TvN has recently annouced the 4th and final season of it's variety series The Genius. Following the first 3 seasons which have achieved immense success especially in South Korea, The Genius 4: Grand Final will begin airing on June 27th on TvN's channel. Just like the first 3 parts of the series, The Genius 4 will feature 13 players from all walks of life including doctors, lawyers, comedians and students. The 13 players will compete in different types of games , known as a Main Match, every week. These games are intellectual and will not only require brains but also communication, manipulation, critical thinking and a bit of luck. Every week, after the Main Match, an elimination candidate and a token of life holder will be identified. This elimination candidate will pick someone who does not have the token of life. The elimination and his or her appointed opponent will then take part in a 1 versus 1 elimination game, known as a Death Match. The winner of the Death Match will proceed to the next stage with the other players while the other person will be eliminated. In the game, there are currencies known as Garnets given out during the game. These Garnets can help to purchase things for the game, bid for items or give piority to those rich in Garnets. After 12 weeks of intense games and eliminations, the last man standing will be the winner of the season. 

I was extremely excited when TvN annouced Season 4, but at the same time I was pretty disappointed because it was called Grand Final, which probably meant it was the last season. Still, I was pretty impressed by the cast list because it was fitting for a final to end the whole series with a bang. 

For those who haven't read news about the lineup here it is:
Hong Jinho, Kim Kyungran, Lee Junseok, Choi Jungmoon, Lee Sangmin, Lim Yohwan, Kim Kyunghoon, Kim Yoohyun, Choi Yeonseung

Yes, I screamed for real when I first saw it. Anyway, after I read Fan_of_Karma's Game Analysis, I thought I should make one of my own too. 

Before I move onI just want to mention Fan_of_Karma, the person who introduced me to The Genius after I read her blog post on The Genius 2: Rule Breaker. You can read her version of The Genius 4: Grand Final analysis here.

(*Disclaimer: The content from here on will contain spoilers from the first 3 seasons with no prior warning.)

The Players

Although there were a few people should have been in the line up (Lee Doohee, Jo Yooyoung, Cha Minsoo), I thought that the cast list was generally appropriate for the fourth and final installment of The Genius. It is made up of names any Genius fan would have recognised - yes, it is a battle between the 3 seasons. And not only that, the line up brought back the Top 3 candidates for each season together with players who have yet to shown their worth.

Season 1: Hong Jinho, Kim Kyungran, Lee Sangmin, Choi Jungmoon, Lee Junseok
Season 2: Lee Sangmin, Lim Yohwan, Yoo Junghyun, Hong Jinho, Lim Yoonsun
Season 3: Jang Dongmin, Oh Hyunmin, Choi Yeonseong, Kim Yoohyun, Kim Kyunghoon

Out of the 13-membered cast, there are only 3 girls. They may keep the girls around for the first few episodes just like the previous seasons, but then again they brought in tigeresses (aka Kim Kyungran and Lim Yoonsun) so this may not be so. Plus, if any of them bothered to rewatch the previous seasons, they would realised that demour looking Choi Jungmoon is someone they should look out for too.

All 13 members have been brought back for a reason and they can be generally classified into 4.

1) The First Placers
Hong Jinho, Lee Sangmin, Jang Dongmin
Not surprisingly, the champions of all 3 seasons have been brought back, most likely to defend their titles.

2) The Second and Third Placers
Kim Kyungran, Lim Yohwan, Yoo Junghyun, Oh Hyunmin, Choi Yeonseong
All of them (including Season 1's 2nd Runner Up Lee Sangmin, but I placed him in The First Placers instead) have all almost became the champion of their respective seasons. Keyword: almost. They are most likely invited back to have a shot at first place again.

3) The Power Houses
Lim Yoonsun, Kim Yoohyun
Lim Yoonsun and Kim Yoohyun have both showed their capabilities as one of the strongest winning candidates in their seasons. However, both were eliminated pretty early on, or at least earlier than they were expected. Their elimination did not do their potential justice so they are problem recasted to that they can have a second chance to show their full power.

4) The Underestimated
Choi Jungmoon, Lee Junseok, Kim Kyunghoon
All 3 of them have been eliminated pretty early in the game and hence we could not see their true potential. The new season will allow them to show their skills and prove themselves worth to be a genius.

I will also analyse each member individually and name the winning candidates.
(*Disclaimer: This is merely my opinion. Also, this is based off my memory so the information may not be 100% accurate.)
 

Kim Kyungran	Kim Kyungran was one of the aces of Season 1, coming in second after Hong Jinho. I think one of her most prominant trait was her fierce personality that allowed her to manipulate the game well. This is apparent in the first episode, but she continues her excellent performances throughout the whole season. In this season, I think she will do quite well and although she is not one of the first tier winning candidates, I think she will survive through at least half of the season.
Lee Junseok	Lee Junseok was the first candidate to be ever eliminated on the genius, which was quite a pity because we were not able to see his potential at all. The Havard graduate will most likely be a Dark Horse of the season, possibly showing the side of him that he was not able to during his first appearance. I'm not able to predict his performance, but I'm looking forward to see how he'll do.
Choi Jungmoon	Honestly, Choi Jungmoon did not leave a lasting impression on me. However, I think she plays an important role in this season as there is nobody to take on the "pretty girl" role, with the two other female player having built up the "lioness" image. Although she did not set much records during the first season, she has shown a shocking good play during her Death Match with Choi Chanyeop in a game of Tactical Yutnori. She is a player to look out for, but I don't predict her to last very long in the game.
Hong Jinho	Hong Jinho is probably one of the greatest winning candidates, being the champion of the first season. He had shown his talent countless times, not only in The Genius but also other programmes such as Crime Scene and more. One of his most memorable game play was during episode 7 of season 1, the Open-Pass game, where he made use of the back of the cards to his advantage and secured an almost 100% win. Despite being eliminated pretty early in the second season, I think he is consistent player. He has brains that no one else possess and understands games like the back of his hands. However, he may also be the target of the players so he has to be careful during the game and should make alliances so that people will not gang up against him. I predict that he will be in the Top 3 or 4, but may have a bit of problems advancing beyond that.
Lee Sangmin	Lee Sangmin is one of the most consistent players I've ever seen, coming in third in season 1 and first in season 2. His game comphrension skills is shockingly amazing, and he is good with people too. One of his most impressive plays was during season 2's seventh episode, God's Judgement, where he figured out the secret to the dices within minutes and secured his win by almost 100%. Although is game play is not to my likings, I think that he is certainly one of the winning candidates and will advance to at least the Top 4.
Lim Yohwan	Lim Yohwan is not exactly my cup of tea and I honestly wonder why he's here. But okay, giving credit when credit is due, he is the second season's first runner up. He was not a very prominent player during the Main Matches, but were impressive at Death Matches, One of his best Death Match was during season 3 episode 4, the Laser Chess game against Lim Yoonsun. Despite going all the way to the final episode in season 2, I don't think that he will advance very far in the final season.
Yoo Junghyun	Yoo Junghyun was probably the Black Knight of season 2, being a pretty pitiable and seemingly insignificant character yet advancing to such a high level. I admire him a lot because of his calm composure and game sense, despite being often ignored by other members. He proved to be full of surprises though, as he won against Noh Hong Chul, a winning candidate, during season 2 episode 8's Death Match. I decided to give him my highest respect when he won the match, Same Picture Hunt, despite others saying he couldn't because he was old and hence does not have a good memory. I think that he will survive until the middle of the season, but who knows, there is a chance he might blow everyone's mind off and advance to the finals.
Lim Yoonsun	Lim Yoonsun's elimination was the probably the most disappointing one ever. She was probably the strongest winning candidate of season 2, and it was a pity she was eliminated so early on. Being a lawyer, she has a string personality and won't get bossed around. She is mentally strong, which is probably her strongest trait. She wowed the crowd in the first episode of season 2, where she showed her fearless side. I think that she will advance to the middle or even last few stages, but may have some problems advancing beyond Top 4.
Jang Dongmin	Jang Dongmin was the champion of Season 3, and as much as I dislike his playing style, he is definitely one of the strongest players in the arena. He is good with reading people and gathering group mates, which makes him prominent in the game. He also displayed his very impressive sense of touch in Season 3 Episode 5's Main Match, Miner Game, where he could easily distinguish between the weight of materials that were also the same even on the weighing scale. I think he's definitely one of the members we will see in the top 4 and we should definitely take note of him.
Oh Hyunmin	Oh Hyunmin is one of the most impressive players I've ever seen on the genius. He's only 20, but his game skills will blow your mind away. He is a Mathematical Science student in KAIST, and is hence extrememly good in Math and calculation. However, he also displayed his human manipulation (for the lack of better term) skills in Season 3 Episode 2's Main Match, Judging Game, where he successfullly hid the fact where he was the criminal leader. He is also behind many of the winning strategies in Season 3, so I expect him to be one of the main players in Season 4. I expect him to go to the Top 2s and possibly win the season.
Kim Kyunghoon	Kim Kyunghoon has a lot of guts, seeing how he betrayed his team right from the beginning. That kind of led to his elimination in the next episode though. From this we can kind of tell that he doesn't plan his game play very well and most of the times act more than he should. His lack of game understanding is also shown in Season 3 Episode 2's Main Match, Judging Game, and his team completely lost to the other team. I don't expect him to progress very far, but with his unexpected personality, who knows?
Kim Yoohyun	Still debatable, but Kim Yoohyun is probably one of the best players that has ever been on the genius. In Season 3, he showed a strong play, constantly coming in second after the Hyunmin-Dongmin alliance, which is quite a feat considering that it took 2 to beat him. His biggest weakness in Season 3 was to not have a definite alliance and that led to his downfall, but I think that a fixed alliance is just a Season 3 thing. In other seasons, the members all form different alliances every week to best suit the game. Since most of the players are from Season 1 and 2, Yoohyun doesn't need to be wary of being ganged up against by large alliances and can instead focus by winning by his game style. I think that he will go far in the game, and he is the ultimate winning candidate to me.
Choi Yeonseong	Choi Yeonseong didn't stand out to me at first in Season 3, but then he proved me wrong as he started to advance quickly and scarily in the last few episodes. Yeonseong is one of those members that plays very fairly and hence can garner the support and trust of others. He first started catching my eye in Season 3 Episode 3, where he was ganged up 10 on 1 in the Main Match Middle Race and forced into elimination. However, he displayed his strong will to win with his impresive Death Match performance which beat out lawyer Kang Yongsuk. He has a high death match survival rate, winning 2 until his third one with Oh Hyumin in which he is eliminated. He has potential, but I think in a field full of past champions and dark horses, he will have a problem standing out and surviving. I think he may progress until the middle of the season, but it will be hard for him to go further than that.