Gripping show that ultimately falls flat

I don't really write reviews, but this drama had me thinking as soon as I finished it, and I really had to get my thoughts out.

First, the positives. Death's Game is a gripping show. It hooked me from beginning to end, and I binged the entire show in one sitting. The acting is phenomenal, although Death was a little one note, but what can you really do when playing the immortal personification of death itself? The serial killer subplot in particular was probably my favorite part of the entire show, but I mostly consume crime related dramas so that's no real surprise.

So, the negatives. Death's Game takes a very reductivist attitude to suicide in a way that bothered me quite a bit. If you boil down the main message the show seems to be trying to convey, it's essentially "Be grateful you're alive, your death would hurt the people around you." Or even something like "Keep living and trying just as the ones before you, look how hard others have it compared to you."

The sin Death spoke of very early on in the show is revealed to be Yijae not even thinking of how he hurt his mother (and Jisu, although Death only really seems to focus on Yijae's mother). Should Yijae have considered how his actions would affect those around him? Probably, but suicidal people are not in the frame of mind to be thinking of others. If you have reached the point in life where you are seriously considering jumping off of a building, you need psychiatric care, not the personification of Death cuffing your ear and telling you you're ungrateful and selfish. Death's trials were entertaining and made for a good story, but the ending really left a bad taste in my mouth, even if it was technically a happy ending.

One last thing, which is probably nitpicky but I'm writing this, so I might as well. Jisu's death was a part of a series of dominoes falling that led to Yijae getting his second chance. Yijae waking up and getting that second chance essentially means she will never be there to be hit by the psychopath (I honestly forget his name). This means the series of events changes, so Yijae will never get his second chance? Or will Jisu still die just as she did? Did the things Yijae do as others still happen, or do they not since he did not jump? Which means psychopath man 1 and 2 are still out there? I love time travel fiction. Unfortunately it is rarely done well, due to the nature of the concept. Time travel is incredibly difficult to write well due to the plot holes and impossibilities that always emerge. This show is no different, and I think the ending is so brief because the writer knew this. You are meant to take the ending as a happy moment and immediately move on, since thinking about it for even 5 minutes makes it fall apart.

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