Picture: Netflix
The 8 Show has been one of the best new K-drama series released in 2024. Still, after being uploaded as season 1, the label on the show has been quietly switched to “Limited Series,” implying that no more episodes are on the way despite having some rather open-ended questions by the close of episode 8.
In case you missed it, the new series is based on the webcomics Money Game and Pie Game telling the story of 8 contestants who are all in in financial hardship taking part in Money Game, a reality competition with 44.8 billion won up for grabs but to survive the game, they have to start using some of that money.
Many, including us, compared the show to Squid Game, which ultimately became one of Netflix’s biggest shows in history. While The 8 Show certainly doesn’t show so far that it’s anywhere close to getting to Squid Game’s numbers, it’s certainly a good stopgap while waiting for season 2 and stands on its own two feet despite the comparisons.
Season 1 concludes quite nicely, but there is another webcomic that could be explored for a future season called Funny Game. That said, the series does end nicely albeit with some lingering questions.
Marie Claire and The Escapist have done deep dives on the big unanswered questions from the end of season 1, which could’ve been addressed in a second season although the latter concludes the show really doesn’t need to come back.
As Marie Claire notes, The 8 Show concludes not with a cliffhanger but with a meta mid-credits scene. In this scene, Park Jeong-min’s character, now a screenwriter, pitches a script based on the show’s harrowing events to a financier. The TV executive unnervingly pretends to have experienced the ordeal himself, only to later reveal it was a joke. Despite 7th Floor’s resigned assurance that the story is purely fictional, the financier offers full support. The series wraps up with a toast and a playful hint at the future: “Who knows? There might even be a season 2,” certainly implying to us there could be more.
This change of label shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Most K-dramas are designed to be one-and-done situations. This is one of the best things about K-dramas, given that it’s rare to get completely unfinished stories.
Netflix changing the season lables of K-dramas to indicate they’re now limited series isn’t new, either. The past two engagement reports (first released in December 2023 and more recently in May 2023) have confirmed new seasons of shows like Business Proposal, A Time Called You, The Sound of Magic, and Crash Landing on You.
Just to make sure the series had been switched labels, I reached out to Maft from NewonNetflix.info, who confirmed that the show was uploaded as just Season 1. The media center still labels it as such.
How well has The 8 Show performed on Netflix?
At the time of publishing, the series had only been featured in the Netflix top 10s for two weeks. In our top 10 report for the first week’s results, we saw how the show trailed behind the likes of The Bequeathed, A Killer Paradox and Parayste: The Grey.
It certainly started off slow but grew viewing hours significantly in week 2. So far, it’s picked up 45.10 million viewing hours and 6.5M views. Here’s how that breaks down:
| Week in Top 10 | Week Period | Hours Viewed | Views / CVE | Weekly Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 12th, 2024 to May 19th, 2024 | 11,900,000 (New) | 1,700,000 | 7 |
| 2 | May 19th, 2024 to May 26th, 2024 | 33,200,000 (+179%) | 4,800,000 | 1 |
What do you think? Would you like to see The 8 Show come back for a season 2 on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
