Just finished this and actually enjoyed it! It still had a lot of the same flaws that the first season did and a lot felt unfinished/unanswered but it was definitely entertaining.
Observations part one:
I wish they would stop making every single contestant either so flawless that you just know they're being built up to break your heart (marine guy, main character bestie, dad with sick child, Youngmi) when they die or make them do something super out of character just to move the story along, especially the way the characters vote. The dude who ended up there with his mom might have been a dumbass but he clearly doesn't want her to die and would never have voted to stay knowing she could have died because of it (prediction: mom is going to sacrifice herself for the Jo Yuri character and son is going to have to step up), and Hyunju values finding new friends and family just as much as her transition so she wouldn't sell her new friends out so easily. Siwan's character is the only one that is somewhat believable by being both a really crappy person but also not cartoonishly evil.
Very good pick to make crypto bros a heavy new genre in the contestants. Very believable, easily hateable, extremely topical, love it.
Noeul putting on her mask after she was portrayed as a potential candidate with the saddest story of them all was probably the biggest "oh shit" moment in the whole series but I still don't quite get what her deal is and if we're going to find out more next season. Who was the guy that reprimanded her? Why are the other players threatening to assault her? Why did she get away with making the players' organs unusable?
Could they have written literally anything for Jo Yuri that isn't her basically being the pregnant white woman who you know is going to give birth in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? All she got to do was grab her stomach and do that "oof! my back!" stereotypical pregnant lady bit. Semi is a total babe and should have gotten more screentime and a proper backstory, it doesn't make sense that she's so isolated and resolved to hanging out with Minsu because most of the girls and women would be all over her. It feels like a bit of a copout how most people this season were there either because they were gamblers/poor lenders/"what I have to face out there is worse than what I have to face in here!" and that's that. Same goes for the hot girl that went first, I was dying to hear her story and I'm sad it wasn't her who got to take TOP out.
Speaking of which, I did not expect TOP to be in this as much as he is and can't decide if he did a really good or really bad job portraying his character because I was so happy when he finally got a fork to the neck. His character could really only be portrayed by someone who spent over a decade at YG and I mean that as a compliment.
I was convinced player one was going to be Saebyeok's little brother when they featured him earlier and very relieved that it wasn't. Lee Santa is a good actor but ugh, did not like that he was in this so prominently. Also strange that not all of the staff were aware that he was a player as shown by the shocked look on baby faced guy near the end.
Shipper guy was so obviously sketchy from the start. The moment thug with a heart of gold starts blabbing in the cafeteria you just knew he was the snitch. The Wi Hajun storyline felt really messy and almost entirely unnecessary, I get that he's the main season one eye candy character and they had to include him but the whole season is him running (sailing) around like a headless chicken in predictable scenarios with no closure whatsoever.
Why did they not insert the tracking device inside Gihun's body where it couldn't be easily removed? The tooth thing was too obvious. I also find it hard to believe TOP got to keep his little Cruel Intentions drug necklace and that he would share so easily - if they take organs then there is no way they would not take pills off someone.
Lastly, please tell me I'm not the only person who was raging at the insane lack of character Gihun has. He is SO badly written! He was a deadbeat last season but it's like he got even dumber this time around, ZERO critical thinking - not only does he fail to tell the other contestants that they will end up having to kill eachother when there are still enough people around that might care, but he has an insane amount of money that he could have invested to make it even bigger and yet it doesn't occur to him for a second that he can just bribe the contestants to leave? His own friend who he had the gall to ask for money earlier, he doesn't even offer to pay off his debt if they manage to get out?? He has enough money to not just pay off all of the "good" characters debts and treatments but even to actually build foundations and create opportunities for them and their peers so they would never end up in the game in the first place! Hyunju's transition, an apartment for Junhee, medical bills, those are all peanuts compared to the total amount he won. He claims several times that he wants to save all of those people but he has never actually done anything that would save them before they get to a point where they have to enter the game - he's the epitome of the "good billionaire" who thinks he's above the capitalistic system the show critiques, being seen as a good person who helps people is more important to him than actually helping people and he is hoarding his wealth for his own gain just as much as other "bad" rich people do. I wonder if this will come up in later episodes because it's just so hard to believe and blatantly stupid and Lee Santa seems to try and out him as a hypocrite at several points in the game.
"I also find it hard to believe TOP got to keep his little Cruel Intentions drug necklace and that he would share so easily - if they take organs then there is no way they would not take pills off someone."
i want to believe that they left it on him on purpose, just to him (or others) to take the pills for chaos purposes. like, either of self-sabotage or murderous purposes
That would make sense! They must have incredibly high hopes for the mom in that case.
I'm wondering what the logistics regarding cigarettes and booze would be, so many Korean men smoke but none of the players are given cigarettes so even a day in withdrawal symptoms alone would take about a quarter of them out of the game.
yeah because i guess the bottom line is that this is all a show for those rich vips, so why not make it interesting? invite a married couple, or elderly mother and son to make it fun for them.
i guess they kinda touched on the smoking thing last season, but just barely with that one chick smuggling cigs in. maybe they're not in there long enough to want a fix (i dunno i don't smoke).
I don't smoke either but I know plenty of people that do and there's nothing like it. They spend their whole lives trying to quit and the closest they get to it is switching to vapes! I think it's not just the withdrawal from nicotine but also the smartphone like hand habits, they structure their day around their cig breaks and don't know what to do with themselves once that's gone.
I almost forgot about those awful vips, I really hope they're only mentioned in passing again or will be portrayed by like...hand puppets.
Just finished this and actually enjoyed it! It still had a lot of the same flaws that the first season did and a lot felt unfinished/unanswered but it was definitely entertaining.
Observations part one:
I wish they would stop making every single contestant either so flawless that you just know they're being built up to break your heart (marine guy, main character bestie, dad with sick child, Youngmi) when they die or make them do something super out of character just to move the story along, especially the way the characters vote. The dude who ended up there with his mom might have been a dumbass but he clearly doesn't want her to die and would never have voted to stay knowing she could have died because of it (prediction: mom is going to sacrifice herself for the Jo Yuri character and son is going to have to step up), and Hyunju values finding new friends and family just as much as her transition so she wouldn't sell her new friends out so easily. Siwan's character is the only one that is somewhat believable by being both a really crappy person but also not cartoonishly evil.
Very good pick to make crypto bros a heavy new genre in the contestants. Very believable, easily hateable, extremely topical, love it.
Noeul putting on her mask after she was portrayed as a potential candidate with the saddest story of them all was probably the biggest "oh shit" moment in the whole series but I still don't quite get what her deal is and if we're going to find out more next season. Who was the guy that reprimanded her? Why are the other players threatening to assault her? Why did she get away with making the players' organs unusable?
Could they have written literally anything for Jo Yuri that isn't her basically being the pregnant white woman who you know is going to give birth in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? All she got to do was grab her stomach and do that "oof! my back!" stereotypical pregnant lady bit. Semi is a total babe and should have gotten more screentime and a proper backstory, it doesn't make sense that she's so isolated and resolved to hanging out with Minsu because most of the girls and women would be all over her. It feels like a bit of a copout how most people this season were there either because they were gamblers/poor lenders/"what I have to face out there is worse than what I have to face in here!" and that's that. Same goes for the hot girl that went first, I was dying to hear her story and I'm sad it wasn't her who got to take TOP out.
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part two:
Speaking of which, I did not expect TOP to be in this as much as he is and can't decide if he did a really good or really bad job portraying his character because I was so happy when he finally got a fork to the neck. His character could really only be portrayed by someone who spent over a decade at YG and I mean that as a compliment.
I was convinced player one was going to be Saebyeok's little brother when they featured him earlier and very relieved that it wasn't. Lee Santa is a good actor but ugh, did not like that he was in this so prominently. Also strange that not all of the staff were aware that he was a player as shown by the shocked look on baby faced guy near the end.
Shipper guy was so obviously sketchy from the start. The moment thug with a heart of gold starts blabbing in the cafeteria you just knew he was the snitch. The Wi Hajun storyline felt really messy and almost entirely unnecessary, I get that he's the main season one eye candy character and they had to include him but the whole season is him running (sailing) around like a headless chicken in predictable scenarios with no closure whatsoever.
Why did they not insert the tracking device inside Gihun's body where it couldn't be easily removed? The tooth thing was too obvious. I also find it hard to believe TOP got to keep his little Cruel Intentions drug necklace and that he would share so easily - if they take organs then there is no way they would not take pills off someone.
Lastly, please tell me I'm not the only person who was raging at the insane lack of character Gihun has. He is SO badly written! He was a deadbeat last season but it's like he got even dumber this time around, ZERO critical thinking - not only does he fail to tell the other contestants that they will end up having to kill eachother when there are still enough people around that might care, but he has an insane amount of money that he could have invested to make it even bigger and yet it doesn't occur to him for a second that he can just bribe the contestants to leave? His own friend who he had the gall to ask for money earlier, he doesn't even offer to pay off his debt if they manage to get out?? He has enough money to not just pay off all of the "good" characters debts and treatments but even to actually build foundations and create opportunities for them and their peers so they would never end up in the game in the first place! Hyunju's transition, an apartment for Junhee, medical bills, those are all peanuts compared to the total amount he won. He claims several times that he wants to save all of those people but he has never actually done anything that would save them before they get to a point where they have to enter the game - he's the epitome of the "good billionaire" who thinks he's above the capitalistic system the show critiques, being seen as a good person who helps people is more important to him than actually helping people and he is hoarding his wealth for his own gain just as much as other "bad" rich people do. I wonder if this will come up in later episodes because it's just so hard to believe and blatantly stupid and Lee Santa seems to try and out him as a hypocrite at several points in the game.
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i want to believe that they left it on him on purpose, just to him (or others) to take the pills for chaos purposes. like, either of self-sabotage or murderous purposes
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That would make sense! They must have incredibly high hopes for the mom in that case.
I'm wondering what the logistics regarding cigarettes and booze would be, so many Korean men smoke but none of the players are given cigarettes so even a day in withdrawal symptoms alone would take about a quarter of them out of the game.
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i guess they kinda touched on the smoking thing last season, but just barely with that one chick smuggling cigs in. maybe they're not in there long enough to want a fix (i dunno i don't smoke).
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I don't smoke either but I know plenty of people that do and there's nothing like it. They spend their whole lives trying to quit and the closest they get to it is switching to vapes! I think it's not just the withdrawal from nicotine but also the smartphone like hand habits, they structure their day around their cig breaks and don't know what to do with themselves once that's gone.
I almost forgot about those awful vips, I really hope they're only mentioned in passing again or will be portrayed by like...hand puppets.
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