Based on a webtoon of the same name, Death’s Game stars Seo In-guk (Doom at Your Service) as Choi Yi-jae, a down-on-his-luck young man who can’t see a way out of his bleak life. When he takes his own life, Death (Park So-dam of Record of Youth) comes for him but not to take him to the afterlife. Instead, Death will punish him for his sin of suicide by giving him twelve more deaths. Yi-jae has twelve chances, each as a different person, to stop their impending death and live the remainder of their life. But overcoming death is difficult and each death is more painful than the last.
- Series Title: Death’s Game (Korean: 이재, 곧 죽습니다)
- Starring: Seo In-guk, Park So-dam
- Written by: Ha Byung-hoon
- Directed by: Ha Byung-hoon
- Network: TVING
- Where to watch in the US: Amazon Prime
- Year Released: 2023
- # of episodes: 8
- KafeNook Rating: Part One – 4.8 sips
Death’s Game Part One — !! Spoilers Ahead!!
Holy cow! If the last four episodes of Death’s Game are as good as the first four, this could be one of the best Kdramas of the year. But first – a warning. Death’s Game is not for everyone. It is filled with disturbing scenes and images including brutal and horrific deaths. While care is taken to film some of the deaths in such a way to soften the impact, they are still difficult nonetheless. Somehow, this brutality makes the emotional scenes, when they come, all the more heart wrenching.
Death’s Game features an A-list cast that has brought their A-game with stellar performances. This begins with Seo In-guk as protagonist, Choi Yi-jae. In the first episode, he is a promising college student trying to land his first post-graduation job. Things take a bad turn on the way to the job interview when he sees a man die in front him. He loses out on the job and spends the next seven years taking on part-time work as he searches for a full-time job. His long-time girlfriend, Lee Ji-su (Go Youn-jung of Alchemy of Souls and Moving) is a promising writer who continues to love him in spite of his hard luck.
Yi-jae manages to keep a positive attitude until a string of difficult events send him on a downward spiral. After his first promising job interview in years, he learns that all his money has been stollen. Then he sees Ji-su being dropped off at home by another man. Not wanting to drag her life down any longer, he breaks up with her. Once he returns home, he finds all his possessions outside because he has lost his lease. Rain begins to pour on his things when he gets the text that he did not get the job. At this point, he believes his life is no longer worth living and decides to end it. Then his living hell starts.
Death’s Game
Death, portrayed by Park So-dam, is pissed at Yi-jae for deciding when he will die rather than waiting until the date she selected for him. Yi-jae wakes up in the body of another person and learns that Death plans to teach him a lesson for his sin. Because he didn’t value his life when he had it, he will have the “opportunity” to live through the twelve deaths of others – or go straight to Hell.
After Death shows Yi-jae hell, Death’s game doesn’t sound so bad. Plus, there is a glimmer of hope. According to Death, if he survives death during one of the twelve rounds, he will have the opportunity to live out a normal life as that person. She claims that with each death, there is a way out. Like a game of Russian roulette, but with the bullet always in the chamber, each time she shoots him a new death begins.
Round 1: Taekang Group Successor Park Jin-tae
In a scene reminiscent of the series Quantum Leap, Yi-jae finds himself in the body of Park Jin-tae (Choi Si-won of Bloodhounds) the second son and successor of the Taekang Group. Yi-jae as Jin-tae is on a private plane surrounded by wealth and luxury. Here, he meets Death for the first time and learns of her punishment. A floating orb appears before him and he is suddenly flooded with Jin-tae’s memories. Things don’t seem too bad until he remembers what Death said – each of the people he inhabits will die soon. When the plane experiences some turbulence, he believes death is imminent. Things calm down and just as he begins to wonder what he can do to stay in Jin-tae’s body, one of the engines explodes. He watches in horror as people are sucked out of the plane. Then he dies in a ball of fire.
Several thoughts about this round. One – Super Junior’s Choi Si-won is a great choice for Jin-tae who is the first one to introduce Yi-jae in another body to viewers. Two – the special effects are cinema worthy. Three – what could Yi-jae have done to prevent this death? I honestly don’t have a clue.
Round 2: Extreme Sports Athlete Song Jae-seop
Yi-jae finds himself back with Death and is only starting to realize what this game fully entails. After taking the next bullet, he is suddenly falling through the sky (having jumped out of a perfectly good airplane). He spends harrowing moments wondering where he is and why he doesn’t have a parachute. After grabbing onto someone with a parachute, the floating orb arrives with memories.
This time he is Song Jae-seop (Sung Hoon, the best husband ever from Perfect Marriage Revenge) an extreme sports athlete. Jae-seop will make lot of money if he agrees to live stream jumping out of an airplane without a parachute and land in a net. (Yeah – sounds dumb to me too). Once Jae-seop’s memories are in place, Yi-jae realizes he also has Jae-seop’s abilities. Sighting the net, he becomes confident he can hit it. Then in Wile E. Coyote fashion, he misses the net. The result is not pretty.
I can’t fail to mention the cameo by Ryeoun (Twinkling Watermelon). He is a PD in charge of watching the ratings of the live stream. While everyone else is stunned by Jae-seop’s death, Ryeoun’s character leaps up for joy and shouts that the ratings target has been hit. It’s a funny scene that helps take the edge off of the death (a little bit anyway). I would have liked to see more of Sung Hoon but he definitely nails the merge of extreme sports guru Jae-seop with Yi-jae.
Round 3: High School Student Kwon Hyeok-su
Before round 3 starts, a bloody scene with two bodies covered in sheets is shown along with a picture of Yi-jae on the ground nearby. The emergency worker mentions that the dead woman didn’t even know what hit her. After death number 2, Death tells Yi-jae that his sin is so great that even God is upset with him and that he needs to figure out what his sin is. (Having watched part one again – I still don’t have a clue what it might be.) According to Death, Yi-jae needs to figure out what this sin is because if he doesn’t, he will go to hell even if he survives the twelve rounds.
Yi-jae’s next opportunity comes in the form of high school student Kwon Hyeok-su (Kim Kang-hoon, who has played a young “you name him” in many Kdramas including Mr. Queen and My Country: The New Age). After retrieving Hyeok-su’s memories, Yi-jae learns that Hyeok-su is being bullied by Lee Jin-sang (Yoo In-soo of Alchemy of Souls). Having decided to try to live, Yi-jae comes up with a plan to stop the bullying and prevent Hyeok-su’s death. The plan involves embarrassing Jin-sang in front of the other students and the big/bad guy who protects him. The plan works too well, however. Just when Yi-jae thinks that he is out of the woods, now outcast Jin- takes out his anger on Hyeok-su and brutally kills him.
I thought that Yi-jae had a real shot with this one. Unlike the first couple of deaths where he didn’t really have a chance to come up with a way out, he thinks of a plan this time and executes it. To Death’s point, Yi-jae is only thinking about himself though. It seems he will have to focus more on the pain and suffering of others if he is to survive in a future round.
Round 4: Fixer Lee Ju-hun
If the previous round seemed liked an after school special, round 4 is a big action epic filled with jaw-dropping stunts straight out of a feature film. This time, Yi-jae is fixer Lee Ju-hun (actor Jang Seung-jo of Snowdrop). Ju-hun is in restraints and about to be tortured by his kidnappers when Yi-jae arrives in his body. The floating orb fills him with memories of the woman Ju-hun rescued from his boss and the money he stole as they got away. It also gives him the kick-ass abilities he needs to escape his captors. He avails himself of a motorcycle and proceeds to lead his pursues on a high stakes chase through the city.
Even Yi-jae is surprised when he manages to avoid capture and meet up with the rescued woman. Things are looking good for him in this body now that he has access to all of that money. The rescued woman then asks where the money is, and he makes the fatal mistake of telling her. The gun she points at him is the last thing he expects as this life comes to a swift end.
This round shows just how much money, time, and effort went into this production. Not only is the extended chase scene incredibly exciting but the fight sequences show some amazing choreography. Since this sequence spans episodes 2 and 3, I naturally had to start episode 3 immediately to see how it ends.
Round 5: Aspiring Martial Artist Cho Tae-sang
After the last death, Yi-jae has a plan. Get the money that Ju-hun hid in the last round and try to survive in the next life. This may be hard given that he is stuck in juvenile detention. Aspiring martial artist Cho Tae-sang (Extraordinary You’s Lee Jae-wook) needed money and agreed to take the fall for a wealthy person who committed a hit and run. Unfortunately, the victim died and he ended up in juvy for two-years. The good news for Yi-jae is that Tae-sang is only days away from his release. The bad news is that bully, Lee Jin-sang, who killed his round 3 self, student Hyeok-su, is in the same room with him. To the other boys, Jin-sang is known as the psychopath killer. Not only that, someone has ordered a hit on Tae-sang to keep him from talking.
It’s a good thing Tae-sang has mixed martial arts training as it allows him to beat up his attackers. He also tells the other juvy cell mates the true story of Jin-sang’s cowardice. Then he uses Hyeok-su’s memories to convince Jin-sang that the dead boy is following him around. Having survived juvenile detention, Yi-jae heads straight to the place where fixer Ju-hun hid the money. He stores a portion of the money in a locker and then heads to the home of Tae-sang’s mother. On the way, he is stabbed by the hit-and-run victim’s dad. When he tells the dad he wasn’t the one responsible for the hit and run, the dad flees.
Yi-jae thinks he in the clear, but Death is about to win this round. One of his cell mates from juvy shows up and admits he will get a lot of money if he kills Tae-sang. Though Yi-jae tries to reason with him, he is unable to stop the blade from falling.
Actor Lee Jae-wook is stellar in this round, portraying the combined Yi-jae/Tae-sang with a believable amount of anger, hope and anguish. In a heart wrenching moment, Tae-sang’s mother calls him on the phone prompting Yi-jae to think of his own mother and the call that he didn’t take from her before his death.
Round 6: Unnamed Five-month-old Boy
This round is extremely upsetting. Yi-jae finds himself in a body where he can do little except cry because the body is a five-month-old. Sadly, the baby’s parents are abusive to their child. I honestly don’t know how Yi-jae, as a five-month-old could get himself out of the death that is to come. Was Death telling the truth?
One thing that Yi-jae learns from Death is that each death he experiences will become more painful than the last. He assumes that she means physical pain but learns the hard way that this includes emotional pain.
Round 7: Model/Coffee Shop Worker Jang Geon-u
Episode 4 of Death’s Game focuses on Yi-jae’s seventh attempt at life. This time, he is attractive young model, Jang Geon-u (Lee Do-hyun of The Glory), who works at a coffee shop to help his brother out. Yi-jae as Geon-u retrieves the money he stored in a locker during round 5 which he plans to give to his mother. Then, Ji-su walks into his café and he remembers their initial meetings as college students. To his surprise, Ji-su has quit her job after successfully publishing her first book. She comes to the café regularly to work. He reads her book and sees it contains moments of their life together. This also reminds him of the fountain pen he had engraved for her but was never able to give her. When he asks for her autograph, she uses the fountain pen and sadly says it was from someone close to her.
Overtime, Yi-jae in Geon-u’s body becomes acquainted with Ji-su and he begins to tell her his idea for a novel. What Ji-su doesn’t know is that his idea is the Death Game he is living through. After giving Ji-su an umbrella during a rainstorm, he learns that a woman has been hit by a motorcycle. Fearing that it’s Ji-su, he runs to the accident and pleads with authorities to let him through until he sees Ji-su standing on the other side. Later, he visits his own memoriam and becomes shaken when his mother shows up. He hides from her and breaks down after listening to her grief-stricken cries.
Wanting to get closer to Ji-su, he offers to walk her home from the café one night. He stops to tell her about his girlfriend and how he never appreciated the love she showed him. Before he knows it, he confesses that the story he has been telling her is true and that, he is – in fact – Yi-jae. Tears stream down both of their faces – his in grief, hers in grief and shock – when a car hits them both. Ji-su dies instantly. (Ah ha! This is the scene with the two bodies from earlier! But what is the deal with the baby doll?)
Episode 4 diverged from the previous episodes by focusing on Yi-jae’s character development vs action. The payoff is big. Lee Do-hyun’s acting in this episode is phenomenal (now I need to go watch The Good Bad Mother). I think I started crying when he did during the memoriam scene and didn’t stop until the episode ends.
An Evil Thread: Park Tae-woo
Lest I forget – the evil thread that has become apparent throughout the first four episodes is the tie these characters have to the first son of Taekang Group, Park Tae-woo (Kim Ji-hoon), Jin-tae’s older brother. He is on the interview team at Yi-jae’s final interview and seems to understand Yi-jae. Given that Yi-jae doesn’t get the job, it’s clear that Tae-woo was not sincere. Tae-woo is the person who commits the hit and run that round 5’s, Tae-sang takes the fall for. He is also the person who offered the prize money to round 2’s Jae-seop. He is the evil boss that fixer Ju-hun worked for and took the money from. And – he is the driver who crashes into Yi-jae/Geon-u and Ji-su. After the crash, Tae-woo notices that Yi-jae/Geon-u is not dead, so he finishes the job.
When Yi-jae finds himself back with Death, this time he has vengeance on his mind and takes the gun to her head.
Hopes for Part Two
Yi-jae has five more chances at life. How many of these he will go through in Part Two is anyone’s guess. There will be at least two featuring actors, Kim Jae-wook (Her Private Life) and Oh Jung-se (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay) who already showed up briefly in Episode 3. I suspect that more scenes are forthcoming with Yi-jae’s mom because, you know, he hasn’t suffered enough yet.
Is there a happy ending for Yi-jae? My hope is that Yi-jae will figure out not only how to survive at least one of the lives but will somehow correct the deaths that have already occurred. In the process, he will learn the value of not just his own life but that of others. Of course, he still needs to figure out what sin he has committed to avoid hell.
Sadly, I have to wait until January 5th to find out the answers. In the meantime, I will just have to watch part one again!
(Updated 01/10/23) Part two does not disappoint! Check out my Death’s Game Part Two Review and final thoughts.
Death’s Game Part One Soundtrack
Part One of Death’s Game features two outstanding songs that beautifully fit the mood of the show. Seo In-guk’s lends his breathtaking vocals to Though There’s No Miracle, a song that sounds dramatic and hopeful at the same time. Then Sondia sings the hauntingly sad It’s a Lie which plays during the emotional scene in episode 4 when Yi-jae sees Ji-su again.
