‘The 8 Show’ Review – ‘Squid Game,’ This Is Not

The big picture

• The show 8
  differs from
  Squid Game
  which offers a darker and more comedic version of a dangerous game.
• The series struggles with misplaced humor, underdeveloped characters, and predictable action.
• The show 8
  it's more engaging when it resembles an actual reality show, but often indulges in senseless violence and childish humor.

If there's anything we've learned in recent years from productions like this one parasite i Squid Game, is that South Korea sure has a lot to say about capitalism in its current state. From the enormous disparities of class to the humiliating limits to which people must push themselves in order to have enough money to live a decent life, these productions confront the agony of the system in its late state with courage and intelligence. Now, this canon receives the addition of a new project from South Korea that aims to point out the worst aspects of inequality, labor exploitation and poverty. Based on the webtoons money game i Cake gamefor Bae Jin-soo, The Netflix ones The show 8 is a dark comedy that sees eight strangers locked in an unknown place where they must compete in a progressively more extreme game to get away with the most money possible.

From the first moment, it is impossible not to look at this synopsis and remember it Squid Gamethe death game series that stormed Netflix in 2021 and will have a second season in 2024. However, while the comparison remains inevitable throughout the entirety of the show's eight episodes, The show 8 manages to differentiate itself. For starters, the rules of the game are different: instead of a sponsored bloodbath, contestants find themselves having to win more and more time in the “arena” so that they can each walk away with a larger sum of money. The basic scenario is much more like a reality show like Big Brother than a playground version of the hunger games. Then there's how both shows handle their characters and plots. By opting for a smaller cast and a more comedic tone, The show 8 it avoids being too similar to its predecessor, instead becoming something entirely different.

'The 8 Show' doesn't know who its audience is

Unfortunately, despite showing a lot of promise in its first few minutes, The show 8 he loses his point quickly, mostly because of his often misplaced humor and the way he treats his ensemble. Poop jokes abound even as the show begins to take a darker turn, and as physical and psychological torture becomes the norm within the strange apartment complex where our heroes and villains live, we have to wonder who this series was made for. The comedy feels like something out of Nickelodeon in the early 2000s, albeit with some spicier undertones, but the rest of the action feels like a tamer version of the saw franchise Surely, there must be an audience for this specific mix of items, but we're not sure who that audience is.

Then there's the ensemble cast, whose characters are known only by their apartment numbers. First floor (Bae Seong-woo) is a circus performer with a limp and a heart of gold, while Second Floor (Lee Joo-young) is a hardened woman with a strict moral code. Fourth floor (Lee Yul-em) is the innocent, wide-eyed girl next door, on the fifth floor (Moon Jeong-hee) is an old woman who just wants everyone to get along, sixth floor (Park Hae-joon) is a brutal man without morals, seventh floor (Park Jung-min), a mysterious intellectual, and finally eighth floor (Chun Woo-hee) is a scaly woman who uses her sexuality as a weapon and may not be as dim as she seems. If these descriptions make the characters sound a little one-dimensional, that's because they are. We won't tell you who the bad guys are, but let's just say you can guess from the moment they appear on screen. Very little time is spent exploring these characters in their complexitiesand as a result, it doesn't feel like we're seeing real people fighting for their lives on screen, but simply walking talking stereotypes.

You may have noticed that we didn't mention the third floor (Ryu Jun-yeol) yet. Although the cast works primarily as an ensemble, The third floor is The show 8the protagonist indeed. He's the one whose life story ultimately brings us into the game, as well as the one whose thoughts we hear in voiceover form. Essentially, it serves as a guide to the world of The show 8. The problem is that it's not a very interesting guide. A blank slate onto which we're supposed to project ourselves, Third Floor has virtually no personality, which ends up making it a very boring protagonist. Far from insightful, his narrative is often redundant, telling us things we've already realized on our own.

'The 8 Show' doesn't know what to do with its resources

In a series with so much math, where time is money in the most literal sense of the senses, sometimes we need an explanation of what additions and subtractions are going through everyone's brains. However, we don't really need a voice telling us that characters are being exploited when we can clearly see with our own eyes that they are. This is just a symptom of a bigger problem The show 8. The series uses many stylistic devices to make itself more interesting and attractive, but does not know how to use them. In the first episode, there are inexplicable silent movie title cards all over the place indicating the passage of time and stuff. These title cards disappear completely in the following episodes, returning only in the finale.

There are cases, of course, where these stylistic elements lead to something interesting, such as the change in aspect ratio when the characters enter their new home, indicating a broadening of their perspective just as the his universe is shrinking. However, most of the time, they are almost as pointless as the violence we are forced to witness. If you have already seen the trailer for The show 8, you know things are about to get pretty intense, no matter how quiet the first episode is. And for a moment, the violence makes sense, saying something and impacting us. However, after a while, it feels repetitive and pointless. Maybe that's the point. It can be argued that violence is always pointless and that we have become so used to it that it just bores us. Still, he doesn't feel like it The show 8 has nothing to say through its increasingly dehumanizing dynamic. Instead, he seems to be indulging in misery porn.

'The 8 Show' is strongest when it feels like an actual reality show

The problem here is that there is a secret audience watching the match taking place The show 8, an audience that determines how much time the contestants will have to spend in that location. The cycle of violence they eventually fall into is the result of this audience wanting more and more entertainment from them. Violence and humiliation, The show 8 he tells us, in a somewhat superficial critique of reality television and influencer culture, equals entertainment. But if we, on this side of the Netflix screen, are not entertained, why are the viewers invisible in the story? The show 8 he's pointing out something he doesn't know how to criticize properly. Instead of making the gradual transition from the usual reality show dynamic to something more disturbing, forcing its viewers to revel in the degradation of its characters without realizing it, the series makes a sudden shift from normal to a blood bath that is sure to make you instantly. uncomfortable

The bigger question is: Why the hell are we seeing this? Why the hell would anyone watch this? It's hard to understand, except for the few times when The show 8 it resembles a real reality show. When the characters have to come together to vote on who will be responsible for the trash, something happens that is fascinating to watch: we see their personalities working with and against each other, and that's what brings people down. love with influencers and reality show contestants. We feel as if we know them, as if they are our friends or our enemies. We don't just want to see them humiliate themselves or others, we want their stories. This connection is quite difficult to achieve a show that, for most of its run, doesn't even bother to name its characters.

All episodes of The show 8 are available to stream on Netflix in the US

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