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더 지니어스 The Genius -- Classy reality-game show with smart people

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Brazil

Brazil

Actual Brazilian
Member
Oct 24, 2017
18,435
São Paulo, Brazil
PogChamp said:
I think that this part of Season 2 is probably the most enjoyable. Its a nice way to ease into the GOAT season 3 at least.
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Every episode has been enjoyable so far. The games are really well-designed, and the "meta" is really interesting since the S2 players have prior experience from watching the original season. At this point, though, I feel like I'm already done with the S2 cast altogether.

Now that Jinho and Hongchul are gone, just give the prize to Sangmin and let's move on to new faces, please hahaha.
 

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Brazil said:
Every episode has been enjoyable so far. The games are really well-designed, and the "meta" is really interesting since the S2 players have prior experience from watching the original season. At this point, though, I feel like I'm already done with the S2 cast altogether.

Now that Jinho and Hongchul are gone, just give the prize to Sangmin and let's move on to new faces, please hahaha.
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The meta in S3 is so much more interesting and deep. Can't wait for you to sink your teeth into it.

I felt the same exact way you're feeling about S2 right now lol
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
It might be because my viewing experience for The Genius has been done entirely with another person, but I thoroughly enjoyed Season 2 pretty much all throughout, and I remember feeling kind of cold towards the cast during the first few episodes, pining for the first season's cast; I warmed up to them quite a bit in the end.

Again, if that's the low point for so many folks, that just makes me way more excited for the rest of the series. The desire to wipe my memory so I can experience everything fresh for the first time again is already so strong, haha.
 

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Zeroro said:
It might be because my viewing experience for The Genius has been done entirely with another person, but I thoroughly enjoyed Season 2 pretty much all throughout, and I remember feeling kind of cold towards the cast during the first few episodes, pining for the first season's cast; I warmed up to them quite a bit in the end.

Again, if that's the low point for so many folks, that just makes me way more excited for the rest of the series. The desire to wipe my memory so I can experience everything fresh for the first time again is already so strong, haha.
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I also thoroughly enjoyed season 2 in the beginning the first go around mostly because I didn't realize all the politics happening in the background. It was only when betrayals started happening for seemingly no reason that I started to catch on. Still there is quite a lot of fun stuff in season 2 but it is definitely the weakest one overall.
 
Limit

Limit

Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
362
I marathoned this show on and off over the course of past 2 months and just finished watching the finale of season 4 a few minutes ago. This was an amazing experience. Thanks so much OP for introducing this gem into my life. I loved every single minute of this series.



It's a shame sangmin lost so much earlier in the show. The dynamics between him and Dongmin were just beginning to take form too. After sangmin left, there was no one left to rally troops against dongmin. And jungmoon was so frustrating to watch. Her every single move was driven by fear. It was pathetic. My frustration came from not the fact that she was pathetic, but that she knew she was spineless, cried about it at the end of every episode, and then did the same exact thing the next week! Her spot was a waste. It should have been the kpop singer from season 1 who came back instead.

For the finale I decided to play the mathematical pattern game along with the show and I was flabbergasted that they were able to find sequences after round 5 with the time allotted. I had my screen paused for 10 minutes and still was unable to find them with the provided information. Dongmin talked the talk, and walked the walk. Straight up a shonen character from one of my animus. What a guy.


The Genius elicited a sense of excitement that I know I will be chasing for next few months, if not years. Time to finally read this thread in hopes of recommendations for similar shows.
 

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Limit said:
I marathoned this show on and off over the course of past 2 months and just finished watching the finale of season 4 a few minutes ago. This was an amazing experience. Thanks so much OP for introducing this gem into my life. I loved every single minute of this series.



It's a shame sangmin lost so much earlier in the show. The dynamics between him and Dongmin were just beginning to take form too. After sangmin left, there was no one left to rally troops against dongmin. And jungmoon was so frustrating to watch. Her every single move was driven by fear. It was pathetic. My frustration came from not the fact that she was pathetic, but that she knew she was spineless, cried about it at the end of every episode, and then did the same exact thing the next week! Her spot was a waste. It should have been the kpop singer from season 1 who came back instead.

For the finale I decided to play the mathematical pattern game along with the show and I was flabbergasted that they were able to find sequences after round 5 with the time allotted. I had my screen paused for 10 minutes and still was unable to find them with the provided information. Dongmin talked the talk, and walked the walk. Straight up a shonen character from one of my animus. What a guy.


The Genius elicited a sense of excitement that I know I will be chasing for next few months, if not years. Time to finally read this thread in hopes of recommendations for similar shows.
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Man you echoed my thoughts and feelings exactly. I was so utterly distraught about
sangmin, and it kept frustrating me that kyunghoon wasn't being eliminated, but he grew as a character so I ended up really appreciating him. the sangmin/dongmin interaction would have been glorious to see... I think sangmin is the only player there with the ability to disrupt dongmin's social tempo.

as for other recommendations: There's a show called Society Game made by the same PD. Its more like Big Brother than The Genius but I still enjoyed it.

There are two teams of people living separately in literal villages. One is based on a democratic governing system and the other autocratic. Every day the two teams compete at a game. Games are not solely based on intellect but intellect, dexterity and physical ability. If you liked politics and scheming in the Genius this show is chock full of it, because the losing team is forced to decide on a person to eliminate. It was very compelling to watch despite lacking the shocking twists of The Genius. Also Jang Dongmin is part of the second season of this show.
 
Limit

Limit

Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
362
I binged all of season 1 of society game and am currently going through its second season. Just finished episode 5.

It is fascinating to see someone develop so much attachment for a group brand that someone was associated with for a few weeks. And I don't mean that in a mocking way. Of course, MJ's feelings about nopdong are more complex than that. She went from being the top dog of Nopdong of season 1 to just another player in 2, and that was tough for her to handle. But I was still surprised by how abandoned she felt after getting sent to madong. I can't chalk this up to a collectivist culture mentality either because all other players who have been exchanged in season 1 and 2 haven't had this much hard time either.

Dongmin so far in season 2 of Society game hasn't been as much of a social player as I had expected him to be. Though the source of his skills in mental games has been made evident. Dude goes hard on practicing the said games. I find that more admirable than if Dongmin were just some genius who only needed to see any problem for a second for him to be able to solve it.

Society game is no Genius, of course, but I'm enjoying it so far.
 

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Limit said:
I binged all of season 1 of society game and am currently going through its second season. Just finished episode 5.

It is fascinating to see someone develop so much attachment for a group brand that someone was associated with for a few weeks. And I don't mean that in a mocking way. Of course, MJ's feelings about nopdong are more complex than that. She went from being the top dog of Nopdong of season 1 to just another player in 2, and that was tough for her to handle. But I was still surprised by how abandoned she felt after getting sent to madong. I can't chalk this up to a collectivist culture mentality either because all other players who have been exchanged in season 1 and 2 haven't had this much hard time either.

Dongmin so far in season 2 of Society game hasn't been as much of a social player as I had expected him to be. Though the source of his skills in mental games has been made evident. Dude goes hard on practicing the said games. I find that more admirable than if Dongmin were just some genius who only needed to see any problem for a second for him to be able to solve it.


Society game is no Genius, of course, but I'm enjoying it so far.
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Its definitely good TV. Sorry to say that the final two episodes of Society Game S2 aren't subbed yet... so you might not want to binge too hard.
 
Gio

Gio

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
837
Manila
Made a Spotify playlist of the best tunes from the show. Currently missing a whole bunch of Cowboy Bebop, that song from Confined Scamming Horse Race, and that song used for the twist in Miner Game (aka Hyunmin's entrance theme -- WHAT IS THAT SONG). What else is missing?
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
Got through the first episode of Season 4 last night, and it's a lot of fun seeing some of the best players interacting with each other. Just wish they would've put
Hongchul and Ahyoung
in there instead of
Kyunghun and Yuhyun
.

Junghyun being eliminated at the start by Junseok was a travesty, though. Kyunghun's such a fucker, lol.
 

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Zeroro said:
Got through the first episode of Season 4 last night, and it's a lot of fun seeing some of the best players interacting with each other. Just wish they would've put
Hongchul and Ahyoung
in there instead of
Kyunghun and Yuhyun
.

Junghyun being eliminated at the start by Junseok was a travesty, though. Kyunghun's such a fucker, lol.
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001.png


presented without context
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
The teams of Yohwan/Jinho and Yeonseung/Dongmin in the Death Match were fucking great, especially the former; I love uneasy alliances, lmao.

...Aaaaaand another contestant I really liked is gone. The season 2 veterans are getting decimated.
 

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Zeroro said:
The teams of Yohwan/Jinho and Yeonseung/Dongmin in the Death Match were fucking great, especially the former; I love uneasy alliances, lmao.

...Aaaaaand another contestant I really liked is gone. The season 2 veterans are getting decimated.
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qeJAAMI.jpg

So glad that we got to see this legendary matchup.
 
Gio

Gio

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
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Limit said:
I marathoned this show on and off over the course of past 2 months and just finished watching the finale of season 4 a few minutes ago. This was an amazing experience. Thanks so much OP for introducing this gem into my life. I loved every single minute of this series.



It's a shame sangmin lost so much earlier in the show. The dynamics between him and Dongmin were just beginning to take form too. After sangmin left, there was no one left to rally troops against dongmin. And jungmoon was so frustrating to watch. Her every single move was driven by fear. It was pathetic. My frustration came from not the fact that she was pathetic, but that she knew she was spineless, cried about it at the end of every episode, and then did the same exact thing the next week! Her spot was a waste. It should have been the kpop singer from season 1 who came back instead.

For the finale I decided to play the mathematical pattern game along with the show and I was flabbergasted that they were able to find sequences after round 5 with the time allotted. I had my screen paused for 10 minutes and still was unable to find them with the provided information. Dongmin talked the talk, and walked the walk. Straight up a shonen character from one of my animus. What a guy.


The Genius elicited a sense of excitement that I know I will be chasing for next few months, if not years. Time to finally read this thread in hopes of recommendations for similar shows.
Click to expand...
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Loved this writeup.

Zeroro said:
The teams of Yohwan/Jinho and Yeonseung/Dongmin in the Death Match were fucking great, especially the former; I love uneasy alliances, lmao.

...Aaaaaand another contestant I really liked is gone. The season 2 veterans are getting decimated.
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Heck yeah. Remember when Yoohyun and Dongmin teamed up in Middle Race II and they couldn't stand each other? Loved that whole dynamic.
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
Holy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit at all of S4E3.

For the first time in my life, I cheered for Kyunghun; Sangmin's had his time in the spotlight!

Just. God damn at him completely destroying Sangmin in the Death Match. After that, I feel like literally any of the remaining players could go all the way, Kyunghun included, crazily enough.
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
Man, it's a crime that a show like this only had 4 seasons when stuff like Survivor is up to Season... 36, at least according to Google.
 
Brazil

Brazil

Actual Brazilian
Member
Oct 24, 2017
18,435
São Paulo, Brazil
Actual tears in my eyes after Sangmin won. This show continues breaking new ground in my personal life, hahaha.

So good. So fucking good.

So far I've been thoroughly satisfied with both top 3s. I wanted Sangmin to beat Jinho in the S2 finals for the ultimate David x Goliath story (from Sangmin's perspective, at least), but I grew attached to Junghyun's earnestness and surprising talent at deathmatches as well, and Yohwan was the likeable klutz idiot. Still, Sangmin is not only the most charismatic out of all players so far, but he absolutely demolished the entirety of S2. He 100% deserved to take it over the guy who fucked up literally every single plan he made :lol
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
Man, Kyunghoon's wild. He's got me cheering for him in every Death Match he participates in (though, to be fair, I wasn't big on Jungmoon or Junseok, and even though I like Sangmin, it was fun to root for the clear underdog in that Death Match).

Still, I... did not expect that to happen!

Also, hell yeah at Ahyoung ultimately being the key figure in getting the Poong/Sangmin/Ahyoung joint win on the guest side. She rules.
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
What a perfect ending to a pretty much perfect show. I would start watching it all the way from Season 1 again tomorrow with somebody new if I could.

Also, this doesn't spoil anything major or the contestants in S4E12, but I'm gonna put it under spoiler tags in case people want to stay 100% fresh on anything that happens in the finale. I was losing my mind when I saw this.

eDgBfnE.png
 
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NetMapel

NetMapel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,411
I have watched the previous 2 seasons and loved the show. Just started season 3 recently and here's my thought on the latest episode I watched.

I am glad the politician guy won. He put himself in an excellent position in the last two rounds of the death match. It was basically impossible for him to lose in the last round because he's up 11-9. He chose to play himself and made a draw so the opponent couldn't earn points and guaranteed himself a win. He could also have chosen to bet and put one chip in the win column and win as well. The opponent guy has two choices. Either win and gain an extra chip that will put him at 10, or lose and make the politician guy lose one chip. Either way, the politician guy will win. I am glad he won because the opponent guy seems creepy and just had a very large negative vibe with him. Always sulking and throws tantrums in occasion.

Throughout the 3 seasons so far, I've always found myself really liking the older guys in the game. Teacher Cha from season 1 seemed like a total teddy bear. Junghyun from season 2 was my favourite character from season 2. Now I can't help but cheer for the older guy in season 3 because he seems like a good guy.

Great show and I am thankful to have been introduced to this show :)
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
Junghyun is definitely top tier despite being one of the most "normal" contestants. He's adorable.
 

Deleted member 16657

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Brazil said:
PogChamp didn't answer my call, but if any of you are interested in the type of social games they play In The Genius, come on over to MafiaEra :)

We're currently accepting sign ups for a big, 50+ players event game over there. New players can get assistance in the form of a mentor.

https://www.resetera.com/posts/9397423/
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Wait what call? I didn't notice anything must have missed it. I'll look into this tomorrow when I'm on my PC

Brazil said:
Actual tears in my eyes after Sangmin won. This show continues breaking new ground in my personal life, hahaha.

So good. So fucking good.

So far I've been thoroughly satisfied with both top 3s. I wanted Sangmin to beat Jinho in the S2 finals for the ultimate David x Goliath story (from Sangmin's perspective, at least), but I grew attached to Junghyun's earnestness and surprising talent at deathmatches as well, and Yohwan was the likeable klutz idiot. Still, Sangmin is not only the most charismatic out of all players so far, but he absolutely demolished the entirety of S2. He 100% deserved to take it over the guy who fucked up literally every single plan he made :lol
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The ending of S2 was seriously cathartic for me. And I love the parallel between S1 and S2.

"It's over."
 
Brazil

Brazil

Actual Brazilian
Member
Oct 24, 2017
18,435
São Paulo, Brazil
Started this season last week, but I've only been able to watch two episodes so far. People's love for it hasn't materialized yet in my own experience, though, haha.

Both players in the first deathmatch played embarrassingly bad, and I facepalmed at how women always seem to go for other women when choosing their opponent.
The second game was fun and very Mafia-like, but the criminal team played ridiculously bad. I couldn't believe my eyes when all five walked away together, completely forgetting the rules of the game.

I was glad that the creepy-ass dude was kicked out, however.

The highlights so far are Dongmin, Hyunmin, and... Hweejong, haha. I love the contrast between S2 Hweejong and this chill, super self-conscious S3 Hweejong.

PogChamp said:
Wait what call? I didn't notice anything must have missed it. I'll look into this tomorrow when I'm on my PC
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https://www.resetera.com/posts/9363659/ hahaha

It's all good, though. The game we're playing right now ended up being very far from the type of game I'd recommend to a new player, haha. I'll call you again when sign ups are open for a more traditional game :)

PogChamp said:
The ending of S2 was seriously cathartic for me. And I love the parallel between S1 and S2.

"It's over."
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That line <3
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
I thought he had been working on a show called "Exodus" or something; was it just renamed? Regardless, Great Escape sounds really fun from what Bumdi's saying.

Currently going through Season 1 of Society Game, and while I like it, it definitely doesn't hold a candle to The Genius.
 
Gio

Gio

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
837
Manila
Everyone check out Crime Scene if you haven't yet. It's closer in feel to The Genius than Society Game, imo.
Henry sucks, Jinho rocks.
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
Crime Scene was my first introduction to Jinho, yet now I associate him more with The Genius...
 
Zeroro

Zeroro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,408
Gio said:
Well, he is the "icon" of The Genius. Were you spoiled on the winner of Season 1 because of watching Crime Scene?
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No, surprisingly enough. If they mentioned it during one of the Crime Scene episodes, I wouldn't have understood what they were referencing when I was watching it back then, lol. I did end up spoiling myself on the Season 3 winner while I was excitedly googling the show early on!
 
MayorSquirtle

MayorSquirtle

Member
May 17, 2018
7,963
Ohhh, I had no idea there was a thread here for this. I found the show while S2 was airing and I fell in love with it and followed along as it was subbed. I actually just looked the show up again yesterday and it seemed like everything had been taken down aside from S1. How are people watching the others?
 
OP
OP
azeke

azeke

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,220
Astana, Kazakhstan
If anyone wants to help out with timing of Great Escape episode do contact me.

Progress on my end timing subs has been a very slow -- i am only at 8 minutes (out of like an hour). You don't need to know korean to do timing -- you just need a lot of patience and capacity and willingless to do mindnumbing work timing every reply and caption up to a millisecond.

Gio said:
Everyone check out Crime Scene if you haven't yet. It's closer in feel to The Genius than Society Game, imo.p.
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I will reiterate that Crime Scene season 1 is not worth watching.

Season 2 and season 3, however have some very clever reveals and hilarious plays. Season 2 cast is as perfect for detective show as you can get -- Dongmin, Jinho, Hani, Park Jiyoon and Jang Jin bounce off each extremely well.

It is especially amusing when show does a bit of meta-commentary on korean customs when older contestant gets a younger role and so terms of their address change accordingly. Roles where middle aged Jang Jin has to play young heartrob or idol of some kind are very fun.

Season 3 cast's chemistry isn't as good -- and constant reshufflings until they still got Jinho and Dongmin kinda back on semi-constant basis didn't help.

It's not obvious at first but murders on Crime Scene are apparently taken from headlines, like one season 2 episode was basically based on scandal that ousted then-president of South Korea (fortune-teller case) and season 3 episode was based on kidnapping and murder of Bollywood actress.
 

Deleted member 16657

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azeke said:
FYI, Society Game season 2 subs are now complete.
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The ending for SG2 was absolutely incredible.

I just am so amazed by everything that happened in Nopdong. Dongmin literally managed to get away with everything. All of the ill will that had built up against him simply dissipated once he threw in the towel. I genuinely think that this was all a play by him, on some level. He's smart enough to maneuver it like that. Stealing the money from Hakjin. All of the competitive drive from the other mental player. All of Dongmin's problems were swept away just like that. Also it was great that Hoegil didn't go to finals. Dude was a bit of an asshole.

The finals themselves, wow. Gravity Bingo was absolutely mad. Can't believe Dongmin choked that many times after his brilliant idea. Junho was fucking incredible! After this and the poker game he's waaaay up there in the power rankings. Good thing that the guy playing the bingo for Nopdong was an absolute god. Taeho choked a bit.

The second game Nopdong was always going to lose, Julien and Dongmin could never hold that imbalance.

Third game, wow Minseok choked hard. I was really surprised at the lineup they went with, to me you would always put Junho on the puzzle, Taeho on codebreaking and Minseok on the final run. But I was very pleased to see Nopdong win after all their frustrations had been washed away. Much more satisfying ending than S1's brutal Madong win. And props to Madong for not crumbling this time and President Junho for running a tight ship.
 

Frunkle

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
769
PogChamp said:
The ending for SG2 was absolutely incredible.

I just am so amazed by everything that happened in Nopdong. Dongmin literally managed to get away with everything. All of the ill will that had built up against him simply dissipated once he threw in the towel. I genuinely think that this was all a play by him, on some level. He's smart enough to maneuver it like that. Stealing the money from Hakjin. All of the competitive drive from the other mental player. All of Dongmin's problems were swept away just like that. Also it was great that Hoegil didn't go to finals. Dude was a bit of an asshole.

The finals themselves, wow. Gravity Bingo was absolutely mad. Can't believe Dongmin choked that many times after his brilliant idea. Junho was fucking incredible! After this and the poker game he's waaaay up there in the power rankings. Good thing that the guy playing the bingo for Nopdong was an absolute god. Taeho choked a bit.

The second game Nopdong was always going to lose, Julien and Dongmin could never hold that imbalance.

Third game, wow Minseok choked hard. I was really surprised at the lineup they went with, to me you would always put Junho on the puzzle, Taeho on codebreaking and Minseok on the final run. But I was very pleased to see Nopdong win after all their frustrations had been washed away. Much more satisfying ending than S1's brutal Madong win. And props to Madong for not crumbling this time and President Junho for running a tight ship.
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Is s1 worth watching?
 
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