Squid Game Review — wine and a kdrama

Squid Game came out this past Friday and I, having no will and strength, binged the entire thing on Saturday (save one episode that I watched on Friday, but I had other things to binge on Friday so I had to wait). I was really excited to watch, it being one of the only dramas premiering this month that I had my eyes on, and I generally like these survival game thriller horrors, so it’s not too surprising I would finish basically the drama in one sitting. While the drama was a great binge and I did enjoy a lot of it, after sitting with it for a while there was more that I wanted to talk about than just a quick non-spoiler review and some plots that I had issues with.

Squid Game follows the contestants in a secret game where they will be given a set amount of money if they win. To win they have to be the last person standing, playing various games to win. The setup for the games is a little more interesting than most in this drama, as they aren’t complicated puzzles that you have to figure out a la an escape room. All the games come from childhood and are easy, familiar games. I liked how the games being played out the way they were relatively adaptable for any of the players. While with some games the player could have a disadvantage being elderly or not as strong, some of the games were based on luck or simple mind games. The game contestants had an age range that was much more skewed the older side (although we had a few main characters who were young), most of the main players being middle age. It was a good set up the reason why they decided to play the game. All were down on their luck and for most the outside world was just as bad as this blood-filled game.

One of the comments I’ve heard from multiple people online is the predictability of the games - not just in who was going to win. And it’s true, it’s pretty clear what’s going on from the beginning and most of the reveals weren’t that shocking. Especially if you’ve watched any of these types of dramas, or even if you are just a general kdrama watcher. I think one of the biggest problems with kdramas is that they follow the same format (no matter the genre) and very few ever fall out of it - there’s very little exception. And for this drama, for all that it does right, it still lives in a kdrama world. Everyone is always tied with everyone. Always. As soon as I realized it was too easy for the cop, Jun Ho, to enter the grounds and become an employee with access to weapons and gear, I knew his brother who he was looking for was the guy behind the mask. How else was he able to infiltrate a highly organized game that has not only cameras but a scanning system. By kdrama trope standards, his brother not being a contestant but the guy behind the man was the only option for those two. I knew that the old guy was more than just a contestant who was magically good at everything, and magically falls completely apart in a matter of minutes (you also don’t see him get shot while the others were shown, so if you didn’t know before, that solidified everything). Kdramas tend to focus on the differences between the rich and poor which I don’t think is much of a factor in Western shows. Because of this, I never assumed that the one controlling could be some crazed psychopath serial killer, it was gonna be a bored rich guy.

While knowing these things made some of the surprises not as enjoyable to my watch, that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily a bad thing overall. The predictability led me to focus on other characters a little bit more closely without the added view of trying to figure out if they would be the ones to survive. The character arc of Abdul Ali (No. 199) was solid and engaging because we knew the inevitable end of his character. His last moments with Cho Sang Woo (No. 218) were heartbreaking and real, leading to one of the most devastating deaths of the games. Since I was focused on what Jun Ho was going to do, I didn’t spend time focused on who the actor playing his brother could be. I am not kidding, if you heard the shriek that came out of my mouth when Byung Hun appeared. I don’t know if there was a rumor or spoiler floating around that he was going to be in the drama, but for the most part, I steered clear of everything (except for a last minute Gong Yoo appearance spoiler) so I was genuinely shocked it was him.

My main problem with drama fell squarely on a typical kdrama trope that I didn’t think was going to have such an impact on my viewing, nor take me out the games so much: the random English-speaking white guy. We always joke about how terrible they are when they show up in a drama, but I don’t think it’ll ever compare to the detriment they did in this. For them being the VIPs - the people betting on players, and supposed to be key characters - yet given the lines they were given was almost insulting to the script. I was supposed to feel disturbed watching them bet on players, they are part of the villains in this story, and yet all their lines made me cringe. It’s such a shame that it was so far into the drama as well and during key moments with Jun Ho and his escape. I assume their childish retorts were to mirror the childish games they were watching and betting on but the execution lacked any of that depth. This was Netflix produced, you’re telling me you couldn’t find anyone in Korea who could deliver lines better? Or any person who knew English to rewrite the lines and tighten them up? With such stellar acting for the main cast, it was a let down and took me a while to get back into the drama after.

More than anything that I got out of the drama, the visuals won. The set design is outstanding and I could easily watch detailed tours of each room. With its Willy Wonka oddness and the bright pinks, blues, and yellows, the whole design added a layer to the entire drama that really added so much to the overall story. It was also done without CGI, opting for real sets, which always helps out the world immersion not just for the audience, but also the actors and I really think it showed. The design fell into the molded conformity of humans as they grow up, having to enter into the capitalistic society while learning those things at an early age. The familiar location of the sets - key places you would remember from your childhood - the bright colors all added to the dreamlike world they were living in that was oddly familiar and yet skewed like your own memories of things when you were young. Everyone in lines or formations and in the same gym outfit, it was a great contrast and visually appealing aspect. I always love when time is spent on world-building, especially when you can tell that the director and creative team feel that is important.

In the end, Squid Game did have some solidly interesting stories, suspenseful games, and stellar acting but there were a bit too many important unanswered questions that left the end lacking and yet somehow had too much downtime filler to fill the 9 episodes. I understand that some of the unanswered questions were purposely done for the set up of a second season…but I have a problem with a second season. I don’t think it should be done, specifically in how they are setting it up to be. Could they do a second season with different characters and different games and it be good? Absolutely. But the ending of the first season told us that was not the route they were going to take, opting for the potential for him to be back in the games, maybe to infiltrate? It doesn’t seem right that he would go back as a character, especially as he is just getting back to being a human and obviously had fixed things with the relationship with the daughter.

I also wish we had gotten to see more with the employees. The small glimpses you get were intriguing and made me really want to know more about them. Why they were there, what they were promised or told about the games. We see tiny peaks with the cop, but it’s so small and doesn’t accurately portray the greater world they live in that is obviously very different than the players. It would be an interesting look. If I had the pull the second season would focus on them, not the contestants.

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