"Squid Game" Initial Review: A Deadly Dose of Children's Games

Platform: Netflix Release Date: September 17, 2021

Financial stress is one of life's greatest burdens and Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) has created a giant crater of that burden for himself. Living with his mother and gambling most of his money away, he struggles to financially support himself or provide for his daughter. Always one to take a risk for money, he accepts an invitation to play a game for a large sum of money, resulting in his kidnapping and being taken to an unknown location. There, he finds 455 other people who are also drowning in some form of debt who all agreed to play the game. Run by a group of masked individuals, the contest will involve competing in six children's games over six days, with the winner taking home 45.6 billion won (official currency of South Korea). During their first game, the contestants learn that losing the game does not mean going home empty-handed, but rather being executed on the spot by the game's masked hosts. Alliances are formed as contestants, each with their own agendas for winning, hesitantly compete in a game with stakes higher than they ever imagined.

Let me start right off saying that if you are interested in this show, you are gonna have to push through the first episode. It spends way too much time setting up the background for Gi-hun and it is so bland that the 20-minute backstory felt like an hour. I found it quite interesting that the show establishes Gi-hun as the main character because he is not only extremely unlikeable, but also one of the less interesting characters in the series. He drew no sympathy from me for his difficulties with his daughter or for his home life, as it is made clear that these were caused by his own self-destructive behaviors. I think a more impactful set-up for the series would have been to eliminate the first episode altogether. Instead, open the show with shifting backstories between the four or five primary POV characters and then end with them all waking up amongst the 456 contestants. The series' second episode opens up the book on the key supporting characters and delivers at least two characters who come off as more deserving of the lead role.

One of the female contestants highlighted, Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) has become my favorite character. She not only comes with a more layered background and a more heartfelt motivation, but her reserved personality makes her more appealing in a mysterious way. Right behind her in terms of being interesting is Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), a detective to which we are introduced in the second episode. Searching for his missing brother leads him to make a connection to the game, leading him to infiltrate the ranks of those managing the game and offers a completely different perspective to the series. In addition to these highlights in the cast are Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), who is a childhood friend of Gi-hun who stole money from clients at his business, Jang Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae), a ruthless gangster, and Abdul Ali (Tripath Anupam), a Pakistani character who plays the naive role.

While the show highlights the bloody craze of its games, there are plenty of times when the games serve as a backdrop for character studies. It becomes more clear in the second game how the games themselves can serve as triggers to flashbacks and supplement character depth. The games are probably more interesting than they should appear since some are games native to Korean childhoods and, thus, are foreign to this American audience. Even so, the show shines most in the characters interactions with each other and the ways in which they act under pressure. This is a testament to the quality of the acting and of the show's writing, as even amidst the chaos, the characters drive the most interesting aspects of the series. There is definitely a bit of a social commentary on status, wealth, and equality in the show, with a wide variety of lifestyles all sharing the same fate of financial ruin. Their differing motivations for wanting the prize money encapsulates the characters personalities so well and provides a slew of options for which audiences can cheer. In addition, the show presents a few mysteries that I am findind more engaging with each passing episode. First and foremost is, of course, who will win the game, which primarily drives the narrative, as well as the identity of the unknown gamesmaster and why has he constructed such a contest. When you include the later plotlines of the detective's missing brother and the ongoing alliances/rivalries of the contestants, the show offers a lot to take in.

In the best of ways, this show is reminiscent of reality game shows minus the superficial feeling of producer-driven drama and conflict. The contestants are the most interesting part of the show and are the anchors for getting to the next episode, but the games and their stakes are intriguing enough to carry interest on their own. There are times when the series may try to balance too many plotlines and pulls itself thin in quality. I would still love the show regardless, but adding the detective and giving that behind the scenes angle really raised the quality of the narrative. This South Korean survival thriller brings a lot of gripping drama and the promise of high-stake decisions and I will eagerly be staying until the very end. As long as you can push through to the end of the first episode, I think you can find a bit of an addiction in this odd and violent series. There is a very high chance this ends up in the end of year awards.

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INITIAL RATING: 🎲 🎲 🎲 🎲.5 / 5

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