stop but they put it on a cliffhanger. Almost literally 😉

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The VIP pricks made me skip a few seconds when they got screen time. They broke the immersion and ridiculed the drama. Gave me Hunger Games vibes which is bad.

A bit like anime, the show is visually great and very bingeable, but it's far from excellent. The concept and the main actors, who did a great job, deserved better writing and less inconsistencies and plot holes, but as someone who has come to expect thrash shows from Netflix, this really wasn't that bad.

The last scene only makes sense to pave the way to a second season, but I don't need a second season when the biggest question in the show is already answered and boy, was the answer lukewarm.

If you haven't watched it, don't look far into it and you probably won't be disappointed. Don't believe the hype as well. A show like this was always going to be a hit in an era where battle royale and other stylish shows like Money Heist are so popular.

 

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Well I  watched the whole series in one go. I was originally I bit disappointed with the ending. However I read a few things about it afterwards and thought that it was actually more clever than what I first thought. Great show 

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