interregnum

Exactly. I quickly clocked Ha-rin and Hyun-gyu as the two that would in short order tip from being useful weapons to necessary targets, not because of their strength as competitors but because of their demeanor: you can't trust them at all. (For example, So-hui is brilliant but soft, so she's okay to keep around--strategically.) Weirdly, 7High, whom I thought I'd dislike, has become one of my favorite competitors because he's turned out to be the most concerned about fairness (ironic, given his brilliant "cheat" strategy in the first game). Where we are right now, unfortunately, the prison element of the show is going to weigh heavier than much of the remaining competition, since it's going to force elimination on such a small portion of the cast when I think it would be more entertaining to, at this point, just see everyone play everything. Because, if you can take out Hyun-gyu, that leaves a likely 4-on-2 division (which would be exciting) or 2-on-2-on-2 (whoch would also be exciting). But...they still need to oust Hyun-gyu.

No, I'm with you: I was excited to see him, at first, but his total lack of empathy has been a real turnoff. This season's big divide hasn't been about skill level but skill set--and human interaction seems not to be within his. There are degrees of gamesmanship, and his skews hard into unsportsmanlike. (Similar vibes about Ha-rin.) We've seen some unflattering but understandable playstyles, this season, but I'm kind of shocked by how disengaged from the human element he is.

It's at least two episodes shorter than it needs to be for the character arcs to work, but it'll pass the time, if that's all you're looking for. Or if, like me, Kang Na-eon is enough of an excuse.

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.