Season 1 Talk: Childhood Games Turn Deadly

[LADreamr]

I resisted watching this because I didn't think it was something I'd be into, but decided to just watch the pilot and see.  And then I couldn't stop.  Watched all of it yesterday, and I'm still thinking about it.  It really stays with you.  So excellently done, and the dubbed actors seem to improve as it went along.

[conquistador]

On 10/18/2021 at 10:23 PM, Rickster said:

Maybe some of them should have figured out the Marble game in advance, but I thought the set up was devilishly clever. They had just finished the Tug of War, where good teamwork was essential. Then they were told, in my recollection, “The next game will be played in teams of two”, so the obvious reaction is to pick who you think will be the best person you also trust, to avoid the fate of the Tug of War losers. Not sure why they should assume the game would be anything other than two against two.

 

Because it was also apparent that 1) the game was becoming increasingly more sadistic (like how the leaders openly encouraged the participants to turn on eachother) and 2) the game was also seemingly designed to turn people into murderers.

The most important aspect of the tug-of-war wasn’t really the team aspect. It was the fact that you couldn’t survive without somebody else dying. At least in ”red light, green light” there was a theoretical chance for everybody to move on to the next round. The tug-of-war just cut the whole group by half.

I was basically begging the participants to pair up with somebody they felt neutral towards at least.

Edited October 30, 2021 by conquistador

[MisterGlass]

I finished watching this this weekend.  Overall it was good, and the actors were excellent.  I initially thought there might be something suspicious about the player as 001, as though he was a past winner and ringer, but then was tricked - and gutted - by the marble episode.

I don't have much to add, except a recommendation for a Brazilian Netflix show called 3%.  It is a show structured around games and class disparity that finished its fourth and final season last year.  It is overall less violent, a larger ensemble, and a longer, slower burn.  It had its ups and downs, but I enjoyed the journey and liked the ending.

ETA: I forgot to add a link to Binging with Babish attempting to make honeycomb candy.

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by MisterGlass

[cynicat]

 

On 10/28/2021 at 3:31 PM, LADreamr said:

I resisted watching this because I didn't think it was something I'd be into, but decided to just watch the pilot and see.  And then I couldn't stop.  Watched all of it yesterday, and I'm still thinking about it.  It really stays with you.  So excellently done, and the dubbed actors seem to improve as it went along.

Same here.  For some odd reason that probably is a deep rooted psychosis, I have a tendency to avoid the shows that everyone is talking about.  Strangely enough what made me want to check it out was seeing a local news story about Squid Game halloween costumes.  The red light/green light girl drew me in to take a peek and I didn't surface until I had watched the whole thing.

I'm still trying to recover from Episode 6, where I couldn't stop crying.  Holy shit that was gut-wrenching.  I haven't been this emotionally drained since watching Chernobyl.

[LADreamr]

31 minutes ago, cynicat said:

The red light/green light girl drew me in to take a peek and I didn't surface until I had watched the whole thing.

Me too.  I think one of the things that makes it compelling is the contrasts in so many of the scenes.  The doll, and the game, are simplistic, but are the deciders of something horrific.  And so many of the most powerful scenes are the quietest ones.  

[Sweet Tooth]

On 10/12/2021 at 12:30 PM, ctmd said:

so I've obsessively watched and read so many things about Squid Game after completing it, but have not seen a single message of the cop/frontman's exchange and why cop said "you know" when frontman asked why he couldn't come with him. Did I miss something that I was supposed to know? Or is it just the obvious "you know I can't let you not kill me when I now know you've killed hundreds of other people." 

This is why I'm convinced the cop isn't dead. We never got to the bottom of this mystery. They never cleared it up.

[Maysie]

We finally finished it and I hope that’s it for the series. I don’t want to see another round of games and watching Gi Hun try to take down the whole operation isn’t compelling to me. I think everyone’s stories have been told.

Gi Hun’s “transformation” in the final episode was striking. Just the episode before he was dithering about which vest to choose; he was never forceful about his opinions or desires. But when it was down to the two of them, Gi Hun was the one who chose offense and I thought that was very emblematic of how the games impacted him. It didn’t surprise or bother me that he hadn’t touched the money or tracked down Sae Baeyok’s brother yet; he was obviously suffering from PTSD (and who wouldn’t?). Really, how could anyone live through that and be normal? I assume cobra neck could have, but he wasn’t right to begin with.

 I was confused about one thing regarding the cop and the front man, and if anyone can clarify I’d appreciate it: for some reason, I had the impression that the cop’s brother was a college student. I was surprised that the brother was the front man (but it made sense in hindsight), but I was thrown that the front man looked a good bit older than the cop. I know there can be older students, so that may be the case, or perhaps the brother/front man wasn’t a student?? Did I misunderstand? Regardless, I think the cop is dead, and either the police didn’t get the texts or they didn’t care, because the games live on, unfortunately.

 I was also a bit confused about player 001’s motivation. Was he bored and looking for entertainment or trying to make a statement on the inherent selfishness of people? I assume he knew Gi Hun was messed up and basically summoned him to snap him out of it. I do think that player 001 genuinely liked/cared about Gi Hun, despite the fact that he’s the architect of such an awful thing.

Finally, oof, those American actors were awful.

[bosawks]

It took me weeks to get through 1-3 and about 2 days to get through the rest.

I was slow to get into it but, boy, once I did it was a sprint.

[Jax7917]

What would they have done if gi-hun had stayed and watched them kill the old man ? Everything in regard to the old man story was way too convenient . 

[Jax7917]

I'm wondering what made these people trust the people in charge who were telling them that they were going to win all that money. I know these people were desperate, but after choosing to go back after what they saw in the red light/green light game, what would make them think that these were honest people who would stick to their word and actually give someone all that money?

I'm also wondering if maybe the front man didn't want to actually kill his brother, which is why he shot him in the shoulder. He probably figured he'd survive, but that the witnesses (the workers in the game) would think he killed him. 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Jax7917

[Mabinogia]

9 hours ago, Jax7917 said:

what would make them think that these were honest people who would stick to their word and actually give someone all that money?

Yeah, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if, once there was a winner, Front Man didn't walk up and shoot him or her in the head. Why pay out all that money if you don't have to? 

[MisterGlass]

When the majority voted to end the games, the game runners respected the vote and took everyone back.  That was a real demonstration that they were committed to the rules.  After that I think the participants didn't doubt them.

ETA:  And while the participants don't know about the billionaire audience, it gives the billionaires a bit of self justification if some poor prole gets to walk away with some cash.  It's as though they paid for the service.

Edited November 9, 2021 by MisterGlass

[libgirl2]

On 11/4/2021 at 2:55 PM, Maysie said:

 

 I was also a bit confused about player 001’s motivation. Was he bored and looking for entertainment or trying to make a statement on the inherent selfishness of people? I assume he knew Gi Hun was messed up and basically summoned him to snap him out of it. I do think that player 001 genuinely liked/cared about Gi Hun, despite the fact that he’s the architect of such an awful thing.

 

001 was dying so he had nothing left to lose. Plus, he talked about how much he liked games. How he watched his son play them. So I think he wanted to have some fun and give it a go and if he died, he died. 

[BetterButter]

‘Squid Game’ Creator Says Season 2 in the Works: ‘Gi-hun Will Come Back’

Quote

”I will say there will indeed be a second season. It’s in my head right now. I’m in the planning process currently,“ Hwang Dong-hyuk told the Associated Press

 

[indeed]

OK, did I miss (or misremember) something?  In one of the early episodes, didn't the detective have a square mask on for a while?  If so, how did he get it, and how did he switch back?  He was always referred to as #29.

[tennisgurl]

I finally got the time to finish this and I am really glad that I waited to watch it all in a binge, its so intense that I just had to keep watching until the very end. The hype was very real, this show was really great, it was certainly very high concept and filled with violence while being loaded with metaphor and social commentary, but what really made it work was how much it made you care about the characters. I heard some complaints about the second episode, that it felt like useless padding, but I thought it was one of the most important episodes. They needed to show how these people ended up in such desperate situations that you could buy them willing participating in these twisted murder games and it really helps you feel for them.

The whole show is deeply tragic, especially from episode six on where its pretty much a festival of misery and trauma, but what has really stuck with me is that, due to the extremely secretive nature of the games, no one is ever going to even know what happened to any of the people who died, to their families and the world at large they just disappeared off the face of the Earth without even a body to send home. Ali's wife and son will never know where he went or why he suddenly disappeared and while Gi-hun can at least give Sae-byeok's brother and Sang-woo's mom a bit of closure by giving them some of the prize money and bringing them together, its not like he can really tell them what happened to their respective sister and son. Of course considering how bad things got, its probably best not to get into details. Its been awhile since I really started to cry during a show, but here we are, it got me at least three times. 

Huge kudos to the set designers, the MC Escher inspired stairs really added to the surreal quality of the situation, as did the childlike designs of the game areas, the artificial innocence just made everything even creepier. 

The ending is the only thing I really took issue with, other then some really atrocious acting/writing for the VP's in their stupid Eyes Wide Shut masks, especially the big twist about who the real bad guy was. It was all such a hard come down from the big emotional final showdown between Gi-hun and Sang woo, Sang Woo's suicide, Gi-hun leaving the same traumatized only to find his mother dead, its just so brutally emotional. Then we get a time skip, a big supervillain monologue after a last minute twist, and the tease for season two. It just kills all of the momentum that has been built up, the whole show is just straight adrenalin then we get this coda where they are just trying to wrap things up and set up the next thing, it feels jarring. I think you could just cut out the big reveal and just go to Gi-hun walking around for a year still shell-shocked, then maybe have him run into the Salesman doing his thing with some other poor sap, and he can maybe get into his whole philosophical debate with the old man dying on the street which inspires him to fight against the game, I just think they could have cut some of that out to get to the conclusion much faster. I do like how they set things up for the next season, especially how it fits into the shows philosophy about human nature and the need for compassion and empathy, as well as Gi-hun's character development, going from a guy who just skated through life mostly concerned with himself to knowing that he cant sit by and let even more desperate people be slaughtered when he can do something, but I think it could have been handled better. 

Next season I am already calling that the cop somehow survived, I've seen enough TV to know that being shot in the shoulder is the action hero equivalent of a paper cut, plus we never saw a body. It feels like his story and of his brother isn't finished yet, I am especially curious about the brother. So he won the game one time and then became a part of it because...he saw it as an opportunity to keep growing his wealth? He felt the need to justify his own win and the lives that were lost as it being "fair" that he survived? Stockholm Syndrome? 

Edited November 16, 2021 by tennisgurl

[Mabinogia]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

The whole show is deeply tragic, especially from episode six on where its pretty much a festival of misery and trauma, but what has really stuck with me is that, due to the extremely secretive nature of the games, no one is ever going to even know what happened to any of the people who died, to their families and the world at large they just disappeared off the face of the Earth without even a body to send home. Ali's wife and son will never know where he went or why he suddenly disappeared and while Gi-hun can at least give Sae-byeok's brother and Sang-woo's mom a bit of closure by giving them some of the prize money and bringing them together, its not like he can really tell them what happened to their respective sister and son.

I hadn't really thought about that. Now I'm sad all over again. 

You are right about what really makes this show work where other similar ideas might fail. I started out not caring about Gi-hun at all, and ended up deeply moved by his journey as well as so many other characters. It was high concept, it was beautifully shot and produced, but at it's heart it was about these characters and they were flawed and some insane, some selfish, some possibly just plain cruel, but they were all so real for me. Well written, well acted, just all around well executed characters that I came to care deeply about. 

That is why Ep 6 was soooooo effective and affecting. That was one of the most visceral experiences I've had watching something in a very long time. I'd put it up there with Abyssinia, Henry ep of MASH as far as ripping my heart out and stomping on it until it is nothing more than a bloody puddle washed away by my fat, wet tears. 

[MaggieG]

I was confused about the Front Man and cop situation. Cop sees Gi-hun at the police station, he hears Gi-hun's rant which spurs him to go to his brother's room/tiny apartment and finds the card. I got the sense that his brother had gone missing recently. In fact, I thought he was maybe in the group with Gi-hun but that he got killed during red light, green light. But if the brother won the game some years before (I think the binder was 2015) that means he's been missing for a few years. Was he maybe still living in the room when he wasn't the front man? But that would mean the cop could easily find him. Because he seemed to know about the room. It was just a little confusing. 

I don't know if they answered this but I got the feeling that the old man played in previous games where he was always player 001. That was how he knew the tricks to win tug of war. Also he has to give himself some sort of out and that is why he was acting feeble right before the marble game. He didn't want anyone choosing him so he would be the only unpicked one and everyone would just assume the guards killed him. But annoying woman was left so they left her alive. 

[Spartan Girl]

On 11/16/2021 at 1:55 PM, tennisgurl said:

The whole show is deeply tragic, especially from episode six on where its pretty much a festival of misery and trauma, but what has really stuck with me is that, due to the extremely secretive nature of the games, no one is ever going to even know what happened to any of the people who died, to their families and the world at large they just disappeared off the face of the Earth without even a body to send home. Ali's wife and son will never know where he went or why he suddenly disappeared and while Gi-hun can at least give Sae-byeok's brother and Sang-woo's mom a bit of closure by giving them some of the prize money and bringing them together, its not like he can really tell them what happened to their respective sister and son. Of course considering how bad things got, its probably best not to get into details. Its been awhile since I really started to cry during a show, but here we are, it got me at least three times. 

I felt bad for Sang-woo’s mom, but Sang-woo himself? Nope. Not after what he did to Ali. I mean Ali was forced into desperate circumstances, but Sang-Woo’s problems were the consequences of his own actions. I get that the theme was “anyone will screw others over to save their own ass in desperate times” but Sang-woo proved he was that kind of asshole even before things got so bad.

Oy this show was brutal. Made the Hunger Games look like Candyland.

[kittykat]

Golden Globe nominations:

Best Drama Series

Best Actor in a Drama - Lee Jung-Jae

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama, Comedy, Limited Series or Made for TV movie - O Yeong-Su

Edited December 13, 2021 by kittykat

[libgirl2]

5 hours ago, kittykat said:

Golden Globe nominations:

Best Drama Series

Best Actor in a Drama - Lee Jung-Jae

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama, Comedy, Limited Series or Made for TV movie - O Yeong-Su

YAY! 

[cynicat]

17 hours ago, kittykat said:

Golden Globe nominations:

Best Drama Series

Best Actor in a Drama - Lee Jung-Jae

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama, Comedy, Limited Series or Made for TV movie - O Yeong-Su

They might need to add a new category:  Most Traumatizing Series

[BetterButter]

‘Squid Game’ Creator Says He’s in Talks With Netflix About Season 3

[GaT]

I just finished this & honestly, I don't see what the fuss is all about. It was OK I guess, but nothing more IMO. It was basically a reality show, only the elimination was permanent. All these people were there voluntarily, knew only one person could win, & that everyone else was going to die. Why should anybody be surprised when it happens? And at the end the guy (I didn't get anyone's name) wasn't much different than before the game, he was still a shitty father who shirked his responsibilities. The big twist at the end caught me by surprise, I actually thought it was going to turn out to be the annoying older woman with the long hair (still don't understand why they just said "sit this one out" when she wasn't picked for marbles) who couldn't die fast enough as far as I'm concerned.

[BetterButter]

‘Squid Game’ Will Get a Second Season, Netflix Confirms

[The Mighty Peanut]

I loved it and got totally hooked, my only nitpick is why no one had taken Sang Woo's mother's store and home since he used them as collateral. After the vote Sang Woo and Gi-un spent a good hunk of time at home, and then Gi-un spent a year in a PTSD bubble before giving Sang's mom the money and a replacement son (I guess I have two nitpicks) even though the goal of sae-beok was getting her mother from the north.

 

[libgirl2]

On 1/2/2022 at 3:24 AM, GaT said:

I just finished this & honestly, I don't see what the fuss is all about. It was OK I guess, but nothing more IMO. It was basically a reality show, only the elimination was permanent. All these people were there voluntarily, knew only one person could win, & that everyone else was going to die. Why should anybody be surprised when it happens? And at the end the guy (I didn't get anyone's name) wasn't much different than before the game, he was still a shitty father who shirked his responsibilities. The big twist at the end caught me by surprise, I actually thought it was going to turn out to be the annoying older woman with the long hair (still don't understand why they just said "sit this one out" when she wasn't picked for marbles) who couldn't die fast enough as far as I'm concerned.

 When they picked teams of two, the players didn't know what it would be yet. No one would have picked the old man, thus she had to sit out so he could play. 

Just thinking about this episode makes me sad. 

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by libgirl2

[grandmabegum]

Apparently the season 2 release date is October 31st

[AnimeMania]

‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Won’t Release Until End of 2023 or 2024, Creator Predicts

Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told Vanity Fair that he predicts the next batch of episodes won’t be ready for release until the end of 2023 at the earliest. A Season 2 release in 2024 is also in the realm of possibility. “[Hwang] only has about three pages’ worth of ideas that he plans to turn into a script, so there isn’t much he can say [about Season 2] except that there will be more games.”

I am thinking we should try to get Squid Game a Multi-Thread TV Forum in the future once more and better information about Season 2 starts being released. In the mean time, you guys can help by thinking up a few witty titles for the different threads, something like: "Musical Chairs: The Cast in Other Roles" and what kinds of different Threads you would like to have.

[grandmabegum]

Boo to the long wait, but I'd rather wait than have it rushed before it's ready.

Not knowing what the games will be, how about "Duck, Duck Your Goose is Cooked" or "Red Rover, Red Rover Your Game is Now Over"?

"Whisper Down the Lane: Spoilers"

Something like that?

Edited May 18, 2022 by grandmabegum

[AnimeMania]

It might be good to have a Thread that explains some of the "rules" of the games being played.

[grandmabegum]

14 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

It might be good to have a Thread that explains some of the "rules" of the games being played.

Mother May I?: Rules of the Game

Sorry I have been up since 8 last night and I'm just trying to make it through this day without falling asleep at my desk.

[AnimeMania]

‘Squid Game’ Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk Developing Satire Based On Success Of ‘Squid Game’ Titled ‘The Best Show On The Planet’

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is in early stage development on a satire about the creation of Netflix’s Squid Game, which became a global hit overnight, provisionally titled The Best Show on the Planet. 

[AnimeMania]

Tears and Therapy With ‘Squid Game’ Star Jung Ho-yeon, Sandra Oh and THR’s Drama Actress Roundtable

The Hollywood Reporter Video/Written interview.

Jung Ho-Yeon: The Squid Game actress talks about what it was like for her first acting job to become the most watched series in the world: “It was so stressful. I was trying to prepare for the bad reactions and everything.”

[Shermie]

On 10/21/2021 at 4:43 PM, meep.meep said:

Koreans play marbles strangely.

Marbles isn’t just one game, just like playing cards isn’t just one game. There are lots of ways to play marbles, and one person’s way is no more strange than anyone else’s. 

I know I’m late to this party, but I just finished this. It was good, but not the Greatest Show Ever. Will I watch season 2? Probably, as long as it doesn’t go off the rails as second seasons of high-concept shows often do.

It was sold as adults playing common kids games with a life or death twist. Now red light-green light, tug-o-war, and marbles are common kids games, but the rest? How is carving a piece of dried honey into a shape a game? A craft, maybe. Crossing a glass bridge that is totally based on random guessing is hardly a kids game. And I have no idea how the actual squid game worked; seemed like in spite of the layout and rules, the players just beat the shit out of each other rather than playing a game.

I would have liked to see a Squid Game version of hide-and-seek; now that would involve some incredible suspense. Or tag. Or London Bridge. Or Farmer in the Dell. Or even jump rope.

[MisterGlass]

On 8/5/2022 at 6:33 PM, Shermie said:

How is carving a piece of dried honey into a shape a game?

According to this article Korean kids could get a second candy free if they could get the stamped shape out of the first one.

I have no glass bridge explanation.