interregnum

Compelling, baffling, brilliant, and kind of a mess at the end. It's no Pyramid Game, but I thought it was pretty darn great.

Wait...Kim Seon-ho, Park Gyu-young, and my girl So-e in the same show?! The release date is obviously Christmas, because when else would I get such a wonderful present!

Very enjoyable season: way better than S3's trash fire; safely not as good as S2's...well, everything. Really liked the cast, and the hosts were the perfect balance of cheerleaders and critics. The only real downside was the imbalance of focus. We spent too much time on Si-an, absolutely--but only in that, as someone who was unavoidably going to be on screen far more than other participants (which is fine), too much time was dedicated to each of her dates and conversations, where shaving off a couple of minutes from each and giving us a little more of other people (dates, one-on-ones, friendship chatter) would have made the show feel fuller and not frequently only about her. Other than that, this was a wonderful rebound, and I'd absolutely be happy to come back for S5.

...and #MinseolBestGirl.

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one struggling. It took me longer than usual to really tell the girls apart--but then they all made a noticeable change to their hair, and I was back to wondering who was who for a couple of minutes. Casting clearly had a type, this time around.

Oh, my God, Yong-woo and Ji-won 😂

And if someone can pull a jerk move big enough to make me go a little bit easier on Gwan-hee, I think I'd be more impressed than disgusted. But I guess we'll see!

I liked it just fine. I don’t know what the criticism is, but I thought it was totally fine.

I think S2’s done less to make us care about the characters, is all. I like the protagonist bunch just fine, but I’m not as worried about who’s going to make it or not. I’m wondering if that’s taking away from the tension of the games for people who aren’t happy with S2.

I enjoyed it more than S1, but it’s also missing the kind of character work that made S1 so good. It does a fair job of showing that any group who ends up in the game is going to have similar dynamics as the previous players, but it also strays as often into retreaded territory as it does remixed. It’s probably less contrived as S1, but it definitely has its own issues with stretching credulity. But, a far as unnecessary sequels go, it’s a definite hit. As far as memorable sequels go...well, that will depend on how the other half (aka S3) turns out.

Fake, I would think. He seemed very, very unsure how to hold his gun, at the start.

Yes! I just finished this show 3 minutes ago, and my first thought was: "Um...does he know she's single?" Because if not...bit presumptuous.

I can only assume the whole thing with thr flowers (and having been scared off by seeing Kanna) is supposed to make it clear to him that she's dumped her fiance. But...as much as I love a good show-don't-tell moment, this felt like something that should have been more definite.

I have never seen a drama more desperate to be a romcom in my life.

I thought this show was a train wreck, but I'm 100% blaming the script. The ML in particular I thought was abhorrent (I have literally no sympathy for him, because he's an unrepentant piece of trash), but I felt like I could tell the actor was very good--in terms of talent, at least. The biggest structural issue with his character is that he's not given any redeeming qualities to balance his awfulness. (Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock, for instance, is a total jerk, but his brilliance as a detective shows his overall value and structurally allows for tolerance of his immense flaws.) The show doesn't give you a reason to like the ML, except that he's A) dying and B) frequently shirtless (which only helps if you think he's hot). My point being that I felt the actor played what was on the page--which wasn't much and wasn't positive. I don't think the show sees it that way, but the show is wrong.

Premise interests me less than getting a chance to see Chae Won-bin take a turn as an idol trainee after playing different flavors of crazy in the last couple of things I’ve seen her in.

LOL, no I know what they said--I was able to catch all of that. I'm just saying that their choices in how to deceive the audience muddles the clarity of a couple of the details. Like, we don't SEE the Min-a/Jun-tae setup or the way Choi dies. The show just sort of mentions the truth in passing after showing us a bunch of previous "could it be this???" versions. You're right that you need to pay attention to hear it, but I thought it was a disservice not to show us explicitly.

EXACTLY.

Ha-bin has inexplicable blood on her clothes with her brother and with Choi. Why?

They never confirm who killed Choi, just offhandedly say, "I guess what Jun-tae thought to himself for the audience to see but didn't say out loud must be what happened."

I assume Seung-hui set up Jun-tae with Min-a's body, but we never see her drug him. And all the flashbacks we get of that time are at least partially lies, so who knows what happened before he wakes up.

We can assume Jun-tae was legitimately searching for Su-hyeon out of concern, and his keychain from her would indicate he liked her. Maybe he knew she was living with the runaways at his girlfriend's place? Dunno.

...but they also made it look like Ha-bin got him to lie to her dad, at one point. Is that the case? Was it just framed that way for our sake? Dunno.

Dear Hyeri:

I see many people were fooled into thinking you'd be around for a while. The audience is furious! I'm so proud of you!

Your beaming uncle,

Screwtape

I really hope you're right--but also don't. In that things have always been way more interesting if she's a killer, but also this has gotten so convoluted it almost seems boring for it to be her. So, for me, I feel like I won't be satisfied at this point unless it's A) Ha-bin and B) a really clever twist. 'Cus "we found her conveniently organized murder dossiers on her computer!" is not how I want to wrap things up.

...so, I have a lot of thoughts and questions--but I'm going to stay focused on what we have in front of us.

1. Clearly, flashbacks are not to be trusted. Nice to know that definitively, at last.

2. Still unaccounted for: why was Ha-bin covered in blood at Choi's murder scene? Did she stand there and watch Ms. Kim stab him? Did she stab him while Ms. Kim stood there and watched? (Are they secretly partners?)

3. At this stage, we're going to find out that a very young Ms. Kim killed Ha-bin's little brother in front of her, they became pals, and they've been working together ever since. We're at that level of insanity. Like the world's longest "Strangers on a Train" pact.

We didnt get an explanation for Choi being in the woods when the mom was there...nor did we get a reason for the mom to be there--nor why Su-hyeon was out there. Did the mom find the body locally and then drive out? And Choi was out there because he likes night hikes? No idea. But Ha-bin knew that was where the blackmail money was being left, which is why she called Min-a out there to get the phone.

I assumed the kid who was texting in the bathroom had been contacting Choi, but...I dont remember that being said definitively.

I think the story is way more interesting is Ha-bin is indeed a killer, so I hope that she is. As you pointed out, possessiveness or jealousy would fit in as a thematic element. We've also got "blinding assumptions vs. wanting to believe" pattern, where you swing to either side while not trying to see the truth. And attacking the innocent. Somewhere is there is our answer.

BUT...my current guess is the flashbacks are lies. Sung-hui killed Su-hyeon because she thought she was taking Jung-tae from her. The son killed Min-a by accident, hoping to hurt Choi for hurting his mom. Jung-tae's dad killed Choi to help his son and framed Ha-bin. (We didnt see him take a picture in the flashback, and yet...) And Ha-bin either accidentally killed her brother or simply tried to dispose of his body (which is why she was covered in blood).

But I assume we'll be guessing until the final moments of Ep 10.

Jun-tae loves her and could feel guilty if he thinks he's the one who "caused" her to kill the girls. Sung-hui doesn't seem the most stable...though she often seems way too stable for her situation, so...who knows.

If we're going for a big twist, though, I'd say the killer is Sung-hui's son. He didn't dispose of any bodies, obviously, but it would explain why the adults are so frantic to keep lying and, as such, create more suspicion. (For example: what if the kid poisoned food in an attempt to kill Choi so he'd leave the mom alone, but it got Min-a instead? What if Jung-tae strangling Min-a is a "lie" retelling of him trying to resuscitate her?) Plus, if it's the kid, it parallels Capt. Jang and his wife's struggle with how to deal with their thoughts about Ha-bin.

This is going to be boring if Ha-bin isn't the killer. Or, rather, one of them. Of course, at this point, the little brother seems like the only one she could have done...though I dont know why she was so covered in blood, given what we saw--but she's way too covered in blood NOT to have killed Choi, but...TV rules say that's a setup. Which leads me to ask: can we trust flashbacks? (And why was she being texted about the mountain before Min-a disappeared?)

Anyway.

Gu feels like a red herring, unless there's a particular reason he doesn't want Capt. Jang or Ha-bin banged up over this whole situation.

Jun-tae looks like he called his dad to help with Min-a. He doesn't seem to have a motive for killing her, but the flashback says otherwise. But, again, can we trust the flashback? I dunno. Makes more sense that Sung-hui killed her (jealous of Min-a's crush) and Jun-tae is covering for her. Same as with Su-hyeon, who gave Jun-tae that keychain. That fits the best. (And why isn't her son eating her food? He's spitting it out, stealing--what's he know?)