GoldenLife

I WILL NEVER EVER GET OVER THIS SHOW.

Its been a year since Ive watched this, and still: nothing can fill up the hole this show left in my heart.
I cant find any other drama that made me feel the way i felt when i watched this. This is definitely one of my favorite dramas of all time, its a must watch. If youre thinking about whether or not to watch this because the reviews are mixed, it doesnt seem your cup of tea or you think its too old: WATCH IT. You wont regret it.
That being said, good job to everyone. The acting was fantastic, the writing, everything.
Ill always remember this show fondly!!

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AWFUL.

Wasted the set-up of season 2, copied "The platform"s ending but in worse.
Literally, the ending did not make sense. It didnt have to be a "the baby or gi-hun" and in order to get story to that in that last game, all the deaths were super forced. Characters didnt make sense anymore. It was stupid.
If they wanted to sacrifice Gi-Hun, they couldve done so by making a final game something where no matter how things turned out, only 1 person would survive from the beginning or just kill him off at a less expected time. Because once again, this was more than predictable.
Not to forget: the baby came out of nowhere. It shouldnt have been written into the story. And if they did, then at least make it obvious you had planned to since the beginning of season 2. With such a popular and big series you would at least expect them to plan 2 seasons properly and use some foreshadowing.
Also, the attempt at making gi-hun into a morally grey character was more than terrific, also how fast he switched up to being the good guy again. It felt rushed, as if they didnt have time for moral dilemmas and character depth.
But hey, at least they had symbolism with the entire baby ending right? Yeah no, if its not executed well, you cannot even appreciate that or the thought behind it -- it just all felt cramped and forced. Thats the best summary I can give for this season.

Also, what even was the sense behind the policeman side story? If they left all of that out and only did small clips, they probably even wouldve managed to write a more fleshed out story. But then again, maybe that was on purpose a filler to get the extra 2 seasons and more money.

In summary: i wish i hadnt watched this. In my mind the series ends after season 1 and Gi-hun did something from the outside world in collaboration with the police and his money to save other people going through the squid games. Wouldve been a great narrative: a new main character and squad for the squid game perspective and something actually useful happening from the outside world perspective through gi-hun (instead of policeman storyline. They couldve even worked together).

That being said: Netflix, if you need somebody to rewrite season 2 & 3, contact me.

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Fun binge-watch, nothing deep tho.

Was a really good modern social media revenge story, but honestly... it just felt kind of like a worse 'The Glory'.
Nonetheless, this show had me glued to the screen. I really liked A-Ri as protagonist for the social media setting too.
What I did not like was the ending though, which felt kind of rushed.
I also wish there was more development between the main couple, as in the end i could not really understand Ari for liking that guy and moreso felt like he shouldve ended up with Si-hyeon, as they had more screentime and chemistry together.

So yes, watch it if you just want something fun to watch that you can binge, but do not expect any depth or message behind it.

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MEH.

In comparison to season 1, this one was really disappointing.
It had a lot of potential, but I remember watching this when it just came out and being bored. Its not a thrilling story anymore, moreso just "oh i know this and that will happen, gi-hung and his group cant die anyways because its all big actors and blablbla". It was just way too predictable and the characters were in comparison to season 1 way too shallow.
In season 1 Id be crying for every character, here id just think "oh well saw it coming" or i dont care enough about the characters.
And theres no excuse for that, as season 1 had the same amount of episodes and introduced + concluded the entire squid games, while this game needs 2 seasons to do so and doesnt deliver. Its still a fun watch, though predictable, but you have hopes theyd use season 2 as a great set-up for season 3 (spoiler: they didnt).

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Good Premise, Bad Execution

I dont like writing long reviews so ill keep it short.
Ive watched lots of Reality TV Shows from many countries and while I loved the premise of this show, the execution was really bad. The first few episodes are really good and hook you, but as the show goes on, it really is a hard watch. Not only that but in many scenes you get the feeling it was scripted or people behaved a way that seemed a little too exaggerated for their usual behaviour.
Also, what bothered me a lot was how they disqualify Yanboh for a drug joke but not Baby for physically hurting somebody.
On top of that, later episodes seemed really stale, as there werent many challenges or crazy date/ group dates anymore.
I also think the show wouldve been way more exciting if there were actual couples to be formed or challenges where people would have to tell each other their opinions of one another, stuff like that that add tension in formats like Singles Inferno or Love Island.
ALSO MY BIGGEST CRITIQUE: When Oto tells everyone how she was literally raped, everybody is silent. Not anyone in the cast says anything and not even the moderators. It is just glanced over and in the next scene they go on joking. That was REALLY WEIRD and not okay to see.

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Not boring, just realistic

I randomly discovered this drama on Netflix and decided to watch it, since I found nothing else to watch. By chance, I discovered an underrated gem!
This drama is really amazing. Its a realistic take on life in your twenties and potential struggles you can face. Im sure everybody can find themselves relating to at least one of the girls and their struggles at some point in the story. And maybe you dont see yourself in the specific struggle of the girl, but the motivation and intention behind it.
Without spoilers: I for one was invested and saw myself in Eun-Jae (personality-wise), but as the show went on I also was able to see myself in Yi-Na (her life philosophy) and Jin-Myung (in her struggles).
And even though I see myself the most in these 3, I was also able to see certain aspects of myself in the other 2 girls, which were way more specific though and I want to keep this review spoiler-free :)
Seeing myself in them, I was able to reflect greatly on my own life and how I actually want to develop as a person and live my twenties! So besides just having a more grounded fun drama to watch, it also gave me the possibility to rethink my life a little and teach myself some lessons, which is definitely worth it.

The criticisms I see about this show everywhere is that it is boring and the romances arent anything special or like you see in other dramas, but I feel like thats the point -- in real life you do not meet your prince charming randomly and meet him 24/7 by chance and fall in love, like it is standard in romance shows. Relationships have their ups and downs, and in comparison to the ones seen in drama, they are boring. Thats why i think its portrayed well. This is not a show you watch for witnessing a sweet romance, though there definitely are some, it is not the main focus. So if you are searching for a typical soapy romance drama, this is not the drama for you.

All of this being said now: great drama, very grounded, would recommend everyone to at least watch the first episode and then decide whether the show is for you and youll continue watching or not.

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