[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The 8 Show" Episode 3

On the seventh floor, we have a calculating, bespectacled man generally referred to as 7 (played by Park Jung-min). Unlike 8, who whimsically selected the eighth floor at random, we see in his prologue that 7 very deliberately picked the highest number still available to him. Additionally, 7 didn't hesitate at all going to his room to examine the rulebook, and quickly deduced that the "pool" was just a trick of fluorescent light. Not coincidentally, Phillip takes on a leadership role in the present story, developing an equitable system to keep the show going.

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This all follows up on the plot twist of the second episode cliffhanger- that climbing stairs does not, in fact, add time to the countdown. Rather, putting on a good show is what adds time to the countdown. This is subjective and arbitrary, and it's unclear how really aware 8 was that this was the case when she posited her very silly stairs theory. But there's no question that 8 easily grasps the spirit of the game in a way that 7 struggles with.

Where does any of this leave our nominal lead character, 3? Well, amusingly enough, that's the main conflict. 3 quickly realizes that he's at a big disadvantage when it comes to crowd-pleasing nature of the game, because he really is quite boring, and almost entirely passive even when it comes to trying to figure out how to justify his presence to the other seven people that he's living with.

This subtext, that still has yet to be seriously questioned, underscores the entitlement that defines pretty much every character, not just the three I've already profiled. It isn't enough for them to work together. They have to work together in equal portions, and anyone who can't or won't work together in equal portions is presumed both by themselves as well as the people around them to be a freeloader.

The big irony about 7, though, is that he's actually quite similar to 3 is that he tends to blend into the background. No one really questions 7's interests and motivations because however they cut it, he's a far more benevolent figure than 8. And this has helped him to obscure a very important fact- like 7, he has more, and he earns more, than every other character. So when he stoops down to their level, it's not out of solidarity, but because he needs them a lot more than he lets on.

Written by William Schwartz

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"The 8 Show" is directed by Han Jae-rim, written by Han Jae-rim, Lee Jenny, Song Su-rin, and features Ryu Jun-yeol, Chun Woo-hee, Park Jung-min, Lee Yul-eum, Park Hae-joon, Lee Zoo-young. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2024/05/17, Fri on Netflix.