Tallina

loving this show so far!! I should've waited longer to start cause now I have to wait for weekly episodes 😩 and the sisters and their love interest are so perfect for them. they really balance the twins out.

and I love that people who know the twins figured it out cause lol let's be real, they hardly put in any effort to act like each other.

"I like them. The rumors about us." dayuuuuum. that was smooth haha

I can't wait to see the twins amd everyone interacting together. also, its sad to see that both twins just suffered silently on their own. Mi Rae was alone in Seoul and Mi Ji only got out of her rut because of her grandmother. I'm sorry for the mom's circumstance because it truly does seem like she wants to be a good parent but to provide for them and be able to spend time with them was hard for her. It speaks volumes that she still can't tell them apart 30 years later when their grandmother on redress and had a stroke can still recognize them at a glance. 🥲

I was fine with the FL until episode 26. like girl, your man can defeat groups of like 20 men on his own why would you jump into the fire and risk your life and the soldiers tasked to protect you. you already called for the imperial army, just wait it out rather than you putting yourself in harms way which OBVIOUSLY then makes your loving doting ass hubby spring into action rather than wait for back up. like UGH. this was annoying. at least sneak to the inn rather than go up in a freaking carriage. there's a fight at the inn, shouldnt you try to be sneaky about it?! and wtf was she looking at when obviously the arrows were being shot at them from above. I cannot rn. lol

I don't know if it'll change but right now Bi Zhi is a walking forest

that's true, I can't. I guess my assumption was off of the treasure hunt game which dealt more so with spatial awareness and puzzle solving rather than mathematical equations. and 😮‍💨 i forgot that's why he wasn't very into alliances and now that I'm reminded, I'm once again irked with eun yu. lol cause I really liked Justin too and wish he had made it further. I feel like he would've done well with the psychological mind game that was the high low betting in the final.

overall thoughts:
- some participants were great individual players but not as team players (Seok Jin in season 1 was the perfect combination of both)
- the majority of folks this season can hold their own while last season felt like a good half of folks were being carried by the Orbit cult with Dong Joo as his trusted left hand
- 7high is cool at times, but when emotions run high he is wayyy too aggressive
- eun yu is smart but she's not trustworthy and is also an emotional manipulator
- ji yeong is smart but doesn't perform well under pressure
- Hyun gyu is smart and a great strategist but can be calculating and cold, loyal only to 2 people throughout this show, but if it's him or them, he obviously chooses himself, it's a competition afterall
- Hyun joon is smart but similarly to eun yu, he's not trustworthy. shook hands with Hyun gyu and bam no alliance lol
- Tinno is awesome haha I actually really like his personalty. smarts wise I think he's observant and great at galvanizing. however, he might not be the best strategist
- kyuhyun is a mood maker lol he's not exactly loyal to his team but I guess he's also not disloyal either depending on how you view how things played out
- Justin is a good solo player. he was great at playing the death matches but made 0 efforts for alliances. whether or not that was due to the minimal language barrier or culture difference, I'm not sure. it felt like if he had better alliance, he would've made it further. but I cant imagine him winning the last game that required strategy and quick mathematical calculations. also can't imagine kyuhyun, chuu, or ji yeong winning that.
- se dol is so a bit of a mystery to me. I feel like sometimes he's really good and sometimes I think he's okay. I think I would've liked to see him in a few more games to gauge.
- ha rin was a surpassing great solo player. not too sure how she would've done I'm alliances if she made it further.
- sang yeon/chuu/ that one other girl were all eliminated with limited screen time so im not sure what to make of them
- so Hee was honestly a very passive but smart player that was always adopted into a good alliance. and for good reason since she also contributed to the team. lol I wanted to see her in solo games but I guess we did get that at the way end

overall, fun season that was quite different from the first. if the make another season i hope the add more hidden stages collaborative stages, and maybe chances to bring folks back in solo revival matches. for now. I think season 1 winner is still #1 to me.

THIS 1000. People kept saying Hyungyu is manipulative. okay?! and?! he's not the only one and honestly. him, So Hee, and Kyuhyun were so upfront about their alliance that it's wild. even when they yielded so of the moves in the mancala round to make up for leaving the alliance. they really didn't have to do that at all. that's called emotional manipulation, they just made Kyuhyun and So Hee feel bad about it when honestly, they didn't betray. they backed out and told them fairly that they were leaving.

I was also annoyed when 7high had to yell at them that Kyuhyun dying in this round was their fault before going to jail. he's needlessly aggressive even if I really enjoyed what he did before he got eliminated. like, no? it was also your fault? you guys teamed up on him so it's also on you. this is a competition so why do you have to go yelling things like that aggressively and making others feel bad instead of accepting that it's a game and you guys also were responsible for eliminating someone that wasn't on your team?

honestly, either finalist deserve that win. they won fairly and that last part really was interesting. I wonder what the producer would've done if neither of them yielded. there was no way Hyun Gyu wasn't going to bet since everyone knew So Hee was certain of the answer. I honestly thought she was gonna lose much faster with how heavy she was betting but somehow throughout the rounds they kept evening out which I thought was wild.

Regardless, congrats to Hyun Gyu! He really embodies the devil in the devils plan and owns up to it. for someone that has been in the background, I think she put up a great fight and honestly was so close to winning - all while having stomach pains BTW.

you know what would've been fun? if they had them all in elimination matches as the first game and then have the team game after. so have a death match at the very beginning. and then have 1 in the middle of the show to revive one of the eliminated players. I need more games where people play on their own so I can see if they have the skills to survive on their own instead of within an alliance first. and if they do and still get eliminated. give them all a chance to come back. and I also want the collaborative games back. the ones in S1 where they split them up into different rooms but had to still work together was so fun to watch. cause you really see then who the smartest were and it was fun because you saw all of them falter at different times whether it was Orbit, Seok Jin, or Dong Joo.

yeah, agreed. I think the prize missions being part of the main missions disrupted any harmony that could've happened because now you can complete the mission to get the prize money and eliminate folks at the same time instead of just all working together for the prize money. I didn't even realize that so glad this was brought up. it definitely could've helped calm some of the distrust between folks to work together to get higher prize money

Just caught up and It's interesting to me to see the hate Hyun Gyu is receiving. While I understand that he's being manipulative in some of the games, at least he's pretty upfront about it. He's also pretty loyal to his own "people" I'll say, not necessarily team - because it's So Hee and Kyuhyun that he fully trusted. Some of the other players are also manipulative like Eun Yu and Hyun Joon but they don't receive hate, why? Because they did it on the sly instead? Or because they give lame excuses as to why they did what they did? lol Eun Yu literally told Justin that she didn't want to team up with him because she felt bad it'd be 5v1 in the death match (at least that's what she said was her excuse and maybe they cut the scene cause all she said to Justin was that they didn't tell se dol then boom, she joined a different alliance for her own benefit). Well, now, it is 6v1 for the mancala game against Hyun Gyu and I bet if called out, she'd give the "he's just too good and we need him out" excuse. If the principal here was that we shouldn't gang up on 1 person, well that was truly lost once the person because a threat. I'm glad Hyun Gyu doesn't make excuses. lol He's like, this is a game and you play to win. And I'm all for stategizing and winning over stronger/smarter players but... isn't a win when it's literally everyone against 1 person... lame? LOL I'm actually hoping for a twist where they flash back next episode and there are more hidden alliances. Because at this point, they're also using So Hee knowing that the person they're gonna eliminate is Hyun Gu, not Hyun Joon.

I honestly hope the final winner is So Hee, Hyun Gyu, or Ji Yeong but I don't know why, I don't think it will be 🫣

And nobody probably cares, but here's why I don't personally care for the other players or if they win.

Eun Yu: Already stated above. I don't like the lack of loyalty I've seen from her and I know people in real life that ALWAYS gives excuses for why something happened instead of just owning up to it and it grinds my gears. From what the show has shown, she seems to be one of those.

7high: While I think he's a cool person, he's overly aggressive to me. Even in the last game, Treasure Hunt, there was a scene that really threw me off. It was when the winning team was lining up to do their exploration and his team was still thinking. The other team went to his room to check in on them and I don't even think they were trying to plan or do anything. They knew they won at that point. However, he just got super aggressive and raised his tone saying he knows what they're trying to do when it really seemed like they weren't trying to do anything. It almost felt threatening in a way because of how So Hee reacted when she was in line and ended up just letting the 2 girls from the other team go first because of his outbursts. There were also times where it felt like he took things too personally and became kind of overly upset about things.

Kyuhyun: I feel like this doesn't need an explanation. LMAO I just don't think he has what it takes to be nor deserves to be the winner of a show that showcases some wit, strategy, and wisdom. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's not smart in some ways, but he's definitely not at the level that should win. He's always won because he's in teams where So Hee figures out the answer or Hyun Gyu strategies the whole thing, or Tinoo helped lead and guide the team.

Hyun Joon: I actually don't mind if he wins. It just left a bitter taste in my mouth that they shook on it to work together and he goes and betrays him the next moment because he's a threat. Like, c'mon, you're also a smart dude. Just have a fair match or at least just tell him you're too good and I need you out and then strategize to get him out with the others openly lol cause at this point if you guys can't just be upfront and tell him it's 6v1 and he still wins, I'd be highly impressed with Hyun Gyu LMAO

also, take this all with a grain of salt cause im sure these shows also edit the show to make it seem more dramatic and add tension. so, what ISN'T shown very well could be the flip side to all of these people's characterization that the producers don't want shown because then there would be no scandalous, dramatic, entertaining moments up for debate haha

Honestly, love So Hui and her honesty lol "Kyuhyun wouldn't survive [the death match]". 🤣 at least she's well aware and Hyun Gu's "I don't want to go to prison." before Hyun Joon even says anything haha

I'm sad to know that Tinoo goes home (spoiled myself by reading the comments lol) as I think he has the most social energy and is also rather well rounded. he doesn't have the math skills like our Kaist contenders but he has good intuition and keen observation skills. he's also good at rallying people together and so always had good teammates.

honestly, these types of games require you to really be a jack of all trades or a chameleon.

I honestly wonder who will win this season. Seok Jin won last season and I felt like he did so seamlessly. He didn't betray anyone, worked well on his own and in teams and also wasn't vindictive or targeted others just because. he only did so once and it was because he had to to get into the prison. I always thought it was ironic that the folks in the house joked that it'd be crazy if he planned that but he hasn't done anything that wowed them, which to me meant that he really blended in so well but was smart enough to know to not stand out too much or else he'd have a target on his back.

in my mind, so hui and jiyeong also have similar traits. they both really don't want to have to cause another person's downfall and would rather just continue playing and if you're out, it's a skill issue. lol so im rooting for them.

love Hyun gu and Hyun joon too cause I think theyre both really smart but one is very scheming and the other one is just cold - which don't get me wrong, if they win, still very well deserved.

this last treasure hunt game really showed the difference in the type of skills one team had over the other though because the numbers were pretty even, 5 vs 4 and the team of 4 couldn't get the purple box and were far from getting the treasure. I think they did get red and orange though. that team seems stronger in intuition based games like those done in the death matches rather than analytical/ numbers games.

it actually would've been very interesting to see how it would've played out had they teamed up with Justin and se dol earlier during the monsters game. I think se dol would've been a huge advantage for them as he had limited resources with just him and Justin but if he had more people to stategize with. I wonder if the other team would've won so easily.

wow this was longer than I thought it'd be. sorry 🫣

I'm dying laughing over the guys reaction of 7high. 🤣🤣🤣

I don't know why I'm surprised cause these are all smart people but still. kinda didn't think so many of them spoke English with such a good accent - except for Justin of course.

Lmao idk why but 7high and Jiyeong in prison was very light hearted and funny at the beginning. it was like having the rich people that suddenly lost all their wealth now experience life with the poor 🤣

The cast in this is amazing. And it really killed me that they didn't all get their happy ending. 😭😭😭 Until the end I was just hoping it was all a bad dream.

he's so funny. he may not know your name, but at least he'll treat you fairly and with respect. 🤣

ugh I really hope not. I'd hate to think that it was all scripted and one person was "destined" to win especially since I don't even see a reason why anyone should be picked ahead of time. like what's the benefit?

watching season 1 again while waiting for the rest of season 2 and on episode puzzle game, some people really were deadweight. and let's be real, joon bin giving his piece to dong joo should've been obvious because he didn't deserve any of his "wins". and im glad Si Won and Dong Jae called out Orbit for his thinking cause theyre all here to compete. like yes, getting pieces is great but how was splitting up the pieces gonna work? the max they would've gotten was 9 so who would NOT get a piece? how would you decide that? lol play rock paper scissors and the final loser doesn't get one? lol or would he say the players that have the most don't get any cause that's also not fair.

Also, in ep3, the minority team really didn't care about anything except finishing. lol I guess that's the benefit of having a smaller team. you don't need to attack the other team, just worry that your team gets through to the finish line. it honestly sucked when Guillaume was eliminated. the minority team were actually good players- Si Won debatable at times but she had really good tenacity while some on the other team really provded nothing to any of the games and were deadweight or straight up useless.

lol the idea of creating teams is right as some games you need to do so. but having only 2 teams, one of 4 and one of 8 is just too much of a disadvantage even though they played well. it would've been fair if it was 3 teams of 4. at least then they wouldn't have the advantage in numbers. really liked that team of 4 and they were oddly very loyal to each other. helped even if it made them be put at a disadvantage but that's how you know you have a great team. Dong Jae really blamed himself and Seok Jin shared his winnings because they worked as a team. love to see that hahasorry for the long post. got too invested.

I watched this when it first released and the thing is that seok jin seemed like he performed better under pressure than Orbit did. you can see in a few of the games that when Orbit was under pressure he would start making mistakes. still it was definitely fun to watch and sometimes I wonder how dong joo would've done if she was the finalist against seok jin instead.

just happy season 2 is out. love these types of shows!

oh, yes, you're right. if that's the case, I wonder if no one was playing against her, cause that would be wrong for her to win when technically that last time should've only been 1:13. so if someone played more than that they should've technically been the winner. honestly, I wished they would've shown what everyone's time left at the end was. but maybe they DIDN'T do that because they realized people did go over 10 minutes and it was too late to reshoot? no clue, but that was kind of lame since she got the highest number of wins and got a piece when maybe it should've gone to Se Dol. though I don't know what his time usage was either. RELEASE THE TIME USAGE FOR EVERYONE hahaha