Squid Game

Seriously. All things considered, they're a pretty small and self-contained part. The main characters were brilliant in their roles. I guess good actors figured that having parts where they're wearing masks the whole time wouldn't get them much exposure. The pacing and character development were superb.

My God the actors who potrayed the VIP people cannot act. I cringed everytime they said a line. It felt like they were just reading them. Even the intonation was off. It was like when we were kids and had to read a play in class and we exagerated the intonation. Terrible, just awful.

The VIPs once again are execreble actors. The gravitas and emotion of the show are turned farcical as soon as these rejects from every grade 7 play start talking. Even their gestures are cringe worthy. Non English speaking directors can not distinguish bad acting from good in foreign actors. Test this theory on any film made anywhere at any time in a non English speaking country, which contains an "American" in it. Japanese flicks are notorious for this, even Kurosawa. Break out the ham. I can imagine the ads run in Seoul papers: "Foreign English speaking actors needed." And since last time I checked Seoul isn't L. A., the pool of trained, good, professional actors must run at about ZERO candidates. Show is great otherwise: The contrast between the quality of acting in these cheesy foreigners and the Korean cast couldn't be more obvious. LA London Toronto and Vancouver have loads of actors serving table who would be great. Think about it guys.

Just watched whole 9 episodes and my favorite was the 6th, Gganbu. Not perfect nor a masterpiece, but this is very well made and provides a certain level of emotional experience. The overall show was far beyond things that were shown in trailer. Very well directed, performed, and finding its own unique points from the genre mixture of various references such as Gambling Apocalypse : Kaiji, Battle Royale, and so on. Just hope all others enjoy this show not only in Korea but also everywhere!

Ps. Even to Korean ears, VIPs' English conversations were not well written nor performed. I think the drama could stand well enough without their presence and save the budget.

For someone who has seen Alice in Borderland and loved it, I see this series as a more mature and rawer version, without fantasies. Criticism of the capitalism of today's society, ironic how it turned out, becoming everything it criticized.

Decent 8/10.