Season 1 Talk: Childhood Games Turn Deadly

[libgirl2]

7 minutes ago, CrazyDog said:

There could technically be more than one winner though, right? At least it was ambiguous. It was just mentioned that as players were eliminated that their money would be added to the pot. But Gi-hun thought that he could split the money with Sae-byeok, as long as they both agreed to end the games. Or would ending the games result in them being able to leave alive, but without anything? I don't recall, and I don't want to rewatch, ha.

I want to say that if they leave the game, they leave without the money, even if they are the only 2 left. 

[CrazyDog]

So Gi-hun was mistaken in thinking they could split the money without Sang-woo?

[Melina22]

1 hour ago, 30 Helens said:

Better Call Saul?? I mean, I guess lawyers can be scary, but I would never think of that as a violent show. Whatever possessed you to watch this one? I can’t imagine the stack of quilts and blankets you must have been diving under, lol.

Better Call Saul is a prequel to Breaking Bad which I also watched. They both have a fair amount of blanket-worthy violence, but are so brilliantly written and acted. Squid Game didn't rise to their level, IMHO, but I guess I also wanted to be part of something literally everyone was watching so I'd understand all the references and memes. It always annoyed me that I never understood the GoT refences, but despite several attempts I knew this just wasn't the show for me. There weren't enough blankets in the world. 

I found the Squid Game violence to be almost but not quite cartoonish, and it didn't give me that awful, sick feeling I get from horror shows, so I thought I'd go along for the ride. It was fun. 

Edited October 14, 2021 by Melina22

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, Melina22 said:

I found the Squid Game violence to be almost but not quite cartoonish

It was 50/50 for me. Like, watching them all get gunned down in Red Light Green Light was not a problem for me at all, but the "prison fight" I couldn't watch. All the shooting at the cut out the shapes game didn't bother me in the slightest, but the executions in the marble game was hard emotionally (obviously because I was watching characters I grew to care about being gunned down).

So bottom line, I guess I'm more the mass murderer type than the serial killer type? It's fun to learn new things about yourself. 

[BradandJanet]

I thought the families of participants who died got a payment (100,000 won). Did I misunderstand? 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

1 hour ago, BradandJanet said:

I thought the families of participants who died got a payment (100,000 won). Did I misunderstand? 

They aid that would happen if the game ended because everyone quit.  However, the players did walk out and when the came back all of that money was up for grabs.  

[Kanner]

There could be more than one winner if they played a team game last. However, I doubt the game makers would set it up that way. 

I loved the show, even the end. The acting was so good, except the VIPs. I also was invested in Junho’s mission and liked his general competence. I also liked that it was used to bring the audience behind the scenes. I hope he is alive somehow. 

Episode 6 was devastating. I can’t hate Sangwoo. My heart is mad but my brain gets it. 

I liked how the game makers introduced the “special game” before the tug of war. Before that the players did not directly impact if another died. The fight primed them to killing each other. 
 

[ICantDoThatDave]

One nitpicky thing confused me: how did they wind up with 17 people after the Marbles games? Tug-of-War took the from exactly 80 to exactly 40. Then the Doctor is killed, leaving 39. During the partner pick, the "weird lady" is left out, but survives.

So we should have 19 pairs playing marbles, meaning 19 survivors plus "weird lady", leaving 20.  So how did they wind up with 17 (16 after #069 hangs himself)?

My first theory was pairs who couldn't decide on a Marbles victory were both eliminated, but then we'd still have an even number - either 18 (one pair) or 16 (two pairs). So that can't be it. Can anyone explain how they wound up with 17 at that point?

[The Mighty Peanut]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:40 AM, SourK said:

 

I found that whole sequence kind of messy and convenient. I get that it would kind of ruin the arc if Gi-hun was willing to kill Sang-woo for the money, but it felt like they went, "Okay, we need Gi-hun to win, and we really want him to walk away with the cash, but he can't be murderous, and he can't be selfish, and the only way to get the money is to be murderous and selfish, so..."

Yeah, like you said, they didn't want him to be murderous. It must have been a weird line for them to tread, like, he was the leader of tug-of-war whose only goal was to make sure the 10-ish people on the opposite team all died, and when push came to shove he put his own life above the old man's. I don't blame him for his hesitance to be a martyr out of loyalty to someone he just met, and he's definitely not a killer, but can we really say he isn't selfish? 

I wish he would have killed Sang-Woo as well...it would have made more sense than getting wrapped up in nostalgia at the last second, having wasted 454 lives (if Sang-woo had lived) so they could go home alive but penniless.

Edited October 15, 2021 by The Mighty Peanut

[30 Helens]

Entertainment Weekly interview with Lee Jung-Jae:

https://ew.com/tv/squid-game-lee-jung-jae-finale-spoilers-season-2/

Weird how he kept calling the games “fun”. They did not look like a fun time to me!

[Straycat80]

6 hours ago, ICantDoThatDave said:

One nitpicky thing confused me: how did they wind up with 17 people after the Marbles games? Tug-of-War took the from exactly 80 to exactly 40. Then the Doctor is killed, leaving 39. During the partner pick, the "weird lady" is left out, but survives.

So we should have 19 pairs playing marbles, meaning 19 survivors plus "weird lady", leaving 20.  So how did they wind up with 17 (16 after #069 hangs himself)?

My first theory was pairs who couldn't decide on a Marbles victory were both eliminated, but then we'd still have an even number - either 18 (one pair) or 16 (two pairs). So that can't be it. Can anyone explain how they wound up with 17 at that point?

I noticed that too. There should not have been an even number of players after marbles. 
I was somewhat disappointed by the ending. I was hoping for backstory on the cop and his brother. And Old Man, what was his story, was he wealthy, was he a business man, stuff like that. I did enjoy the series though, episode 6 gutted me. I can see there will be a season two, and maybe they will explain the loose ends, like the organ donations. 

[SourK]

On 10/14/2021 at 10:38 AM, Melina22 said:

Last note - yesterday I watched a YouTube video of an interview with the actor playing Gi-hun and his smart friend. For me, Gi-hun made the show because despite the stupid and selfish things he does at the beginning, he has an open, kind face, and exudes empathy for others. (When he isn't gambling away their money.) But the actor was strangely unrecognizable. I couldn't tell if his face is now actually different, or if he's such a good actor that he's unrecognizable as himself. Weird.

I think I watched the same interview, if it was a Neflix thing with both actors, the director, and the art director (costumes, sets, props). It was really interesting.

There was a little bit of a surreal element where Hae-soo Park is a lot warmer and friendlier than Sang-woo, and Jung-jae Lee is colder and more reserved than Gi-hun. Kind of like when the True Blood actors used to do group interviews, and suddenly Stephen Moyer was suave and Alexander Skarsgård was a dork. I guess that's just what happens when you're good at acting.

As for how he looks, I think Jung-jae Lee looks different when he's being himself partly because, when his hair is longer, it creates the illusion that he has a different face shape.

On 10/14/2021 at 2:46 PM, CrazyDog said:

There could technically be more than one winner though, right? At least it was ambiguous. It was just mentioned that as players were eliminated that their money would be added to the pot. But Gi-hun thought that he could split the money with Sae-byeok, as long as they both agreed to end the games. Or would ending the games result in them being able to leave alive, but without anything? I don't recall, and I don't want to rewatch, ha.

The team-win thing was ambiguous, and I think that ambiguity made it harder to follow the characters' reasoning. It seemed like the more optimistic people believed they could get a team win and the more cynical people assumed it was winner-takes-all. The cynics were right, which is why the end of the game is disillusioning for someone who hoped he was going to go to the end with his friends -- so it works, thematically. But, in terms of audience experience, I don't think the idea got debated enough on screen, so it felt like it was randomly a team game or randomly not depending on who was talking.

[DrSpaceman73]

Finished and really enjoyed it. 

I dont think it's as disturbing as people say. It's a hunger games variation. 

I may watch again to see if I pick up on things this time. 

 

Spoiler

I wonder who is in charge of the game now that the old man died. 

Also did the police investigator really die?  He was shit and fell off the cliff but did they show him dead?

 

[DrSpaceman73]

On 10/10/2021 at 5:13 AM, Dancingjaneway said:

This show wasn't even on my radar because I hardly ever watch Netflix but a few people were talking about it in a Twitch chat & I got curious. Wow! This show was brilliant...up until the end. The characters were well crafted, they did a great job of getting us attached to them, the visuals were incredible & the story was well done.

  Reveal spoiler

Sadly, the ending was none of the above. It was like a different person had written the ending. The horrible twist with the old man felt cheap & lazy. The MC's hair was ridiculous & the whole police investigation went nowhere. I would love to know if that was his original ending or if he re-wrote it so there would be a season 2. The show was like a game of red light, green light in the way that it was intense, enthralling but didn't stick the landing & we lost. 

 

Spoiler

I thought the last episode twist took away greatly from the best episode of the season, Gganbu.   It puts ALl when different spin on the 1/456 story and detracts from it imo knowing the ending.  

 

[Melina22]

5 hours ago, SourK said:

There was a little bit of a surreal element where Hae-soo Park is a lot warmer and friendlier than Sang-woo, and Jung-jae Lee is colder and more reserved than Gi-hun.

Yes!! This, exactly! It really threw me. 

[libgirl2]

10 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

  Reveal spoiler

I thought the last episode twist took away greatly from the best episode of the season, Gganbu.   It puts ALl when different spin on the 1/456 story and detracts from it imo knowing the ending.  

 

Spoiler

For me, knowing the old man was behind it all makes me not so sad about his death! I really had a hard time with that whole episode. I cried watching it as was talking about it being where he lives... having had a mother with dementia and a dad with brain cancer, it hit close to home. 

 

[Steph619]

I just finished watching this show and I found it to be both very disturbing and compelling. I thought it was really well done. The acting was great and the set design was impressive.  
 

Spoiler

I had no idea the old man was behind it all. His “death” in episode 6 made me so sad and I found him to be endearing. Now, not so much. You have to be pretty twisted to be so bored with your money, that you decide to come up with games that will kill people and push desperate people to kill each other for entertainment. 

Initially, I thought these games were designed by the Korean government as a form of population control or as a black market for organs once the doctor story came into play. I also didn’t think the winner would actually get any money.

I look forward to a season 2, if there is one. Will this whole operation be taken down? Will Gi-Hun get revenge? There’s a lot of unanswered questions.
 

 

[Mabinogia]

16 hours ago, SourK said:

The team-win thing was ambiguous, and I think that ambiguity made it harder to follow the characters' reasoning. It seemed like the more optimistic people believed they could get a team win and the more cynical people assumed it was winner-takes-all. The cynics were right, which is why the end of the game is disillusioning for someone who hoped he was going to go to the end with his friends -- so it works, thematically. But, in terms of audience experience, I don't think the idea got debated enough on screen, so it felt like it was randomly a team game or randomly not depending on who was talking.

IDK after watching a few hundred people get gunned down on the first game you would have to be REALLY optimistic and fairly naïve to think these are the kind of people who would let there be more than one winner. It was telegraphed pretty hard that human life meant nothing to the game runners so why would the get all warm and fuzzy at the end? But I'm a cynic so of course I always knew it would come down to two friends with one having to die. But I'm so cynical that I did think Gi-hun was going to have to kill Sang-woo, not that Sang-woo would sacrifice himself in the end, after all he'd done, so I guess it had a more optimistic ending than I'd pictured. HAHA

From the game players POV I could see how survival optimism might kick in and them clinging to the hope that somehow there is a way for more than one of them to make it out alive. What was interesting to watch was which of them did try to believe and which ones knew deep down that only one person was getting out of this alive...if any. 

[BetterButter]

 

[revbfc]

How did the old man call the front man during episode 6?  

[QQQQ]

On 10/13/2021 at 5:39 PM, libgirl2 said:

I saw the masks as a way of them setting themselves above the "contestants", they hide behind their masks but the contestants are out there "bare" and out in the open. Also, maybe they don't want too many people to recognize them. I didn't have a problem with the VIPs, they disgusted me which is what they were supposed to do. 

A friend of mine compared the show to the movie, They Shoot Horses Don't They? If you aren't familiar with it, basic concept, desperate people willing to sacrifice themselves for money. 

I think Squid Game can thank Agatha Christie for a few of its plot points.

[DrSpaceman73]

I was wondering if the different shapes on the masks for the different workers had some meaning. Who/what decides if you're a circle, square or triangle worker?  

[Scout Finch]

6 hours ago, BetterButter said:

 

Damn, you beat me to it! I just finally watched the episode on my DVR a few hours ago and this was one of the few things that made me laugh. Had NO idea when the country song starts where it would end up!

Edited October 17, 2021 by Scout Finch

[30 Helens]

4 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I was wondering if the different shapes on the masks for the different workers had some meaning. Who/what decides if you're a circle, square or triangle worker?  

There is a hierarchy. The Circles are the lowest level of worker and do the menial tasks. The Triangles are a level up— they get to carry guns and shoot people. The Squares are the bosses and direct the triangles. The Squares answer only to the Front Man.

As displayed in the diagram for the final round, all shapes are required to play the game.

[Thalia]

2 hours ago, Scout Finch said:

I just finally watched the episode on my DVR a few hours ago and this was one of the few things that made me laugh. Had NO idea when the country song starts where it would end up!

I've been walking around singing the song all day.  "Broke my cookie and got eliminated." 

 

[Scout Finch]

19 minutes ago, Thalia said:

I've been walking around singing the song all day.  "Broke my cookie and got eliminated." 

 

I just watched the whole series last Saturday so it was nice to be in the know for once! I normally don't watch something just because everyone else is and I really dislike dystopian stories and overt violence but the giant doll thing was intriguingly creepy enough that I at least wanted to check that episode out. Not something I want to watch a second time but I don't regret spending nearly half of last weekend to see what it was all about. 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Scout Finch

[iMonrey]

Just finished watching this, didn't care for the ending. It felt like a door was deliberately left open for Season 2 and while I'd probably watch another season, it left this one feeling unfinished. I was yelling at Gi-hun to get on the plane. 

That said, I did find it compelling, although there were some parts that didn't make sense. When they were choosing partners for Marbles, it should have occurred to some of them they'd be playing each other to the death, since they had just done that with Tug of War. Choose someone you don't like!

Hated the strobe light fight scene. And I didn't like the final game either, it just sort of devolved in the two remaining players beating the crap out of each other. Not so much a game.

Quote

I always find that dubbing takes me out of shows. The voice acting just isn't that good, usually. I much prefer subtitles and the actors real voices. 

I always make sure to watch some of it in the original language just so I can hear what the actors' voices really sound like. But I prefer the dubbing, because so much of acting is in the facial expressions. And when you are reading subtitles you miss a lot of that. 

The dubbing was not particularly good on this, however. And I mostly chalk that up to the fact that Korean is so different than English. I had no trouble with the dubbing on Dark because German is much more similar to English.

[meep.meep]

I serendipitously finished on Saturday afternoon so I could appreciate the SNL short.

Koreans sure play marbles strangely!

I share a lot of the sentiments I've read here:  Episode 6 is the standout, hated the VIPs, want to know more about the cop, who takes over for Il Nam.  But, I always watch with subtitles because I want to hear the actors' own voices.

[Rickster]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 

That said, I did find it compelling, although there were some parts that didn't make sense. When they were choosing partners for Marbles, it should have occurred to some of them they'd be playing each other to the death, since they had just done that with Tug of War. Choose someone you don't like!

Hated the strobe light fight scene. 

 

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.

I hated the strobe light scene too. Out of character with the rest of the show.

 

[Mabinogia]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I always make sure to watch some of it in the original language just so I can hear what the actors' voices really sound like. But I prefer the dubbing, because so much of acting is in the facial expressions. And when you are reading subtitles you miss a lot of that. 

I'm the same, with the dubbing. I prefer it so I can actually watch the acting instead of reading. I am glad I watched the dubbed version of this because, even though it wasn't great dubbing, these actors were so expressive I would have missed a lot trying to read what they were saying. I am not good at screen reading. I might attempt a rewatch with the original voices since I now understand what is happening. 

[libgirl2]

I heard in some countries "they" are telling parents not to let their kids watch it.... which means even more kids will watch it.... forbidden fruit!

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

I heard in some countries "they" are telling parents not to let their kids watch it.... which means even more kids will watch it.... forbidden fruit!

Yes I've seen those articles. So dumb.  

It's like when they started leveling shows for nudity, language, etc.  Way back in cable days they'd send you a cable guide, like a tv guide, with all the show in it, descriptions and the content warnings. 

So what's the first thing a preteen/teen boy like myself does?   Goes through And finds all the shows labeled 'nudity', sees when they are on. Thanks cable guide!!

[Pepper the Cat]

I got a kick how the warning were things like violence, suicide and smoking.

Smoking!! 😂

[Mabinogia]

40 minutes ago, Pepper the Cat said:

I got a kick how the warning were things like violence, suicide and smoking.

Smoking!! 😂

Smoking could be considered a very slow form of suicide, though non-violent so it's 50/50. 

I feel like if watching people smoke is going to turn someone into a smoker that person is way too impressionable to be watching anything. 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

On 10/15/2021 at 7:31 AM, ICantDoThatDave said:

One nitpicky thing confused me: how did they wind up with 17 people after the Marbles games? Tug-of-War took the from exactly 80 to exactly 40. Then the Doctor is killed, leaving 39. During the partner pick, the "weird lady" is left out, but survives.

So we should have 19 pairs playing marbles, meaning 19 survivors plus "weird lady", leaving 20.  So how did they wind up with 17 (16 after #069 hangs himself)?

My first theory was pairs who couldn't decide on a Marbles victory were both eliminated, but then we'd still have an even number - either 18 (one pair) or 16 (two pairs). So that can't be it. Can anyone explain how they wound up with 17 at that point?

The only way the math works to end up with 17 players at the end of the marbles game is if 3 pairs did not ID a winner.  19 pairs start (38 persons).  16 winners are declared, and 16 losers killed.  The other three pairs do not declare a winner and a loser so 6 people are shot.  When they showed the bodies, there were some we had seen playing against each other that were both dead. So, 16 players make it through the game and we add in the annoying woman to get 17. 

Later the husband kills himself, leaving 16 players for the glass bridge.  

[30 Helens]

On 10/18/2021 at 5:06 PM, Mabinogia said:

I'm the same, with the dubbing. I prefer it so I can actually watch the acting instead of reading.

Interesting, because that’s the reason I choose subtitles. There’s a lot of acting that goes into tone and inflection, and you lose all that with the dubbing. Maybe I just read fast, but I feel like subtitles are the only way to experience the full performance.

15 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I feel like if watching people smoke is going to turn someone into a smoker that person is way too impressionable to be watching anything. 

When smoking was common in movies and TV, lots of kids picked up the habit so they could look cool like their favorite actors. Some stars were even paid to smoke, as a way to advertise it.

Of course, now people know what smoking can do and should be smarter about it. But thinking that teenagers are not impressionable? You must not have any. 😉

[Rickster]

14 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

Interesting, because that’s the reason I choose subtitles. There’s a lot of acting that goes into tone and inflection, and you lose all that with the dubbing. Maybe I just read fast, but I feel like subtitles are the only way to experience the full performance.

After reading a lot lately about subtitles vs. dubbed and talking to some friends who will not read subtitles, I think I've come to realize that a lot of the preference may depend on how fast you read. I never feel like I'm missing anything on the screen by reading.

That said, I tend to do stuff like read other things while watching shows, so I find having to  focus on the subtitles a little annoying sometimes. I preferred seeing subtitled movies in theaters where you are forced to watch the screen.

[Melina22]

2 hours ago, Rickster said:

Ithink I've come to realize that a lot of the preference may depend on how fast you read. I never feel like I'm missing anything on the screen by reading.

I totally agree. I'm a super fast reader so with short, simple subtitles like on this show, I barely realize I'm reading. My husband on the other hand, reads much more slowly, and hates subtitles. Because of this he almost never watches shows with subtitles. He didn't watch Squid Game at all. 

[SourK]

4 hours ago, Rickster said:

After reading a lot lately about subtitles vs. dubbed and talking to some friends who will not read subtitles, I think I've come to realize that a lot of the preference may depend on how fast you read. I never feel like I'm missing anything on the screen by reading.

That said, I tend to do stuff like read other things while watching shows, so I find having to  focus on the subtitles a little annoying sometimes. I preferred seeing subtitled movies in theaters where you are forced to watch the screen.

I'm a slow reader and this theory explains some things for me. I prefer to read subtitles in a theatre, because at least I'm not trying to multitask there, but I feel like I miss 85% of the non-verbal content because all I'm doing is trying to keep up with the text.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Adding to the marbles game math discussion, the teams I noticed that didn't finish were playing what I would think of as a regular game of marbles where you try to knock your opponents marbles out of the ring.  Seems like 30 minutes was not enough time to complete a game with 20 marbles each.  Also, no one had a larger marble; a.k.a. a taw or shooter. Perhaps the lack of a shooter ended up with them getting shot? 

[meep.meep]

That's what I meant when I said that Koreans play marbles strangely.  When I played, you had a shooter and a pool of little marbles.  The play was to  shoot the little marbles into holes in the ground.  You could shoot other people's marbles out of the way, but you didn't collect any unless you won the whole thing.

Back to dubbing gate - if you didn't watch the marble episode with subtitles, you missed a lot of subtle anxiety in the performances.

The VIPs speaking English sounded bad.  Maybe they used the usual English-Korean dubbers for their voices.  None of the actors were well known enough to recognize their actual voices.

[ctmd]

something that just came to mind to me now is that in the first game, your success did not cause the death of other players. The same with the honeycomb game. So when the players left and then chose to come back, they came back knowing that THEY could die, not knowing that their winning could cause the death of others. Those are two very different experiences. The way it seemed initially was that if someone died, the money was added to the bank and divided amongst all those remaining. Sure, some (like snakeneck) may have thought to themselves that if they killed others, they'd make more money; But I think most people chose to go back feeling that they were so desparate that if they died losing a game, then fine, but they were under the impression that they at least COULD win, together with others. Gi-Hun didn't go back "knowing" that he would have to be responsible for anyone else's death. In fact, part of the reason he went back was so that HE wouldn't be responsible for his mother's death after having spent all her money (and yes, he could have taken the new husband's money, but he was at least a good enough dad that he at least WANTED to be able to see his daughter in the future). Like I'm 100% sure that the married couple that came back had no idea that they couldn't BOTH win in the end. 

 

[Melina22]

13 minutes ago, ctmd said:

So when the players left and then chose to come back, they came back knowing that THEY could die, not knowing that their winning could cause the death of others.

This is such an important distinction. So despite the game runners saying "They knew what they were getting into by coming back", they really didn't! They DIDN'T know they'd have to cause the death of others, and they DIDN'T know only one of them would win the money. If they had, it's doubtful that so many would have returned. 

[Pepper the Cat]

I watched with both dubbing and subtitles. There were certainly times when the subtitles gave a much different version than the dubbing. More profanity for sure.

Very much a Hunger Games situtation. Kill or be killed?  Example in point, the husband/wife team. 

[Hanahope]

That was definitely something.  considering how long the game had been going on, I am somewhat surprised that over 400 hundred people could go missing from SK every year without anyone really noticing the number.  of course, after over 10 years, its probably worked its way into the "normal" yearly number of missing persons and isn't noticeable at all now, especially given the type of people recruited.

and to think that every year, the rich guy had that kind of money to give away to the winner  (not to mention presumably wages paid to the workers) is absolutely amazing.  i guess the VIPs had to pay a sum to "participate" as well.  I suppose the rich guy and his clients formed some sort of conglomerate than all contributed money and ran the operation.  and the inflation of the SK won is pretty astounding.

so who took over the operation when the host died?  and i guess the games change every year, or at least some do.

Interesting that the policeman's brother hid his winnings so well.  I do expect a second season and we'll see the policeman again somehow.  I hope so at least.  somehow he and 456 have to meet up, because i see no way 456 can do anything on his own.  

And yes, I do feel for 456's daughter, but at least she has a full family to belong to, which is more than most of the other players' families.  

 

[Brn2bwild]

I figured out the twist with the old man pretty early - his number, the way he was always coincidentally where the main character was, the way he managed to stay completely out of the way of the dorm room fighting, how he suddenly became very canny when circumstances called for it, how they never showed him being executed or (like Ali) the aftermath of his execution.  (With the tug-of-war, it makes me wonder: if the other characters' strategies failed, would the underlings have made sure the old man's team still won?)  Still, the reveal was cool, though I was frustrated by how little explanation he gave for why he created the games and played them. 

The VIPs' "American" accents were pretty bad; even if they are American actors, they sounded like they were British in real life attempting a mid-Atlantic or "Southern" accent.  

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by Brn2bwild

[Anela]

On 10/19/2021 at 12:27 PM, libgirl2 said:

I heard in some countries "they" are telling parents not to let their kids watch it.... which means even more kids will watch it.... forbidden fruit!

I saw this tweet last night, about a mother accusing youtubers of getting kids to watch it:

 

[KSargeTX]

I just watched a video pointing out this clue, and haven't seen it mentioned here yet. It's a somewhat small, passing detail, but vital.

Spoiler

Spoiler

In the tug-of-war (the end of which is in the first moments of episode 5) players are chained to the rope with visible locks --- all except 001. No locks are apparent. If his team had started going over the ledge, he could have bailed, or been bailed out in some way by a guard.

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by KSargeTX

[BradandJanet]

20 hours ago, KSargeTX said:

I just watched a video pointing out this clue, and haven't seen it mentioned here yet. It's a somewhat small, passing detail, but vital.

Spoiler

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In the tug-of-war (the end of which is in the first moments of episode 5) players are chained to the rope with visible locks --- all except 001. No locks are apparent. If his team had started going over the ledge, he could have bailed, or been bailed out in some way by a guard.

 

It would be an interesting twist except everyone playing would see. Kill them all, I guess. 

[Maysie]

We just finished episode 6 about the marbles. Oof. At the end my husband said “that was tough.” I have a hard time watching most violence, so this can be a challenging watch, but we’re enjoying it because it’s so different. We usually take a couple of days between episodes to kind of restore ourselves because it’s intense and a bit depressing. We’ve been watching with subtitles and I think the acting has been very good. I am pleasantly surprised that I’m invested in these characters, and really, to me that makes for satisfying viewing.