Squid Game



Squid Game is a 2021 Netflix-exclusive Korean science-fiction drama, also referred to as survival drama, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk. It premiered on September 17, 2021, worldwide on the channel.

Seong Gi-hun is a loser divorcee, deadbeat father, and compulsive gambler. He also knows that he's all of these things when his debts to loan sharks and a chance encounter with a pickpocket cause him to botch a get-together for his daughter Ga-yeong's birthday. To top it all off, his ex is moving with her husband and family to the United States, ensuring he won't see Ga-yeong again. He desperately accepts an offer from a sharply dressed Salesman to go play some games and earn enough money to at least try to fight for custody of his daughter. There's just a catch: you may win a lot of won, but the games in question are deadly.

While a release date for season 2 is unknown, it has received the green light. Hwang Dong-hyuk says that it's in progress.

Not to be confused with Squid Girl.


 * Adult Fear:
 * Gi-hun's situation when we hear his full story. He fully admits that he's a loser, especially compared to his childhood friend Sang-woo. 10 years ago, he was a laborer in a car factory, only to be downsized just as his wife was about to give birth. He joined a strike to save his job where he saw a friend die in front of him and unable to go to a hospital. His wife went into labor and nearly died from complications, and they broke up partly because she couldn't forgive that he wasn't there for her. Gi-hun did have a point that he was trying to make sure he had enough money for her and a newborn Ga-yeong, but he doesn't have one for his descent into gambling addictions. In the present, he owns debts to loan sharks that make him sign a blood contract to take his eyes and kidneys if he doesn't produce the money for them, and they beat him up badly at the horse races just as he's about to treat Ga-yeong with the winnings. Then he finds out his mother's diabetes has become terminal, and because he gambled away her insurance money, she doesn't have the funds for the operation. Yeah, Gi-hun's life sucks.
 * Sae-byeok is revealed to be a North Korean refugee, along with her little brother. Her father and grandmother were killed, but there is a chance to somehow locate her mother either in North Korea or China. The problem is that her broker claims the smugglers ran off with the sums that she stole, and he says that if her mother got deported from China to North Korea, she's as good as dead for being marked as a "defector". Her brother also resents being in an orphanage, fearing that the kids are right and Sae-byeok has abandoned him..
 * Detective Jun-ho Hwang's older brother In-ho has gone missing for a few days. He assumes that In-ho is just being In-ho since he makes trips like this all the time and his mother is worrying. Then he finds out that his brother hasn't paid his rent in a while and has been gone long enough for his goldfish to go belly-up and for papers to accumulate. Jun-ho also finds a business card, which looks identical to the one that a supposed drunk brought in claiming that he and 455 other people were kidnapped and forced to play games. He sincerely begs Gi-hun for help, saying that his brother may have been one of the kidnapped victims; when Gi-hun is too despondent and desperate, saying he can't help anyone, Jun-ho elects to follow him, and finds out that his story wasn't that of a bored drunk. Cue Jun-ho going undercover by posing as one of the guards, and facing the real possibility that In-ho might have already been killed and cremated, or worse dissected for his organs..
 * Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
 * Most of the players after round one get on their knees after Mi-nyeo does so, begging to go home. They say they'll pay their debts and do anything, just please don't kill them. The Square Guard tells them to knock it off and stop groveling. This isn't a means to scare them into paying their debts, but to allow them a "fair chance" to change their circumstances for the better.
 * The old man panics during the riot. He stands on his bed at the top, out of the line of fire but terrified. The old man begs for the guards to stop the rioting, that everyone will kill each other. It ends up doing the trick, somehow..
 * Gi-hun tries begging the guards for help when Deok-su callously kills a man in the barracks. He says they can't stand by and let that happen, it's not fair. This comes back to an even more tragic note when.
 * An Aesop: You cannot trust fairness when privileged people set the rules of a game, or a system. The Front Man claims that the games are fair, but we see many cases where it's not true. As Gi-hun logically points out, there should be games where girls are favored more than guys, given that it's supposed to be random, but all the games chosen favor guys, meaning . None of the challenges are girls' games like jacks or jumprope..
 * An Offer You Can't Refuse: This is how the Squid Game forces the players to complete round one. At the time, most of the players are debtors who called the number, expecting to earn some money to avoid losing a kidney or going to jail. They then have to cross the finish line in Red Light, Green Light before the timer goes out; if they keep freezing, they'll be shot anyway. The guards congratulate the winners for making it past round one, who brokenly beg to go home. When the top square guard reminds the players they signed a contract and that if they refuse to play, they will be "eliminated," Sang-woo stands up and reminds them that the third clause says players can have a group vote.
 * Anyone Can Die: One of the reasons why this series knows how to pack emotional wallops; none of the players are safe from sudden or undignified death. Try not to get attached to anyone, major or minor in this story.
 * Awesomeness By Analysis:
 * Sang-woo survives the Squid Game by using his power of observation. He figures out the doll in Red Light, Green Light must have a motion sensor given the way that her eyes dart around, and logically hides behind bigger players to increase his chances of survival. Later, he studies the other team's footing in tug-of-war. Gi-hun keeps saying this is why Sang-woo is the genius and pride of their neighborhood.
 * Player 062 is a math teacher, who comes to rapid conclusions using calculations. He alerts Gi-hun to the fact that there is an odd number of players for the fourth game, meaning one person is likely to get killed for being unable to play. What's more, when he calculates his chances for the glass bridge and realizes it's hopeless, he laughs mirthlessly and tries his luck knowing he's dead.
 * Because You Were Nice to Me:
 * Gi-hun latches onto Ali for keeping him from getting shot during the first game. He sincerely thanks him, and later says that Ali should be in the alliance when he, Sang-woo, and the old man return to participate in round two. When Gi-hun can't drink the milk they're given for breakfast because he's lactose intolerant, he selflessly donates his limited ration to Ali.
 * Likewise Ali sincerely thanks Sang-woo for letting him borrow his phone to dial his family after they are dropped off together on the mainland, as well as a bowl of hot ramen and a bus ticket. Sang-woo keeps saying with embarrassment he wasn't doing it to be nice; he did it because he wasn't going to let a man that saved his childhood friend's life to walk several miles to another city.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Ali is a Nice Guy who makes his mark by saving Gi-hun during the first game without second thought. He's also still a strong guy, and not a pushover. Case in point, he mauls his boss by accident while fighting to get the wages that are owed to him, and later he defends Gi-hun during the nighttime riot using a metal bed beam, wielding it like a caber.
 * Bittersweet Ending: Season one ends this way..
 * Drama Queen: Mi-nyeo makes her entrance by getting on her knees and begging the guards to let her go home after the Red Light Green Light game, claiming that she has a newborn that hasn't been named yet. Then she proceeds to vote for the games to continue. The old man notes she returned for round two, and wonders dryly if she named her nonexistent kid yet. Sae-byeok even notes that Mi-nyeo has been burning bridges because she can't pick a side, or know when to be serious.
 * Even Evil Has Standards:
 * The Front Man is definitely a hypocrite and a remorseless killer who will gun down his own men for breaking the rules. He is, however, sincere that the players need a fair chance. That's why he gets mad when he busts the guards for . Later, he refuses to let.
 * , is horrified and closes his eyes when This didn't seem to be an act, as he spent most of the games smiling,.
 * Everyone Has Standards
 * Gi-hun does not like killing. Unless a game demands death and the other choice is to get shot or dragged off a platform to await a long fall, Gi-hun would rather keep to himself and not have blood on his hands..
 * Jun-ho while undercover is unable to save any of the players from the games. The most he can do is check on Gi-hun after riot to make sure that he's not hurt, and ask if a prisoner named In-ho Hwang is in the barracks. Later, however, when a guard busts him for being an impostor after the latter asks about a "zombie" that woke up on an operating table, Jun-ho angrily rants about how his brother gave a kidney to save his life, and accuses the guards of dissecting In-ho. It's clear he's mad at the senseless violence, and.
 * Explain, Explain, Oh Crap: During the glass bridge, player 062 has fifteen panels to clear before he can reach the end when everyone in front of him has fallen. He takes a few minutes to calculate his odds, as a math teacher. Given each step has 1/2 chance of being successful, and raising that to the 15th power the answer is "One in 32,768. Damn it.".
 * Gambling Game: Shows an escalating series of them. First, the protagonist Seong Gi-hun is a gambling addict, who bets on horses. This makes him easy prey for the Salesman, who challenges him to a game of ddjaki, where two players need to try and flip a folded paper by tossing other papers at it. Loser either has to pay up 100,000 won or receive a Bitch Slap. When Gi-hun finally wins some money, the Salesman gives him a business card for another "opportunity". This is revealed to be high-stakes versions of children's games like "Red Light, Green Light" where the losers forfeit their lives depending on if they fail to complete a round, break the rules, get caught cheating, or . Finally, it's revealed that.
 * Gut Punch: Given the genre and the nature of the episode, these are bound to happen.
 * Episode 1, "Red Light Green Light" has players 324 and 250 form a fast friendship, despite having just met in the barracks. Both are excited when they learn the title game is their first challenge, claiming it will be a cinch. They rib each other affectionately that they're going to win and bet a million won and who crosses the finish line first. Then 324 gets ahead of himself literally, and doesn't stop in time during Red Light, Green Light. Cue a gunshot, and 324 collapses. 250's first reaction, once he hears green light, is to run and check on 324. The poor guy is bleeding and coughing up blood, making the players realize this is a death game. Cue the Mass "Oh Crap" where hundreds of players panic and try to run for the locked doors, banging on them. They end up getting shot in succession, until corpses line the field. Gi-hun survives only due to sheer luck, while Sang-woo has the sense to stay still and analyze the situation.
 * Episode 6, "Gganbu", may as well be titled this trope. Players are ordered to pair up for the challenge while each is given a bag of ten marbles. . Sang-woo technically . Gi-hun panics and tries to . Then we have Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong, who have a long conversation about their lives before they play..
 * Hero Antagonist: While some players like Deok-su are definitely villainous, others like
 * Heroic Sacrifice:  throws the marbles game and forces  to win. In an OOC Is Serious Business moment,.
 * The Leader: Gi-hun is seen by this as default after the tug-of-war, where he encourages his alliance to not attack anyone in the barracks and instead form a barricade, with shifts to watch over the sleeping members. Even Sang-woo defers to this strategy, agreeing it makes more sense to ensure everyone gets some rest. Other players took notice of the fact that he dangled off the edge of the platform but kept his footing and his nerve; Player 062 tells Gi-hun that he was awesome, and turned down a few other offers to team up with him for the fourth game. This no longer applies after the fifth game, given the dwindling numbers.
 * Let's Get Dangerous:
 * The old man has been a formidable player by staying calm during each death game, and oddly cheerful. Then tug-of-war happens, revealing that the players are chained to the rope and have to pull their opponents off an elevated platform, where a guillotine will slice the rope and make the losers fall. His team is full of underdogs, with himself, three women, and not-very athletic men excluding Ali. As they prepare to face their deaths, he stops smiling tells them it's not over yet. Il-nam explains that in tug-of-war, there are strategies you can use to ensure that you have the best team, even if it's not the strongest: have a strong leader in front, a dependable player in the back, alternate everyone else, put the rope under your armpits and lean back for the first ten seconds. It actually works until the opposing team gets a second wind and pulls back with sheer desperation and brute strength. Mi-nyeo later tells the old man that he was amazing and made her feel powerful with the leaning back strategy.
 * Credit to Mi-nyeo, she is a Drama Queen and a compulsive liar, but she knows how to pull her own weight, literally. She figured out how to discreetly use her cigarette lighter during the dalgona challenge and cut out the star easily. During the tug-of-war she follows Il-Nam's instructions without hesitation, and later listens to Sang-woo despite screaming that his advice sounds like suicide..
 * Pet the Dog:
 * When Sang-woo reveals the third clause, that the players can vote to end the games, the Square Guards acknowledge they have to honor the contract and set up an appropriate station. They also say that if the players vote to end the games, 100 million won each will be sent to the families of the dead, ensuring that their deaths at least won't be a waste. Given the old man votes to end the games, the guards honored that agreement and say the surviving players can still compete in round two later, if they wish.
 * It's revealed that . Much later, when he learns that.
 * Deok-su is a murderous gangster with no regard for human life and will throw away anyone that he deems useless to his goals. He also returns Mi-nyeo's cigarette lighter after the dalgona game when she lends it to him discreetly, thanking her for saving his life. It's his only decent moment.
 * The Front Man is a monster. There is no doubt about that with how he runs the games, and especially when he engineers a riot to cull the "weak players", something that even alarms . Jun-ho is naturally wary of him and is prepared to fire on him if necessary while undercover. . In the season one finale, when
 * One nameless guard respects
 * Pragmatic Villainy: Deok-su votes to end the games when given the chance. His reasoning makes sense when he talks with a lackey about the piggy bank; it's really stupid to stay on the island with a lot of money just out of reach and a high chance of getting killed. Deok-su saya that their gang should follow the convoy of trucks that will inevitably return, overpower a driver, and stage a heist to steal the piggy bank. While he has to abandoned that plan after said lackey betrays him to a Filipino mob that are mad at Deok-su for his debts, Jun-ho comes to the same conclusion and follows the trucks solo.
 * Reality Ensues:
 * Gi-hun tries doing a sensible thing after the group vote allows everyone to go home. He goes to the police while still traumatized and tells them about the horrific events that he and Sang-woo suffered. The cops do take a report and his information down which they later relate to Jun-ho, while dialing the number on the business card, but they don't believe him. As one puts it, 456 people were knocked out, transported to a strange place, ordered to play a lethal version of Red Light Green Light, and then released after voting to go home? Gi-hun himself admits that the story is hard to believe.
 * Something that the Front Man mentions when . The Front Man acknowledges the call might have gone through, but emergency services in real life don't come the minute you call them. Police have little incentive to be efficient.
 * Sequel Hook: With season two having received the greenlight, there are a lot of options, both in early episodes as well as the season one finale:
 * He promises the Front Man over the phone that he will not forgive them for the people they killed, or the pain he suffered.
 * With the Host the Front Man has free reign to design the 2021 games as he sees fit, with no interference. He will likely have more safety measures against intruders this time.
 * The Salesman is still on the street, recruiting players with rounds of ddjaki. Gi-hun runs to confront him but is too late, as the man smiles and waves to him from a train.
 * We never actually saw . Not to mention he sent the images and videos that he took to his boss, and even if they didn't send, smartphones save images up to remote clouds and servers. Someone could still find that data and use it to further their investigation, and the chief was trying to locate his distress signal.
 * Heck, the Front Man's backstory. Somehow he went from being.
 * The VIPs mention offhand that countries have their own version of the games, but South Korea has the "best" one. Horror of the implications aside, that is a potential storyline that could be explored.
 * You Bastard: Episode 7 reveals that VIPs have been watching the games remotely from a screen. They've been placing bets on who's going to win and who will die, much as television viewers might when watching survival horror. Hey, wait a minute...