I just wanted to share one of my most favorite Korean shows with you guys :) It's called The Genius, and it has 2 seasons so far - The Genius: Rules of the Game and The Genius 2: Rulebreaker. I'll talk about season one, though.

What is the show about?

The Genius is a reality show based on a Japanese show "Liar Game." Thirteen contenders play games, which require them to use their brains and social skills, to progress through the game. In each round, one person is eliminated, and the final victor wins the prize money (which varies, but was around $79,000 in season 1). The thirteen contenders are people well known for excelling in one way or another, mostly consisting of celebrities.

There are 12 episodes each season (as one person is eliminated in each episode). The currency in the show are garnets, which little gemstones that are each worth 1,000,000 won, approximately $1,000. Players can obtain more garnets throughout the show, or they can use them to purchase some special bonuses for the episode/give them to others. In each episode, there's a main match, where everyone plays. It's a game which requires logical thinking and strategizing, as well as excellent social skills. The winners of the main match are usually given some bonus garnets and a token of life. After the main match, there is also a death match. In the death match, the player who lost in the main match is the elimination candidate, and he or she can pick one player who does not have a token of life. Whoever loses in the death match is eliminated from the game.

You can find the show with English subtitles here. All credit goes to Bumdidlyumptious, whom I love to death for subbing this awesome show!

Why is the show appealing?

The main charm of the show is that it's not exactly a variety show - there is real money at stake, and everyone wants to win. The contenders show their true colors on this show. They betray each other, lie to each other, calculate their every move; it's really fascinating to watch them come up with some really amazing winning strategies.

Still, it's a Korean TV show, so they do try to give us a little laugh. However, that's not the main focus of the show, and so they keep the "variety" aspect of the show to bare minimum. It's usually during snack time when they socialize that they joke around, but during the game, everyone tries really hard to win.

Here's an example of a main match from episode one:

Every player gets 9 cards. They have 3 one-cards, 3 two-cards, and 3 three-cards. The rules are simple. You play against someone else by playing one card. You win if your card is higher number than your opponent's. Your goal is to get rid of all cards, and get as many points as possible.

The thing is, with 13 players, there will be one card remaining at the end. Who will have that card will be the elimination candidate. So you have to play really strategically so that you're not the one left behind. Also, you can't just randomly throw out your cards - you need the points to win win and get garnets and the token of immortality, so you can't go into the death match.

This is where players started showing different tactics, forming alliances, and betraying each other. Every episode features a different main game.

The death match for episode one was winning streak game. The two elimination candidates played against the 11 members rock-scissors-paper. The player with the largest winning streak wins. Here, it comes down to how popular you are - if people like you, they will lose for you, because you can tell them what you're going to choose.

There are several types of death matches that test different skills. There's a death match where you bluff, where you use logic, where you use your memory, etc. Sometimes, these matches repeat, though. They're not all unique.

Who are the contenders?

Season One:

Kim Gura - a very famous Korean MC, radio host, and comedian. From the very first moments, he was one of the strongest players in the show. He continuously showed excellent strategizing skills, and was one of the top favorites to win it all.

Lee Sang Min - leader of Roo'ra. He excels at judging others, and was able to guess what his opponents would do with scary accuracy. At first, he allied with Kim Gura a lot. He was also very close with Sunggyu.

Kim Poong - a webtoon writer. He was very good at sneaking and obtaining info from others, but couldn't be trusted. Others went as far as to make him sign a written promise that he wouldn't betray them.

Kim Sunggyu - leader of Infinite of course. He was ranked number 2 in high school. At first, he seemed to be the stupidest person on the show, but grew into a force to be reckoned with. Some people even picked him as most likely to win it all. He was the reason I started watching The Genius.

Kim Min Seo - a business woman and auctioneer. She was very good at lying, and in one episode fooled everyone on the opposing team.

Choi Chang Yeop - an actor, well known for playing the nerdy Minki in School 2013. He was smart, and had a brief loveline with Choi Jungmoon.

Choi Jungmoon - student at Seoul University. She has an IQ of freaking 158. Her strategy on the show was to make no enemies, so no one would pick her for death match.

Park Eunji - former weather caster. She was honest, but could lie very well when needed. One of her lies had a disasterous impact on everyone else.

Cha Minsoo - professional poker and go player. Lee Byung Hun played a character based on him in "All In." He seemed to understand every single game to its core, and always had one of the best, if not the best, solution to winning the game. He was the mental support of all the weaker members of the show.

Lee Junseok - politician, entrepreneur, Harvard graduate. He displayed very good strategizing skills.

Hong Jinho - a Starcraft legend in Korea. Nicknamed Kong. He was a little bit of an outsider at first, but showed really great thinking skills. Definitely the best Death Match player. He never lost concentration, even under extreme pressure.

Cha Yuram - a very famous pool player in Korea. She had excellent social skills, which helped her a lot in creating alliances. But she trusted people too much, and ended up in several death matches.

Kim Kyungran - former news anchorwoman. She was dubbed the symbol of justice in the show. At first, she was very nice to everyone, and she even cried when someone was eliminated. People seemed to like her a lot, but that "like" turned into fear very soon. She displayed very good game skills, and a lot of people, including my Sunggyu, said that she was the scariest player of all. She was also my most favorite member on the show if I don't count my eternal love Sunggyu.

Who wins?

Lots of spoilers ahead. Highlight if you want to see it:

Lee Junseok eliminated in ep. 1. He was betrayed by his friend Jinho for a garnet. He didn't have that much presence on the show, but in season 2, when he guests, people realized that Jinho knew Junseok could potentially be a very strong player, so he eliminated him as soon as he could.

Kim Min Seo eliminated in ep. 2. She blatantly lied to alliance #2, even after the main match ended, and so, alliance #2 targetted her.

Cha Minsoo eliminated in ep. 3. He was a very strong player, and he completely decimated Gura's alliance in the main match. He didn't have a token of life, though, and so, Sunggyu picked him into a death match. He almost completely destroyed Sunggyu, but made a critical mistake, and lost as a result.

Choi Chang Yeop eliminated in ep. 4. He betrayed his "love interest," Jungmoon, and she picked him into the death match. She showed her IQ there, and destroyed him.

Choi Jungmoon eliminated in ep. 5. Because the death match was a social skills game, she lost, because Cha Yuram had better relationship with those who mattered.

Kim Gura eliminated in ep. 6. The game was about concentration and bluffing skills, and Hong Jinho proved to be the better one in those areas.

Kim Poong eliminated in ep. 7. Park Eunji was a better bluffer than him, and he lost to her.

Cha Yuram eliminated in ep. 8. It was a very close match between her and Park Eunji, but Eunji's team was the more creative one in the death match.

Park Eunji eliminated in ep. 9. The death match was the same as in ep. 6 and 7, and Eunji couldn't beat Hong Jinho in bluffing.

Kim Sunggyu eliminated in ep. 10. Honestly, Sunggyu could have easily won the main match, but he became too sure of himself, and lost. His CEO wasn't that much of a help, either. Hong Jinho again proved that he's master of concentration under pressure, and defeated Sunggyu.

Lee Sangmin eliminated in ep. 11. Kyungran and Sangmin played very well, but Sangmin's memory was what cost him the match.

Kim Kyungran eliminated in ep. 12. Hong Jinho is just too good in 1vs1 matches. She came pretty close to winning though.

Season 2?

The games in season 2 are, in my opinion, better than season 1 games. But that doesn't change anything on the fact that season 1 was just much better than season 2. The main reason was, as Lee Sang Min, who returned to season 2, said, the season 2 cast didn't have a warm heart. Instead of focusing on playing the games to their fullest, the season 2 players focused on making plans on who to eliminate in that round. They even went as far as to break one of the fundamental rules of The Genius: you can do anything on the show except for violence and theft. And the production team didn't stop them for some reason, which I until now don't understand.

Don't get me wrong - season 2 is still really good compared to other shows. It's just that after watching season 1, season 2 is disappointing. If the order was reversed, I'd probably have no objections. While watching the second season, I really missed the voice of justice, Kim Kyungran. Even Kim Gura, whom I really hated at first, suddenly became an angel compared to the two heartless thieves. What makes me even more mad was the fact that one of those thieves was actually my favorite TV personality. I just lost so much respect for him after that incident...