In the thrilling 2023 Kdrama Death’s Game, Seo In-guk (Doom at Your Service) stars 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, he meets Death (Park So-dam of Record of Youth). But instead of taking him to the afterlife, Death intends to punish him for his sin. If Yi-jae plays Death’s game, he will have twelve chances, each as a different individual, to stop that person’s impending death and live out 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: 2024
- # of episodes: 8
- KafeNook Rating: 4.9 sips
Death’s Game — !! Spoilers Ahead!!
Before watching Death’s Game part two, I re-watched part one. It’s a quick binge and I knew I had missed a few things with my first viewing. Sure enough, I had to update my Death’s Game Part One Review as a result. I was amazed all over again at how well the first four episodes are constructed and executed. This gave me high hopes for the final four episodes, and I wondered if part two would live up my expectations. Silly me for worrying.
Death’s Game episodes 5 – 8 come packed with mind games, gore (so much gore), suspense, action, sorrow (bring the tissues), redemption, and hope. Not to mention more stellar cameos – plus the return of several actors from part one. But – like the first episodes, the last four contain difficult, disturbing scenes. This is one show to watch with caution.
Once again, Seo In-guk imbues Yi-jae with all the emotional heartbreak and angst found in part one, while continuing to add nuanced layers to this tragic character. Park So-dam as Death, also breaks through the cold stoicism portrayed in part one and with a wry smile, shows glimpses of Death’s true purpose. Does Yi-jae have a chance to win the game?
Round 8: Serial Killer/Artist Jung Gyu-chul
After the shocking death of Yi-jae’s girlfriend during his seventh life, Yi-jae is furious with Death. His attempt to put a bullet in Death fails and he is set to start his eighth round. But before that, artist Jung Gyu-chul (Her Private Life’s Kim Jae-wook) is introduced. Gyu-chul appears to be a hero as he saves a man from impending death by thugs. It turns out this is just a means to an end. He takes the man to his art studio/slaughterhouse and explains how he uses the bodies of humans for his art. When the chainsaw comes out, he is on his way to creating his next masterpiece. (Shiver. There is a reason I never watched any Saw movies.) Kim Jae-wook brilliantly exudes the cold, calculating madness of Gyu-chul, then expertly switches gears when Yi-jae arrives in Gyu-chul’s body and gains the memory of the serial killer.
After the initial shock, Yi-jae sees this life as an opportunity: use Gyu-chul’s “talent” on first son of Taekang Group and all-around bad guy Park Tae-woo (Kim Ji-hoon). As luck would have it, Tae-woo shows interest in one of Gyu-chul’s large paintings and the two exchange an eerie conversation. Learning where Tae-woo lives, Yi-jae captures him. On the way to Gyu-chul’s horror show of a studio, Tae-woo looks truly frightened as Yi-jae explains how Gyu-chul creates his art. Tae-woo misses out on his chance to be a work of art, however when Yi-jae as Gyu-chul (who conveniently has an inoperable brain tumor) falls unconscious.
When Yi-jae wakes up, he is the one chained to the shiny metal table with gleeful Tae-woo looking down on him. Tae-woo tells him about the first life he took – a man he accidently ran into with his car. (Yep. This is the man from episode one whose death in front of Yi-jae started Yi-jae’s downward spiral). He recounts how the dying man looked up at him as though he were a God. Ever since then, Tae-woo likes to run over people in the hopes one of them will look at him like that again. (Nicely explaining all those hit and runs.) Taking up the chainsaw, Tae-woo proceeds to give Yi-jae a torturously painful death. Yi-jae’s plan has failed.
Or did it? Back in Death’s presence he begins to laugh. Gyu-chul’s hidden surveillance system has recorded the entire thing. I have to admit that I completely bought into the idea that Yi-jae planned to kill Tae-woo and did not see the twist coming. Brilliant. Now all he needs do in the next round is get the footage and turn it in. But is it ever that easy?
Round 9: Detective Ahn Ji-hyung
Before Yi-jae’s previous round began, Tae-woo was caught for speeding by detectives Ahn Ji-hyung (Oh Jung-se from It’s Okay to not be Okay) and his young partner, Woo Ji-hun (Choi Woo-jin). After Tae-woo puts in a call, the officers are forced to let him go. It’s detective Ahn Ji-hyung’s body that Yi-jae ends up in for round 9. The son of a police officer killed in the line of duty, Ji-hyung promised his mother he would try not to get hurt while on the job. As a result, his performance on the force is lacking.
Once Yi-jae takes over his body, detective Ji-hyung’s career takes off. He inadvertently gets a murder confession from the punk who killed him back in round 5 and the shoulder throw he uses to take him down goes viral. His plan to get Tae-woo looks good as he gathers the footage from Gyu-chul’s death lair and turns over the entire crime scene. Like the snake that he is, Tae-woo uses his connections to come out looking like he killed serial killer Gyu-chul in self-defense. The media and public turn against Ji-hyung. Then, under orders from Tae-woo, he is kidnapped. Yi-jae’s plan appears to be shot.
But all is not as it seems. Tae-woo wakes up on a Taekang plane headed to the US and is shocked as Ji-hyung’s recorded voice lists off the people he has killed. Things go from bad to apocalyptic when he learns the plane is about to crash – just like his brother’s plane. Tae-woo has one chance to survive – find the single parachute and jump. He does – managing to land on a roadway where he is promptly hit by a car.
Cut to the flashback of Yi-jae’s plan. With the resources of the police behind him and the skills of some of his previous lives – he planned the entire thing. Fixer (round 4) Lee Ju-hun’s skills helped in rigging the plane and setting it on autopilot. Extreme Sports Athlete (round 2) Song Jae-seop skills came in handy for jumping out of the plane and landing right next to his car. Aspiring Martial Artist (round 5) Cho Tae-sang’s skills show up as he drives the car (hmm, I suppose anyone can drive but it’s nice to see Lee Jae-wook again) and runs down Tae-woo. Model (round 7) Jang Geon-u gets out of the car and kneels by the injured Tae-woo, intent on ending his life the same way Tae-woo snuffed his out.
Then Seo In-guk’s Yi-jae looks up to see Death arrive (she did say if he killed someone, she would intervene) and Ji-su’s pen falls out of his pocket. Seeing it, he stops. Is this Ji-su’s way of saving him? Just when Tae-woo thinks he is in the clear, the wind catches his parachute and he is pulled into an oncoming truck. Long story short, Tae-woo survives but loses some limbs and most of his sanity in the process.
Yi-jae continues to live as Ji-hyung, racking up arrests and developing a stellar record with the police force. He thinks this may be his chance at life until a thug shoots him and his young partner. Remembering a promise he made to his partner’s daughter to keep her father safe, he sacrifices his life to take out the man out.
Round 10: Homeless Man
Yi-jae finds himself in the body of a homeless man in round 10. (You didn’t think I would recognize you Kim Won-hae, but how could I forget your brilliant character in While You Were Sleeping?) Seeing the media surrounding the death of detective Ji-hyung, he heads to the memorial. At first, he is thrilled by the flower banners sent by famous and important people. Then he realizes it’s Ji-hyung who is being recognized for all the accomplishments Yi-jae made while living as the detective. There is no recognition for his own life. Adding salt to the wound, he is asked to leave.
His attempt to talk with the family of his former partner goes badly and he chases after wounded Woo Ji-hun who is distraught over the death of his sunbae. Yi-jae tries to comfort Ji-hun, telling him that his partner would want him to go on living. He would be happy to have sacrificed himself for his friend. Ji-hun asks just who the *blank* he is at which point, Yi-jae responds, “I don’t know”. He runs down the stairs, falls and dies. Round 10 over.
Round 11: Office Worker
By the time Yi-jae faces death again, he wants to die as quickly as possible in the next round. His wish is granted when he lands in the body of a former office worker (Kim Gun-ho from The Matchmakers), a man who once had a good job and family but has since lost it all. The man’s despair at his situation only adds fuel to Yi-jae’s current mental state. Running onto a busy street, he stops in front of traffic. Within moments, he is hit by a car and his body flies to the nearby sidewalk. (Yes – this is the very man Tae-woo hit with his car and who landed in front of Yi-jae on the way to Yi-jae’s first interview.) As he lay dying, Death appears at Tae-woo’s side. Yi-jae looks up at her with pleading eyes. It’s the look Tae-woo kept trying to recapture by running over people.
Back in Death’s presence, Yi-jae is shocked that one of his lives is responsible for the incident that started his downward spiral. Death says that even when given a chance to set things right, humans rarely take advantage of the opportunity. If he hadn’t been so intent to get the round over with, he could have changed the course of his life. Death is so cruel.
With one more round left, Yi-jae boldly tells Death he is done with the game. No matter who he ends up in, he will die quickly, even knowing that hell is his final destination. Death gives him a knowing smile. He shouldn’t be so sure about that.
Round 12: Mom
For his final round, Yi-jae reels in shock to discover he is in his mother’s body. (Veteran actress Kim Mi Kyung is Momma Choi – everyone’s favorite Korean mother from Heirs/Inheritors, Dr. Cha, Welcome to Samdal-ri, the list goes on.) As he gains his mom’s memories, he learns how the hardships she faced in life were even greater than those he experienced. He sees his death from her point of view and is devasted that she believes she failed him as a mother. Her greatest wish is for him to be born to different parents in his next life and to live out that life to its natural end. Honoring his mother’s wish, Yi-jae lives as his mom for the next 32 years until her death. (Where are those tissues when you need them?)
At the beginning of Death’s Game, I never imagined his final round would be like this. Death said if he survived a round, he would have the chance to live out that person’s natural life. It is both poignant and poetic that the life he is left with is that of his mother. He has 32 years to reflect on the deaths he experienced and suffered through. In his terms, it’s almost another lifetime to contemplate what he learned by playing Death’s game.
Death’s Game Ending
By the time Yi-jae meets Death again, he is happy to see her after so long. Having experienced twelve rounds of death, he finally realizes the gift that life is and the sin he committed by choosing to end the life he had. It’s a choice that caused the undo pain and suffering of the people who loved him. Death declares his punishment is at an end, and says his ultimate fate is now up to God. Getting down on his knees, Yi-jae pleads for one more bullet. One more chance to live his life as himself. It’s not because he believes he deserves it, but because he wants to hug his mother one more time. Death puts a bullet in the chamber. Whether it goes off is up to God.
With the sound of a bullet firing, Yi-jae’s phone, purchased on the ledge of the building where he jumped, rings. It’s Mom. In the first episode, Yi-jae missed her call. Now, his hand reaches and picks up the phone. Yi-jae is given a second chance at life.
Such a fitting ending for the show. It doesn’t go back to when Yi-jae failed the first interview like it could have. Instead, it picks up the moment he made his fateful choice. Life is still going to be hard. He has no job. His bank account is empty. He has work to do to get Ji-su back. But now he sees the blessings in his life and how others, like his mom, have lived with greater hardships. Death has given him the will to live as himself.
Death’s Game – After the Ending
You know me. I’m never completely satisfied with an ending. I have so many questions about what happens after this point. All but one (round 11) of the death’s Yi-jae experienced are still to come with the reset. Now that he personally knows the people whose bodies he inhabited, will he take steps to change their fate? The previews for part two, showed several of the actors from part one. I wondered if this meant Yi-jae would have the chance to redeem some of their deaths. The cameos turned out to be used in a different way than I expected – and I’m ok with that. But, after giving his mom the biggest hug ever and telling Ji-su how stupid he was for breaking up with her – what will Yi-jae do?
I like to imagine that Yi-jae will use the memories of round 1’s Park Jin-tae to convince the Taekang heir that his brother plans to kill him. He uses the same trick to get fixer Lee Ju-hun to turn (with a promise of witness protection), then provide the information to detective Ahn Ji-hyung, along with evidence coerced from lawyer Kim (Im Ji-Kyu) concerning the hit-and-run Cho Tae-sang took the fall for. This should be enough to land Tae-woo in jail and give detective Ahn the career boost he needs. It also conveniently prevents the deaths of Song Jae-Seob (no money for a crazy stunt), Cho Tae-Sang (out of jail without worrying about a hit on him), Jang Geon-u and Ji-su (no car crashing into them).
Yi-jae signs up for a big brother program and takes student Kwon Hyeok-Su under his wings to prevent the boy’s suicide and stop the bullying. He’ll find the homeless man and gets him into a shelter. Photographic evidence of child abuse on unnamed baby boy shows up at child protective services and puts those two horrible parents in jail where they belong. Additional video evidence of serial killer, Jung Gyu-chul lands on Detective Ahn’s desk and puts an end to his killing spree.
There. Now I can move on.
Death’s Game Soundtrack
Death’s Game features several outstanding songs that beautifully fit the mood of the show. Seo In-guk lends his breathtaking vocals to Though There’s No Miracle, a song that sounds dramatic and hopeful at the same time. Sondia sings two songs: the hauntingly sad It’s a Lie which plays during the emotional scene in episode 4 when Yi-jae sees Ji-su again, and What Today Says for Yi-jae and his mom.
