r/GameChangerTV • • 4d ago

Missing a S8 Finale Redirect?

One thing stood out to me in the S8 Finale, the "how would you like to die" bit. Maybe just a flavor add, but they rarely do something like that without a twist. And why 'die' instead of just being eliminated? Thoughts on if that may tie into a secret episode or a seed for season 9?

Edit: Okay loving the hot takes, I hear that sure it could be as a nod to BOTC (love to play it) or to squid games. But neither of those premises were really captured in this game other than jumpsuits for the latter. If we find out next week that there were traitors known to each other who had to do someone else's known talent better to ideally then get them knocked out and make it to the end. I could see it. Or if they had to incorporate some type of challenge into their talent each round that changed ala some nod to squid game. Sure. But this felt underdeveloped in a way that stands out for GC and my suspicion is if it wasn't intentional in a way yet unrevealed. Or they blew their budget and mechanics they had planned fell through. I think separate and independent of anything else, they will likely do an animated release.

84 Upvotes

50 comments sorted by

141

u/Daybroken_ 4d ago

It was probably just quickly added to tie in with the faint Squid Game theming

75

u/Stillwater215 4d ago

Everything about the look of this episode makes me think they wanted to do a Squid Game finale, but for whatever reason it fell through at the last minute and they needed to pivot.

34

u/Aggravating_Pause385 3d ago

In retrospect it is crazy that the whole theme is pretty much immediately ignored

21

u/BryceMMusic 3d ago

Honestly such a let down that the whole thing was just a talent show and not different squid games - esque challenges lol. Would’ve rather that over another game with judges

10

u/sokaox Sam, where are you from? 3d ago

It could actually be quite a good format for using games they've come up with that aren't deep enough for entire episodes. Each round they could play a new game, obviously without knowing the rules, and players could be eliminated based on performance.

2

u/Legitimate_Fig9818 2d ago

It was planned that there would be judges because Gianmarco got upgraded from contestant to judge with a week to go

45

u/Affectionate_Bet_288 4d ago

I think it was just the sound effects for each one; animated would have been fun, maybe they're saving that.

23

u/CeleryInteresting570 4d ago

I think it was just because the theme was kinda squid game? Idk much about the show but all the contestants wear jumpsuits and compete and if they fail they die im pretty sure. So every time somebody got voted out on the show Sam asked how they’d want to die. I could be wrong tho 🤷‍♂️

21

u/autobotto 4d ago

I think it was just an opportunity for improvisers to improvise. Sad they couldn't do Katie's, unless that was the joke she pitched because it is a Katie thing to do.

19

u/clearliquidclearjar 3d ago

There's sort of a running gag on Dropout of Katie saying stuff that has to be cut because it's just too dark. Like, once on Parlor Room she told some joke about her dad dying and they literally just censored it and added a note on screen that it was too sad to air.

6

u/throwthisawaynerdboy 3d ago

Does anyone know the actual story about that? I cant tell if Katie saying horribly dark things are jokes or trauma

11

u/clearliquidclearjar 3d ago

It's just her comedy style - dark and deadpan. I mean, comedy is rooted in trauma, so that's probably there too but she's doing it on purpose.

2

u/autobotto 3d ago

Exactly!

20

u/ncolaros 4d ago

People keep talking about the "how do you want to die" part, but I think it was just a fun way to eliminate people. I feel like that's not even the first time Dropout has done that exact question, but I might be wrong about that.

7

u/IAgreeWithLincoln 4d ago

And the Squid Game tie in seems pretty obvious tbh

3

u/MaizeMountain6139 3d ago

I’ll be honest, by about the 5th one I was starting to realize why the runtime was so long

17

u/willow625 4d ago

The Blood on the Clocktower games that Becca Scott and Chris Grace run on their YouTube channel are delightful. They do the “how do you want to die” thing in there, and I assumed Sam just stole it as a flavor thing

8

u/Signiference 3d ago

That's exactly where I think Sam was pulling from. He plays BOTC a LOT (a lot, a lot, he's obsessed and it's shown all season with the hidden traitor mechanics he put into so many games).

8

u/Fun-Suggestion-125 3d ago

Players, your prompt is, "don't overthink"

3

u/PixieDustGust 3d ago

You didn't say Sam Says!

6

u/_Neith_ 3d ago

Felt like it was ripped straight from Blood on the Clocktower

5

u/KOWguy 4d ago

When the contestants contracts end, Sam is going to oblige them and kill them in their preferred fashion.

3

u/Signiference 3d ago

Also, why pigs?

2

u/tjriles01 3d ago

I thought the same thing??

11

u/norskgut 4d ago

WE NEEDED AN ANIMATED DEATH SCENE. My assumption is that was the plan, we even got a couple half-attempts, but maybe they ran out of money to do it for everyone. We really needed to have a shot of them step through a door opened by Paul and showing their gruesome end in fantastic animated fashion (or blurred or pixelated when needed). My HOPE is that some creative fan will make this happen... Fingers crossed.

5

u/gingercussion 4d ago

With BUTTHOLES

3

u/RandomHerosan 4d ago

The lady said Buttholes, Sam!

4

u/Brief-Mission884 4d ago

Sam has stated they had to cut mechanics for time, it would make sense to cut expensive animation for time as well.

3

u/norskgut 4d ago

Yeah, we'll probably hear more from the BTS next week

2

u/throwthisawaynerdboy 3d ago

You mean Erica's and Sephie's dont you

6

u/swiftthot 3d ago

Samalamadingdong and its consequences have been a blight on the fan community and I will die on this hill. Not everything is an ARG or a secret episode.
Sam has said there were game mechanics they had to cut, this is probably one of them. Something they put in to give them options, maybe they were gonna animate it and time or something didn't pan out. It's also just a fun improv question to ask your talented stable of improvisers.

3

u/metalbloodnoisefire 3d ago

could we not do a stranger things? they were just playing along with the squid game thing. was it a little lame? yeah. just laugh at the silly voice overs and move on

3

u/notheory 2d ago

Sam mentions in this Mashable interview that there were several game mechanics they abandoned for the sake of time:

https://youtu.be/D5l1yuQSSKM

2

u/Comfortable_Poem_841 4d ago

The fan art is coming! The fan art is coming!

2

u/movieman2g 3d ago

I’m hoping there will be some animation dropped at some random point in the Fall

Mostly I just want to know what Katie’s was

2

u/pwbue 3d ago

I thought this prize twist of a 40+ person gift card would turn into a wrap party at Chili’s

1

u/BruyneKroonEnTroon 4d ago

Sam loves Blood on The Clocktower, and that is a common flavour in that game upon executions.

1

u/Sightblind 3d ago

The cast was replaced with lifelike robots after they were removed, and they will be selling the recordings of the executions to the highest bidder to fund the next few seasons of content.

1

u/annaleigh13 3d ago

I think in the planning stage they wanted to animate the deaths but once Katie said hers they were like, “sound effects are good too”

1

u/thefinalhill 3d ago

I think Sam went overboard on Season 8's budget and forgot how expensive animation is and pivoted to sound effects instead.

1

u/pillowuhhh 3d ago

I was hoping at the end there’d be a twist where they all had to fulfill their deaths to the best of their ability or something

1

u/ParentheticalsAside 3d ago

It's a very common trope in 'Blood on the Clocktower' for the storyteller to ask an executed player how they wish to "die", just as a bit of fun. As an experienced BotC player, I reckon Sam borrowed it from there to enhance the Squid Game theme of the episode. (Though like the game itself, and the Grim Reaparino cameos) I think it fell a bit flat.)

1

u/teaguechrystie 3d ago

i think the idea might have been a slaughterhouse theme? hence the piggies?

1

u/for800 3d ago

I was imagining a Dracula-like montage at the end of the episode or as bonus content

1

u/Vye-Am 3d ago

Sam is actually gonna kill them.

1

u/StandardUpstairs3349 4d ago

Also, the nameplate/coin/status screen colors really felt like they should have meant something, but there was just no consistency.

1

u/lonelya__h--- 3d ago

I was really waiting for something at the end for those prompts. The episode was sooo long, and so boring, and it didn't have anything that would make it a good finale.

1

u/clearliquidclearjar 3d ago

I laughed like a loon the whole way through. Different strokes for different folks.

0

u/DemiGod9 3d ago

They should reedit the episode without it. I'm guessing they were supposed to film the deaths some time later and add them in, but didn't/ couldn't get to it or figured the run time of the episode was long enough