I BINGE WATCHED IT (IN 3 DAYS) AND WOULD TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT !
I already knew the series before even knowing it because I’ve read the webtoons from which it was adapted (money game and pie game by bae jin soo and both available on the WEBTOON app if y’all want !). I’ve waited for so long for that series to be released and two days ago, on the first day I started watching and immediately recognized the essence of these WEBTOONs : I clicked when I saw the money counters in the rooms.
But in this review I won’t deal with whether it’s a loyal adaptation or not !

I love the concept of showing us rough yet realistic things using this series because eventhough everyone knows a group of people can’t stay still for a long period of time especially when money is involved, writers found a way to make it entertaining AND realistic. They showcased how people would grow greedy and the toughests will ended ruling and that’s what the show demonstrated ! We saw gradually, as each episode went by, the downfall of the serenity, the downfall of each character !

(Btw I loved how each episode -the intro and the first minutes- was always dedicated to one character, to getting to know them better, their lore).

The fact that the levels of the flats and the space of which each person disposed of was a reflect of society is even more deep in my opinion.

The characters winning time from being progressively violent to each other (they quickly went from the ´cute ´ version of the king game to tasering each other then hitting each other with bats…) was also accurate considering humans under pressure and with the illusion of gaining money would do anything.

Also, don’t get fooled by the synopsis that might make you think of squid game ! I’ve watched both and they have nothing in common except them showing humans being greedy, being guided by their will of money, to escape their debts !

Besides, I might sound weird or psycho but a few parts in the show really made me smile or giggle out of nowhere 😭

Before I break down why I did like or not each character, I would like to say the intro and especially the song used is such a good idea. And that part where it speeds up is genuinely addicting, I don’t know why !

The acting/ the cast : I loved them all. Every one did such a good job, for example floor 1´s actor playing the pitiful character, floor’s 7 playing the intelligent one and helper to turn his back afterwards or even floor’s 8, who really embodies the apparently naive yet very controlling and manipulative character ! I also saw people boycotting ryu Jun yeol because of what’s going on with Han so hee and tbh I still don’t get the goal of this (I don’t support him dating shortly after breaking up especially if it’s to date Han so hee tho) but I respect your choices .

The characters :
- Floor 1 : I don’t know why but I adore him so much and from the beginning ! He is so sweet and caring but he also knows why and how to step up for himself ! I was gladly surprised by his performance during the talent show lol ! 😭
He is so talented as a clown and mime ! May he rest in peace because even when he lost it, he stayed human in a way !
I loved him so much 😭❤️.

- Floor 2 : That woman is so badass and doesn’t let someone else decide for her (ex : before the vote for to decide about who will get to keep in their room everyone’s feces). Maybe once or twice she would lightly lowers under the pressure but she always knows how to bounce back.

- Floor 3 : He seems rather realistic and by that I mean he always let what others will think of him and how he might looks like to them rule how he acts (ex : when he helped floor 1 during the days they had to go up and down the stairs to gain time or even when they had to write down the amount of pieces they want and the only condition was them receiving the amount they were willing for if the addition of what everyone wrote made the number they would have to partake from the beginning. Another example would be him choosing to get tasered to not look like a depraved or even him refusing floor 8´s favors for the same reason).

- Floor 4 : I hate that woman so much I swear ! Her trying to sound ´cute ´ with this voice really pisses me off to be fair… As well as floor 8. It feels too unnatural to me.
Then her character in itself is so much self-centered ! She acts like a clueless and naive character but when the leaders stand out she would willingly follow them and harass the others ugh.
- Floor 5 : I don’t know what to think of this woman to be honest lol. She felt like if we had to choose a not-so-well-written character, it would have been her but she was cute among all those people. It was funny seeing her always hitting at not being bothering doing spicy things etc..
She might looks stupid, naive etc… but she’s actually the most human among them ! And her avenge against floor 6 was so good !

- Floor 6 : This man is so exhausting. He is one of the reasons of why everything went downhill… He thinks with his d!ck and his knuckles to put it down mildly… I really hate him. BUT at least he paid tribute to floor 1 by sending flowers and not coming to his funeral after all he did to him !

- Floor 7 : I had faith in him is all I can say… BUT he still is my favorite character because even when we thought he would continue betraying he would end up helping. Overall he was a really good character, loyal even when he was threatened with a gun by floor 6 for example. The only time he deceived me was a moment of weakness compared to other characters (esp 6,4,8 that will always be the real villains to me !).
- Floor 8 : Even if I hate this woman I have to admit SHE is the QUEEN here. She controls everything eventhough she might seems naive and stupid at first sight (what the actress really embodied !) !
For example, when she got them changing the politics after they voted her off to be the one keeping everyone’s trash and then she punished them and got them waiting for food and water for days. Or even escaping the taser’s sentence and then with the help of inferior floors (7,6 and 4), taking the lead other the others.

I loved her duality despite her being a really despicable person in herself. Maybe the system of winning money being different (the sound of money won per minute being different from a floor to another) etc… but once again the series reflects society and it’s difficulty !

The 8 that is a number really present in the series even in the title is really symbolic to me. It is showed as the number of the power (floor 8 is in a way the powerful one here) but also symbolizes how this game is made for no one to get out. They are stuck in for infinity (if you turn the 8 to the side it looks like the infinity sign ♾️) since there will always be someone who will want to stay in due to their greed (like floor 1 did and really disappointed me on this eventhough I always had the feeling he was the one who did these horrible things to elongate the time they will have to stay in). There will always be also the powerful one deciding and stopping everyone to get out just for their interests as floor 8 did. I was genuinely scared and horrified by how far she went for her own pleasure (depriving many from sleep and forcing floor 5 and 4 to heal everyone and keeping them ´enough ´ alive to keep the game going on)….

At ep 6, I remember how I was so glad floor 2 said louder what I always thought of, leaving since everything was for once going on good but then floor 1 destroyed everything for what ??? Changing room. My jaw dropped at him explaining why he always wanted those 1 billion just to change room 😬.

I loved their revolution otherwise because the whole time (approx. 160 hrs) by themselves without those toxic leaders, they were genuinely enjoying each other’s company and living life ! I was so relieved at first when they were 10 hrs from the liberation but guess what 😭💀.

Btw something doesn’t click : weren’t they not supposed to not be out of their rooms from midnight to 8 in the morning ?? because at the end (from ep5/6 to the end) they kept doing that 😭.

Watching the show made me feel like those psychos that were watching from behind the cameras. Idk the way it’s filmed, the POV we had in each single of those episodes made me feel that way.

The end got me so emotional and everything ended ´well ´ in a way. May Floor 1 rest in peace !
Would have liked to see floor 7 at the funeral but he did something really important on his side as well !

To sum up, my faves were floor 1,2,3,5 and 7 !
The question is why didn’t they buy something after the two first months they decided to stay ? They could have used the amount of time the creators kept adding so that at one point the time would have came to 0 yk…

I know I wrote so much. If someone has read that much then congrats lol !