How Did The Contestants Escape The 8 Show? Their Grueling Experience Explained

Split image of Bae Sung-woo and Ryu Jun-yeol in The 8 Show (2024)
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm1009417473/?ref_=tt_md_1 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm3595336961?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_6 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes

Split image of Bae Sung-woo and Ryu Jun-yeol in The 8 Show (2024)
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm1009417473/?ref_=tt_md_1 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm3595336961?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_6 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes

The 8 Show is the latest South Korean dystopian survival show on Netflix. Like Squid Game, it asks the same question: What wouldn't you do for money?

The series brings together eight debt-ridden contestants in a high-stakes reality competition. Their only goal is to survive for as long as possible in a bizarre apartment complex. There's even a timer, which adds pressure to the chaos.

How The Contestants Escaped The 8 Show

Moon Jeong-Hee, Park Jeong-min, Chun Woo-hee, Park Hae-joon, Yul-Eum Lee, Ryu Jun-yeol, and Lee Joo-young in The 8 Show (2024)
expand image
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm2368240897?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_3 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes
Credit: Netflix

After overthrowing the tyrannical reign of the 8th Floor, the lower-floor players attempt to use the 1st Floor's (Bae Sung-woo) 1 billion won to move to a higher-level room, only to discover that the money only bought instructions, and switching floors is challenging.

With the 8th Floor (Chun Woo-hee) and the 6th Floor (Park Hae-joon) tied up, the group plans to leave, but the 1st Floor, desperate for money, forces them to restrain each other at gunpoint to earn more money. To earn more time and money, 1st Floor decides to perform. He is a clown and is meant to entertain.

Bae Sung-woo in The 8 Show (2024)
expand image
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm1009417473?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_1 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes
Credit: Netflix

Related: Baby Reindeer Set To Become Most-Watched Show On Netflix

As 1st Floor does his tightrope routine, he jumps too high and collides with the overhead projector. It dislodges and falls into the empty pool below. He manages to catch himself on the tightrope, but the projector ignites. Unable to hold on any longer, he falls into the flames and is burned alive.

The other contestants break free from their restraints and still try to help 1st Floor, even begging the game makers to save him. However, with no aid rushing to help them, the 3rd Floor (Ryu Jun-yeol) breaks the game's rules and shoots all the cameras. With nothing left to see and no one to entertain, the timer is set to zero, and they're free.

5th Floor’s Violent and Gruesome Revenge On 6th Floor

Chun Woo-hee in The 8 Show (2024)
expand image
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm4182539521/ License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes
Credit: Netflix

In episode 8, 5th Floor (Moon Jeong-Hee) confides in 4th Floor (Yul-Eum Lee) about how a relationship with a con artist left her penniless and divorced, ultimately forcing her to join the show.

This traumatic experience left deep scars on the 5th Floor, and history repeated itself when the 6th Floor manipulated her deteriorating mental health and need for affection to convince her to remove his restraints in episode 7. However, it was the forced kiss that truly pushed her over the edge, given her troubled history with men.

Yul-Eum Lee in The 8 Show (2024)
expand image
Credit: Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm2622455041?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_4 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes
Credit: Netflix

Related: Wednesday Season 2 Drops Percy Hynes White from Main Cast

Amid the chaos, the 5th Floor castrates the 6th Floor, an act of revenge against all the men who exploited her kindness throughout her life. In this brutal moment, the 6th Floor becomes a stand-in for all her past tormentors.

What Happened To The Contestants After The 8 Show Ended?

Moon Jeong-Hee, Chun Woo-hee, and Yul-Eum Lee in The 8 Show (2024)
expand image
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm422149377?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_2 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes
Credit: Netflix

After the show's explosive end, the survivors return to the real world, but it’s unclear if their lives are any better. Flashbacks reveal snippets of their pre-show existence, hinting that escaping the game might not mean escaping their troubles.

In a bittersweet gesture, the 3rd Floor uses some of his winnings to organise a funeral for the First Floor, complete with a massive billboard invitation in Seoul.

Related: 3 Body Problem: Netflix to Produce New Episodes After Tragic Season 1 Ending

The reunion at the funeral is a mix of sombre reflection and unresolved tension, underscored by the absence of the 7th Floor (Park Jeong-min), who mysteriously gifts the First Floor’s family a life-changing sum of money but skips the memorial.

The 8 Contestants in The 8 Show

Have an opinion on this article? We'd love to hear it!
Ryu Jun-yeol in The 8 Show (2024)
expand image
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm3595336961?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_6 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes
Credit: Netflix

First Floor, once a clown in a travelling circus with a bad leg, entered The 8 Show to earn money for his sick daughter and support his wife.

Second Floor's (Lee Joo-Young) backstory is vague, but it's revealed that she joined The 8 Show to fund someone's surgery. Flashbacks show her discussing with coworkers how a man was forced to take extra shifts due to understaffing, leading to an accident that left him needing surgery.

Related: Squid Game vs. Squid Game: The Challenge: What's Different?

Third Floor lost all his money in a con game and now avoids loan sharks, while 4th Floor, once an aspiring K-pop idol, worked in a department store. They later realise they were classmates in high school.

Lee Joo-young in The 8 Show (2024)
expand image
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm1196326145?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_5License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes
Credit: Netflix

Fifth Floor was the wife of a wealthy dermatologist but got conned by another man while dealing with her husband's infidelity. Sixth Floor, a former famous baseball player, fell from grace and became a car salesman, constantly undermined by his boss.

By the end of the series, it's suggested that 7th Floor was either a producer or writer before joining The 8 Show, while 8th Floor was a disgraced performance artist shunned by the art community.

The Meta Ending of The 8 Show

Chun Woo-hee in The 8 Show (2024)
expand image
Credit: Netflix Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30423279/mediaviewer/rm109658113?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_8 License: fair use for promotional, commentary and news purposes
Credit: Netflix

And just when you think it’s done, a mid-credits scene flips the script. Seventh Floor is seen pitching a screenplay based on their harrowing experience on The 8 Show.

The executive he presents it to jokes about having been in the game himself. It could be a teaser for season two, and the game has more history than the initial eight contestants.

This Article's Topics

Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!

Netflix
Have an opinion on this article? We'd love to hear it!