Episode 5

Up to this point we've had a survival ordeal run by unseen forces who've given no knowledge of the ground rules, number of victim/players or endgame. Farfetched, but intriguing and well-staged. Suddenly, we find what's left of our protagonists thrust into a Lord of the Flies subculture, run by a low-rent Japanese version of a Gary Oldman megalomaniac who pontificates and rambles on with his backstory worse than any Bond supervillain. And where the Hell did all those fellow players come from? How could we and the series stars we've been watching not have run across more of them in the desolate environs of this de-populated Tokyo?

My patience and empathy levels have plummeted, as may my rating for the series.

Arisu and Usagi are on their quest to find The Beach. They find it, or, more precisely, its occupants find them. The Beach turns out to be an idyllic resort, now a haven for most of the game's competitors. The colony is ruled by The Hatter who has a plan to escape the game and the alternate world they're in.

A change of direction, and it's mostly for the better. Until now the series was threatening to become formulaic, every episode involving Arisu, and whomever his current temporary companions, are competing for survival in the latest game. Getting to the beach is a welcome change of direction and presents hope as well as new challenges.

Therein lies the negative side in that The Hatter and his community present a hindrance as much as help to Arisu and Usagi so it feels a bit like two steps forward, two steps back.

I liked the twist on the storyline. The story is adapting, growing, changing, as most should.

The QB changes the game during the last seconds before the snap.

Wow, not sure how it will be but I'm really appreciating the way this show keeps changing, the perfect way to keeps a person attention alive. Maybe is a little pushed hard about the fact that literally everything is about the main character, but still is appreciable. Let's see the remaining episodes!

Huge, HUGE plot holes occur in this episode. They're so glaring it made the episode hard to enjoy. Strangely enough, I accepted the "empty parallel tokyo play games to survive" premise better than the whole story arch of the "The Beach." You can skip the whole senseless monologue at the end, btw.