INTERVIEW 'The Devil's Plan' creator, winner unveil strategy behind survival game show

A scene from the Netflix show "The Devil's Plan" / Courtesy of Netflix

Producer Jeong Jong-yeon, the creator of Netflix’s latest Korean reality show “The Devil’s Plan,” and actor Ha Seok-jin, the show’s final winner, shared behind-the-scenes insights on the emotion-packed survival game show.

“I felt it was crucial to show the characters’ growth and changes amid competitive mind games,” Jeong said during a recent interview with The Korea Times, at a cafe in Jongno District, Seoul, emphasizing the importance of character development amid the show's competitive atmosphere.

“Psychological thriller survival shows create their genre by putting together the fun of unpredictability and the narratives of the participants’ growth and development that come from their attempt to resolve the uncertainty. As the participants immerse themselves in their surrounding situation and eventually express their intense emotions, the viewers also come to empathize with them.”

The 12-part show, which hit the platform on Sept. 26, invites 12 contestants from diverse professions, such as a lawyer, a science YouTuber, a professional gamer and an actor, to play a series of games.

Completely cut off from the outside world, the contestants live together on a set and play games – individual player games for elimination and team player games to collect the ultimate prize – with each type of game requiring different approaches and strategies.

Producer Jeong Jong-yeon, the creator of Netflix’s latest Korean reality show “The Devil’s Plan" / Courtesy of Netflix

The show presents challenging games with extensive complicated rules. Producer Jeong, who has led several similar game shows including “The Genius,” said coming up with the games was one of the hardest parts of making the show, as he also had to strategize how it would affect the contestants as they play.

“I do have a lot of know-how, but the process of creating and testing games is really difficult. The games cannot be too easy but also not too challenging, so creating a balance between the two was the hardest part,” he said.

“Because the players are not given a script before they participate in the games, you don’t know how it will play out until they actually play. We have to make adjustments as we go during the filming process.”

Actor Ha walked away with 250 million won ($185,000) in prize money, after beating Orbit, a YouTuber who runs a science channel, in the final round.

Ha confessed that he has not yet made plans on how to use the prize money and shared that he never expected to win at all.

“(The money) is sitting in the bank. I didn’t plan how I’d use it. It’s more of a prize of achievement … I think coming up with the plans for how to use the prize is also part of ‘The Devil’s Plan,’” the actor said.

Actor Ha Seok-jin became the final winner of Netflix’s latest Korean reality show “The Devil’s Plan." Courtesy of Netflix

“At first, it was a personal mission to see how smart I am. I wanted to show that someone in his 40s can also play mind games with others … I didn’t think I would be the top player as I was filming. I felt a lot of shortcomings in my strategies so I merely tried my best to play the part as a contestant. I was unfamiliar with competitive, survival game shows, so I needed time to adapt.”

Ha added taking part in the show has been an emotional journey. “At first, I didn’t understand when other players cried when a contestant got eliminated. But through the process, I came to be true to my emotions. I used to have a mindset not to expose my feelings easily, but when Lee Si-won got eliminated I burst into tears,” he said.

“Being isolated on the set was the biggest part … It felt like 12 of us were the only people on the Earth and when one person left, everyone was emotionally shaken. Especially when I went to prison, it felt like I was on an island with Lee and when she left, I broke down.”

The runner-up contestant, Orbit, showed an unusual strategy for a survival game, helping other players from getting eliminated. The producer said although he did not expect such a strategy from one of the players, he respected Orbit’s philosophy.

“I know he was not a competitive person before, but I did not expect him to lead the game that way. Although it wasn’t the direction I wanted, there was nothing I could do. It was a new approach that was not seen in survival shows before so I think it’s meaningful to have a new narrative,” Jeong said.

“There are some who support Orbit, and others who say he’s a hypocrite but it was more of his philosophy. As it was a reality show, we could not engage and redirect him in a different way.”