Liar Game

Liar Game

8/10

Liar Game 

Genre:                                   Episodes: 12                                   Year: 2014

Mystery

Thriller

Synopsis:

Nam Da Jung is a college student who is constantly working part-time jobs in order to pay off her missing father’s debts. She is cast in a reality program called ‘Liar Game’ where the contestants must manipulate and trick one another to gain prize money, with the grand prize being 10 billion won. Pressured by her debt collector and tempted by the prize money, Da Jung joins the show but performs poorly as she is a terrible liar. She enlists the help of a genius psychology professor, Ha Woo Jin, who has just been released from prison, and together the two enter the game.

Cast:

Lee Sang Yoon (Cha Woo Jin)

Kim So Eun (Nam Da Jung)

Shin Sung Rok (Kang Do Young)

Jo Jae Yun (Jo Dal Goo)

Lee El (Jaime/Oh Jung Ah)

Lee Shi Hoo (Choi Sung Joon)

General Thoughts:

This drama is 'Survivor' on steroids in the best kind of way. It packs a solid punch. Each episode is jammed with plot twists, character reveals and major developments. I’ve not seen the Japanese drama or read the manga, so I can’t compare, but wow- what a drama.

Top notch ensemble

The three main stars are incredible and completely embody their characters. I thought Shin Sung Rok had brought the creepy in ‘My Love from the Stars’, but here in ‘Liar Game’ he’s taken it to a whole other level. Lee Sang Yoon smashes it as the brilliant, damaged man who somehow becomes a hero, and Kim So Eun delivers a likeable, if not haphazardly stupid, heroine and manages to avoid coming out irritating.

Our adorable, yet intimidating hero

The plot flowed smoothly from each episode to the next, giving a gradual, intense build up to the final episodes. It holds onto most of its secrets until the very last moment in the very last episode (though some secrets are left unanswered). Every character is thoroughly thought out, given enough backstory to know how they got to where they are and why they act the way they do, but you’ll never know how they’ll act next. Somehow the writers manage to avoid dishing the whole story all at once. We are given the information we need in tiny, bite-sized pieces that not only enhance our understanding of the plot and our characters, but open a whole new world of possibilities and conspiracies. Every minute has you on the edge of your seat and leaves you with goosebumps. The soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to the drama and has a creepy, yet elegant ‘Death Note’ kind of vibe.

What Was Great:

The Thrills:

For a drama that doesn’t have a whole lot going on visually, there’s a heap of tension jammed into every scene. The danger is always very present- even if we as viewers don’t even know who the real threat is. It’s damn near impossible to predict our hero’s next move, let alone the outcome of the whole drama. Watching the two male leads psychologically battle it out was both riveting and anxiety-inducing, particularly when our hero seemed to be on the back foot so often.

Surprisingly action-packed for an actionless drama

There’s no huge physical fights, no dramatic car chases or getaways- and yet it’s one of the most exciting dramas. What’s more threatening than having your enemy right in front of you, with no way to beat them and no knowledge of why they are your enemy in the first place? Especially when he’s a diabolical mastermind trapped by his 10- year old self’s memories? Temptation, manipulation and betrayal- though all the brainpower will probably leave you feeling like a big ol’ dummy.

The Evil:

Just a glimpse at how creepy our villain was

Oh, Shin Sung Rok. You should only do villains. All of them. Forever. Though it might be cute (and hilarious) to see you be the hero in a rom-com. Shin Sung Rok blows everyone else out of the water. He’s a complete show stealer and nails the broken, psychologically-scarred sociopath far better than any healthy man really should. There are so many scenes where he actually scared me- no joke. From his tiny facial movements to his gameshow host façade- everything was done with complete conviction. His slow spiral into madness, or at least the gradual reveal of his madness, is captivating and terrifying and embodies all things a good villain should be. His character is so meticulously mapped out and we all get a weird sense of joy and horror at watching his story unfold and his motives become clearer.

Psychotic, terrifying and....strangely appealing

Wising Up:

Yay for Da Jung not being stupid the ENTIRE time

I understand the reasoning behind Nam Da Jung being the innocent trusting character. 1- it’s just who she is, some people are like that. 2- if she wasn’t like that there would be no drama. A huge part of this drama is watching the two conflicting ideologies of our main stars. Da Jung- who wants to (and does) trust in people, and Woo Jin- ‘Never. Trust. Anyone.’ While at (many) times it was frustrating to see Da Jung fall for tricks and manipulations that were so obviously a trap, it was understandable why she did. Because her fundamental underlying belief is that people can be trusted. Which works wonders on the redemption arc for Jamie. At first she was a despicable, easily hateable character who kept deceiving and betraying our heroine. However, as Da Jung continues to trust Jamie, while Do Young continues to betray her, we see Da Jung’s continued trust start to pay off as Jamie first works with them, and eventually completely betrays Do Young. Through the first few stages of the game Da Jung blindly trusts everyone, and suffers for it. It’s only with the help from Woo Jin that she doesn’t get eliminated with a huge amount of debt to pay off. However, towards the later stages of the game, it’s fantastic to see that Da Jung is coming to realise that maybe not everyone is to be blindly trusted.

Choosing the exact wrong time to get suspicious

She is suspicious of the Director turned MC when he tries to turn her against Woo Jin, and downright doesn’t believe a word Young Do says. And yet she still manages to retain her innocent trusting nature in the way she completely believes in Woo Jin- even if there was a slight hiccup there. Yay for our heroine smartening up!

Makeshift Family:

I love little families of underdogs and outcasts in K-Dramas. It’s lovely to watch our little family begin to grow. We start with Nam Da Jung and Jo Dal Goo- her debt collector that cares for her more than any debt collector should.

Both the best, and worst, debt collector ever

They have a sweet brother-sister relationship going right from the get go, with him not caring too much that she can’t give him money, and her cooking for him whenever he demands it. We all clue in pretty early that this ajusshi is no threat to our heroine. And can we all just take a moment to appreciate that this is one of the sweetest, heart-tugging relationships in K-Drama ever? Thank you. Then Cha Woo Jin joins in with his frozen exterior, pretending he doesn’t care and he’s only in it for the game- which no one believes. Throughout the drama we see his affection for Da Jung grow enormously, aided by her similarities to his dead mother and his guilt that he played some part to her and her father becoming buried in debt. Then we pull in Sung Joon, who’s a bit wishy-washy and not the tightest member of our little family, but he’s definitely one of the cutest. By far the most interesting and satisfying addition was Jamie. Watching her character develop was simply stunning. Even though she was constructed as a betrayer at heart, it made sense that this warm family-like atmosphere that she herself said felt so weird and unfamiliar eventually won her over.

Forget Dad- these boys are infinitely better

It was a strange, heart-warming group of individuals who banded together out of desire and desperation, who eventually come to love and support one another. I think many of us would have been quite happy if loser dad never came home and our family of misfits lived together forever.

Sung Joonie Lives:

I was so mad when it looked like they were going to kill Choi Sung Joon off- but puppy lives! This was one of the only parts of the show that I could see through. Don’t believe a K-Drama death until you see a funeral. Or better yet- a body.

Moral of the story: don't lose hope until you see a corpse

What Wasn’t:

Final Showdown:

After 11 episodes of dramatic perfection and an intense build-up to the finale, I must admit, I was expecting something epic.

He wants to play a game

But while episode 12 manages to deliver heart racing dramatic tension through the use of just one hidden bullet, the answers to the questions we’ve been asking all drama long are not given to us. While it was interesting to watch what occurred between the three of them when they were children, it gave us no insight on who was behind so severely damaging Young Do. What the drama did perfectly was explain the motivations behind our villain’s actions. Keeping in tune with what he had been telling contestants throughout all the games, Young Do had less than no interest in what the actual truth of the past was. He simply firmly believed his own perception of truth- which was that Woo Jin and his mother knowingly sold him, which lead to his involvement in the Walden Two Project. It also makes sense that he wanted to be shot, to finish his involvement in the game- both the game that the three played when they were children, and the game the Walden Two creators are apparently still playing. But there are still great big gaping holes in our story. What even is Walden Two? Who’s behind Walden Two? What does Walden Two want to achieve? How was Do Young creating Liar game with Woo Jin and Da Jung his attempt to try and bring Walden Two down from within?

Basically my reaction to that last episode

When the episode ended and none of those questions had even been touched on, it was beyond frustrating. Not enough to ruin the drama, but after 11 fantastic episodes of near-perfection, it was a shame to leave with a bit of a sour taste. Look, I understand that they wanted to leave it open with the possibility of a season 2- that was obvious from the little snippet of Do Young escaping and beginning a second, underground Liar Game, but that in itself is annoying. Don’t write your story for the amount of episodes you want. Write it for the amount of episodes you have. If you get a season 2, awesome- work hard and give us new mysteries or further explore the old ones. Because now that it’s looking there won’t be a season 2 all you have is a fantastic drama that answers none of its own questions with a rather ambiguous ending.

I'm still holding out for Season 2 though

No Love:

No love was promised, and no love was given. But there were so many sparks between our two main leads. So many! It seems almost impossible that there could be that much chemistry flying between them only to end the show with a hand hold. And not even a romantic one- he’s helping her off the ground. Boo hoo we all wanted it.

Kim So Eun is 2 inches away from her best day ever

Oh wait, I lied- Dal Goo and Jamie sure looked like they were off to start their own little loveline.

Failure Father:

Just....egghhh

So Da Jung’s father has run away and left her to be harassed by debt collectors so he can ‘get a job and make money’. Sure, whatever. In every scene we see him in he’s just drinking soju and watching TV- on which his only daughter is having a terrible time getting used and potentially mentally scarred just so he can come home. Doesn’t look like trying to get a job to me. Oh, and let’s not forget that he once tried to sell her for medical expenses. Can I be the one to call ‘worst father ever’? So she didn’t actually get sold, but it was damn close. Da Jung was nearly shipped off to the same experiment that turned Do Young into such a loon. Even if that money had saved his wife (which it probably wouldn’t have), I don’t think she would’ve been best pleased knowing that you sold her only child so she could live. Dumbass.

Re-watch?

Sadly, while the ending didn’t ruin the whole drama, it did kill any desires for wanting to watch it again. While the first 11 episodes stand as incredible, thought-provoking material, I couldn’t go in again knowing that I’d get no answers at the end.

I need Season 2. I need it.