[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The 8 Show" Episode 5

To the extent "The 8 Show" has a villain, 6 (played by Park Hae-joon) is the best candidate. Sure, 8 has the position of the greatest power, and has turned the titular show into a living hell for the other players based largely on her own sociopathic impulses. But 8 herself mainly toys with and bullies people because she gets away with it. The other seven characters could have easily forced 8 to submit to the democratic election about waste disposal by destroying her door. They chose not to.

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To the contrary. The fourth episode was effectively about their passively acceding to 8's whims and not even attempting to explore more antagonistic solutions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 8's dictatorship mostly just consisted of juvenile interpretations of the King's Game, wherein participants at a party draw random lots. The "king" who selects such lots issues arbitrary commands to people who selected mere numbers, not having any idea who will be receiving the commands.

The final conflict of the fourth episode involved characters realizing that 8's King's Games were being rigged, and turning the tables so that they were rigged against 8 for a change, and 8 was unwilling enough to acknowledge the deceit that she was mere inches away from being graphically tasered. But it was 6, in the end, who rescued 8, and who serves as the enforcer throughout the fifth episode where all pretense of equality is stripped from the artificial social system of "The 8 Game" as 4, 6, 7, and 8 force 1, 2, 3, and 5 to endure vicious games without no notion that the higher level characters will suffer equal penalties.

What's intriguing about 6's thuggish behavior is that he seems to be the only character throughout the fifth episode with the wherewithal to actually enforce his own brutal rules. Even 8 bristles a bit at the idea of actually having to taser someone at the climax. In a particularly noteworthy moment, 6 realizes, as 7 does, that there's limits to how far the lower four characters will allow themselves to be tortured. 6 is smarter than he looks, yet not as smart as he thinks.

Something I realy like about "The 8 Show" is just how good its characters are about rationalizing. The perspective of characters like 6 isn't especially sympathetic, but it's totally logical. Just as a matter of fact, the higher numbered characters have a superior position, and every character wants to see the game continue for as long as possible. That 6 deliberately destroys the means by which other characters could change their mind, well...that just inevitably leads to this episode's cliffhanger.

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.