Squid Game is the show I’ve been waiting for because it’s a show I can’t stop watching. Normally I have a fairly hard built-in resistance to excessive emissions. I often think “I should do something else” and move on. This is not the case with Squid Game, as I only turned off the TV because it was getting late and I really needed to sleep. I would really love to watch it right now, but I can’t relax from work when a new show comes along.
Some plot spoilers for episodes 1 and 2 will follow (but I try to avoid explaining everything, for your pleasure if you haven’t watched Squid Game at all). The hugely popular Netflix series, which is only nine episodes long, has already earned a reputation as one of the best Netflix shows in the barely two weeks it has been on the streaming service, during which the One hour Korean thriller / drama has become the talk of the city.
It starts off as a story in Seoul, South Korea, about an unlucky guy named Seong Gi-hun. He is in debt up to his eyes, lives with his mother and struggles to support his daughter financially. It’s not really a new story, but this is where a businessman comes in.
How Squid Game got me hooked
In a quick shot, at the off-track betting house, Gi-hun has won and lost the money he desperately needs, and we feel like he’s a gambling addict who is always looking over his shoulder. loan sharks. Then, after a mysterious game with a stranger (who slaps him a lot in the face), he is given a card with a phone number and a circle, square and triangle. Before I can wonder if this is a way to buy a PS5, Gi-hun is taken to an unknown location.
And that’s where the games start – and my eyes got bigger. Gi-hun wakes up in a warehouse-like room filled with bunk beds stacked up to the ceiling, and we’re told 456 people are here and they’re all going to play six games; anyone who would win would earn a fortune. All people wear green uniforms, with their number (001 to 456) on a patch, and masked guards with circles, triangles and white squares painted on their masks emerge. And as Gi-hun walked around the room, we started to see some familiar faces.
It was then that I knew I was going to be hooked on Squid Game. I usually don’t watch Netflix much during the week (pro wrestling, my guilty pleasure, is broadcast live every night of the week and I watch most of the time). But when Squid Game games were even brought up, I put pro wrestling on the mute.
The mere glimpse of a spooky set of mysterious man-led games tickled every itch I have when it comes to TV and movies. You have a mystery box-like premise like Lost (what games are you in, who’s in charge?), A pressing sense of survival (I didn’t even know how Squid Game would look like Battle Royale) and then the story of Gi-hun’s desperate quest for money. I quickly realized I wanted to be done with Squid Game by the weekend (I have a birthday reunion to go to and the chance for spoilers skyrockets in casual conversation). Sure, Stranger Things has creepy mysteries, Queen’s Gambit has reckless demeanor, and Sex Education has Gillian Anderson, but those beloved shows that took me multiple times to “get in” have nothing on Squid Game.
And then things got scarier.
How Squid Game shocked me
The only thing I really knew about Squid Game was that there was a giant statue of a young girl. I didn’t know what role this would play until Episode 1 showed us Red Light’s most evil game, Green Light. The commands to run and stop are given by the childlike voice emanating from the statue, and anyone who fails to stay still after the “red light” is eliminated.
Except the definition of elimination in this game is very different from how every kid I knew played Red Light, Green Light. The statue has motion sensors in its eyes and knows when you’re moving, and anyone who doesn’t stand still is shot.
Players shout as the cannons hidden in the small turrets around the area fire over and over again, then the rules are repeated again. Now there is an additional accent for the word “eliminated”. Oh, and there’s a five-minute timer that’s the other catch. You can’t try to win by going too slow, you see. You will have to move fast enough to beat the clock.
You don’t even see the bullets entering, they pierce bodies quickly, and a small stream of blood comes out. A large chunk of the players rush to the closed exit and – as not all of them are still – they all get shot.
This, dear reader, was not in the advertisement. Of course, however, it was obvious from the get-go to anyone who saw something like this. You don’t have 456 contestants taking part in a game run with epic secrecy for a huge price tag without a little blood being spilled. And then we go back to the event control room, where the faces start to disappear as they are eliminated.
And my earlier realization – that I needed to see this show through to the end – was reaffirmed.
How Squid Game sets up the rest of the show
And in such moments, Gi-hun is in shock. Knowing how little we know about him, it’s only natural for audiences to wonder if he will survive. But since he’s the main character so far, we expect him to.
And then, just like in an episode of Survivor, alliances are formed. Cho Sang-woo, a former classmate Gi-hun recognized earlier, helped him survive with a little information.
And those familiar faces that we saw earlier (people from Gi-hun’s time as a player), must find a way to survive as well. Squid Game, it’s clear, won’t be just Gi-hun’s story. However, it’s a new face – that of player Abdul Ali – that gives us the best moment in the game Red Light, Green Light: the most breathtaking freeze frame I’ve seen in ages. I would say more, but surprise is the key of the moment.
Squid Game knows its audience and knows how to build tension properly. I was almost stunned and looking like a zombie in front of my TV. If I had had more energy, I probably would have applauded.
Why Squid Game makes me run to the finish
Once the players hit the finish line and a bigger reveal happens, I realized the potential magnitude of Squid Game and how much I needed to complete it. So at 9 p.m., after a pretty tiring day already over, I watched how many episodes I had left.
If I wasn’t watching Episode 2 at that point, I would have to spend 4 hours a night on Monday and Tuesday to complete the show this week (the rest of the week is booked solid, I didn’t not planned Squid Game – but neither did its competitors).
One more episode, I thought. I had to see what the second game was.
And then Squid Game zigzagged, just when I expected. The second episode brings a lot of emotional weight. Fatalism invades a whole debate, and the action calms down a little. The more we learn about the once unfriendly characters, the more compelling they become. Of course, we realize these folks might not be the type we’d want to lend money to, or even share a beer with, but we’ll probably be cheering them on soon.
The show also has nuances on the plight of the worker, as players wonder why bother with the grind when you can. risk everything making it big. In short, there’s something for everyone.
But that’s when I had to type for the night. Yes, I needed to see what would happen next, but I’m not putting my sleep over a TV show. Having said that, I put Squid Game on top of all other TVs. As I mentioned above, I’m relegating pro wrestling to my tiny laptop screen to prioritize Squid Game. I need to watch Squid Game as fast as I can because I don’t want this ending messed up for me. I don’t know if the ending is great or not, but there is so much mystery and drama in this series that I need to devour it.
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