Bargain

A man believes he is buying sex with a virgin but ends up strapped to a table for the public auction of his own internal organs. The tables are constantly being turned in this raw, irreverent, quirky, offbeat, and violent K-television series. Almost as soon as the organ auction starts there is an earthquake and the pecking order is thrown into chaos again. People fall through a hole in the hotel floor to an underground butcher room inhabited by a pair of dimwitted and murderous psychos. Don't get too attached to any character for each of them is a villain in their own way.

This cathartic and cheeky series first appeared in Cannes. I am not a fan of the unsteady camera work and long takes (the three episodes actually contain 53 cuts, but it is made to look like one long and continuous take). Despite this, the series is a great deal of fun and I never knew what to expect next. I enjoyed the dark humor.

Director Jeon Woo-sung was present for this North American premiere screening in Toronto of the first three episodes in the series. "As you watch the series you might wonder if you should laugh," he said "you should."

I really enjoyed watching Bargain! The story becomes more interesting as it goes. There are many comical lines in a tensed situation. And all the actor's are great!!

Also, some theatrical scenes and one-take film techniques color the work. The direction and music that solves the dramatic situation cheerfully is totally my taste!

It's definitely worth watching if you like this kind of genre. It's also good for killing time. One episode is only 30 min, and whole episode is about 3 hrs. Once you start watching it, you will keep on watching.

I hope the season 2 comes out soon! Can't wait for it.

I haven't watched the whole show yet, but the first episode is so gripping and dark that I couldn't believe myself.

I am a Drama addict, I have binged shows from all around the world but never written a review before.

I'd like to congratulate the director of the 1st episode.

From the dialogues to the bargaining to the continuous camera execution. Everything was perfect.

It's a perfect reminder to us all that how our greed/lust can make us blind to the obvious traps set up in the real world.

How our mind convinces us to trust unknown people. I didn't blink even once during the whole episode.

I hope this show maintains its quality throughout the season.

1st episode has set the bar quite high.

Bargain seemed excellent for the first couple of episodes I was totally immersed in the story. The problem is that none of the characters are likable, not even one person here is someone to identify with, and that begins to matter around episodes three and four when the viewer is subjected to long drawn-out character driven interactions inside of a storage room.

The main characters are an incredibly strong female lead who unfortunately is also a terrible person, and a detective who I couldn't forget was trying to bang a virgin and upon discovering she was just an escort tried low-ball her for less than 100 bucks in the year of our lord, 2023. There's no one to root for, not even the desperate good son, who starts to become wearing as he continues to insist that the detective owes him an internal organ while everyone else around is just trying to survive.

I have seen better k dramas.

This is a virtuoso execution of a dark, twisted story. The first episode grabs you with its one take, seemless camera work; But it gets even better after its cliffhanger ending (and there will be more of those!).

It is available in a dubbed version (which is very well executed), that allows one to follow the story and plot. Both happen at breakneck speed, which makes each episode fly by (there are 6 episodes). Performances are just fantastic, with both leads and secondary characters given the opportunity to shine. While quite dark, and even bleak, it has moments of humor that genuinely release the accumulated tension. One particular character/situation gets more and more absurd, and funnier each time.

Really hoping there is a second season, but this is a heck of a series if it's just a stand alone !