DISCLAIMER: This show is rated TV-MA. The Talon does NOT encourage students to watch this show without parent approval.

“Squid Game” is a new Netflix series about 456 players that are invited to participate in a competition for 45.6 billion South Korea won, or approximately 38 million dollars. The whole series is extremely warped and filled with dark humor. During the series whatever can go wrong for the players will go wrong. 

“Squid Game” starts out with Seong Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-jae, struggling financially and gambling all his extra money on horse racing. He meets a mysterious man who gives him his business card, and tells him to call for extra money. Unbeknownst to him, he has also done this to 455 other people. 

The players who decide to play are kidnapped and knocked unconscious, and then taken to an undisclosed location. That, however, is the least freaky part of the series. All the players are given a number ranging from 001 to 456. The players wake up, and are greeted by masked individuals in pink jumpsuits.

The players sign a player consent form stating three rules; the most noticeable is the third clause where they can vote to terminate the game if the majority of players agree. After this they proceed to the game hall for the first game to commence. 

In the first game, they play red light, green light, a very simple game. The game starts and the first player runs out ahead and gets caught, they hear a loud bang. In a twisted dark humor he starts coughing up blood and people see that and instantly start running. Since it is still a red light, those players are also shot down while scrambling for the exit. The game ends with 255 of 456 players being ‘eliminated’.

Even though the players voted to terminate the game after red light, green light, by using clause three, 93% of the players returned. The trend follows throughout the rest of the five remaining games. Each game seems to be increasingly more brutal, yet the most cruel is in episode six.

Throughout the competition players create friendships and bond with one another. In game four everyone picks a partner so naturally they all pick the person they are closest with. Then in a sickening turn of events by the game makers they are told they will be competing against one another in a game of marbles, and the loser will be ‘eliminated’. If it was not sickening enough for them to watch people die, it is their best friend and in one person’s instance, he must watch his wife die.

The host later invites the V.I.P.s to watch the fifth and the sixth game, which is by far one of the most interesting parts of the series. The V.I.P.s also mysteriously all wear masks just like the workers, soldiers, managers, and frontman in the series. The masks add a sense of mystery to the series, so much that it is disturbing. Since the only time any worker takes off his mask in the series we see that they’re a kid no older than 25, and they were quickly killed by the frontman. This raises the question of why are masks so important? They say it’s for confidentiality but there must be a hidden reason. The reason might be that they wear the mask to make the players feel isolated and to make the players perceive them as less human.

At the end of the series, Seong Gi-hun, who is more commonly referred to as player 456, ends up having to play his childhood friend in a match of squid game. During the game, his friend kills himself so that the prize money would go to player 456. This resulted in him winning the 45.6 billion won.

Even though he won the prize money, he does not spend any of it. Almost a year goes by and we see that the games have messed with his mental state to the point of depression. He does not find joy in anything, the money does not make him happy, or give him a better life. This is most likely due to the way he earned the money since over 400 other people had to die for him to have this money.

“Squid Game” not only had people dying for money, but also a very subtle underlying message that money will not give you your friends back and will not make you happy. “Squid Game” is possibly one of the greatest Netflix television series ever.