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

[azeke]

The Genius was a South-Korean game show starring (SK) celebrities, politicians, comedians, professional players of poker, Go and even Starcraft. Each episode they play board games, math challenges, "werewolf/mafia" style social games to determine their next elimination until one last survivor remains. Rules are often complex and encourage players to band together in teams or to betray and spy for a riskier but more precious reward, or if you would rather "float by", you can join a big alliance and hope and everyone in there stays put and loyal.

TG, being Korean show, carries a lot of cultural baggage with specific societal norms, their own understanding of how people should behave on TV (more polite and considerate than on other "reality" tv shows) and Korean terms of respectful address. It's quite a lot to take all of this. Subtitled language, new faces, unusual names and customs, and games' challenges with math and constantly changing social dynamics require you to pay close attention.

However if you can get through all this what you get is the best game show ever made. The Genius is a combination of deep game design coupled with expert editing and unique characters that only a country like South Korea could have produced.

Most contestants are established celebrities and no one is that desperate for the final prize money. Overall it's a more civil and gentile show -- contestants only come once a week, gather for half a day, play games and go back to their lives until next week. There is no ugliness and stupidity caused by you sitting hungry and dirty on some remote location for several weeks.

Alliances are not set in stone and the player you've been against last episode might become your ally this time around. This is sometimes dictated by the rules (you got a "rebel", "criminal", "zombie" role to play) or just because you wanted to try working together with that person today.

Civil atmosphere and elaborate, balanced game design of the show creates some of the hypest moments in unscripted shows. One of the most memorable moments happens right in the first episode so you don't have to wait long until you get a glance at how devious and clever contestants can get.

Game design very purposely facilitates betrayals and collusion, it's a great playground for the wily-minded contestants to truly show their "evil mastermind" abilities. On the other hand, design is flexible enough to leave "tricks" for the smart loners to figure out and fight back against "the alliance".

First season alone features a colourful cast of players who approach games very differently: boss Gura, fierce Kyungran, sly and flamboyant Sangmin, his "apprentice" kpop idol Sunggyu, hapless Jinho.

If you're into Starcraft that last name might be familiar to you: Hong Jinho aka YellOw was a big Starcraft player back in the day. NaDa also shows up and Lim Yohwan is a contestant later.

After getting into the game you really start to appreciate players and their personalities and the best part for that is always the pre-match banter with contestants entering and sharing their takes on previous episode and lightheartedly sniping at each other.

After watching 3 seasons it was very satisfying to see all familiar characters coming together for an all-stars season 4, Grand Finale. The big players of Grand Finale compare themselves to The Avengers, and it's very apt because it really does feel like a crossover event of The Genius superheroes.

The Genius' logo, physical props (dice, cards, chips etc), rooms' interiors, dealers' suits -- all have the same "glamourous casino" style. To explain games' rules they use snazzy animations:

The set is designed like a mansion and is divided into several "rooms" so that people can mingle and collude secretly.

Each of the seasons' openings set up the theme of a season accompanied by "Melodie" by Idotape. Idiotape tracks are also used as bgm for rules segments and such.

As to other music, show belongs to South-Korean media conglomerate that owns rights to an assortment of music licenses, both Korean and international and most importantly -- soundtracks from Hollywood movies and shows. Using that, The Genius is copiously peppered by OST from Ocean's Eleven, Dexter, Jason Bourne, Pacific Rim and what have you.

Yet another distinguishing feature of The Genius is an editing. This is a game show that pulls twists on you. Many episodes flash forward to make viewer wonder how that situation came to be, or flash back to reveal a secret plan that was hidden from us until the end, usually accompanied by signature theme song. This show will teach you a Pavlovian reaction to stand up when you hear Moby's Extreme Ways or Skrillex's Bangarang because you will know a big move/twist is coming.

More reading about the show:

• Shut Up & Sit Down on The Genius
• Geek & Sundry
• Clavis Cryptica -- a good write-up focused on show's production aspect
• List of board games played on The Genius
• Some shmuck spent a lot of time recapping all episodes on tvtropes, what kind of crazy person would spend that much time doing such a stupid thing...

If listening is more your thing, there are a number of podcasts about the show:

• Dom and Colin podcast. They covered the entirety of the show and even now several years after, they still revisit specific episodes.
• GeniusCast by Scott and Mike. They talked about entirety of Grand Finale as it aired and interviewed 2 English speaking contestants after the series concluded. They since retroactively covered half of season 1.
• Rob Cesternino and Stephen Fishbach covered season 1 and season 2 (paid podcasts with first episode available for free).
• Nerdrotic podcast about the show (sadly they stop after episode 8)

Videos:
British fans' pitch to sell the show to UK broadcasters:


International trailer from tvN:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQem4x_JGIg

YOU CAN WATCH ENTIRE FIRST SEASON ON YOUTUBE (for now), so give it a try:
As of 2019 CJ entertainment has removed first three episodes, but episodes 4 and on are still there:

+ extra "behind the scenes" clips for season 1
+ season 1 cast cheatsheet

None of this would be possible without the work of glorious Bumdidlyumptious, mysterious fansubber who translated the show. The Genius is over but we will always be thankful to Bumdi for singlehandedly making international Genius fandom a thing.

 

[Larrikin]

What an amazing OP.

This is one of the best shows I've ever seen. So smart, so funny, so interesting. There were once rumors of a UK version but that was many years ago now and no news since.

Any Board Game enthusiasts or Survivor fans owe it to themselves to check this out. It's a perfect marriage.

 

[Phendrana]

Easily one of my favourite shows ever.

Season 1 > Season 2 > Season 3 >>> Season 4

It's weird to write it out like that, as aside from Season 4 I'd say I enjoyed the first three seasons relatively equally. Season 1 probably has the edge mainly due to it being the first and therefore having the most impact. I'd say Season 1 has the best cast, Season 2 is the funniest and Season 3 has the best games.

My reasons for disliking Season 4 are spoiler tagged:

Spoiler

The main issue I have with it is Kyunghoon. I seriously can't stand him. I never found him funny or entertaining in the slightest. He's annoying, he's fake and he flat out ruined the 'everybody gathers around the table' segments (which I *loved* in S1-3) by making them all about him. I know this might sound weird and hyperbolic, but I don't know what to tell you. I just really disliked him.

The problems do extend beyond Kyunghoon, though. Aside from Dongmin (and Sangmin to a lesser extent), everyone else was just plain worse than in their original seasons. Jungmoon was really bad. Yeonseung and Yoohyun were largely irrelevant again. I was disappointed that Yoonsun had pretty much the same run as in S2, with her being unable to integrate well. I was actually looking forward to Junseok being invited back for this as he was kinda the ultimate wildcard: he played reasonably well in S01E01 and didn't even really 'lose' a deathmatch, he was just voted out. I liked the idea of there essentially being a brand new personality on the season, so it was pretty disappointing to find out that he doesn't have one. He sucked the fun out of pretty much every scene he was in.

Hyunmin in particular was especially disappointing. He just lacked any of the charm he had in Season 3, and didn't even have any real moments of creative game solutions either. And what the hell happened to Jinho? Dude was out of it the entire time.

Aside from Sangmin hiding under the table, what are the good moments of Season 4? I seriously can't think of any. I'm not expecting this to be a popular opinion, but yeah - it just didn't work for me at all. I could go into more detail on all of this as well, but this is probably long enough.

 

[Windrunner]

Thank you OP, I will binge watch this over the weekend.

 

[Deleted member 21693]

I can confirm that this is the best tv show ever.

 

[mclem]

A fine show. I'd invite people who get into this to also consider Crime Scene, which effectively comes across as a cross between Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (Here's a crime, solve it) and One Night Werewolf (One of the participants is designated the murderer and trying to subvert the investigation process without revealing themselves)


I have been toying with the idea about whether there's enough gameshow interest on ERA for a gameshow OT; there's a lot of interesting shows out there that go a bit beyond the Jeopardys and Wheel of Fortunes of the world and I often felt back on GAF there were enough people interested that we could probably have had a unified place to talk and introduce people to the broader range of gameshows.

 

[Feep]

Really enjoyed Season 1. Never got to S2, 3, or 4, but I probably will one rainy Sunday.

 

[azeke]

Thank you OP, I will binge watch this over the weekend.

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Please do post updates if you can.

I've watched and re-watched, listened, read and wrote a lot about "The Genius", but reading people's first experiences still brings back all original emotions back. So i get to vicariously re-live the show like that.

A fine show. I'd invite people who get into this to also consider Crime Scene

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Crime Scene is fine but season 1 is unwatchable i think.

Honestly even when CS gets good it is still a very different type of show than TG (despite sharing some of the cast). Simply because of how murder mystery is designed they have to rig a lot of red herrings and motives for every single contestant to keep it interesting, so at times it feels like picking out real murderer is just a coin toss.

The best part of Crime Scene is not the intellectual part that The Genius was so good at but hilarious (over-)acting . Especially Park Ji-Yoon (♫fly me to the moon♫ ♥)

 

[mclem]

Crime Scene is fine but season 1 is unwatchable i think.

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One of the things I like about the way the few Korean shows I've seen have gone about it is that they seem to space out recordings and clearly listen to feedback and adapt to it (and from the perspective of the players, react and comment on it) as each series continues. You can see that clearly with CS in how they change quite a lot of things after a few episodes, and it becomes a significantly tighter production after they do so.

Honestly even when CS gets good it is still a very different type of show than TG (despite sharing some of the cast). Simply because of how murder mystery is designed they have to rig a lot of red herrings and motives for every single contestants to keep it interesting, so at times it feels like picking out real murdered is just a coin toss.

The best part of Crime Scene is not the intellectual part that The Genius was so good at but hilarious (over-)acting . Especially Park Ji-Yoon (♫fly me to the moon♫ ♥)

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Yes, I think that's fair. I'd argue that the bluffing aspect is where it has some similarities, but it's not directly the same thing; there's nothing quite like The Genius.

(One thing that's probably worth warning people: The Koreans don't do brevity!)

 

[apocat]

I've been meaning to watch this. Thanks for reminding me about it! Reading your description, I wonder if this show would work with more western participants. We've been indoctrinated on how to behave in reality tv for years, and this is not how we generally do it.

 

[roosters93]

yoooooooo awesome OP man and thanks for making a thread.

The Genius is my favourite show ever hands down. I think I originally heard of it on GAF (in the ausgaf thread) too funnily enough! I was blown away.
The Genius it could be said has had a profound impact on my life lol. I think I started watching it sometime in 2014 and at the same time I decided to go on exchange in university. So I was deciding where to go, while watching the Genius, and decided to go to South Korea. Stayed there about 4 months in the Fall of 2014 and loved it. Almost straight after my exchange (or after finding out about teaching in Asia perhaps) I decided and was determined that after graduating in 2015 I would go back to Korea. So in 2016 I moved to Korea and taught English and lived there for nearly 2 years, teaching and then studying Korean. Have a Korean girlfriend too. And while I'm currently back in my home country, Australia, and not entirely sure of my future career and where I want to settle down, even if I don't move back to Korea I will certainly be visiting there for the rest of my life hopefully every year or so. My interest in Korean culture started with The Genius and has expanded stupendously.

I just did a rewatch of the whole show in December/January too!

You guys know Society Game right? It's the show the producer of The Genius made afterwards. I think bumdidlyumptious subbed the first season and the second season was unsubbed mostly for a long while but I think finally people got together and subbed most of it. I watched it unsubbed already.

bumdidly subbed these recently, Hyunmin talking about The Genius. He also set up a twitch channel lol
Occasionally played with Jinho and Yohwan I think too

This show will teach you a Pavlovian reaction to stand up when you hear Moby's Extreme Ways or Skrillex's Bangarang because you will know a big move/twist is coming.

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haha such a good way to put it. Pavlovian reaction. exactly. the ost was amazing.

Each of the seasons' openings set up the theme of a season accompanied by "Melodie" by Idotape. Idiotape tracks are also used as bgm for rules segments and such.

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This was a cool interview with Idiotape about The Genius

NaDa also shows up and Lim Yohwan is a contestant later.

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When did NaDa turn up? I googled him but I don't remember seeing him...

Easily one of my favourite shows ever.

Season 1 > Season 2 > Season 3 >>> Season 4

It's weird to write it out like that, as aside from Season 4 I'd say I enjoyed the first three seasons relatively equally. Season 1 probably has the edge mainly due to it being the first and therefore having the most impact. I'd say Season 1 has the best cast, Season 2 is the funniest and Season 3 has the best games.

My reasons for disliking Season 4 are spoiler tagged:

Spoiler

The main issue I have with it is Kyunghoon. I seriously can't stand him. I never found him funny or entertaining in the slightest. He's annoying, he's fake and he flat out ruined the 'everybody gathers around the table' segments (which I *loved* in S1-3) by making them all about him. I know this might sound weird and hyperbolic, but I don't know what to tell you. I just really disliked him.

The problems do extend beyond Kyunghoon, though. Aside from Dongmin (and Sangmin to a lesser extent), everyone else was just plain worse than in their original seasons. Jungmoon was really bad. Yeonseung and Yoohyun were largely irrelevant again. I was disappointed that Yoonsun had pretty much the same run as in S2, with her being unable to integrate well. I was actually looking forward to Junseok being invited back for this as he was kinda the ultimate wildcard: he played reasonably well in S01E01 and didn't even really 'lose' a deathmatch, he was just voted out. I liked the idea of there essentially being a brand new personality on the season, so it was pretty disappointing to find out that he doesn't have one. He sucked the fun out of pretty much every scene he was in.

Hyunmin in particular was especially disappointing. He just lacked any of the charm he had in Season 3, and didn't even have any real moments of creative game solutions either. And what the hell happened to Jinho? Dude was out of it the entire time.

Aside from Sangmin hiding under the table, what are the good moments of Season 4? I seriously can't think of any. I'm not expecting this to be a popular opinion, but yeah - it just didn't work for me at all. I could go into more detail on all of this as well, but this is probably long enough.

Click to shrink...

I think Season 1 was the best and it was almost impossible to beat it.

Spoiler

Because it was so fresh and from Season 2 onwards the players had all watched the show already before they came. Plus changing the rules or some of the games was kind of a mixed bag resultswise I think. Plus the other seasons all kind of had alliances which ruined the whole seasons kinda. Whether they were unbeatable or ganging up on certain people etc
So I think Season 2 was the worst with the celebrities vs non celebrities and the whole Do Hee incident.

Spoiler

What is it about Kyunghoon you found fake? On the otherhand I thought he was quite genuine. Almost to a fault. He can't lie well, or spills his mouth unintentionally, reacts big etc. Maybe there were more times he seemed fake, but I would agree at least one time he seemed kinda fake was in his deathmatch with Sangmin where he pretended to make a mistake and begged Sangmin. But I guess that was just his strategy too.

I can see what you mean about Kyunghoon making it all about him, but I think it's a little unfair to blame him for it all. Like maybe he made it about himself sometimes but the others liked to talk about him then too a lot I think.

I agree Jungmoon was bad and I wish she wasn't in Season 4. Her story act (well it's not scripted but just calling it her "act" for the sake of it) was the most annoying part of Season 4 to me. Her double-crossing and stabbing everyone in the back constantly. It's fine to doublecross people but doing it everytime is just pointless and makes you untrustworthy. Which led to the unedifying display of her running around begging people until she eventually died.

 

[Gylgamesh]

One of the best reality shows around. It's a shame it never continued past Season 4.

 

[roosters93]

Thank you OP, I will binge watch this over the weekend.

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Hope you enjoy your first watch! I'm jealous of you watching it with fresh eyes lol

In case you get past Season 1, and also this could be useful for others too... here's a link to a post on The Genius subreddit which has links to watch The Genius Season 2,3, and 4 plus other shows related to The Genius (mostly/kinda)

I have been toying with the idea about whether there's enough gameshow interest on ERA for a gameshow OT; there's a lot of interesting shows out there that go a bit beyond the Jeopardys and Wheel of Fortunes of the world and I often felt back on GAF there were enough people interested that we could probably have had a unified place to talk and introduce people to the broader range of gameshows.

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That would be cool I think. I'd like to get into some more gameshows.

 

[azeke]

You guys know Society Game right? It's the show the producer of The Genius made afterwards. I think bumdidlyumptious subbed the first season and the second season was unsubbed mostly for a long while but I think finally people got together and subbed most of it. I watched it unsubbed already.

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I was actually involved in subbing two episodes (ep. 2 and 4) and it was frustrating too such a big delay because we didn't have a translated transcript for ep.3. At least now they're on good pace to finish season 2.

When did NaDa turn up?

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Scamming Horse Race (scroll to 9:30 for introduction):

I googled him but I don't remember seeing him...

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There is a reason you don't remember him: if you thought Jinho was socially awkward, Nada is like 10 times that. Compared to other nerd pro-gamers on the show Jinho is the most outgoing and outspoken by far (bonus props considering his speech).

 

[mclem]

I think Season 1 was the best and it was almost impossible to beat it.

Spoiler

Because it was so fresh and from Season 2 onwards the players had all watched the show already before they came. Plus changing the rules or some of the games was kind of a mixed bag resultswise I think. Plus the other seasons all kind of had alliances which ruined the whole seasons kinda. Whether they were unbeatable or ganging up on certain people etc
So I think Season 2 was the worst with the celebrities vs non celebrities and the whole Do Hee incident.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

I will say that one of the flaws of The Genius that became apparent later on is that in later series it did feel like it was more about playing your opposition than it was about playing the game. Which is perfectly valid and fits the series, of course, but it did mean that a number of quite interesting-seeming games didn't really have a chance to shine.

 

[Gio]

This is the best show I've ever seen. Thanks OP.

 

[Deleted member 21693]

So, uhm, completely hypothetically speaking, where has one to look for season 2 after bingeing through season 1 in two days? Asking for a friend.

 

[papermoon]

I watched The Genius S1 a few years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it. But it required all my concentration to watch. My Korean skills are super basic, so for a show like The Genius, English subs are a must. And because the games were so complex and the interpersonal relationships so relevant , if I looked away from the screen for a minute, I'd end up lost. So, I put off watching the remaining seasons because I couldn't spare the 18 hours of unadulterated focus needed for each season.

But - by chance - last year, I watched another Korean competition show - called The Society Game (seasons 1 and 2). Another fun show, much less demanding to watch in terms of requiring my undivided attention. There was a contestant on that show that appeared on later seasons of The Genius. Curious about how he did on The Genius, I ended up watching S4 over Christmas.

Discusses someone whom I'm glad didn't win season 4:

Spoiler

I'm blown away by how clever the players are. Especially Jang Dongmin. Not only do they have to understand and execute the rules of the game, but they have to forge alliances and fake them out and know when they're being faked out. It hurt my head to just watch sometimes. Kim Kyunghoon was an interesting character. He felt like a real "villain" to me, so it made the show interesting. Something about him felt so sleazy. (I know, I know, it's just a game.) Was relieved that he didn't win.

So, uhm, completely hypothetically speaking, where has one to look for season 2 after bingeing through season 1 in two days? Asking for a friend.

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roosters93 brought the hook up.

In case you get past Season 1, and also this could be useful for others too... here's a link to a post on The Genius subreddit which has links to watch The Genius Season 2,3, and 4 plus other shows related to The Genius (mostly/kinda)

Click to shrink...

 

[Deleted member 21693]

I watched The Genius S1 a few years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it. But it required all my concentration to watch. My Korean skills are super basic, so for a show like The Genius, English subs are a must. And because the games were so complex and the interpersonal relationships so relevant , if I looked away from the screen for a minute, I'd end up lost. So, I put off watching the remaining seasons because I couldn't spare the 18 hours of unadulterated focus needed for each season.

But - by chance - last year, I watched another Korean competition show - called The Society Game (seasons 1 and 2). Another fun show, much less demanding to watch in terms of requiring my undivided attention. There was a contestant on that show that appeared on later seasons of The Genius. Curious about how he did on The Genius, I ended up watching S4 over Christmas.

Discusses someone whom I'm glad didn't win season 4:

Spoiler

I'm blown away by how clever the players are. Especially Jang Dongmin. Not only do they have to understand and execute the rules of the game, but they have to forge alliances and fake them out and know when they're being faked out. It hurt my head to just watch sometimes. Kim Kyunghoon was an interesting character. He felt like a real "villain" to me, so it made the show interesting. Something about him felt so sleazy. (I know, I know, it's just a game.) Was relieved that he didn't win.

roosters93 brought the hook up.

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Thank you for destroying my productivity for the next week!

 

[ShaggsMagoo]

I just watched the first episode and this show is great. I think the sense of civility over the whole thing is way better than the shouting matches that would erupt if there was an American version.

 

[1000 Needles]

I could have used this all last week when I was stuck at home recovering from surgery! But seriously, you have me intrigued OP. Never heard of it before, but I'll check it out

 

[Deleted member 10737]

just watching the first episode. loving it, and everyone is so cute!

edit: finished.

Spoiler

wasn't that against the rules? taking someone's garnet?
what would have happened if he lost to both of them and they were 11-11?

 

[gozu]

Watch this shit. it's cool!

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10 minutes in. Yes it's cool, and yes I will watch it. Thank you for sharing Azeke! I wish I could favorite you or some shit for writing such a convincing OP ^_^

I have a feeling i'm going to end up totally hooked. Production values are good and the subs are on point.

 

[Jims]

Such a great show... Probably the best reality game show ever. People who like games and twist endings should check it out, it is seriously great.

I keep dreaming of this world where they do an American adaptation and it actually turns out good, but it's a stretch that they would be able to execute it properly. Each episode would need to be, like, 2 hours long for the format to work properly over here. From watching celebrities do other game shows (like The Mole or even Big Brother), it is clear there are some clever gamer types that would be good in this format. I just don't know how many Americans would actually get into such a game theory'ish kind of show.

Favorite episode is probably S4E4 Fish Shop. It's interesting in how the meta shifted immediately from how it was played in Season 2, and as a result, the presentation and editing of the game shifted in a really devious way. Ended up quitting my series rewatch here, because it felt like the peak, and the next episode was super infuriating.

Spoiler

I love Fish Shop because of the specific parties involved and the deception actually being performed. After awhile, you get used to looking for the twist on the show, actively searching for it... But the show had led us down a path of watching Dongmin/Hyunmin kinda bulldoze every game in so many episodes, it leads you into a false sense of security. And then toward the end of the game where the crisis is, "Oh no, we need to figure out how to save Dr. Yeonseung!" only to see everything flipped in the end. The technique was so simple they used, my jaw kinda dropped that I didn't realize what was happening. Bringing back Junseok was a really good move.

Also really love Open, Pass from Season 1, but y'all probably can imagine why. Such a great episode. :)

 

[Deleted member 21693]

I just watched the first episode and this show is great. I think the sense of civility over the whole thing is way better than the shouting matches that would erupt if there was an American version.

Click to shrink...

10 minutes in. Yes it's cool, and yes I will watch it. Thank you for sharing Azeke! I wish I could favorite you or some shit for writing such a convincing OP ^_^

I have a feeling i'm going to end up totally hooked. Production values are good and the subs are on point.

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The first episode is good. But it gets way better.

just watching the first episode. loving it, and everyone is so cute!

edit: finished.

Spoiler

wasn't that against the rules? taking someone's garnet?
what would have happened if he lost to both of them and they were 11-11?

Click to shrink...

Kyungran <3

 

[Deleted member 10737]

I just watched the first episode and this show is great. I think the sense of civility over the whole thing is way better than the shouting matches that would erupt if there was an American version.

Click to shrink...

i was thinking the same thing, if it was an american show there would have been way more drama and hair pulling.

edit: FUCK. the idea of the game for the second episode is SO GOOD.

 

[ShaggsMagoo]

After watching the second episode, some problems with the meta-game are starting to occur to me. Namely the big brother USA concept of "Backdooring" would make the early game incredibly boring with a group of players who know what they are doing. On mobile right now so I can go into more detail later.

 

[1000 Needles]

Just finished the first episode. The end when they reveal

Spoiler

Minseo's trickery with the garnet

was fantastic. Will definitely be watching more in the days to come, so thanks again OP!

 

[Deleted member 10737]

watching episode 2 now.

Spoiler

while i like betrayal as much as the next guy, i don't like to be kept in the dark as an audience. the whole episode showing one side planning an alliance and at the end saying sorry that was all bs. i would have preferred to know about both plans simultaneously.

 

[Deleted member 134]

Best reality game show in a long time. I really enjoyed it. It didn't have the hate filled drama a lot of the typical reality shows produce. Plus it was quite a smart game show. It's too bad it ended.

 

[Deleted member 21693]

Started season 2 and immediately remembered how much I disliked THAT person.

watching episode 2 now.

Spoiler

while i like betrayal as much as the next guy, i don't like to be kept in the dark as an audience. the whole episode showing one side planning an alliance and at the end saying sorry that was all bs. i would have preferred to know about both plans simultaneously.

Click to shrink...

Nuh, you wouldn't have all those twists then. This is like Conan or Phoenix Wright. Let the twists wash over you.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

Started season 2 and immediately remembered how much I disliked THAT person.



Nuh, you wouldn't have all those twists then. This is like Conan or Phoenix Wright. Let the twists wash over you.

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finished the episode. you're right, this is ace attorney levels of twists.

 

[Deleted member 21693]

finished the episode. you're right, this is ace attorney levels of twists.

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And you've seen nothing yet. NOTHING.
It's very scripted (as in the way and timing the events are presented) for a reason.

 

[Jims]

After watching the second episode, some problems with the meta-game are starting to occur to me. Namely the big brother USA concept of "Backdooring" would make the early game incredibly boring with a group of players who know what they are doing. On mobile right now so I can go into more detail later.

Click to shrink...

Don't worry, they get a little better as the series goes on about not letting every Death Match come down to only social dynamics. They still definitely sprinkle a bunch of them in there, but once they start introducing Death Matches that are pure skill/logic, the contestants try to avoid sending their own allies to the Death Matches.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Wow, this is really like what would happen if Togashi Yoshihiro would make a tv program.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

finished episode 3

Spoiler

minsooooo!
i have to admit i had no idea how the deathmatch game worked, and didn't fully get minsoo's strategy for the main game, but i really enjoyed this episode.

 

[natjjohn]

How does one watch this show?

 

[Deleted member 10737]

How does one watch this show?

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i'm using links from reddit that have been posted in this thread

 

[TheIlliterati]

When this show was posted about on the old forum I watch most of the first season and loved it...i forgot I never finished it! I should figure out were I stopped and go back. I'm sure I only had 3 or 4 episodes to go.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

finished episode 4

Spoiler

kyungran is my fave so far
fucking gura. that was a genius move to touch sunggyu and then change the bottles.
that ending and romantic montage ;_;

 

[Valkerion]

Only watched the first and maybe half of the second season, liked it more than I thought I would. The setup itself seems it bit overly convoluted at first but once the cast settles into the game and starts defining their roles its great. Think the issue with the next season was their inclusion of previous season members. While they were interesting it also made them a target so people just jumped on them. Also people being considered smart or powerful so to speak simply because they were an older guy got me each time, never thought they proved it, just playing out the role.

Enjoyed some of the drama and games though.

 

[Deleted member 21693]

S2E2 is brutal!

 

[azeke]

How does one watch this show?

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Entire first season is up on Youtube (for now), so give it a try:

+ extra "behind the scenes" clips for season 1
+ season 1 cast cheatsheet

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Spoiler

wasn't that against the rules? taking someone's garnet?

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Spoiler

Sangmin gave it back, sure in a roundabout way and deceiving Jinho on the way -- but he did gave it back.

Kyungran <3

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Kyungran is fantastic.

S2E2 ist brutal!

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You don't know the meaning of the word.

Yet.

Favorite episode is probably S4E4 Fish Shop.

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Amazing episode. I must say i am especially proud of the picture of the recap -- it captures such a perfect moment.

As to me, i am partial to auction based episodes. Bid Deal game, Minus Auction, Chain Auction -- are all very strong episodes with great showing from many players.

 

[Jims]

S2E2 ist brutal!

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Oh no!

As to me, i am partial to auction based episodes. Bid Deal game, Minus Auction, Chain Auction -- are all very strong episodes with great showing from many players.

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The Auction episodes are all great! Most partial to the classic Minus Option myself. Watching them chuck chips and into the center and bantering/bluffing each other is great. Ended up buying that No Thanks! card game because I wanted to try it out. In real life, people get so annoyed when you start deliberately milking people out of their chips.

Always wanted to try that Twelve Janggi game, even if it is such a simplified game from something like chess or real janggi. There's a raw elegant quality to it that is kind of appealing. Saw they were selling it as a kids game Let's Catch the Lion, but have never tried it myself.

 

[Deleted member 21]

Alright, after reading through the amazing OP I've decided to watch the first episode

I swear it has been a long ass time since I was this entertained by a show. Not only are the games themselves perfect for all kinds of betrayals and scumbag moves, but the way this show is edited adds a ton to the tension and very often leads to mindblowing moments.

Thank you OP - I'll watch all of this asap

 

[Phendrana]

Season 4 spoilers:

Spoiler

What is it about Kyunghoon you found fake? On the otherhand I thought he was quite genuine. Almost to a fault. He can't lie well, or spills his mouth unintentionally, reacts big etc. Maybe there were more times he seemed fake, but I would agree at least one time he seemed kinda fake was in his deathmatch with Sangmin where he pretended to make a mistake and begged Sangmin. But I guess that was just his strategy too.

I can see what you mean about Kyunghoon making it all about him, but I think it's a little unfair to blame him for it all. Like maybe he made it about himself sometimes but the others liked to talk about him then too a lot I think.

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Spoiler

It's been too many years since I watched to give you many specific examples, but most of his antics just didn't feel genuine to me. The whole barking and whimpering like a dog thing was awful. His character just didn't jive with me at all. You're right that I shouldn't put the blame entirely on him for making himself the centre of attention all of the time, but either way it still ended being the case. Given my dislike of him, it really brought down the season for me.

 

[KeRaSh]

What a coincidence to see this thread pop up today.
I've watched the first two and a half seasons years ago and I'm currently watching it again with a buddy during out lunch breaks. We're currently halfway through season 1.
Loved season 1 and 2. The cast was great. My favorites were probably Noh Hong-chul, Sangmin and Kyungran. Can't wait to reach season 2 with my friend to see some good old Noh Hong-chul foolery.

 

[Lucumo]

Watched season 1-3 after they aired, respectively. Thanks to me being a huge BW fan, Yellow appearing in season 1 put it on my radar and I thus watched and really liked it. Over time, the whole thing lost steam though and when season 4 rolled around and the others weren't as happy with that one, I didn't bother watching it (and accidentally spoilered myself anyway - thanks Wikipedia).

Season 1 > Season 2 > Season 3 >>> Season 4

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Pretty much this.

There is a reason you don't remember him: if you thought Jinho was socially awkward, Nada is like 10 times that. Compared to other nerd pro-gamers on the show Jinho is the most outgoing and outspoken by far (bonus props considering his speech).

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Really don't think Jinho is socially awkward. From what I've gathered, people are suprised at how relatively well-spoken he is and he also appeared as a guest in various shows as well as headed one with fellow contestant Jungmoon later on.

 

[Deleted member 21693]

S2E6. This episode is everything.

 

[Deleted member 6056]

Just saw how episode 1 ended. Holy shit that was a nice twist at the end. Lots of clever mind games going on to rig the main game to setup the deathmatch too. It all came together in the end too.

Spoiler

Right down to them ALL having been in on trying to put the guy they saw as the most clever in the deathmatch so they could rig it in alliance with the desperate loser of the main game to eliminate him as the real threat!

Fun twist...I'm aggressive as hell. I'd have told them ALL I had no intention of winning and that I wanted to go into the deathmatch. I'd have made the entire first match a negotiation so they'd have to allign with me in order to have me choose who I wanted to play in the deathmatch. Then its win or lose. They either choose to have an aggressive player like me as an ally or eliminate me and keep the other guy. I'd play it out and see which way it went just for the hell of it.

Spoiler

Double twist...had I been the last guy to choose the fate in the deathmatch...I'd have chosen to eliminate both of them. I'd play paper on the rock guy and scissors on the paper player. Then the streaks would be a tie. They either eliminate both or I force someone else to decide the match in a do over on the winning streak game making me exempt from any alliances in the next round and making a little chaos in the process. I have no intention of playing fair or for friendships. I'm there to fan the flames of everyone else to see how hard I can make folks turn on each other and to see how many folks begin to view me as a wildcard to offer favors and garnets so I dont throw wrenches into plans just to reign down more chaos on everyone.