Squid Game is a Netflix South Korean show released back in 2021 and became the biggest series by the streaming service regarding viewers numbers. It took over ten years for the creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk to produce and film his story. Almost two years later, people are eager to see where this story goes. While the series was quickly renewed for a second season, there hasn't been much news. The second season starts filming in July this year, so the projection is that by the end of 2024, it will be ready to be binge-watched.
Squid Game is a brutal narrative that exposes some of the darkest parts of society, including the desperation for money and the delight it brings to an impossibly small percentage of the world's richest population. The game is quite simple: play six different childhood-themed games and win enough money to fix any monetary issues and debts. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a man struggling with money and his life in general, is the lead character that will help us navigate this unsettling environment.
While waiting for the new season, here are the best moments of Squid Game's Season 1.
10 Tug of War
It is impossible to state that any of the games the players have to go through are easy, but some stand out for the type of challenge they face. One of them was Tug of War. Not knowing the next challenge, the players had to form their groups. Then, when Seong Gi-hun realized what they needed to do, it felt like he had already lost as he didn't have the strongest people on his team. But all is not lost: the strategy, that comes from Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su), the team's biggest liability takes them a lot further than sheer strength.
9 Red Light, Green Light
The first game they had to play set the tone and body count for the rest of it. How it was presented, with two players playing and not taking it seriously, only for one of them to be shot — it was an impressive introduction to this new world. When the series came out all people talked about was this particular round in the game, as it made such a big impact on first-time viewers. It is one of the quickest and most effective introductions to the world of the story on television today.
8 More Deaths Mean More Money
Netflix
The players enter the game with basically one general piece of information: if they win, they receive enough money for a few lifetimes. So, when people start dying it is quite a shock. When Jang Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae) beats another player to death over an argument, the amount shown in the final award on a digital screen that shows the number of players and the award raises significantly. This leads to a complete bloodbath when the lights go out because they realize: fewer players equals more money. The intense and action-filled scene smartly uses how it is illuminated and directed to make it incredibly tense for the viewer as well as the characters.
7 The Front Man Is Revealed
Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) is a police officer who risked his life to infiltrate the workers in the game in order to find out what happened to his missing brother after he was one of the players years ago. Hwang Jun-ho tries to escape but ends up cornered on a cliff. That's when the Front Man, the one in charge of the games and making sure they run correctly, reaches him, and takes off his mask for the first time. That's when Hwang Jun-ho is faced with his long-lost brother, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun). The reveal was shocking for the character, who ultimately is killed by his brother.
6 The Marbles Game
There was a different kind of cruelty when it came to the fourth game the players had to play: marbles. They needed to choose partners for the next game, and as usual, they didn't know what they were playing for. Many chose due to friendship, strategic reasons, and even relationships, as there was a married couple. However, they found out they had to play against their partner, meaning one of them would die. It was a heartbreaking episode, as characters shared their personal stories with one another, and the audience had to say goodbye to a great deal of characters. It was one of the best episodes of the first season.
5 When Seong Gi-hun's Mother Died
Seong Gi-hun and his mother had a complicated relationship, especially because of his addiction to gambling their much-needed money. Nevertheless, he did want to provide her with a better life and treatment for her as she was diabetic. He endures the brutal game and wins it, only for him to go back home and find that it is too late; his mother is dead. It's one of the saddest moments of the show, but incredibly written and filled with multiple layers.
4 A New Game
In the final episode, there's a time jump of one year after Seong Gi-hun won the game. As he walks on the train station, he sees a hauntingly familiar scene: two men playing Ddakji. Gi-hun sees the Salesman (Gong Yoo), the man who offered him the business card to enter the game. That's when it hits the protagonist and the viewer: it is not over. This is the cliffhanger of the finale that left so many eager to see what would happen next.
3 The People Behind the Game
The entire game is despicable, but when the truth about who finances it and delights themselves watching people who are struggling and have no other choice but to battle to death for money is a despicable reveal. Millionaires and billionaires from around the world go to meet and watch from a luxury room where sex workers, food, and alcohol are provided, as well as anonymity because they wear animal masks. It's disgusting but, unfortunately, incredibly realistic.
2 Squid Game
The name of the show had to represent the climax and therefore last round of the game. The two characters we have followed basically since the beginning have to fight to the death, but even then, the series is able to surprise the audience. This scene is a testament to Seong Gi-hun's character, as when he has the possibility to kill Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), even after everything they went through, he simply can't do it. Then Sang-woo only has one request: that Gi-hun helps his mother. To spare his friend, Sang-woo dies by suicide.
1 Oh Il-nam Created the Game
One of the best twists of the entire show is that Oh Il-nam was alive and was actually the founder of the game. His friendship with Seong Gi-hun was endearing to watch, and when Seong Gi-hun won the marbles game (because Il-nam let him), and he had to die — it was one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the series. To find out that he was a part of the game was earth-shattering and yet beautifully constructed in the story arc for it to make sense. One of the highlights of the show. He then proceeds to die, leaving Seong Gi-hun truly alone this time.