Summary: Gi Hun and Sang Woo fight in squid game for the final game. Gi Hun wins and chooses to spare Sang Woo, deciding he wants to quit. However, Sang Woo kills himself so Gi Hun gets the prize money. Gi Hun goes home but finds that his mother has died. 1 year later, Gi Hun is back to his old life and hasn’t spent the prize money. He is invited to a meeting where he finds Il Nam, who is actually the creator of the game. Il Nam reveals that he made the games because he is rich and bored and wanted to have fun. He also wanted to participate once before dying. Il Nam passes away. Gi Hun gives a sizable chunk of his money to Sang Woo’s mother, and Sae Byeok’s brother who he entrusts to Sang Woo’s mother. Gi Hun prepares to see his daughter in America, but turns back, deciding to stop the games.
The Good: The final game is suitably tense and climactic. It’s shot well and is thrilling to watch. Sang Woo opting to kill himself instead of going back with nothing is sadly a fitting end for him, one that makes sense for the character. The ending after that was very well done. Gi Hun felt too much guilt and misery after winning the game that he had no motivation to do anything with the money he had. All he wanted was to go back to the way things were before, which was very real. To top it all off, his mother tragically died before he returned, leaving Gi Hun with nothing but 45 billion won of blood money. The sequence immediately after he completed the game was miserable and difficult to watch in a perfect way. Devastating television. The Bad: The Il Nam twist is terrible. It feels so unnecessary, adds nothing to the show, and retroactively ruins one of the most poignant moments of the whole show back in “Gganbu”. Furthermore, his motivations as the bad guy really suck. It’s another case of someone being rich and bored, so they do something sadistic. That’s unbelievably uncreative and it’s a completely unsatisfying motive. Gi Hun’s emotions during the final game are tough to relate with. I’m not sure when he became so purely compassionate, but it’s hard to buy into the level of tears he sheds for Sae Byeok and Sang Woo. Especially when he was trying to murder Sang Woo moments before his death. Similarly, his emotions 1 year after the game are tough to connect with. I’m not sure why he didn’t keep his promises and take care of Sang Woo’s mother and Sae Byeok’s brother. His meeting with Il Nam being a turning point for him doesn’t work and the character’s story gets muddled by this reveal. I’m not sure what it was about this moment that made him change his mind and decide to spend his prize money. The final moment of the show was also poor. I want to see Gi Hun be a good father and visit his daughter. Having him turn around to stop the game made me shake my head because it doesn’t close out the season on a satisfying note. Gi Hun’s development in this final episode is so messy and unsatisfying. It should have been better. The Unknown: What is Gi Hun planning to do next? Will we get another season? Best Moment: Gi Hun returns home and finds his mother dead on the floor, and weeps next to her. A harrowing and powerful moment showing that the prize money is far from enough to fix Gi Hun’s life. Character of the Episode: Gi Hun. Conclusion: The first 20 minutes of this finale were excellent and suitably depressing and miserable. But everything after the ill-conceived twist was very poor and left me feeling unsatisfied and disappointed. A truly mixed finale episode. For my thoughts on season 1 as a whole, click here to read my review of it. Score: 56
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Summary: Gi Hun and Sang Woo argue with each other. After a feast, the three remaining players are given knives at night. Sae Byeok is dying from a glass wound, and she speaks with Gi Hun, and makes him promise to care for her brother. Gi Hun goes to get help but Sang Woo kills Sae Byeok. Jun Ho gets to an island but he is followed by the Front Man. He contacts the police, but is killed by the Front Man, who is his brother.
The Good: It’s taken far too long, but it’s good to finally see Gi Hun and Sang Woo argue and openly come into conflict with each other. Sae Byeok gets caught in the middle, and she has some nice moments before she passes away. Her connection with Gi Hun was resonant and it was sad when she died. The Bad: The relationships between these three characters haven’t been built up well enough throughout the show, and as a result, I can’t emotionally connect with what I’m watching. Gi Hun seems to have turned on Sang Woo much too quickly and I can’t buy into their intense hate because it did not build up organically. Gi Hun and Sae Byeok’s relationship confused me. Sure, Gi Hun said he trusted her, but we never got to see why, and their relationship never furthered after that. Because of this, I can’t buy into them having such a meaningful connection in this episode. Hell, shouldn’t Gi Hun still be angry that Sae Byeok took him money! That was never resolved. Jun Ho’s story arc ended and I’m left wondering what the point was. I never knew his relationship with In Ho, so the reveal that In Ho is the Front Man had no emotional impact at all. Jun Ho’s death was as flat as it possibly could have been. Also, Jun Ho knew that they would be looking for him, so why would he leave his scuba gear out in the open? Hide it at least! The Unknown: Will the police be able to hunt down the organizers of the game? How did Jun Ho's brother become the Front Man? What happens to the winners after the games are done? Best Moment: Sae Byeok and Gi Hun’s conversation. Even though I didn’t fully buy into it, it was well-written and well-acted. Character of the Episode: Sae Byeok. Conclusion: This episode had big developments, but it was a disappointingly flat experience. I didn’t feel the emotions that I was supposed to feel during the many key moments in this episode. This proves that developing storylines and characters is essential, because if you don’t do it, your big pay-offs will feel as dull and lifeless as they were in this episode. Score: 54 Summary: Everyone returns and find Mi Nyeo is still alive. The VIPs arrive and are greeted by the Front Man. Jun Ho poses as a servant. The next game is glass stepping stones. Deok Su and Mi Nyeo die together. Gi Hun, Sang Woo, and Sae Byeok are the only survivors. Jun Ho is taken back by one of the VIPs. He pulls out a gun and gets information from him before escaping with scuba gear.
The Good: The reveal that Mi Nyeo survived was good. It made sense that she lived but it was frustrating (in a good way) to learn that this awful woman gets to live while all of the others had to die. I really liked the husband trying to get everyone to vote to end the game again. Sang Woo fittingly tears him down with an excellent speech about why they can’t afford to end the game after coming this far. I really appreciate moments like these that highlight the psychological aspects of the game and the characters themselves. The fifth game was enjoyable to watch. It wasn’t tense, like many of the other games, but it had that uncomfortable feeling of dread. The Bad: I was disappointed to see that there was no follow-up to Sang Woo killing Ali. No guilt expressed by him, and no suspicion from Gi Hun about what he did. It’s a shame to have such a key character moment like Sang Woo’s betrayal and not offer up any follow-up. The VIPs were terrible. They have no separated characters, and the voice acting and dialogue for them was beyond awful. It was painful to watch them on screen. Having them just be evil rich white men is a played out and uninteresting trope. The show would have been better off without them. The game went on for a long time without ever feeling suspenseful. Outside of the deaths of Deok Su and Mi Nyeo, the outcome was quite obvious again. The problem with having only a couple of defined characters means that it is obvious who will survive and who will die, and that saps away all of the suspense. Lastly, the glass breaking was really stupid. For one, the scene was shot in a needlessly dramatic way which was laughably bad. But also, glass breaking like that could have easily killed the winners! The Unknown: Who are the VIPs exactly? Why are they so important? Are they just rich people betting on the results of this game? Where is Jun Ho going to go now? Will he be able to contact the police? Who is the host? Why wasn’t he available to speak with the VIPs? Best Moment: Sang Woo’s speech. Character of the Episode: Sang Woo. Conclusion: I enjoyed several parts of this episode, but familiar flaws like lack of suspense and character work continue to haunt the show. Add on the pathetically awful VIPs and this is a weaker episode. Score: 58 Summary: Everyone has to pick a partner for the next game. Mi-Nyeo is left out and is taken away and presumably killed. It’s revealed that the partners will compete with only one surviving. Ji Yeong lets Sae Byeok win. Gi Hun is allowed to win by Il Nam. Sang Woo manipulates and tricks Ali to beat him.
The Good: The fourth game was the best one yet. It starts off with the predictable, yet powerful twist that the partners wouldn’t be working together - they would be fighting each other. What followed was some moving psychological exploration as teammates would have to sever the bonds between each other knowing that only one of them would be able to walk out alive. The game wasn’t particularly suspenseful. Instead, it was packed with emotion and sadness leading up to a poignant and brutal conclusion (see: Best Moment). The relationships here were mostly done well. Ji Yeong’s sacrifice was a beautiful moment and a powerful idea that was well acted by both actresses. Sang Woo manipulating and turning on Ali was a given because of who they were, but it was no less heartbreaking when Ali realized that he had been fooled by his friend. Most effective was Gi Hun and Il Nam. At the start of the episode, Gi Hun decides to risk his own success to partner with Il Nam, being the only one to show any kind of compassion to Il Nam. In the end, Il Nam recognizes this compassion, and even though he knew that Gi Hun was tricking him, he decides to give up his life for Gi Hun as a thank you. It’s a wonderful moment, and it’s brutally sad when this sweet old man has to die for Gi Hun to move on. The Bad: This was an emotional experience, but it never hit that next level. This is because the characters and their relationships haven’t felt fully developed yet. I’ll explore this more in my season review, but all of the deaths had diminished impacts because the relationships between characters felt phony and inorganic. This episode never felt real because it felt like it wasn’t telling the story; it was just trying to make us cry. The predictability of the episode is what prevents it from having any suspense. It’s easy to work out who survives and who dies, and nothing is done to surprise us. This could have been suspenseful and emotional, but there is no suspense here. As a result, the marbles game becomes 30 minutes of waiting for an obvious result. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but it definitely could have been better with some genuine tension. The Unknown: What will the next game be? What is Jun Ho going to do next now that the VIPs are coming? Best Moment: The series of deaths to conclude the episode. Ji Yeong sacrifices her life, Ali is betrayed by his friend, and Il Nam thanks Gi Hun before meeting his own end. Putting each one after the other was a smart move and we were treated to some superb acting from everyone involved. Character of the Episode: Il Nam. Conclusion: The most powerful and memorable episode yet. There were some big flaws, but the sense of dread and sadness permeated this episode all the way to its devastating conclusion. A very memorable experience. Score: 68 Summary: Jun Ho gets involved in the organ harvesting and is sent for a delivery. He kills his partner and sneaks into the Front Man’s room to learn more about the game. The doctor gets into a fight with the guards. All are captured and executed. Gi Hun’s team is victorious and they return. The next night, no fight breaks out.
The Good: Mi-Nyeo is fun to watch. She’s a useless idiot, but that is the point. She brings some much needed levity to this dark show. I enjoyed seeing the characters bond a bit during the night shift. So far all that we’ve seen is characters sharing their backstory; it’s not enough but it’s a good start. I hope to see these characters interacting more in future episodes. The Bad: The organ harvesting plot is boring and completely uninteresting. I couldn’t care less about the plot and the characters. Again, the show is hurt by having the guards be faceless characters. I can’t connect to them at all. Similarly, it’s hard to invest in Jun Ho without being able to see any acting from him. This is especially problematic because we know nothing about Jun Ho as a person. With so much of this episode dedicated to uninteresting characters and storylines, it becomes a drag to get through. The plot builds up to the ending scene when Jun Ho learns more about the game, but we don’t get any particularly interesting details or revelations. The Unknown: Who are the VIPs? Why does the game have this principle for equality? What does this mean for the origin of the game? What happened to Jun Ho’s brother if he already won the game before? How long has the game been running for? It looks like it’s been a long time. Is Player 001 going to die soon? He doesn’t look well. Best Moment: Ali and Sang Woo bonding while on watch together. Character of the Episode: Ali. Conclusion: There were some good character moments, but too much of this episode was wasted on a side plot that I didn’t care about at all. Score: 51 Summary: After Deok Su kills another player, everyone realizes that killing each other is allowed. When night falls, a fight breaks out and many people die. The next day, the next game is tug of war. Deok Su and his goons win easily. Gi Hun’s team work together and start their round.
The Good: The murder at the start of the episode was terrific and set the stage for a really tense night (see: Best Moment). The show remains an engaging watch and episodes like this with a lot of excitement and intrigue make it an easy to binge show. The acting and direction elevates the show, especially during the games. The games would not be enjoyable at all without the strong acting and direction. The Bad: The fight at night was chaotic and disappointing because of the way it was shot. The blinking light made it needlessly hard to see what was going on, so I couldn’t be invested in the action. Furthermore, I’m disappointed with how little the characters have developed their relationships with each other. This makes it tough to care about them and it deflates much of the tension. The tug of war game was a disappointment. All of the important characters were placed together, so it’s blatantly obvious that they aren’t going to lose and die. Because of that, the tug of war had no suspense at all; the result was predetermined. To make matters worse, the cliffhanger is awful. It’s an attempt to build up suspense by making us wonder if the team will lose. Obviously they won’t, and cutting off the scene before it finishes deflates any sort of momentum or excitement it had going for it. The result at the start of the next episode is going to be completely flat and emotionless because of this decision. Lastly, Jun Ho’s story is difficult to invest in because it’s tough to know when we are actually watching him. He looks the same as all of the other guards. Furthermore, its difficult to invest in a character when we don’t get to see their face. The Unknown: What is this dissection that is going on in the background? Is this organ harvesting? Why was the coughing guard contacting Jun Ho? Best Moment: Gi Hun begs the guards to do something about Deok Su killing someone. Instead they simply collect the body and announce that the player was eliminated. The implication sets in for us and for the characters that killing each other is legal. Seeing everyone slowly understand this was tremendous and it completely changed the dynamic of the show. Character of the Episode: Il Nam. Conclusion: This episode had a lot going on and had a really strong opening, but a lack of suspense and flat character relationships is hurting the show. Score: 57 Summary: Jun Ho sneaks onto the boat and poses as a guard for the game. 187 players have returned and they prepare for the next game. Gi Hun, Sang Woo, Ali and Player 001 form a team. The pickpocket explores the facility through the vents during a bathroom break. The next game is honeycomb and everybody important manages to survive.
The Good: There were some nice moments as the characters started to form alliances. It was interesting to see the different players approaching the next game with varying strategies. I enjoy the relationship between Gi Hun and Sang Woo. Gi Hun is well-meaning but unintentionally insulting, while Sang Woo is more self-absorbed and doesn’t care for anyone else. This makes for a curious dynamic, and we can see Sang Woo already prioritizing himself over his team. The honeycomb game is a fun spectacle to watch. Jun Ho’s investigation is an interesting story and I’m curious where it is going to go. The Bad: This is an in-between episode. Outside of the game, there isn’t very much substance here. A lot of moments here felt like they were ripped out of any other generic TV show. The exploration of the facility by Player 212 and 067 was typical dystopian content and nothing special. Similarly, the reveal that the guards are young people didn’t have much impact, and the man killing himself after seeing the boy was a silly moment. Even more of a trope was the front man executing the boy because his identity was revealed. I get what the writers are going for, but this is unspectacular and familiar television that I have seen many times before. Jun Ho taking the other mask without anyone else noticing makes no sense. The game lacks tension because it is obvious that nobody important will die. Player 212 being able to somehow cheat while being closely watched is absurd and should not be possible. The Unknown: What was the pink slip in that one man’s food? Does he have a connection on the inside? Why was he pulled aside after the game? Why are the guards all young people? Who are they? Why are they going along with this game? Best Moment: Gi Hun continues to hype up Sang Woo to everyone, oblivious to how much Sang Woo hates it. A nice character moment. Character of the Episode: Gi Hun. Conclusion: Even with the addition of a game, this felt like a transitional episode. There’s some solid stuff here but nothing more. Score: 60 Summary: The players vote to end the game and return to their lives, but situations get worse for everybody. After a couple of days, most players decide to go back to the game. A detective, Jun Ho, begins investigating after his brother goes missing.
The Good: I’ve seen claims that this episode is useless filler but I couldn't disagree more. This was an essential episode of world-building, answering a lot of key questions and giving us plausible reasons for the participants to participate in this sadistic game. The opening sequence of the episode was well done as we got to hear the players ask all of the important burning questions in the wake of last episode’s massacre. I was pleased to see the game halted temporarily so that it could be hammered in how awful life is for these people. The episode’s title of “Hell” could not be more fitting. This episode is brutal and depressing, showing that all of these people are not living a happy existence, and that as risky as it is, they have no choice but to hope for the best and play the game. The Bad: The individual characters aren’t clicking yet. All of their storylines are simplistic and they don’t have a lot of depth to them. It’s difficult to invest in these characters right now. It doesn’t help either that this episode is poorly paced because it constantly cuts from character to character. The endless misery in this episode is very difficult to get through. The Unknown: Where do the bodies go? Why did Player 001 vote to end the game? I assumed that he would continue because of his brain tumour. It felt strange when he changed his mind later. Will Gi Hun’s mom have her feet amputated? Who is Jun Ho looking for? Someone who died? Will he discover the game as he continues to investigate? The pickpocket stayed awake. What is she planning to do? Best Moment: Player 001 meets with Gi Hun and they sit together and talk about life. It’s a nicely written scene, and I love the added touch that they are eating uncooked ramen because that’s all that they can afford. Character of the Episode: Gi Hun. Conclusion: This is a sad and difficult watch, but it provides essential background details and worldbuilding to make the show more plausible. I enjoy detail-oriented television like this. Score: 65 Summary: Gi Hun is a gambler with no money. He is in trouble after borrowing lots of money. He is given an opportunity to play kids games to win money and he signs up. He’s taken to a mysterious location with over 400 others and plays red light, green light. The players who lose are murdered. Gi Hun manages to survive.
The Good: The first half hour of this episode reminded me of the “Breaking Bad” pilot. We are shown a glimpse into the life of Gi Hun, and we get to see how awful his existence is, leading to him taking an extreme chance to get more money when he’s given the opportunity to do something he enjoys. It worked in “Breaking Bad” and it works here too. The first half hour of this episode is sad and miserable in all the right ways. Then the second half of the episode goes in a completely different direction. The red light, green light game is a horrifying watch, brutal and unsettling. The aim is to shock us, and the sequence is absolutely successful at doing that. It’s chilling to hear the doll’s childlike voice crying out “green light, red light!” in Korean while dozens of people are getting shot and killed. The dystopian setting of the game adds on an intriguing mystery on top of this and I can say that I’m definitely interested in watching more. The Bad: I can’t say that this is easy entertainment for everyone. The horror is an uncomfortable viewing and was difficult for me to watch. I also struggle to get invested in the concept of this game. This pilot episode aimed to shock us, and it ended up skipping a lot of important world-building because of that. I have too many questions about the game and the logic about its existence to be fully immersed in what I’m watching. Lastly, this pilot suggests that this will be a battle royal TV show. We have had too much of this genre in recent times, and I’m concerned that the show will move in a direction that doesn’t interest me. The Unknown: Who is organizing the game? How will the disappearances be explained? How is this allowed to happen? Who is the masked frontman? What games are going to come next? Will people want to opt out of playing? How will that be handled? How will people be convinced to stay? It’s hard to imagine that all the contestants will go along with this horrifying concept. Where is the island that these games are occurring on? Best Moment: The shocking impact of the first murder followed by a total massacre. Character of the Episode: Gi Hun. Conclusion: This was a solid pilot with a horrific and shocking climax. I’m not entirely convinced by this show yet, but this is an engaging first hour. Score: 64 Summary: Gi Hun is a gambler who is down on his luck. He end up participating in a game involving 456 competitors who play children's games with their lives on the line. After six rounds, Gi Hun is ultimately victorious, but has lost many friends along the way, including his childhood friend Sang Woo, a pickpocket Sae Byeok, and a kind old man Il Nam. He wins the prize money, but finds himself depressed after returning to his life. He discovers that Il Nam was the creator of the game and faked his own death. Il Name dies of natural causes after revealing to Gi Hun that he created the game because he was rich and bored. Gi Hun initially plans to leave the country to see his daughter, but changes his mind and decides to do something to stop the game.
The Good: As everyone who has seen this show has said, this is a magnificent premise. Gathering up poor people in desperate need for a solution to their problems to fight to the death while playing simple children's games is a creative idea. It's very unsettling to see life and death stakes placed on games that you've played as a kid, and the psychological horror aspect of the show was very well done. I was unsettled and plagued with dread and anxiety at numerous points during the show, which I'm sure was the intent. The show is very successful at bringing this idea to life. The acting is another key aspect of this show. As I'll discuss later, I don't think that the characters or relationships were very well defined, and I was also unimpressed with the lack of suspense in the show. However, the show still managed to entertain me in spite of these flaws, and much of that has to do with the excellent acting from almost all cast members. These simple characters were brought to life by the performances, and even though the characters were lacking depth, I found myself invested in them and hoping that they would survive almost entirely because of the acting. For example, characters like Sae Byeok and Ali weren't given very much development and I often felt disconnected from them. However, the acting elevated these characters and made me care about them in spite of the lackluster writing. I was sad when they died because the acting sold me on the characters and made them feel real to me. Additionally, the acting was key in making the various games enjoyable. Both the main cast and the random other players were all tremendous in these scenes. The acting is what made me feel the anxiety and horror of these games, and that made for some very compelling television. This show is really effective at showing us how horrible life is for the poor who are unable to make a steady income. I can't say that it masterfully explores these themes - "Parasite" explores similar ideas with far greater effectiveness - but it does a very good job of highlighting the struggles of the poor. Episodes 1, 2, and 9 in particular do an outstanding job of portraying the misery that you feel out in the real world when you don't have enough money to get by. This is an easy show to binge-watch. It's tailor-made for people who enjoy binging with a simple, fun story to follow along. It won't do anything special but it will make for a great experience if you love to binge. The Bad: This show is easy to watch but very hard to emotionally invest in. The concept is wonderful but it is let down by the poorly written characters and relationships. The characters in this show are shockingly simplistic, defined by only a single trait. Very few characters are given more depth than this one trait, and it makes them feel shallow and undefined. I don't feel like I got to know these characters because of how underdeveloped they are. For example, Ali's only bit of development is how trusting he is, and this core trait is all that defines him. We never learned anything more about who he is. When characters are limited like this, it prevents me from ever feeling like I truly know who they are. This also gets in the way of memorable relationships forming between characters. When the motivations, personalities, and morality of characters are poorly defined, it makes it tough to buy into their actions and decisions, and by extension, their relationships with each other. For example, take the relationship between Sang Woo and Ali. It is difficult to understand why Ali trusted him so much and why Sang Woo formed a bond with Ali knowing that he will have to kill him in the future. My detachment with the characters results in a detachment with the bonds they form with each other. The biggest issue with the poorly defined characters and relationships is how it impacts the key emotional moments in the show. When characters died and when conflict erupted, I didn't find myself feeling the moments as much as I should have. Some of these moments should have been devastating but they don't have the impact they needed. These include Sae Byeok's death (not impactful because she is hardly defined and I don't buy into her relationship with Gi Hun) and the conflict between Gi Hun and Sang Woo (not written well enough to justify how heated it got after the fifth game). As much as I enjoyed the games, they were lacking in suspense. The acting sold me on the horror, but I was never on the edge of my seat hoping for the main characters to be okay. Part of that is because I wasn't invested in the characters, but I also think that the execution of the drama left a lot to be desired. For a show that has almost all of the main characters die, it was absurdly predictable. At the start of each game I quickly determined who would live and who would die, and there were never any surprises that suggested I would be wrong. I also have to look quizzically at the amount of times Gi Hun barely made it in the last few seconds. Gi Hun finished last second in almost every game. The biggest problem with this is that we know Gi Hun is the main character and will likely survive, so there is no tension at all when it is teased that he will lose. What's more surprising is that the side characters - the ones who genuinely could die - are very rarely teased with the possibility of death in these games. That removes a lot of suspense from the games and transforms them from tense life-or-death experiences into a mindless setpiece that goes on for far too long. The worst case of tension-less games is the tug of war round. All of the main characters were on two different teams, and they didn't even face each other. So obviously, both of the important teams would win. There was no tension whatsoever, and yet the tug of war game is focused on for a whopping 25 minutes without a single drop of suspense. That's a very poor use of time. Some specific parts of the story did not work. The Jun Ho plot line ended up being entirely pointless and it added nothing to the story. Even when compared to the other shallow characters in the show, Jun Ho is woefully underdeveloped. I knew nothing about him for the entire show and he felt like a useless addition. I didn't care about his relationship with his brother because we were never shown it, and I knew too little about him to get any suspense out of his undercover position as a guard. This plot line was a chore to watch every time it came up, and it did not even go anywhere worthwhile. All that we got was a twist about the Front Man, which was about as meaningful and impactful as a wet fart. The Front Man's identity meant nothing in the long run, and the "drama" of him killing his own brother was flat and completely underdeveloped. Overall, this was a poorly written, boring storyline. The other big miss was the final twist that Il Nam was the creator of the game. This twist was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the show at all. All it accomplished was damaging the one relationship in the show that I found to be well written, also ruining the single most powerful moment of the whole show when Il Nam "died" at the end of "Gganbu". Furthermore, this ending twist revealed the reasoning behind the games, and it was deeply underwhelming. To learn that the games were made because rich people were bored is the most lazy, uninspired, and empty direction that the show could have gone in. The ending of the show left a bad taste in my mouth and it makes it difficult for me to recommend this show knowing that it doesn't end well. As a final note, the VIPs were terrible. Absolutely terrible. Awful acting, awful writing, and the flattest characters of the entire show. Best Episodes: E01 Red Light, Green Light: The first episode is an engaging pilot. It effectively shows us the plight of the main character, and builds to a chaotic climax as we see the brutality of the red light, green light game. E02 Hell: A powerful episode showing us the horrifying reality that these characters live in, while also addressing the all-important question: why are these people willingly competing in this game? E06 Gganbu: The marbles game was a spectacular piece of emotional storytelling. This is the one game that felt like it had real stakes, and seeing the onslaught of deaths at the episode's end was brutal. Worst Episodes: E04 Stick to the Team: The two main setpieces in this episode were hugely disappointing. Tug of War was the weakest game of the six, and the nighttime fight was shot very poorly. E05 A Fair World: The whole episode was marred by focusing so much on a story that was very difficult to invest in. Thankfully there were some good character scenes or this would have been a total failure. E08 Front Man: This episode had some huge moments, but I was never invested enough to really feel them. Much of this episode fell flat as a result. E09 One Lucky Day: The season finale started off wonderfully and was really strong for a while. But everything after that ill-fated Il Nam twist was a colossal letdown and it ruined what could have been an excellent episode. Character of the Season: Gi Hun. Conclusion: "Squid Game" is a weird phenomenon of a show. To me, this show is simply decent, a fun 9-episode watch that is riddled with significant storytelling problems. To me, this is not a show that's particularly worth talking about because it doesn't do anything exceptional. But this show has been executed in a way that appeals perfectly to the audience of binge-watchers, an audience that is increasing in size every day. As a result this show has seen a spectacular explosion in popularity. I can't say I'm surprised that this show was so successful. After all, a simple premise, simplistic but well-acted characters, and an engaging mystery filled with empty surprises is unfortunately enough to satisfy 90% of people who casually watch television. But much like with other recent shows like "The Mandalorian", I am concerned that these high-budget, short-length TV shows are going to become the new mainstream for television. The beauty of TV shows is that they are much longer than movies and they have to be budgeted carefully to be successful, resulting in a reliance on quality writing, acting, and emotion to keep the audience invested. If length decreases and budget increases, then there isn't much separating TV shows from movies, and then there's a scary possibility that future TV shows will all feel like elongated movies. And that takes me to how I feel about "Squid Game" overall and my biggest concerns about it. It's a decent experience and an enjoyable binge, but it steers television in a direction that sacrifices quality to appeal to the masses. I find this show to be merely average in terms of quality, and I am deeply concerned about what TV shows like these mean for the future of television. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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