Sunday, February 21, 2016

JTBC Code Episode 8 Finale Review

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Disclaimer: This is not really the final episode of Code. Some do refer to episode 8 as the end of season one. The winner went on to play another "round" of Code, which was much better executed. 


So, we have the final 3 on Basement 1 and they are so close to getting out of this building, at least for one of the three finalists: Oh Hyun Min, Shin Jae Pyung and Jeong Jun Ha!

I will say that this is probably the one of the better episodes all season, just because it was easier to catch what was going on during the show. The puzzles somewhat became the stars this episode, as they had more screen time, haha.

They started the main match by opening two rooms, the green one and the mirror one. There were a total of four clues per room that will unlock the locks that lead to the red room, which held clues that unlock the ticket to the final round.

However, at most two players are allowed in a room at any one time. Once three clues (in a room) were deciphered, the room would be out of bounds within 10 seconds. As the game progressed, Hyunmin and Junha ended up in the same (mirror) room and they got to the red room first. Meanwhile Jaepyung was solving the puzzles all by himself and got to the red room a little late, as Hyunmin had already moved on to the final round.

In the end, Jaepyung was out of luck as Junha solved one of the puzzle seconds before he did.

In Final Code, they played Betting Royale, which included a total of 7 rounds of quick brain games that lasted no more than 20 seconds. An example, would be a multiple choice question about how many points were recorded after six darts were shot and landed on the target.
A bit lacking in my opinion, as the whole game ended so quickly. Hyunmin was really great at betting and answering the questions, so no surprise here, he won!!! Quite an overwhelming win, actually. Congratulations!

This pretty experimental concept on TV this new year, with Code: Secret Room, has definitely caught our attentions as escape rooms become even more of a hit these few years. While it was lackluster at times, I thought that it was great for JTBC to put this out for the audience. :)

~~ End of Season 1 Code

...

Or is it?

O.o As it turns out, Hyunmin had the chance to choose whether to go back 5 levels down for a chance to double his price money when he entered the elevator. and he decided to go for another challenge against "tougher competitors".

I was really surprised when I saw that. When I first watched it, I thought it was just one single challenge but turns out I heard wrongly! Woah, there were San E, Eddy Kim and Choi Jung Moon etc on B5! Then, the machine turned on and said welcome, WTH?!

Haha, I really thought that this was the end of Code after Hyunmin won, because the show just isn't the best thing on TV. >< To have a second season right after, is a really serious investment for such a show format by JTBC.

... Erm, so I am guessing that this isn't the end then, and I will check back next week, to see if we are really moving on to the second season!

For updates, find me on Twitter @raycherr ~~
Thanks for reading!

Sunday, February 14, 2016

JTBC Code Episode 7 Review

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Nearing the ultimate escape of the building! Basement 2, and a short review today.
On this level, cracking the codes and locks will get them 1/2/3 markers. Markers, you say? Yea, today they got to play climbing the ladder. (Click on the hyperlink if you are interested in the game!)

Two players will end up winning the game while the other two go to Last Code. Pink colored hair Heechul and Pink colored shirt Junha lost, and have to play a rather lame boring game. Out of four tiles(head, body, arms, hand) they have to guess which tile the opponent played. In my opinion, this was a rather slow and meaningless game... The two players did however try to make it fun, but still, I thought that this "psychological" game was more down to luck than really reading the other player's mind, because it was a rather simple game.

And with that, Heechul lost, sending Junha off to face the KAIST alliance on Basement 1.

Also, I am not sure if it is just the video I watched but I never saw the reveal of what happened leading up to the outcome during Main Code. (might be bad editing... :/) I really want to know how Hyunmin's plans worked out! Maybe even some more afterthoughts from them would be nice too.

Verdict: Watch for Heechul's eyeliner and wits but overall, not a great episode.

So, the FINALE is next week!!! XD
In the meantime, find me on twitter @raycherr! :)

Sunday, February 7, 2016

JTBC Code Episode 6 Review

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With 5 players left, it is on to Basement 3! Two players get to succeed in escaping during Main Code and the other three will go to Last Code. 

In Main Code, there were 4 different colored hints (red green blue yellow) to be found and they will lead to 4 different pass code which can only be successfully keyed in once. While I liked this refreshed rule, it was a pity the show missed out on the opportunity for us to guess and confirm our answers for the remaining codes that were not solved. 

Also, each player had an additional guest that they brought to help them out this episode. One of them you might be familiar with, Girl's Day Yura. She was Heechul's guest. :) While some of the guests did a pretty good job in helping them solve clues, others were pretty lost. Haha I'm not naming people yea but in the end it didn't really matter. Hyunmin still figured out the code first, with just 2 hints. 

On the subject of Hyunmin, it seems like the other players are starting to become really weary of him especially Jaepyung, after his closest ally Youngjin was eliminated. However, the players still always end up helping this maknae. (Which let to Hyunmin winning this round...) :/

Nothing against Hyunmin, but he just doesn't give out the underdog vibes for me to want to root for him now. I do understand his competitiveness though, and his mentality to keep his head in the game. 

Jaepyung was next to escape, and then we moved on to the 3 way match. They had this board game where they had to reach the finish circle(red) twice in order to get an escape card. Their winnings count will start over after one of them gets a card. 
I included this amateur drawing >< haha as reference so you can see how they get to move along the lines. 
How they play is that for every round they have 7 blocks (from 1 to 7) and they play one of them, which is then discarded. The player with the larger number win, unless two of the players have the same larger number then the last player wins. He will move the token piece one step(circle) closer to himself. Once one of the player moves the piece into his red circle, all their blocks are placed back into play. 

I can imagine this game as one that is more complicated and have more players. This sure has great potential as a more developed game. :) Though of course, it wouldn't make for good TV with too many people either, hmm. 

With three players, this game was forgettable... Then, Sunghyun was eliminated. 

Verdict: Meh. Not the worst episode but not that interesting this week either. 

Anyways, Happy Lunar New Year everyone!!! :) 
Find me on Twitter @raycherr or comment below~