S01.E10: One Lucky Day

[Guest]

Quote

As the end draws near, the finalists suit up for a lavish feast — and a surprising test. One last game stands between a player and the ultimate prize.

 

[Fake Jan Brady]

That was a terribly low impact way to win so much money.

[Blissfool]

Wow, so anti-climactic 

[Dobian]

Yes, rock/paper/scissors was so unoriginal.  When they showed the floor layout I thought there would be a game similar to the final game of the original series.  The final game is supposed to be something that is memorable and brings the season to a showstopping conclusion.  They may as well have flipped a coin.

[30 Helens]

Good god, was that boring. I can’t imagine a worse way to end the season. I’m glad it was Mai, because I always liked her, but TBH I’d have been fine with either of the other two. One thing this show needs to do in the next season is focus more on the players, not the dystopian aspect. Give us a reason to really root for these people that goes beyond the one pre-season interview.

Mai was smart to go first in the choosing game, because in the first round, odds were 66% staying safe. In the second round, those odds dropped to 50%. I felt bad for Sam after that, and I hope they had good counselors on stand-by, because it looked like he really needed one.  (And by the way, fuck his mom.)

But again   , watching two people point scissors fingers at each other is so not the way to end a season. And could they not have a little fanfare after? Even a post-game interview with the  winner/ top 3?  Like the show in general, it was all too sterile and distant. I liked the season in general, but here’s hoping that they fix the parts that didn’t work before season 2.
 

[violet and green]

I thought it was marvellous! Mai used strategy and her knowledge of the game and how men usually played and won round after round, and then pulled out the right key. Phil was gracious and kind in his defeat. Lovely little postcards of some of the key players living their happy lives without the money. Mai was a great winner. Stoic and brave, as she's lived her life.

[Helena Dax]

Yeah, definitely anti-climatic. I'm not very happy about Mai winning but I have to admit that she was clever. One of the boys should have gone first. I liked the little scenes with some players at the end.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Helena Dax

[Guest]

I would have picked the square button too and I would have died.  I'm terrible at games.  heh

You have to pinky promise to give your all to win 4.56 million dollars?  Really?  Give me a break.

This final game is the lamest.

How anti-climatic and I had to wait a week for this?  

 

[catherinejane]

I think she had to make sure she went first in the pick the shape, as the odds were totally equal.

as the 2 boys wound pick each other if they could. She could pick either. 

[Dobian]

18 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Mai was smart to go first in the choosing game, because in the first round, odds were 66% staying safe. In the second round, those odds dropped to 50%. I felt bad for Sam after that, and I hope they had good counselors on stand-by, because it looked like he really needed one.  (And by the way, fuck his mom.)
 

Was it?  I wasn't clear on that.  I thought all three were still in play and they just shuffled the lights.  But maybe you heard something I didn't.

[Blueboxes]

21 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Mai was smart to go first in the choosing game, because in the first round, odds were 66% staying safe. In the second round, those odds dropped to 50%.

Yep it seemed clear to me that Mai would go first. She knew if Sam or Phil got the green they would not pick her. 

Phil knew Sam would pick him and I think he suspected that Mai would too. Zero chance he would press the button - as long as he didn't, he had 100% chance of making it to the final 2. 

Sam again knew Phil would pick him and was very afraid of the red possibility (rightly so!). 

I was shocked when Sam volunteered after Mai was safe. I actually thought he & Phil would play rock-paper-scissor to decide who would go second. I wonder if production said they couldn't do that since that was their "big finale" (yawn). 

I understand why squid game wasn't the final but I wish they had come up with something more interesting. I actually would have enjoyed a trivia game about the contestants/games up to that point - the winner would be the one who paid attention to details along the way. 

[Mattipoo]

Glad Mai is the winner. She was consistent throughout and called out Ashley, so she is alright to me. I enjoyed the montage at the end of the various memorable contestants. Spencer eating cookies was adorable!

[QQQQ]

Phil reminds me of a teen actor from the 90s (or so) but I can't think of his name! Same ilk as Seth Green and Keith Coogan. 

[calvinshobbes]

13 hours ago, QQQQ said:

Phil reminds me of a teen actor from the 90s (or so) but I can't think of his name! Same ilk as Seth Green and Keith Coogan. 

Joseph Gordon Levitt from his third rock from the sun days.

I liked the finale. Mai was a deserving winner. I thought aince this was basically schoolyard pickems that they would bring back the eliminated contestants i.e from the last 3 or or games to vote for the winner. 

[hoodooznoodooz]

I would like to learn that Mai ended up giving TJ at least 33% of the money after taxes. 

[braziliangirl]

17 hours ago, QQQQ said:

Phil reminds me of a teen actor from the 90s (or so) but I can't think of his name! Same ilk as Seth Green and Keith Coogan. 

Breckin Meyer? Everytime I see Phil I think of Breckin's character from Clueless. 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

That was such a boring finale.  I nodded off a few times.  It was stretched out with the dull chatter.  Are you nervous? Yes, I'm nervous? Are you nervous? Yes. Scintillating. 

Given that people aren't dying at the end, they really need a much more interesting and challenging final game to make it worth watching.  For over $4M, there was a lot of luck in the final. 

[QQQQ]

4 hours ago, braziliangirl said:

Breckin Meyer? Everytime I see Phil I think of Breckin's character from Clueless. 

That's it!! Thank you - this was seriously driving me crazy. I could even picture the actor playing an attorney, but got stuck on Suits (it was Franklin & Bash). Now I can sleep tonight 😅

[Dobian]

9 hours ago, calvinshobbes said:

Joseph Gordon Levitt from his third rock from the sun days.

I was saying the same thing when they first started focusing on him.  Third Rock!

[BellyLaughter]

Mai… from her tactical smarts to her calculated show of emotion when required and saying all the things her fellow contestants wanted or needed to hear at the right moments.  Stone cold sociopath … but that is exactly what this game calls for!!

Congrats to the winner! 

I do wish the last game was better but that was one hell of a watch!!

[iMonrey]

Finally finished this. I thought as a whole it was just OK. But I had a hard time looking past the performative aspect of it. All the crying and carrying on and hugging goodbye, as though the eliminated contestants were literally going to their deaths. It's one thing to be upset about losing your chance at that money, but to cry over someone else leaving? Someone you only just met days before, and when the whole point is to send everyone else home so you can win? Unbelievable.

I also feel like a lot of the reactions were prompted/directed. Like when the men in the red suits walk into the dorm, I can envision someone directing these people to show more reaction and say stuff.

It's kind of a silly concept when you get down to it. The drama series had life or death stakes. They tried to make this game show look like the drama series as much as possible, but the stakes just weren't there so the emotions felt fake. And no fight to the death at the end, but instead rock, paper, scissors? Talk about the opposite end of the spectrum.

I didn't feel like they did a good job profiling the people who made it to the end. They mostly remained invisible until the last few episodes, like Phil and Sam. There was an undue amount of attention on the mother and son team, the latter of which went out rather unceremoniously. 

It was interesting, but they should maybe drop some of the pretension if they do it again.

[AntFTW]

Wow, Mai wins.

I think this is the largest cash prize I've ever seen in a competition reality show. Survivor went up to $2 million once. Does any other show have a larger prize?

[Black Knight]

I'm so relieved. Yay Mai! She established in this episode why she was the most deserving one out of the three, continuing to make the strategic choices. I liked how she concealed her eagerness to go first, and slow-played her volunteering, so that Sam wouldn't realize that he should also be pushing to go first. I think he just kept continuing to underestimate her - which is why in the last episode, her lying that she picked Amanda instead of Roland was a smart play. And of course she knew how to play RPS strategically. I rolled my eyes when Phil said he wasn't using any strategy. If he had managed to blunder into the win I would have been furious.

The other thing is that Phil is totally one of those people who would be bankrupt within five years (although I don't think it would take him close to that long) of winning the lottery. Barring any dire emergency or outstanding high-interest debt, I expect Mai will have the sense to invest pretty much all of the after-taxes take home money.

I liked seeing the contestants outside of the game.