The game’s Gothic underbelly certainly contributes to its success the show itself is unquestionably brutal, even traumatizing at points-take episode six, in which players are asked to choose partners (whom they presumably trust or feel a connection with) for the upcoming game and are told only afterward that they are partnered to fight each other for elimination … by playing marbles. They are told they will be competing for a grand prize worth roughly $40 million…whose winner, they realize after a shocking first round, will be the last person standing, as once harmless children’s games like “Red Light, Green Light” and tug-o’-war are redefined as unforgiving rungs to hell. Financially desperate, Gi-Hun calls the number and ends up kidnapped, unconscious, and brought to a secret location along with 455 other equally desperate contestants, all wearing green tracksuits, identical but for their individual numbers. After playing, the recruiter then offers Gi-Hun a phone number to join “the real game,” which promises far bigger prizes. A charming, mysterious recruiter at a subway station lures Gi-Hun into a game of ddakji, setting odd but simple rules: if Gi-Hun wins a round, he gets a cash prize if he loses, he doesn’t owe the recruiter money-he just gets slapped. The fictional thriller series consists of nine episodes set in modern-day Seoul, where protagonist Seong Gi-Hun is a ne’er-do-well gambler who owes debts to various loan sharks, straining his relationship with his mother and young daughter. ![]() The show’s success raises the question: why is South Korea so good at nailing capitalist critiques in its art lately? What’s in the water-or rather soju-there? Even the fact that everyone is saying the quirky, ultra-Korean title Squid Game (even quirkier in the original Korean, with the onomatopoeic word for squid, ojingeo, reminiscent to me of the sound of chewing on savory dried strips of it as a kid) gives me an internal chuckle. As someone who regularly grew up with the question, “Are you Chinese or Japanese?” I am still somewhat baffled that South Korea has become an international pop culture powerhouse, and random non-Asian people I know spout the virtues of once-insular stars like Gong Yoo. Squid Game on Netflix has become a global phenomenon, breaking viewership records to become the streaming service’s most popular release ever. A still from the first episode of Squid Game (Park Youngkyu/ ©Netflix/ Everett Collection)
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