Key points
Released in 2024
IMDb rating - 7.5/10
Rotten tomato - 71%
Overview
The show is based on the concept of money, games and pie-game.
The show is set as a live game that has 8 participants, each entertaining the public/ audience to increase the time they can on the show.
The longer they stay on the show the price money will increase accordingly for each player.
Each player is destined to win prize money, so technically, the participants are not competing but must work together to entertain the audience.
Each episode begins with each character's backstory and how they are different from their character inside the show.
The show has the audience hooked with its unique concept of games.
One of those points is their names i.e. the players, are called by their floor names to keep their outside personal life hidden.
The show clears the basic rules with loopholes of the game in the very beginning like
Food and water will be provided ( doesn’t specify how many times)
You can buy anything you want within the room ( but at a special price, additionally those things cannot be taken out of the room.)
Items used in the outdoor area can be bought from “the square” ( each purchase leads to a deduction of the time)
You cannot block the camera (the camera holds all the power)
Let's break down each participant by the name of their floors and know their relevance to the story and life.
FIRST FLOOR
Bae Seong-woo played the role of the first floor and won a lot of hearts with his heart-touching performance. He is a poor, desperate father who worked in a circus before coming to the show.
He has a sick kid and a wife and they live below the poverty line.
The show portrays how he is desperate for money for his kid’s illness and he even considers taking his own life so his family can get the insurance money.
Exactly when he is about to end it all, an unknown limo stops behind him, and the limo brings him to the show.
At the start of the show, some may consider him as a liability but he always comes out as a team player and with a good heart.
To show his contribution the first floor decides to be the waste collector for the 8 people.
The show does a great job of making people connect to the character, and how for a father his family comes first.
SECOND FLOOR
Lee Joo-young is the best choice for this role, the way she adapted this character is outstanding.
She plays the part of a skilled martial arts warrior who, as the game goes on, makes use of her abilities.
Even though she has an advantage she uses it to help others, especially the first floor who is disabled.
She is known for playing the one who stands up for the other teammates who are pushed over.
She is physically the strongest player in this game and doesn’t use it to hurt others.
THIRD FLOOR
Ryu Jun-yeol also known as the third floor in this show is the narrator.
He is a simple man stuck in the world of cruel people, he tries to take his own life as he is unable to pay his debt.
Because of this, he decides to take a chance and play a game where the prize is enormous.
The sole drawback is that this game resembles Big Brother only worse.
The third-floor character has a pure heart, every time he sees someone in pain he helps even if he doesn’t want to.
He has a high level of empathy for his teammates and that is his biggest strength.
FOURTH FLOOR
As the competitor on the fourth level, Lee Yul-eum plays a naive young woman who just wants to win everything—even though there's no guarantee what she'll get at the end of the game.
The fourth-floor contender decides enough is enough and leads the others in dominating their terrible leader after the eighth-floor contestant solidifies her rule over the rest.
FIFTH FLOOR
Moon Jeong-hee portrays the energetic participant on the fifth floor, who serves as the group's mother figure.
The group's moral compass is 5th floor during The 8 Show.
The show portrays her having some illness, causing her feelings to get over her mind, which leads to one of the biggest plot twists in the show.
She was a doctor before she participated in the show, as she lost everything because she let her heart run over her mind.
Her being a doctor comes in handy for everyone because to entertain the participants becomes physical and no one can come inside the game either.
SIXTH FLOOR
Park Hae-joon plays the role of one of the most hated characters on the show proving he did an excellent role portraying him.
The sixth floor is someone you do not want to mess with because, even though he plays it cool under pressure, he plays dirty the entire time.
He struggles with rage. He even engages in combat with the second floor during a challenge in Episode 4, and he doesn't think twice about punching her, displaying his merciless nature.
Not only that, but he delighted in inflicting suffering on those beneath him and lacked any empathy whatsoever.
He lost everything outwardly and didn't alter much on the inside due to his rage, but after the show, some change was noticeable.
SEVENTH FLOOR
Park Jung Min has become my favourite because of his role on the seventh floor.
Seventh Floor is a composed yet determined competitor who knows the game's rules and makes use of them.
In the game, the player who resides on the top floor has an abundance of resources, while the player who resides on the lowest floor (the first floor) has a finite amount.
He informs them that the floors on the seventh and eighth stories, which have the greatest resources, should be the ones that bring them to the ultimate prize.
However, after witnessing the treatment of those beneath him, he turned the tables and began fighting for the underprivileged among his people.
EIGHTH FLOOR
Chun Woo-Hee should get as much credit as she can because she made me hate her for this role, what an outstanding performance.
She shows no sign of remorse but finds pleasure in hurting everyone not just the one below her.
Before the show she was a failing artist who was desperate for attention, when she got on this show she was finally getting the attention
she desired and tried her best to keep the show on for as long as she could to have a place where she felt belonged.
What happened to them after the show?
The greed of floor one leads him to lose everything leading to him to lash out and unintentionally killing himself.
The second floor pays off her friend's medical bills from the money she earned from the show.
The third floor even though gets rich, has lost his purpose and decides to host a funeral for the first floor.
Forth floor attends the funeral in respect, she is shown to be a successful woman.
The fifth floor also attends the funeral.
The sixth floor changes his way of life, even though nothing much is shown about their lives, he does send a basket of flowers in honour of the first floor.
The seventh floor donates his whole earnings from the show to the family on the first floor, making the first-floor death worth it.
The eighth floor went to jail right after getting out of the show for vandalising and distracting an art museum.
