one little detail i loved is when Gi-hun left his ex-wife's place, he forgot his umbrella which led to the whole scene with her daughter and the step-dad. in the next episode, he chose the umbrella shape because as a kid, his mom kept scolding him for losing his umbrella. nice to see consistent character details however minor.
Why didn’t Cho Sang-Woo tell him not to pick the umbrella when he knew what game it was. It was obviously the worst choice. At the time they were teammates. Did he really see Gi-hun as a threat that early??
@@griffinj1204 That seen was the beginning of his character Arc. He didn't share information to prevent players from winning thus keeping him ahead. Notice how he said are you sure when 0456 chooses umbrella. The only timed he shared information was to help himself like during tug of war.
I completely forgot the old man had the last vote when they decided to leave. Truly another layer when he says he never forced anyone to play the game.
But the players were carefully chosen.. All of them were society outcasts living in "hell" every single day. The game just offered them one more chance to live the dream, or just instantly die. In a way, the VIPs are saying : "your existence is worthless anyway. Might as well entertain us before you die and we'll reward one of you with a spot next to us". And the poor didn't really have a choice. Most of them would've died anyway if they didn't join the game (the mafia chasing that bully deok-su/ the contract gi-hun signed etc Also, when most of the players came back, the front man ordered his minions to "closely watch over the others who didn't come back". He knows they'll either die on the streets or they'll come back crawling to play the next game...
Because people were definitely making an educated decision when they joined? The truth is he had to trick everyone to think they would just be 'eliminated' but not actually explaining what that means lol
You missed that the “old man” panicked during the night time school yard brawl asking for the game to stop and they stopped it. That was an inside hint
and in red light green light when we see through the doll’s perspective, illnam and the people around him arent highlighted in green like everyone else, showing that even if he messed up he wouldn’t have been shot. the people around him probably aren’t in green either just in case there’s a misfire. also in tug of war, there arent locks on his wrists, showing that if his team had lost he could’ve slipped the bracelets off and stayed on the platform while everyone else was dragged off the edge. in marbles, i’m pretty sure everyone in charge thought no one would want to be his partner, so that’s why the extra person wasn’t going to get killed. but alas, gihun is too nice so that’s why the old man stalled the whole game, faking dementia and running the clock down while trying to find his old house. illnam probably figured out that if he waited until the last second to lose, then no one could see him not get shot. these are all the safeguards i saw to protect him, tho i’m not sure what they would’ve done in the 5th and 6th games. hed probably suggest throwing their shoes at the glass or something, since they never said it wasn’t allowed and i’m actually surprised no one really tried to get around the rules on that one.
@@laurenmaring2924 he’s definitely outlined in green during red light green light, i just slowed it down to check and it also looks like he’s locked in during the tug of war but still! Lots of fun hints throughout the show about him
Also when the cop went through the list of players for that game it started at 002, not 001. And there is a slow motion video of tug-of-war and he does not have a lock on him.
@@popyrocklomejor567 yeah, but that scene also proved Il-Nam's point. Gi-Hun resorted to underhanded tactics to put his life before his friend. Like Cho Sang-Woo
My favorite scene proving how roting humanity was. Noticed II-nam was beating him at marbles effortlessly. He played dumb to see what Gi-hun would do. If he had won he would of gaved gi-hun the marbles anyways.
Well 1. He wasn't really his friend. Even if Il-nam wasn't the creator of the game the whole time he still should have died there. He as old with a brain tumor, was going to die soon anyway and all that money would have been wasted. What Sang-Woo did to Ali is far worse then Gi-Hun to Il-nam. Old man was going to die either way, Ali was healthy with a wife and child.
@@brittanylewandowski6200 I like how people feel bad for Ali but miss alot of things in the show Ali stole the money from his boss. And almost killed his boss in the process of doing so. And took off like nothing happened why do people skip over his sin. And Ali was willing to take out Sang woo as well.
The twist with the marble game was brutal, and placing the tug of war game before it to build relationships really made it that much more impactful. It's been a while since I enjoyed a well-written show to be honest.
@@GenesisXTRM Ahh yes, because shows that depict the complexity of the human experience for anyone other than straight white cis people are propaganda. As opposed to, you know, a more accurate depiction of the world we live in than stories featuring people with a minimal range of identities and experiences.
When I was in elementary school in Korea, Squid Game was banned during recess because kids always came back with bruises and scrapes all the time. It does get rough.
@@impactQuake well if it's coming from a parent then it's definitely wrong. But if kids get roughed up playing with each other (willingly) it's fine. And rough play does build up character. I actually miss it
Ali death was the saddest for me, the look of shock and horror on his face when he realize Sang Woo betrayed his trust tore me apart. And we might never know what happens to his wife and kid 😞
Yeah, that one made me more sad and angry than HoYeon's (NK defector) death at the end. They were both pretty messed up because they both won the game yet got screwed over... Then again he was hella naive - too sweet of a guy for the game 😔. Which makes it more sad.
I mean, he gave them money BEFORE he left (smartest character in this show) and told them to go back home because he didn't know if he would come back. If I was his wife, I would've taken the money and left. If I went back to my home country and he came back, he would know where to find me.
Think about how that one guy's job is literally to ride trains all day slapping the heck out of bums & then giving them a business card. Based off his suit he gets paid handsomely.
The fact that there's so many hints that the old man is more than he seems throughout each episode is amazing, live shows that reward the viewer's for watching it a second time
I knew I have seen too much of this type of shows/stories where, within the first minutes of us seeing that old man, my first thought was "he's probably the one who organized this, isn't he? Like, the oldest person there, number 1 aaand he has a braintumor that killing him? Yeah, this is the oldest cliche in the book"
@@megamcee honestly I just thought he was the over powered old man character that most likely already participated in the games and won. He just decided to join the new games hence why he was number 1, he was the first volunteer but nah.
The reason why Cho Sang-Woo killed Sae-Byeok wasn’t because of him seeing her as a threat. It was because her and Seong Gi-hun could of voted to end the game 2-1 votes and Sang-Woo wanted to finish it.
For all those who hate Sang-Woo, I do implore you guys to take a moment to think about it. You need to look at the motivation of those who decided to play the game. The very fact that people decided to come back implies that their lives outside is so bad that they are willing to die if it means a chance to get that prize money to pay off their debts. It doesn't make sense for you to come back to the game without the mindest of doing whatever it takes to win. So I think Sang-Woo is justified in that. Also, in the case of Sang-Woo, while I do agree that he seems more ruthless compared to Gi-Hun, in the end his life was on the line (and his mother's aa well) and let's be really honest here, 99.9% of us would succumb to that survival instict and use whatever way to get us out of the situation. I don't think it's fair to call him evil at all and as his last act shows, his goal wasn't just greed and desire to be rich. Hell, people forget that no matter if he won the money he would still go to jail for fraud since there was a warrant for his arrest, so his life wasn't gonna be heaven either way. In the end, he would rather die if it means that Gi-Hun will get the money to help his mother. I think Sang-Woo was a pragmatist who understood why he was there and was determined to achieve the prize by any means necessary. I would even dare to think that inside he would rather if neither Ali nor Gi-Hun was playing because I don't think that given the choice, he would want to cause their deaths. Sang-Woo's self-interest behaviour wasn't unique compared to other players in the game who wanted to eliminate the competition and win the prize, and whether or not we want to admit it, he represents how a lot of us would act in the same situation. I personally would lke to believe I'll be that hero who looks out for people and would sacrifice myself to let other players win. But in reality, if I fucked up and was deep in debt, and my family's wellbeing as well was my life was on the line, boy being hero and maintaining the moral compass is gonna be a tough tough sell.
@@quanganhvu6791 The only thing I really fault him for his the second game, if he had an idea of what the game was then he should’ve told his whole squad to pick triangle.
@@quanganhvu6791 I agree with you. He was realistic. His actions made sense. I mean no matter how much I liked Ali, he was way too kind to make it through that game and not think for a moment he might be betrayed. I know WHY Sang Woo did it. My problem is he's selfish. Never mind Ali, the whole reason he's in such a desperate situation is because of the terrible investments he made and the fact that he put his mom's shop as collateral WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT. He does whatever he has to for his own benefit. And yes, most of the people were there for their own benefit including Gi Hun and Ali, but at least they didn't let their self interest rob them of their humanity like Sang Woo did. The other people there to an extent made absolutely no secret they would do whatever they had to to win. But Sang Woo put on the nice guy act almost till the end. Not to mention he killed the girl ( can't remember how to spell her name) when she was ALREADY DYING just so the game could continue. The only selfless thing he did that whole time was commit suicide so he didn't have to live with the guilt of all the people he killed.
There’s this technique in writing that I’ve heard about. If you have writers block, imagine the worst possible scenario that your characters can experience and write that. The creators of Squid Game did that for every fucking scene and it works so well
One detail missed in this video - the reason Sang Woo killed the girl is that her and Gi-hun were clearly developing an alliance/partnership. If they decided to stop the game, which they most likely would because Sae-Byeok was about to die, they could have voted as a majority and ended the game to save her life. Sang Woo killed her to make sure that didn't happen.
@@xFuzzyLove Don't credit him too much. He didn't even know about his mom being sick until well after he had done all the embezzling etc. He had already ripped of a bunch of people and done a lot of criminal acts. He joined the game not to help his mother (again, he didn't even know she was sick when he joined the game, his brother Gi-Hun finds out when they vote to leave. Note that his brother was NOT one of the ones who voted to leave. He wanted that money and he was willing to stay there to get it without any clue his mother was even unwell), he was there to try and get himself off the hook by getting money to pay back his debts so he wouldn't go to jail. His final act might have been to aid his mother but up until that point he was willing to brutally murder anyone who got in his path, including his brother, if it meant satisfying his own needs.
@@Mandrake42 I believe you're confusing relationships in the series. Sang-woo and Gi-hun aren't brothers. They were childhood friends who grew up in the same neighborhood. Their moms are friends, too. Sang Woo's mom runs the market stall and sells fish (remember her giving Gihun the mackerel to take home?). Gihun brings Sae-byeok's little brother Cheol to her at the end. Gihun's mom was the one who was sick and ended up dying. The reason Sang-woo wanted Gi-hun to take care of his mom was because he'd stolen from her. He'd put everything she had - her home and the market stall business - up for collateral to pay his debts. She was going to lose everything and be homeless and destitute, and she had no idea her son had done this to her. In the end, Sang-woo decided saving her was more important than all that money he'd killed people for. It's interesting that they both stole from their mothers to gamble, and both endangered their mom's lives by doing so. They both had questionable moral compasses. The only difference was that everyone knew what Gihun was - a liar, a thief, a deadbeat dad. But Sang-woo was able to hide his even bigger crimes behind his shiny façade of education and job security.
My wife noticed it but I didn’t BUT, in the tug of war game, when they’re all lying down after winning, the old man doesn’t have his cuffs linked into the chain!
If you hate any of the characters in this series, then the actors did a great job in playing their own characters. Everyone's performance was truly superb
@@uncrstbl The cop plot that went nowhere. Him finishing every game the last second. Plot armor. Cliches. Predictable. All symptoms of bad writing. Sure there’s great moments, it’s a pretty fun show, just don’t pretend it’s anything but that.
I love that at the end, the Old Man's social Darwinist view turns out to be wrong and the woman comes back to help the homeless guy. It's so easy for a show like this which puts human cruelty on full display to take a cynical view on humanity and yet the show still ends with kindness shining through
Yea but they still made it unnecessarily stupid. The old guy dies exactly at 12 a clock, at the exact moment help comes for the hobo, just before the protagonist gets to kill the old guy himself. What a specific set of wonderful circumstances, right? Yea give me a break, I can only suspend my disbelief so much. It's a decent show, actually until ep 6 it's an amazing show but afterwards there are so many stupid moments.
@@RatzCarnatz Bruh its a show. The theatrics are hieghtend. The end was on the fight of the ruthless capitalist who believe humans are just pure self serving narcissist while Gi hun stands for the belief in humanity .
@@MetalBassist1000 right, you squid game fanboys are something else, god forbid someone criticizes the show even for the smallest thing, alright the show is perfect it has no flaws, it's best show in history and nothing will ever surpass it, happy now?
@@KaeShenni Nah we won't, they already brought back the old man, they'll probably bring back the policeman too, if they bring back Ali as well it's too much already, it would feel really stupid.
Jeremy I think you missed Sang Woo’s motivation for killing the girl. He was so obsessed with winning, especially after what he had personally done to get to that point, that he was afraid they other 2 would end the game and they all go home with nothing. He had to eliminate that possibility.
@@RazielBR Also he ask the Main guy to take care of his mom. If they end the game neither of them get any money. Better for his Good-Guy friend to get all of it. Safe bet he would take care of the guys mom.
Not to mention that they were sitting together and were obviously going to team up against him. Even if she's severely injured, depending on the game, it could potentially be a MASSIVE advantage for them.
If Sang Woo was smarter, he'd have gone straight for Gi-Hun and won the next game automatically. Gi-Hun wouldn't have heard the footsteps with all that banging, and the girl was done for anyway. I thought he was obsessed with winning.
Beautiful smile yes. But the way she opens her arms when shes falling to the ground is fking distracting... i mean the brain is fked up with the bullet, still she moves. I thought daaamn why didnt they try another shot? She should have just fall arms down like a bag of sand, heavily... that would have look brrrrutal.
Man, I noticed the big smile on the old man during Green Light, Red Light. I noticed that they were monitoring him during the fight-night and called it off when he wanted. I knew he was playing up the dementia and fooling the main character. And yet, when it came down to it, I got sucked in by that damn marble game just like everyone else. That's some damn good writing that's confident enough to give us everything we need to figure out the "What a twist!" moments.
Also heartbreaking that he gets out of the game, which re-entered partly cause he needed the money for his mom, and his mom died alone thinking he was a good-for-nothing.
@@TheArcher143 Yeah... this is the bait and switch that elite critics will try to pull. They'll paint the show as "rich people abusing poor people," but Gi Hun started at as a loser and ended the same way. He was his own enemy the whole time.
@@sivad1025 gi hun wasn't perfect by any means, but he was likely suffering from ptsd after that violent strike & witnessing someone die. he wasn't a loser by the end, he was going through another ptsd/depressive spell ontop of grieving his mother. he was conflicted about taking blood money, & by the end it seems like he's becoming a vigilante & making a choice to stop the cycle of accepting the system, even if it rewards you.
@@nalad9387 I'm not saying he didn't have motivation for his actions. I just think it's easy to blame everything on circumstances and overlook the fact that he willingly engaged in a game for money where he knew he would have to indirectly kill hundreds of people to get that money. That's absolutely wicked.
@@sivad1025 Uhmmm care to explain how the show is *not* about rich people abusing poor people? In the very first game over 200 people died before knowing death is a possibility in this game... They were poor people allured by the promise of debt relief that were slaughtered for some rich peoples entertainment.
The marble game was the moment I think where everyone showed their true self. The reason why they were in debt. The Indian guy was gullible, they other guy twisted the rules, the lead gambled and manipulated the innocent. At the time I thought the girl and the old man were the innocent ones, truly good people dealt a bad hand. But after the old guys reveal, his delusional act was his true dark self. Watching as men sink to their lowest to win.
I don’t see how Gi-Hun’s “true self” is to manipulate. The marble episode is about the only time on the show he manipulates someone. Unless you wanna count fibbing to his daughter as manipulating. In fact Gi-Hun’s whole thing is he is too trusting of people, that’s the whole point of the last conversation he has with Il-Nam when he makes the bet. Also calling Ali (btw he has a name and is a major character, not just “that Indian guy”) gullible as his “true self” reduces his character to be a dangerous caricature. Ali is specifically Pakistani as he is supposed to represent the problems Pakistani immigrants have to deal with in Korea. His boss his actively fucking him over by not paying him. He’s not necessarily in that predicament because he’s gullible. The only thing you’re correct about in your analysis imo is about sang-woo, but that is obvious, of course sang-woo continually manipulates the rules and people.
Squid game was genius. The build up of getting attached to certain characters just for them to die in the 6th episode was so emotional. I haven't seen writing this well in a show in a while
I was expecting them to get picked off one by one, but the way most of them made it to at least the 4th game was way better, I think. Watching how they all form bonds and break them as the stakes get higher and higher and we know them better and better - it's heartbreaking.
@@b00psn00t this is why I hate calling TH-camrs by their name cause then there’s always someone who’s like “stop acting like you know him”. Would just feel weird saying Mr. Jahns or anything like that😂
Sang-Woo being the secret final boss was so fucking cool. It felt so organic and natural, it was very well done. From a character perspective, he might have been my favorite.
What broke me is the fact that at the end of it all, while you forget it because of the rush and the excitement of the games, the most valuable things in life are the love of the people you care about. All those lives lost in the game were people that, although broken, meant something to someone but were all dehumanized the instant money takes priority
Yep, the show is pretty much an allegory of what it takes to amass the a huge fortune. Just like in real world, it’s a pile of bodies that you will be stepping over, very often quiet literally.
I think it goes deeper than that. It's not just a "money doesn't buy happiness" deal.. It's a critique of a system that sets up everyone's lifes to depend on that one imaginary resource. And the top dogs exploiting the ones at the bottom for entertainment. Basically, fuck capitalism.
The old man's "death" worked so well because of the main dude's performance. Glued to his face and his pained expression when the old man is shot and it seems the logical focus of the scene
I liked how when the old man yelled, "Stop I'm scared!" during the riot we thought they stopped it by coincidence but really they were following his orders
That for me was when I realized there was something else going on with 001. It could have been a red herring but I just figured he had to be in on it, or close to someone in on it
I feel like they would’ve “eliminated” the old man if he didn’t get a partner for marbles, don’t think he wanted any part of the glass game and knew he would get out eventually, felt like a perfect chance to do it inconspicuously
You clearly didn't really watch the show. Even if the old man was the creator... he wouldn't have "died" just because he didn't find a partner. That one really annoying woman who slept with the gangster... did not die just because she didnt have a partner and was the odd one out.
@@zeehongkooey1566 you clearly don't know how quotations work He was saying that they were going to pretend he was eliminated if he was the only one without a partner. Just so he can get out of the glass game.
He didn’t have to PLAY the glass stepping stone game. He was LIVING the glass stepping stone game. Every day he was alive was like a random chance between stability and a long fall.
@@thotslayer9914 Considering how popular the show is, I think it will definitely encourage them to release it sooner rather than later. #1 in 90 countries apparently 😲
it's because the the beds were covering up the walls and you only notice them once most of them were removed. The drawings being black would also blend with the bedframes.
@@AlessaParker I mean I see your point, but like at least halfway through I was like "What's that on the wall." Like if you're in that room for hours and hours you're not gonna notice it? Like out of hundreds of people nobody noticed it?
They were covered up by the massive ass bunk beds. Also people would have been far more concerned about staying alive, especially at night (where the lights were off)
Never been more proud in my immediate gut-reaction to a character - called it almost immediately that Sang-Woo was a shady POS, from the minute he suggested putting the game to a vote so they could all go home, only to then vote "yeah let's keep playing." Shady shady shady.
I never understood that. My best guess was that he changed his mind as soon as he saw the prize, he looked at that giant piggie bank like he was seeing God himself.
@@theyoutubeanalyst3731 he wants to fix his situation. He doesn’t care about anything else. He stopped just short of letting people know he was as toxic as Deok-su. Unfortunately for him, though, best friends can tell.
He might be a shady pos but he’s also ruthless and logical. Say what you will but I thought he was an amazingly complex character that spoke to a very real part of the human mind that would’ve told us to act the same way he did
I’m surprised it’s not mentioned that the foreshadowing for how each characters story would end was shown in episode 2. How 067 last thing was putting the knife to the man’s neck and threading him, and she ended up getting slashed in the neck. Or how 101 jumped over the bridge to get away from the gangsters and in the end he died falling from the glass bridge. Really creative.
Ali also steals his bosses money and ends up losing since Sang-Woo stole his marbles. Gi-Hun swore on his mother’s life only for her to die in the end. The foreshadowing is so well done in this show.
@@AzNightmare So when they vote to leave the game and they drop him and Byeok off he swears on her life then to let him free then tries to act her. And she says “ That’s what you think of your mother”.
@@AzNightmare it did happen though. In episode 2, when he got dropped off with 067, he swore that he would forget about the prize that was stolen from him
I was suspicious about the old man’s body not being shown but my friend said it’s probably because they didn’t want the actor to fake fall down since he’s too old and I accepted it reluctantly haha.
About the marble game, I thought the key about that game was gonna be the term Gganbu. The old man explained it like “Whats yours is mine and whats mine is yours.” So I thought if two partners declared themselves Gganbu to the official they would recognize that they each have their opponents set of marbles.
wow- I haven't heard this theory yet. Someone who's fluent in Korean on Tik Tok also mentioned that there a key translation in this scene. She said it's closer to, "there is no ownership over the other", so in your theory, it still works. If a pair are truly "gganbu", you can't actually own "their" marbles.
The shake hands represents you are partners and trust each other. Everyone can survive the game, sadly humanity selfishness outweighs friendship, the whole point of the marble game.
But the rule was one player had to have full position of all 20 marbles before the time ran out. If they each held 10 at the end of the time period, they both would have died. But then again, not really. I highly doubt Oh Il-nam would have been killed. Since he's the boss and all.
the rules said you have to get your partners marbles without violence there is nothing mention on what to do with your own marbles. The act of exchange by both players has to be executed in front of the Squid guard
@@plainOldFool I watch dub did not mention that 1 player to get 20. Rules said get the opponents marble w/o violence within time limit. I think there is no mention of the Number 20. You cannot say get all the opponents marble = 20, there is only 10 marble in your opponent so ( the All applies to 10). The rule did not said get all the marble of the game. That is why Squid is a Physiological film you think you need all the 20 but its not the film force u to figure it on your own.
I'm glad that the main character was able to help his friend's mom and Sae Byok's brother but I wish he just went to his daughter instead of going back to Squid Game 😭
i’m seeing a lot of hate for the main character and i’m honestly wondering if we watched the same show. while he did want to start to be a good father he doesn’t want to go back to the games till his mother becomes sick with no way to pay for treatment that he agrees to go back. then surviving through the games and watching people die by the hundreds even watching people he cared about die or in sae’s case turn into a monster. after the games end he’s extremely traumatized and probably suffering from survivors guilt as most 95% percent of normal people would he comes back home to find the reason he went back to the games gone, probably just missed her by a day. he knows his daughter will grow up with a full family that can take care of themselves as evidenced by her stepdad offering to give him all money he asked for but whos gonna stop the squid games honestly? while being a father involves being able to financially provide, it’s just one of the many things that goes into into you also need to be in the right state of mind be a father, seong is nowhere near the right mental state to be a father by the end of season one.
@@joey7184 Omg this is actually so well said, I never looked at it from that perspective but I think you're right. it's a shame he was on the phone with his daughter at the very end right before boarding the plane, he kinda broke his promise at the end in my opinion too, so i was conflicted with how to feel
I loved the attention to detail on the show, and how good it is on a rewatch. Like on episode 2, when everyone was back out, we're shown a little foreshadowing on how they'll die in the games. Sae-byeok puts a knife to a guy's throat, Sang-woo lies (on a bathtub) in his soaked suit, Deok-su falls from a bridge and Ali is betrayed/swindled.
@@yrsruby5396 well that still makes little sense, because if they agreed that he would take care of the children he shouldnt/wouldnt have killed himself..
@@duderRechthat I'm referring only to the former part. The latter part doesn't make sense unless he didn't have a choice in surviving and she pushed it on him.
Exactly. That is why they chose legendary Byung Hun Lee. His role was minor here in preparation of him being a lead in season 2. EDIT: We might even get to see his story of how he won the game in 2015 and became the Front Man. He must have proven himself to be brutal.
@@lullaby508 Yeah I knew none of the actors (I think? 😂) until he took his mask off and when he did I was like "oh shit! I know him!" 😂 definitely someone to build at least a part of the series around for as long as it goes/his character is required.
If there's Season 2, Front Man might get a redemption arc because how he feels guilty to kill his brother because he hallucinated of his brother. Or maybe his cop brother survived the fall or somebody will help him but he got amnesia
@@TheDestroyer73 the writer-director did say if they have a second season, they will delve into Front Man story more. So they might have jump back and forth in time.
I blame Gi-hun. I’m pretty sure it only happened because his licking method on game 2 was too successful. They had to remove more players before tug of war. I bet the guards killed some of the wounded survivors to ensure a multiple of 10 was left for game 3.
The second episode to me is amazing because it shows that the world is no different for these people. Either die in the real world from debt or die in a game where you can possibly be rich.
And the host is actually right. What are the chances of you having 45.6 Billion Won in the real world? Thats a long ass process and you have to be fortunate enough too so that is basically what? A one in a million chance? (Extreme lowball) At least in the game it is a one in 456 which is obviously a MASSIVE improvement.
@@omnipotiscience7251 yeah but the difference is it's either 45 billion won or DEATH, in the real world it's not that drastic, but tbf all the people were in such high amounts of debt thats its believable they would risk their lives for this
@@sammy_1178 I think for them it's the choice between being dead or being as good as dead. So in a way they were choosing the easy way out. After all I'm sure in the case of many of them the loan sharks would have whacked them anyway.
It really struck something in me when that lady said something along the lines of "this place may be hell, but even so here is still a lot better than being out there[in the real world]"
best scene in the show: mr. prayer getting pushed off stage and into a 10 foot drop. love the contradiction in calling all the participants sinners and avoiding the reasons why he was also in the game.
I hated his character so much and I’m a Christian myself lol. The main character by the end of the show was a better representation of how a Christian is supposed to be.
SPOILER: My favorite detail about Squid Game is the foreshadowing of their deaths before they leave for the game. The last thing they did before they left was how they died. Ali stole the money from his employer. Sang Woo was going to kill himself in the bathtub. Sae-byeok threatened to stab the immigration officer in the neck. Deok-su jumped over the bridge to escape the thugs from beating him up. Il-nam died after having conversation with Gi-hun. I appreciate details like these soo much.
@@brokeguy5607 I played Tug Of War many times but I never think about this strategy anyways. Me and my team and most people in my country always go with the most basic and generic strategy ever for Tug Of War
@@Erasureeraser Well most people go with the rhythm-strategy but we've always played it like in the series since childhood. We were always told to tire the opponents out first, and we used to scrap the surface to dig in our heels in order to not be pulled forward. Once the frontman notices anyone slipping amongst opponent, we started pulling in rhythm each second in unison so as to exert maximum pressure on them. And the standing left to right side of the rope was also taught to us during childhood cos it prevents the back line from swaying into one direction. Only different thing in the series was when they let the rope go for like a second in order to disbalance them. Anyway, it's a good one-time watchable series but I wouldn't put it under Masterpiece or Excellent list. It was "good" at best.
@@brokeguy5607 I mean, I don't know that most people know that strategy. I've played plenty as a kid, but Squid Game was the first I ever heard of an actual strategy. Which I imagine is the case with many viewers.
The twist with the old man was great, I didn’t think anything of him smiling because he had a brain tumour so I thought he just didn’t care anymore but never expected him to be in on the whole game
Master class writing with that, and also as Jeremy mentioned them panning away from him in the Marble Game to hide not his death, but mask the ‘no body no death’ theme. Genius writing
Another moment that I liked was during the marble game where Ji-yeong asks Sae-Byeok if living in South Korea was better than North Korea and she genuinely couldn't give an answer. There's a lot going on in that one brief moment that's bound to get under people's skin if you think about it.
The only thing about the Bridge game I kept thinking about was: why didn't anyone try stepping on the support beams for the glass, or hold onto them if they fell?
The director explained Sang Woo's way to play the game vs how Gi Hun played it like Sang Woo believes he got to the top by beating the rest (how he didn't recognize the glass maker helped them but he got rid of a threat) and Gi Hun believes he got to the top by receiving help from everyone or in other words the losers helped him become a winner. TBH I don't think either way it's morally perfect and that's why I think Sang Woo's ending was perfect, he stopped looking at it so black and white and started to see the gray areas and after his discussion with the old man Gi Hun accepted his win seeing that same gray area
*Spoilers!* Can we just appreciate the main character for a second? In the first game Gi-hun is knocked over and then tripped. In the second game he has THE HARDEST shape and then discovers a method that saves so many others the guards have to incite violence to cull the herd in the bunk bed area. In the third game he is on the weakest tug-o-war team. And in the fourth game he has to trick a kind sick old man into losing the marble game. But despite all of that! He emerges Inspector Royale! Call it plot armor all you want, he deserves to be last in the bridge game. MFer earned a break!
I loved how the organ harvesting was perfectly set up as a red herring that makes you think this all had something to do with him signing the contract with the debt collector and then it completely pulls the rug out on it.
I loved seeing the sacrifices that they made for each other, especially during the marble game. That unbridled selflessness is like peak humanity in my view. "It was an honor being your partner."
Yes it was but none of them had to die if they simply exchanged each other's marbles for the sake of the others. No one had to die in any of the games besides tug of war.
@@truffle6082 That's interesting. But I thought the goal of the marble game was to acquire all 20 marbles, so the partner would have to die right? I could be totally wrong but that's what I remember lol
When Sang-Woo told Ali about the loophole and just stole his marbles, I was heartbroken. Especially since there is a potential loophole in the rules of the game. The rules state that you just need your partners 10 marbles, not that you need 20, so if you just trade marbles with your partner you could both win. I thought for sure that's where Sang-Woo was going with his idea.
No dude why is everyone saying this, if you’re using the rules the rules said you needed to use your marbles to get your opponents marbles, sang-woo didn’t use his marbles in any way. There’s a reason everyone showed 20 marbles, and it could prob be something lost in translation as well
@@TrueGamer22887 The rules never said anything about needing to have 20 marbles though. They just that the player that manages to take all 10 marbles from their opponent wins
@@tannerparks6030 you’re selectively using the rules, the rules also said you need to use your marbles to get the other marbles, howd he do that again?
Even if it was possible, do you really think Sang-Woo wanted to do that? We see him murder a couple of people to even the odds. Knowing sang-woo, he probably did consider it, but didn't want Ali to survive either
With how many other years of squid game there were, how are we not sure that the old man didn’t play already in previous seasons? On top of maybe playing it as a kid, maybe he also had years of experience watching the best tug of war teams win to learn that strategy!
I really thought Gong Yoo would play a bigger role in the show like the marketing lead me to believe but I'm happy he was great in the scenes he's in. Also he looks younger than when he looked like in Train to Busan. Ma man's aging like fine wine.
Now the show is huge. They can bring him back for a bigger role. Also Byung Hun Lee is going to be a lead character in season 2 if it comes back. With what Netflix did with Money Heist, won't be surprised if they try to get 4 season out of this show.
I actually predicted the old man twist. When he died offscreen it hit me. It was also him smiling with every game but worried when the sirens were going off.
One little detailed many people missed is when GI-Hun won and check the atm to pull out money, He only pulled out 10,000. Which was the worth of one player. Himself. 10,000$ x 456 players = 4,560,000 was the grand prize. Brilliant writing.
This show is one of the few shows where i watched like a ton of TH-cam videos on theories and discussions. Thats like Breaking Bad/Game of Thrones level in great writing. (When GOT was still written well)
@@JayForsure If this is all we get, maybe. If they do make a season 2, we should wait and see how it goes. Hopefully they take their time and flesh the whole thing out.
@@st_raziel2283 I completely agree with you, and you've changed my mind. Because ALL of breaking bads seasons were great. Now we gotta wait and see if ALL squid game seasons are great as well.
The whole thing was great! The one thing I just cant buy that even having the knowledge that Sang-woo's mothers house and shop were held leverage on an overdue payment, and that Sae-byeok brother was being held alone in an orphanage and her mother was stuck in NK, Gi-hun still drags his feet over the course of a year to help them even though he felt responsible. That just makes 0 sense to me. The character portrayed would have gone to them as soon as he was done grieving over his mother. Maybe he never touched them money afterward but he would have used it to help out the others first and in a timely manner.
Ask soilders how they feel coming back after seeing things people shouldn't see, just to find the world has both moved on and stayed exactly the same. And who's going to help when they can't know what you've been through?
you ever been depressed? It makes doing thing very difficult, and it weakens one's convictions. He just watched someone he admired for years kill himself in shame after 500+ others died before his eyes. I agree that it was disappointing for him to take so long, but it does make sense.
At the last episode when Gi-Hunn ( I believe that's the main character's name) visited the bank, the Bank Officer offered him to open a special account with his money and make him a VIP. Meaning all the VIPs were a player once and they use their money in gambling in the game.
you know that scene at the end when they're betting against each other and someone tried to save the homeless guy at the end it reminded of the joker in dark knight and what he did at the end of the movie with bombs and the two ships and the games themselves....this is the kind of shows that make you speechless it is so deep and so violent and brutal and humane you gotta appreciate the artistry in this masterpiece
What I love about this show is how consistent the characters are but they still grow and we are shown how the games have changed them while they're still the same person. That's good writing right there.
As an Asian, I'm super happy that asian films and shows are getting more popular in the west! If you guys want more shows like Squid Game thats on Netflix, I recommend Alice in Borderland. It just released last year and has a similar plot and the characters are pretty great too!
Is there any other asian series you recomend? Im watching from mexico and fell in love with asian films, i have seen alice in boderland and was amazing.
@@pepsitoast2348 let me recommend an older movie, OLDBOY .. I believe it too is a South Korean film. The twist will have you in the shower, washing off what u just watched
Well to be fair asian entertainment as of late has been hitting more home runs than the west. Take a look at Demon slayer destroying the box office during the pandemic
The time that they showed the video of everyone playing the slap game, I was like, wait this frail old guy was getting slapped like that to get here? That got me curious/suspicious.
maybe not everyone has to be slapped. The girl who just got out of the prison wouldn't care enough to play that game. They probably approached her because they knew she would say yes since she has nothing to live for.
The fact that Jeremy is rounding on 2 mil is crazy to me, been watching since the revenge of the fallen review. Awesome to watch these channels I’ve followed for years get the recognition they deserve
I'm subscribed since his Mass Effect 3 Ending video. He was as 70k back then. Crazy how he grew, but well deserved. One of the most entertaining guys on YT.
@@MsNotzi What first won me over was his Ninja Assassin review. If you haven't seen it, please change that. It's absolutely hilarious and one of Jeremy's best videos.
The craziest thing I realized on the second watch of squid game was that Seong Gi-Hun swears on his mothers life that he won't hassle Sae-Byeok if she unties him. He the hassles her and his mother dies
I knew the old guy was behind it all after following clues: 1) grinned and did surprisingly well in game 1. 2) knew how to win the tug of war game 3) most important clue: when lights went out and he was standing on top and yelled, the front man immediately stopped the purge. That was a dead give away. 4) lastly the fact that they didn’t show him getting killed
Are we not gonna talk about how LONG they have been playing this game. The old man killed and manipulated hella people just to feel something. Even he said he made the games because having too much money meant the same as having none. No fulfillment.
9:20 YES!! Totally agree! Soon as the cop got shot in the shoulder, and proceeds to slo mo fall backwards off the cliff…. NOPE! Ain’t foolin’ me!!! I’ve seen enough TV/film to know when someone falls off a cliff into the water without a body, there’s still a solid chance!!!!
There is a theory that with the very very first game played in the underground train station, that this is what determines if you're a player or an enforcer as the colours represent the clothing.
@@reynaldoadriel3694 Think about it though, clearly the enforcers are there for money, why else would those few be harvesting organs for extra money. And what's green, the paper square or the outfits?
what I love about South Korean films/shows is that they tend to focus more on the characters and give importance to them as they do with the concept/story. It makes me emotionally enganged and invested to every characters, just like on Parasite, Train to Bussan, and this one
Real movies and shows have stakes for the characters and not afraid to kill them off to fit the storyline. Movies are more difficult as the storyline is shorter unless its a sequel to a property. Hollywood needs to start to look and learn from the otherside of the world as people want more gritty and compelling entertainment.
This is one of the channels that I'm glad it didn't die. It makes me happy knowing jeremy still enjoys what he does and that the fans are still loyal Edit: Wtf is up with people assuming stuff in the reply section? U guys ok?
@@carolinaa.4407 if anything, he's getting bigger. His videos about the problems with today's action/horror movies have been cited and shared like crazy. He's even working on a full-production film of his own. The only thing I can think of is that he doesn't grade movies any more, he just reviews them. Idk if that has decreased his viewership, but he's still making videos and being seen
Tried to watch it a couple of weeks ago and didn't make it out of the first episode before turning it off, it just didn't grab me. Then after talking to my friend who loves it I gave it a second chance and binge watched it and finished the series this morning. Red light Green light had me shook wasn't expecting that and it got me hooked. Great twist at the end and great story. Awesome show!!!!
The contestants don’t know about his position so this doesn’t hold up.. him not being shot when told to get up off the bed multiple times is because his position
@@tonito_el_tigre the contestants didnt stop for the old man tho they stopped because of the enforcers running into the room, the old man pretending to be scared and asking them to stop was the signal the people running the game were waiting for
The old man also wasn't apart of any of the drugged van scenes and the clothes changing scene. He also clued he was important when he refused to give his name.
Shit, when you talked about second watching i started remembering stuff in my head. That flip the card game was totally a test. When they almost forget about the money to instead bitch slap the guy, he's like "this dude got what it takes"
When Gi-Hun received the card that said his “gganbu” wanted to meet with him, I initially thought it was a reference to how the company must be referring to themselves as his gganbu as they are sharing their funds with him, and when it turned out to be the old man, my mind exploded as it hit me both were true; he is the “company” sharing that fortune with him. 🤯 Favorite reveal of the show.
I think the old man’s argument is pretty crazy but relatively true . It was like: people don’t understand what happiness is. And I learned what my happiness is when I played the games. At the same time, people are not kind and I showed you through these games that instead of working together, they would sooner eat each other for a slightly larger and tastier piece of meat at the end of the day…
Concerning the marble game. The way it was worded I thought you and your partner could both survive by simply giving your ten marbles to your partner and get her/his ten marbles in exchange. Both would have fullfilled the games goal then.
@@johnathanhedgepeth5276 They never stated how many marbles you should have in the end, so 20 marbles weren't needed. The rules were to use your marbles to get your opponent's marbles, so techinically you could use your marbles by exchanging them for all of your opponent's marbles. That way both players get their opponent's marbles, but they never reach zero marbles.
@@devilskind92 That is a reasonable assumption, but only if you think the VIPs would be entertained with that outcome or that the games are designed for people to survive them.
Bingo. The games weren't about being fair, fairness was only in service to entertainment. Like on the Glass Bridge the guy who could discern the difference was playing fair, but it stopped being entertaining so they changed conditions to make it "fun" again.
After literally crying for the marble episode and then seeing the reveal at the end, I didn't know how to feel after that, it broke my heart and it had me calling my weed guy so I can process my emotions.
I wasted too many tears for the old man throughout the whole show. Seeing him just getting more sick I was a mess... Also, I bawled for Ali too during the marble episode, him calling out for his partner just broke me. But yeah, that twist at the end...I just felt so betrayed. Lol Goes to show just how great the actors are.
@@D.R.590 @d.sage fr I felt the same as y’all this was such a good show it made me feel emotions. When I truly felt the saddest in the show was when the girl that made it to the finals died. I was yelling at my tv! I wanted her to win so bad so she could be with her brother, and I started to doubt the fact that the lead would would follow through with her last request but I’m glad he did. That girl(forget her name) was my favorite in the show , I thought it was amazing
The first clue the old man was important, was when everyone started to kill each other after lights-out. The "front man" had the guards stop the players from killing each other. To those not catching the concern of the front man would only understand that the front man was preventing unnecessary killing but he was just protecting the old man.
Actually the Old man yells for everyone to stop, The front man took his orders. I remember thinking that was strange as i was watching it, but i didnt guess he was the mastermind.
This show made me feel so bad about humanity when it shows it’s dark sides when backed into a corner, that it made me go out of my way to be friendlier to the people I meet everyday in defiance of that feeling 😅
one little detail i loved is when Gi-hun left his ex-wife's place, he forgot his umbrella which led to the whole scene with her daughter and the step-dad. in the next episode, he chose the umbrella shape because as a kid, his mom kept scolding him for losing his umbrella. nice to see consistent character details however minor.
Why didn’t Cho Sang-Woo tell him not to pick the umbrella when he knew what game it was. It was obviously the worst choice. At the time they were teammates. Did he really see Gi-hun as a threat that early??
This comment blew my mind
@italkcrab am I getting the games mixed up or was Game 5 the bridge one? I don’t get how he helped there.
That's when I lost faith in him. He KNEW. Maybe not for sure but he had a strong feeling.
@@griffinj1204
That seen was the beginning of his character Arc. He didn't share information to prevent players from winning thus keeping him ahead. Notice how he said are you sure when 0456 chooses umbrella. The only timed he shared information was to help himself like during tug of war.
I completely forgot the old man had the last vote when they decided to leave. Truly another layer when he says he never forced anyone to play the game.
But the players were carefully chosen.. All of them were society outcasts living in "hell" every single day. The game just offered them one more chance to live the dream, or just instantly die.
In a way, the VIPs are saying : "your existence is worthless anyway. Might as well entertain us before you die and we'll reward one of you with a spot next to us".
And the poor didn't really have a choice. Most of them would've died anyway if they didn't join the game (the mafia chasing that bully deok-su/ the contract gi-hun signed etc
Also, when most of the players came back, the front man ordered his minions to "closely watch over the others who didn't come back". He knows they'll either die on the streets or they'll come back crawling to play the next game...
The people that died during red light green light didnt really have much of a say...
@@Mikereno5653 they still chose to go but to be fair they didn't know losing meant death yet
Yeah when he first did that , I felt it was a little inconsistent .
Because people were definitely making an educated decision when they joined? The truth is he had to trick everyone to think they would just be 'eliminated' but not actually explaining what that means lol
You missed that the “old man” panicked during the night time school yard brawl asking for the game to stop and they stopped it. That was an inside hint
hooooly crap
and in red light green light when we see through the doll’s perspective, illnam and the people around him arent highlighted in green like everyone else, showing that even if he messed up he wouldn’t have been shot. the people around him probably aren’t in green either just in case there’s a misfire. also in tug of war, there arent locks on his wrists, showing that if his team had lost he could’ve slipped the bracelets off and stayed on the platform while everyone else was dragged off the edge. in marbles, i’m pretty sure everyone in charge thought no one would want to be his partner, so that’s why the extra person wasn’t going to get killed. but alas, gihun is too nice so that’s why the old man stalled the whole game, faking dementia and running the clock down while trying to find his old house. illnam probably figured out that if he waited until the last second to lose, then no one could see him not get shot. these are all the safeguards i saw to protect him, tho i’m not sure what they would’ve done in the 5th and 6th games. hed probably suggest throwing their shoes at the glass or something, since they never said it wasn’t allowed and i’m actually surprised no one really tried to get around the rules on that one.
oh and i forgot, the bed he was standing on was the only stack that didn’t get tipped over during the school yard brawl
@@laurenmaring2924 he’s definitely outlined in green during red light green light, i just slowed it down to check and it also looks like he’s locked in during the tug of war but still! Lots of fun hints throughout the show about him
Also when the cop went through the list of players for that game it started at 002, not 001. And there is a slow motion video of tug-of-war and he does not have a lock on him.
“then, does fooling me and taking my marbles make any sense?”
this line broke me
And the emotional impact of that whole ass scene was thrown away by the final episode ._.
@@popyrocklomejor567 yeah, but that scene also proved Il-Nam's point. Gi-Hun resorted to underhanded tactics to put his life before his friend. Like Cho Sang-Woo
My favorite scene proving how roting humanity was. Noticed II-nam was beating him at marbles effortlessly. He played dumb to see what Gi-hun would do. If he had won he would of gaved gi-hun the marbles anyways.
Well 1. He wasn't really his friend. Even if Il-nam wasn't the creator of the game the whole time he still should have died there. He as old with a brain tumor, was going to die soon anyway and all that money would have been wasted. What Sang-Woo did to Ali is far worse then Gi-Hun to Il-nam. Old man was going to die either way, Ali was healthy with a wife and child.
@@brittanylewandowski6200
I like how people feel bad for Ali but miss alot of things in the show Ali stole the money from his boss. And almost killed his boss in the process of doing so. And took off like nothing happened why do people skip over his sin. And Ali was willing to take out Sang woo as well.
The twist with the marble game was brutal, and placing the tug of war game before it to build relationships really made it that much more impactful. It's been a while since I enjoyed a well-written show to be honest.
If u want a well written show, watch season 1 of Sex Education… Not season 2 or 3, but szn 1 is rly good
Well written show, except finale.
That's because they don't make well written shows anymore, they make identity politic propaganda
@@jamesstudley1166 I watched it and it sucked
@@GenesisXTRM Ahh yes, because shows that depict the complexity of the human experience for anyone other than straight white cis people are propaganda. As opposed to, you know, a more accurate depiction of the world we live in than stories featuring people with a minimal range of identities and experiences.
When I was in elementary school in Korea, Squid Game was banned during recess because kids always came back with bruises and scrapes all the time. It does get rough.
This is how you build character
@@arzeey That's what abusive parent would say
@@impactQuake well if it's coming from a parent then it's definitely wrong. But if kids get roughed up playing with each other (willingly) it's fine. And rough play does build up character. I actually miss it
@@eyob.t1389 Well I had kinda "though" childhood because of other kids so I don't think it was good for me.
@@impactQuake that's why I said "willingly". If you were bullied or abused I'm sorry for you but that's not what I was talking about
Ali death was the saddest for me, the look of shock and horror on his face when he realize Sang Woo betrayed his trust tore me apart. And we might never know what happens to his wife and kid 😞
it’s okay the writers already forgot
Yeah, that one made me more sad and angry than HoYeon's (NK defector) death at the end. They were both pretty messed up because they both won the game yet got screwed over... Then again he was hella naive - too sweet of a guy for the game 😔. Which makes it more sad.
I mean, he gave them money BEFORE he left (smartest character in this show) and told them to go back home because he didn't know if he would come back. If I was his wife, I would've taken the money and left. If I went back to my home country and he came back, he would know where to find me.
The wife was sold by the Taliban. The kid grew up and joined ISIS.
@@Jeremy-ql1or damn jeremy, that’s pretty baller
The marble game was really emotional. Practically broke me
Yeah never cried on one movie/ TV show I'm a gangster lol. But that scene had be me wiping tears away 😢
100% I hate betrayals like that but if I was in their shoes I would probably do the same
I did shed a tear or two
Ali got did dirty
It was emotional, but you gotta be lying if you didnt know what was gonna happen way before it did.
Think about how that one guy's job is literally to ride trains all day slapping the heck out of bums & then giving them a business card. Based off his suit he gets paid handsomely.
Beats off riding trains with zombies in it. Slapping hobos is where the money's at!
They probably hired him specifically because he was so fucking good at the game too. Like "yea I can flip that shit everytime I play".. ok your hired.
The fact that there's so many hints that the old man is more than he seems throughout each episode is amazing, live shows that reward the viewer's for watching it a second time
Especially the part he was aware of the main dudes cheating and was hyped on red light green light
@@tonito_el_tigre yeah, no wonder the robot didn't detect the old man
And the fact is he number 1, I kind of thought something was up with him when he was counting the participants.
I knew I have seen too much of this type of shows/stories where, within the first minutes of us seeing that old man, my first thought was "he's probably the one who organized this, isn't he? Like, the oldest person there, number 1 aaand he has a braintumor that killing him? Yeah, this is the oldest cliche in the book"
@@megamcee honestly I just thought he was the over powered old man character that most likely already participated in the games and won. He just decided to join the new games hence why he was number 1, he was the first volunteer but nah.
The reason why Cho Sang-Woo killed Sae-Byeok wasn’t because of him seeing her as a threat. It was because her and Seong Gi-hun could of voted to end the game 2-1 votes and Sang-Woo wanted to finish it.
i still hate sang woo, sae byeok was my fav bruh :(( but no hate towards the actor, he's very good at his job. but the show is amazing
@@ccarlos645 I hated him too. The minute he betrayed Ali I hated him more than anything
For all those who hate Sang-Woo, I do implore you guys to take a moment to think about it.
You need to look at the motivation of those who decided to play the game. The very fact that people decided to come back implies that their lives outside is so bad that they are willing to die if it means a chance to get that prize money to pay off their debts. It doesn't make sense for you to come back to the game without the mindest of doing whatever it takes to win. So I think Sang-Woo is justified in that. Also, in the case of Sang-Woo, while I do agree that he seems more ruthless compared to Gi-Hun, in the end his life was on the line (and his mother's aa well) and let's be really honest here, 99.9% of us would succumb to that survival instict and use whatever way to get us out of the situation. I don't think it's fair to call him evil at all and as his last act shows, his goal wasn't just greed and desire to be rich. Hell, people forget that no matter if he won the money he would still go to jail for fraud since there was a warrant for his arrest, so his life wasn't gonna be heaven either way. In the end, he would rather die if it means that Gi-Hun will get the money to help his mother.
I think Sang-Woo was a pragmatist who understood why he was there and was determined to achieve the prize by any means necessary. I would even dare to think that inside he would rather if neither Ali nor Gi-Hun was playing because I don't think that given the choice, he would want to cause their deaths. Sang-Woo's self-interest behaviour wasn't unique compared to other players in the game who wanted to eliminate the competition and win the prize, and whether or not we want to admit it, he represents how a lot of us would act in the same situation.
I personally would lke to believe I'll be that hero who looks out for people and would sacrifice myself to let other players win. But in reality, if I fucked up and was deep in debt, and my family's wellbeing as well was my life was on the line, boy being hero and maintaining the moral compass is gonna be a tough tough sell.
@@quanganhvu6791 The only thing I really fault him for his the second game, if he had an idea of what the game was then he should’ve told his whole squad to pick triangle.
@@quanganhvu6791 I agree with you. He was realistic. His actions made sense. I mean no matter how much I liked Ali, he was way too kind to make it through that game and not think for a moment he might be betrayed. I know WHY Sang Woo did it. My problem is he's selfish. Never mind Ali, the whole reason he's in such a desperate situation is because of the terrible investments he made and the fact that he put his mom's shop as collateral WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT. He does whatever he has to for his own benefit. And yes, most of the people were there for their own benefit including Gi Hun and Ali, but at least they didn't let their self interest rob them of their humanity like Sang Woo did. The other people there to an extent made absolutely no secret they would do whatever they had to to win. But Sang Woo put on the nice guy act almost till the end. Not to mention he killed the girl ( can't remember how to spell her name) when she was ALREADY DYING just so the game could continue. The only selfless thing he did that whole time was commit suicide so he didn't have to live with the guilt of all the people he killed.
The fact that you had a privileged businessman swindle an immigrant worker was peak metaphorical storytelling. Loved it.
Ilegal immigrant, and the ‘privileged businessman’ was in crippling debt.
@@silver_YTfps My name is from an anime called overlord. What does it mean to you?
@@CriticalHater mw2 campaign
@@CriticalHater My favorite part here is that you assume he was "illegal", just because he was an immigrant
I just seen it between a smart guy and a stupid guy personally. Not like Sung came from privilege given that his mum sells fish on a market.
There’s this technique in writing that I’ve heard about. If you have writers block, imagine the worst possible scenario that your characters can experience and write that. The creators of Squid Game did that for every fucking scene and it works so well
So basically, they might have just been badly hit with writer's block at every instance of the show? 😂😂😂
I needed to read this! Thanks
as someone w writers block right now I really needed this
Meh
One detail missed in this video - the reason Sang Woo killed the girl is that her and Gi-hun were clearly developing an alliance/partnership. If they decided to stop the game, which they most likely would because Sae-Byeok was about to die, they could have voted as a majority and ended the game to save her life. Sang Woo killed her to make sure that didn't happen.
Sang Woo actually said this himself in the last episode.
He wanted his mom taken care of.
@@xFuzzyLove Don't credit him too much. He didn't even know about his mom being sick until well after he had done all the embezzling etc. He had already ripped of a bunch of people and done a lot of criminal acts. He joined the game not to help his mother (again, he didn't even know she was sick when he joined the game, his brother Gi-Hun finds out when they vote to leave. Note that his brother was NOT one of the ones who voted to leave. He wanted that money and he was willing to stay there to get it without any clue his mother was even unwell), he was there to try and get himself off the hook by getting money to pay back his debts so he wouldn't go to jail. His final act might have been to aid his mother but up until that point he was willing to brutally murder anyone who got in his path, including his brother, if it meant satisfying his own needs.
It's not really a missed detail since he literally explains that after killing her.
@@Mandrake42 I believe you're confusing relationships in the series.
Sang-woo and Gi-hun aren't brothers. They were childhood friends who grew up in the same neighborhood. Their moms are friends, too. Sang Woo's mom runs the market stall and sells fish (remember her giving Gihun the mackerel to take home?). Gihun brings Sae-byeok's little brother Cheol to her at the end.
Gihun's mom was the one who was sick and ended up dying.
The reason Sang-woo wanted Gi-hun to take care of his mom was because he'd stolen from her. He'd put everything she had - her home and the market stall business - up for collateral to pay his debts. She was going to lose everything and be homeless and destitute, and she had no idea her son had done this to her. In the end, Sang-woo decided saving her was more important than all that money he'd killed people for.
It's interesting that they both stole from their mothers to gamble, and both endangered their mom's lives by doing so. They both had questionable moral compasses. The only difference was that everyone knew what Gihun was - a liar, a thief, a deadbeat dad. But Sang-woo was able to hide his even bigger crimes behind his shiny façade of education and job security.
My wife noticed it but I didn’t BUT, in the tug of war game, when they’re all lying down after winning, the old man doesn’t have his cuffs linked into the chain!
If you hate any of the characters in this series, then the actors did a great job in playing their own characters. Everyone's performance was truly superb
I loved all the characters! But my 2 favorites sae byeok and Ali. 😭😭😭
Ughh, I hated the writing of characters, not characters. It’s a very cliche and poorly written show.
@@kylevernon cliche may be true but its not poorly written.
@@uncrstbl The cop plot that went nowhere. Him finishing every game the last second. Plot armor. Cliches. Predictable. All symptoms of bad writing. Sure there’s great moments, it’s a pretty fun show, just don’t pretend it’s anything but that.
@UCJ2TdNkUpPWLXEZisZGKy0A Especially that annoying woman. The other dude with the tattoos was pretty well written. Same with Sang-Woo.
I love that at the end, the Old Man's social Darwinist view turns out to be wrong and the woman comes back to help the homeless guy. It's so easy for a show like this which puts human cruelty on full display to take a cynical view on humanity and yet the show still ends with kindness shining through
Yea but they still made it unnecessarily stupid. The old guy dies exactly at 12 a clock, at the exact moment help comes for the hobo, just before the protagonist gets to kill the old guy himself. What a specific set of wonderful circumstances, right? Yea give me a break, I can only suspend my disbelief so much. It's a decent show, actually until ep 6 it's an amazing show but afterwards there are so many stupid moments.
@@RatzCarnatz Bruh its a show. The theatrics are hieghtend. The end was on the fight of the ruthless capitalist who believe humans are just pure self serving narcissist while Gi hun stands for the belief in humanity .
@@eangartvapakp6801 yea no shit it's a show, does that mean they had to use 5-6 clichees in a single scene? no
@@RatzCarnatz lol what the old man said about people having no fun is evident through your comments ahahaha
@@MetalBassist1000 right, you squid game fanboys are something else, god forbid someone criticizes the show even for the smallest thing, alright the show is perfect it has no flaws, it's best show in history and nothing will ever surpass it, happy now?
Sang-Woo’s betrayal of Ali was genuinely heartbreaking. Ali seemed like such a great and genuine guy and seeing go out that way was horrible
I think we’ll see Ali is season 2. They didn’t show him get shot either…
@@KaeShenni Nah we won't, they already brought back the old man, they'll probably bring back the policeman too, if they bring back Ali as well it's too much already, it would feel really stupid.
@@KaeShenni They showed his dead body in the next episode
Jeremy I think you missed Sang Woo’s motivation for killing the girl. He was so obsessed with winning, especially after what he had personally done to get to that point, that he was afraid they other 2 would end the game and they all go home with nothing.
He had to eliminate that possibility.
Also I think that's part of the reason why he kills himself. For him, murdering people to get absolutely nothing in the end was worse than dying.
@@RazielBR Also he ask the Main guy to take care of his mom. If they end the game neither of them get any money. Better for his Good-Guy friend to get all of it. Safe bet he would take care of the guys mom.
Not to mention that they were sitting together and were obviously going to team up against him.
Even if she's severely injured, depending on the game, it could potentially be a MASSIVE advantage for them.
I hope Jeremy reads any of these comments
If Sang Woo was smarter, he'd have gone straight for Gi-Hun and won the next game automatically. Gi-Hun wouldn't have heard the footsteps with all that banging, and the girl was done for anyway. I thought he was obsessed with winning.
That girl who chose to die by dropping the ball, that smile before she was shot in the head killed me.
I seemed to always have my eyes closed during the headshots.
@@egarran Bruh you must've been blinking like you were having a seizure during the first game.
@@DeepThinker193 Sometimes I also just happened to look at other things in the room.
Beautiful smile yes. But the way she opens her arms when shes falling to the ground is fking distracting... i mean the brain is fked up with the bullet, still she moves. I thought daaamn why didnt they try another shot? She should have just fall arms down like a bag of sand, heavily... that would have look brrrrutal.
Me, too!
Man, I noticed the big smile on the old man during Green Light, Red Light. I noticed that they were monitoring him during the fight-night and called it off when he wanted. I knew he was playing up the dementia and fooling the main character. And yet, when it came down to it, I got sucked in by that damn marble game just like everyone else.
That's some damn good writing that's confident enough to give us everything we need to figure out the "What a twist!" moments.
Also heartbreaking that he gets out of the game, which re-entered partly cause he needed the money for his mom, and his mom died alone thinking he was a good-for-nothing.
Tbf, he’s still a good for nothing.
Only difference now is that he’s rich.
@@TheArcher143 Yeah... this is the bait and switch that elite critics will try to pull. They'll paint the show as "rich people abusing poor people," but Gi Hun started at as a loser and ended the same way. He was his own enemy the whole time.
@@sivad1025 gi hun wasn't perfect by any means, but he was likely suffering from ptsd after that violent strike & witnessing someone die. he wasn't a loser by the end, he was going through another ptsd/depressive spell ontop of grieving his mother. he was conflicted about taking blood money, & by the end it seems like he's becoming a vigilante & making a choice to stop the cycle of accepting the system, even if it rewards you.
@@nalad9387 I'm not saying he didn't have motivation for his actions. I just think it's easy to blame everything on circumstances and overlook the fact that he willingly engaged in a game for money where he knew he would have to indirectly kill hundreds of people to get that money. That's absolutely wicked.
@@sivad1025 Uhmmm care to explain how the show is *not* about rich people abusing poor people?
In the very first game over 200 people died before knowing death is a possibility in this game...
They were poor people allured by the promise of debt relief that were slaughtered for some rich peoples entertainment.
The marble game was the moment I think where everyone showed their true self. The reason why they were in debt. The Indian guy was gullible, they other guy twisted the rules, the lead gambled and manipulated the innocent. At the time I thought the girl and the old man were the innocent ones, truly good people dealt a bad hand. But after the old guys reveal, his delusional act was his true dark self. Watching as men sink to their lowest to win.
Pakistani guy, not Indian but yes agree with what you said.
@@imaliazhar Thanks for the correction.
Fun fact: Actor is Indian, name Anupam Tripathi.
What a brilliant analysis. I’m going to share it with my friends.
I don’t see how Gi-Hun’s “true self” is to manipulate. The marble episode is about the only time on the show he manipulates someone. Unless you wanna count fibbing to his daughter as manipulating. In fact Gi-Hun’s whole thing is he is too trusting of people, that’s the whole point of the last conversation he has with Il-Nam when he makes the bet. Also calling Ali (btw he has a name and is a major character, not just “that Indian guy”) gullible as his “true self” reduces his character to be a dangerous caricature. Ali is specifically Pakistani as he is supposed to represent the problems Pakistani immigrants have to deal with in Korea. His boss his actively fucking him over by not paying him. He’s not necessarily in that predicament because he’s gullible.
The only thing you’re correct about in your analysis imo is about sang-woo, but that is obvious, of course sang-woo continually manipulates the rules and people.
Squid game was genius. The build up of getting attached to certain characters just for them to die in the 6th episode was so emotional. I haven't seen writing this well in a show in a while
Check out DARK or Lovecraft Country
@@wiiplaya25 Lovecraft Country was terrible, and I wanted to like it
@@daddydog9275 terrible how?
I was expecting them to get picked off one by one, but the way most of them made it to at least the 4th game was way better, I think. Watching how they all form bonds and break them as the stakes get higher and higher and we know them better and better - it's heartbreaking.
My favourite Twitter comment about squid game "Give me back my tears old man!"
Yeah honestly im jumping him idk if he is old as hell and sick as hell its on sight
😂😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂
I knew he was a sheister
Dude I literally just finished the show and needed a TH-camr who I like to watch to talk about it. Jeremy your timing is impeccable
Good ole parasocial relationship!
@@b00psn00t this is why I hate calling TH-camrs by their name cause then there’s always someone who’s like “stop acting like you know him”. Would just feel weird saying Mr. Jahns or anything like that😂
Same lmao not even 30 minutes ago
.
Same here
Sang-Woo being the secret final boss was so fucking cool. It felt so organic and natural, it was very well done. From a character perspective, he might have been my favorite.
The final fight between him and Gi hun was brutally amazing
What broke me is the fact that at the end of it all, while you forget it because of the rush and the excitement of the games, the most valuable things in life are the love of the people you care about. All those lives lost in the game were people that, although broken, meant something to someone but were all dehumanized the instant money takes priority
yeah, his whole impetus for returning was his mother, and she died because he went
Yep, the show is pretty much an allegory of what it takes to amass the a huge fortune. Just like in real world, it’s a pile of bodies that you will be stepping over, very often quiet literally.
I think it goes deeper than that. It's not just a "money doesn't buy happiness" deal.. It's a critique of a system that sets up everyone's lifes to depend on that one imaginary resource. And the top dogs exploiting the ones at the bottom for entertainment. Basically, fuck capitalism.
Yeah, when he's drinking at night I'm like " he lost everything "
If you enjoyed the show you are essentially a VIP.
Why would you say something so controversy, yet so brave.
🤯🤯
Damn you said it
I was thinking about that.
Except I'm broke.
The old man's "death" worked so well because of the main dude's performance. Glued to his face and his pained expression when the old man is shot and it seems the logical focus of the scene
I liked how when the old man yelled, "Stop I'm scared!" during the riot we thought they stopped it by coincidence but really they were following his orders
That for me was when I realized there was something else going on with 001. It could have been a red herring but I just figured he had to be in on it, or close to someone in on it
and the fact that the beds he was standing on were the only ones that weren’t tipped over
I read it as “they got sympathetic towards the harmless old man” before the twist lmao
Yeah i kind of assumed that the guards were getting ready to stop it anyways
@@duncan3932 same
Ali’s betrayal and Sae-Byeok’s cold-blooded murder hit me on another level I hadn’t felt in a long time
i honestly hate that guy more than the gangster dude. at least with the gangster you knew exactly where he stood
It's a fucking death game, kill or be killed, they knew the consequences
The only villain in this show was san woo
@@hadokenl5762
Lies the true villain was Greed sang woo did what any of the humans would do if we were in his place.
@@hadokenl5762 naurr the villains were the rich people playing with people desperate for money.
I feel like they would’ve “eliminated” the old man if he didn’t get a partner for marbles, don’t think he wanted any part of the glass game and knew he would get out eventually, felt like a perfect chance to do it inconspicuously
You clearly didn't really watch the show. Even if the old man was the creator... he wouldn't have "died" just because he didn't find a partner. That one really annoying woman who slept with the gangster... did not die just because she didnt have a partner and was the odd one out.
@@zeehongkooey1566 you clearly don't know how quotations work
He was saying that they were going to pretend he was eliminated if he was the only one without a partner. Just so he can get out of the glass game.
He didn’t have to PLAY the glass stepping stone game. He was LIVING the glass stepping stone game. Every day he was alive was like a random chance between stability and a long fall.
@@zeehongkooey1566 "eliminated" not eliminated....
Watch the show
This is the kind of series I'm actually afraid of getting a 2nd Season. You just know Netflix execs will rush it.
I doubt they will rush it. There is still a pandemic going on and just look at how long Stranger Things is taking.
Also this concept took like 10 years for a studio to pick it up and create it,
@@thotslayer9914 Considering how popular the show is, I think it will definitely encourage them to release it sooner rather than later. #1 in 90 countries apparently 😲
Netflix Exec: So I had a great idea, the next season should be all about the VIP's I heard people really like those characters :P
@@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299 I thought they were the worst part of the show and had incredibly stilted and unbelievable dialogue 😂
I was really disappointed that nobody figured out the games were on the wall.
RIGHT! RIGHT! LIKE OMG SANG WOO WAS BUSY STABBING SAE BYOK but how come no one absolutely no one noticed those giant prints on the walls. Like hmmmph
it's because the the beds were covering up the walls and you only notice them once most of them were removed. The drawings being black would also blend with the bedframes.
@@AlessaParker I mean I see your point, but like at least halfway through I was like "What's that on the wall." Like if you're in that room for hours and hours you're not gonna notice it? Like out of hundreds of people nobody noticed it?
@@thelaughingrouge they were too busy trying not to get stabbed in the throat... in their sleep
They were covered up by the massive ass bunk beds.
Also people would have been far more concerned about staying alive, especially at night (where the lights were off)
Never been more proud in my immediate gut-reaction to a character - called it almost immediately that Sang-Woo was a shady POS, from the minute he suggested putting the game to a vote so they could all go home, only to then vote "yeah let's keep playing." Shady shady shady.
Interesting. I missed that link.
I never understood that. My best guess was that he changed his mind as soon as he saw the prize, he looked at that giant piggie bank like he was seeing God himself.
Its like one an anime
@@theyoutubeanalyst3731 he wants to fix his situation. He doesn’t care about anything else. He stopped just short of letting people know he was as toxic as Deok-su. Unfortunately for him, though, best friends can tell.
He might be a shady pos but he’s also ruthless and logical. Say what you will but I thought he was an amazingly complex character that spoke to a very real part of the human mind that would’ve told us to act the same way he did
I’m surprised it’s not mentioned that the foreshadowing for how each characters story would end was shown in episode 2. How 067 last thing was putting the knife to the man’s neck and threading him, and she ended up getting slashed in the neck. Or how 101 jumped over the bridge to get away from the gangsters and in the end he died falling from the glass bridge. Really creative.
Sang Woo trying to commit suicide and ended up actually doing it
Ali also steals his bosses money and ends up losing since Sang-Woo stole his marbles. Gi-Hun swore on his mother’s life only for her to die in the end. The foreshadowing is so well done in this show.
*I keep seeing people say Gi-hun swore on his mother's life. This never actually happened. But everyone's just repeating this.*
@@AzNightmare So when they vote to leave the game and they drop him and Byeok off he swears on her life then to let him free then tries to act her. And she says “ That’s what you think of your mother”.
@@AzNightmare it did happen though. In episode 2, when he got dropped off with 067, he swore that he would forget about the prize that was stolen from him
I was suspicious about the old man’s body not being shown but my friend said it’s probably because they didn’t want the actor to fake fall down since he’s too old and I accepted it reluctantly haha.
I thought it was out of respect. I didn't want to see his body either. Clever move.
Nobody wants to see an old guy get shot lol so nobody questioned it. The cop is definitely alive
@@hammondmay7545 a friend on the coast guard might come for him
About the marble game, I thought the key about that game was gonna be the term Gganbu. The old man explained it like “Whats yours is mine and whats mine is yours.” So I thought if two partners declared themselves Gganbu to the official they would recognize that they each have their opponents set of marbles.
wow- I haven't heard this theory yet. Someone who's fluent in Korean on Tik Tok also mentioned that there a key translation in this scene. She said it's closer to, "there is no ownership over the other", so in your theory, it still works. If a pair are truly "gganbu", you can't actually own "their" marbles.
The shake hands represents you are partners and trust each other. Everyone can survive the game, sadly humanity selfishness outweighs friendship, the whole point of the marble game.
But the rule was one player had to have full position of all 20 marbles before the time ran out. If they each held 10 at the end of the time period, they both would have died. But then again, not really. I highly doubt Oh Il-nam would have been killed. Since he's the boss and all.
the rules said you have to get your partners marbles without violence there is nothing mention on what to do with your own marbles. The act of exchange by both players has to be executed in front of the Squid guard
@@plainOldFool I watch dub did not mention that 1 player to get 20. Rules said get the opponents marble w/o violence within time limit. I think there is no mention of the Number 20. You cannot say get all the opponents marble = 20, there is only 10 marble in your opponent so ( the All applies to 10). The rule did not said get all the marble of the game. That is why Squid is a Physiological film you think you need all the 20 but its not the film force u to figure it on your own.
I'm glad that the main character was able to help his friend's mom and Sae Byok's brother but I wish he just went to his daughter instead of going back to Squid Game 😭
Same. I was so mad. I wanted him to go see his daughter and finally be a father to her 😢
Yeah. It would've been a good ending if he just went to his daughter. The current ending not necessarily bad but it left the story felt unfinish.
i’m seeing a lot of hate for the main character and i’m honestly wondering if we watched the same show. while he did want to start to be a good father he doesn’t want to go back to the games till his mother becomes sick with no way to pay for treatment that he agrees to go back. then surviving through the games and watching people die by the hundreds even watching people he cared about die or in sae’s case turn into a monster. after the games end he’s extremely traumatized and probably suffering from survivors guilt as most 95% percent of normal people would he comes back home to find the reason he went back to the games gone, probably just missed her by a day. he knows his daughter will grow up with a full family that can take care of themselves as evidenced by her stepdad offering to give him all money he asked for but whos gonna stop the squid games honestly? while being a father involves being able to financially provide, it’s just one of the many things that goes into into you also need to be in the right state of mind be a father, seong is nowhere near the right mental state to be a father by the end of season one.
sorry for the essay .-. just wanted to give my view
@@joey7184 Omg this is actually so well said, I never looked at it from that perspective but I think you're right. it's a shame he was on the phone with his daughter at the very end right before boarding the plane, he kinda broke his promise at the end in my opinion too, so i was conflicted with how to feel
I loved the attention to detail on the show, and how good it is on a rewatch. Like on episode 2, when everyone was back out, we're shown a little foreshadowing on how they'll die in the games. Sae-byeok puts a knife to a guy's throat, Sang-woo lies (on a bathtub) in his soaked suit, Deok-su falls from a bridge and Ali is betrayed/swindled.
Underrated comment!
Ooooo good catch!
I felt it when the man called the husband out for surviving instead of the wife. Shit got real.. such a great show..
It really made no sense that the man did not sacrifise himself for the woman... only to then kill himself x)
@@duderRechthat unless she gave him no choice like the two girls. Maybe the woman was jobless and couldn't take care of the children.
@@yrsruby5396 well that still makes little sense, because if they agreed that he would take care of the children he shouldnt/wouldnt have killed himself..
@@duderRechthat I'm referring only to the former part. The latter part doesn't make sense unless he didn't have a choice in surviving and she pushed it on him.
Maybe she was terminally ill.
the VIP characters were so bad im convinced that they were intentionally made to be unbearable to listen to as a form of satire
It's because of the voice dubbing
If you enjoyed the show you are essentially a VIP.
@@NukemDukem facts
It’s because Korean directors don’t know how to direct English speakers. No hate tho, just how it is
I really think maybe it was parody
The ending feels like its setting up the Front Man as the new guy who'll take over Squid Game like how the SAW franchise did it.
Exactly. That is why they chose legendary Byung Hun Lee. His role was minor here in preparation of him being a lead in season 2.
EDIT: We might even get to see his story of how he won the game in 2015 and became the Front Man. He must have proven himself to be brutal.
@@lullaby508 what if season two is the prequel? of how the front man became the front man after the games
@@lullaby508 Yeah I knew none of the actors (I think? 😂) until he took his mask off and when he did I was like "oh shit! I know him!" 😂 definitely someone to build at least a part of the series around for as long as it goes/his character is required.
If there's Season 2, Front Man might get a redemption arc because how he feels guilty to kill his brother because he hallucinated of his brother. Or maybe his cop brother survived the fall or somebody will help him but he got amnesia
@@TheDestroyer73 the writer-director did say if they have a second season, they will delve into Front Man story more. So they might have jump back and forth in time.
"I did it to feel alive again"
Cool motive, still murder.
The old man's "kill" in the marble game had me going "Wait, what?" And I must admit, I cried more about the two girls than 001 and 456.
Same. Even though I saw it coming a mile away it still got me lol
The fourth episode called "Stick to the team" where everyone just kills eachother in flashing lights was the most disturbing shit I have seen.
I thought i was the only one that found that scene fucked up
Same here. literally made me feel a little sick, something about people showing no allegiance and murdering for the sake of it makes me so disgusted.
I blame Gi-hun. I’m pretty sure it only happened because his licking method on game 2 was too successful. They had to remove more players before tug of war. I bet the guards killed some of the wounded survivors to ensure a multiple of 10 was left for game 3.
I watched it on my phone at night. It really pissed my wife off who was trying to get to sleep
That scene was so hard to watch
The Cop is 100% alive. In the shoulder, like yeah he's coming back.
The second episode to me is amazing because it shows that the world is no different for these people. Either die in the real world from debt or die in a game where you can possibly be rich.
And the host is actually right. What are the chances of you having 45.6 Billion Won in the real world? Thats a long ass process and you have to be fortunate enough too so that is basically what? A one in a million chance? (Extreme lowball)
At least in the game it is a one in 456 which is obviously a MASSIVE improvement.
@@omnipotiscience7251 yeah but the difference is it's either 45 billion won or DEATH, in the real world it's not that drastic, but tbf all the people were in such high amounts of debt thats its believable they would risk their lives for this
@@sammy_1178 I think for them it's the choice between being dead or being as good as dead. So in a way they were choosing the easy way out. After all I'm sure in the case of many of them the loan sharks would have whacked them anyway.
@@sammy_1178 Exactly. Of course if your debt was not that big or not comparable to those guys, you wouldnt be risking death over it.
It really struck something in me when that lady said something along the lines of "this place may be hell, but even so here is still a lot better than being out there[in the real world]"
best scene in the show: mr. prayer getting pushed off stage and into a 10 foot drop. love the contradiction in calling all the participants sinners and avoiding the reasons why he was also in the game.
A 10 foot drop seems reasonable.
@@TheArcher143 very reasonable
@@Assassino275 a little too reasonable…
It was more like 100 feet lol
I hated his character so much and I’m a Christian myself lol. The main character by the end of the show was a better representation of how a Christian is supposed to be.
SPOILER: My favorite detail about Squid Game is the foreshadowing of their deaths before they leave for the game. The last thing they did before they left was how they died. Ali stole the money from his employer. Sang Woo was going to kill himself in the bathtub. Sae-byeok threatened to stab the immigration officer in the neck. Deok-su jumped over the bridge to escape the thugs from beating him up. Il-nam died after having conversation with Gi-hun. I appreciate details like these soo much.
After this series, who wants to try the old man's strategy for Tug Of War?? 😂😂😂
It's a very basic strategy in Tug-of-Wars. Like introductory tutorial... I guess you never played TugOfWar ever.
@@brokeguy5607 I played Tug Of War many times but I never think about this strategy anyways. Me and my team and most people in my country always go with the most basic and generic strategy ever for Tug Of War
@@Erasureeraser Well most people go with the rhythm-strategy but we've always played it like in the series since childhood. We were always told to tire the opponents out first, and we used to scrap the surface to dig in our heels in order to not be pulled forward. Once the frontman notices anyone slipping amongst opponent, we started pulling in rhythm each second in unison so as to exert maximum pressure on them. And the standing left to right side of the rope was also taught to us during childhood cos it prevents the back line from swaying into one direction. Only different thing in the series was when they let the rope go for like a second in order to disbalance them.
Anyway, it's a good one-time watchable series but I wouldn't put it under Masterpiece or Excellent list. It was "good" at best.
@@Erasureeraser same. I've played, but never this intricately. I didn't know anything about the tug of war meta.
@@brokeguy5607 I mean, I don't know that most people know that strategy. I've played plenty as a kid, but Squid Game was the first I ever heard of an actual strategy. Which I imagine is the case with many viewers.
The twist with the old man was great, I didn’t think anything of him smiling because he had a brain tumour so I thought he just didn’t care anymore but never expected him to be in on the whole game
Me too. I'm so shock when he received card from friend on the last episode.
That twist was very well done, I was genuinely shocked at his reveal at the end.
Master class writing with that, and also as Jeremy mentioned them panning away from him in the Marble Game to hide not his death, but mask the ‘no body no death’ theme. Genius writing
It was completely unnecessary and forced af
@@hellodumplings8564 for real, it made zero sense if you actually think about it
Another moment that I liked was during the marble game where Ji-yeong asks Sae-Byeok if living in South Korea was better than North Korea and she genuinely couldn't give an answer. There's a lot going on in that one brief moment that's bound to get under people's skin if you think about it.
The only thing about the Bridge game I kept thinking about was: why didn't anyone try stepping on the support beams for the glass, or hold onto them if they fell?
I thought that was because it would be seen as cheating and then they’d get shot?
Someone watched a how to survive video
I just thought why couldn’t they just grab there shoes and throw it at the glass
@@b00psn00t There are no rules though. People cheated all the time😅 From Sang Woo cheating on Ali to Gi-Hun on Oh Il-Nam
YES!
The director explained Sang Woo's way to play the game vs how Gi Hun played it like Sang Woo believes he got to the top by beating the rest (how he didn't recognize the glass maker helped them but he got rid of a threat) and Gi Hun believes he got to the top by receiving help from everyone or in other words the losers helped him become a winner. TBH I don't think either way it's morally perfect and that's why I think Sang Woo's ending was perfect, he stopped looking at it so black and white and started to see the gray areas and after his discussion with the old man Gi Hun accepted his win seeing that same gray area
*Spoilers!*
Can we just appreciate the main character for a second?
In the first game Gi-hun is knocked over and then tripped. In the second game he has THE HARDEST shape and then discovers a method that saves so many others the guards have to incite violence to cull the herd in the bunk bed area. In the third game he is on the weakest tug-o-war team. And in the fourth game he has to trick a kind sick old man into losing the marble game.
But despite all of that! He emerges Inspector Royale! Call it plot armor all you want, he deserves to be last in the bridge game. MFer earned a break!
@Phoenix 𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝙼𝚢 PROFILE I only hated two things. Deok-su because he is an ass and Ali for letting himself get played so bad.
How did the guards incite violence? It just seemed apart of the game no matter what. It wasn't THAT many who survived because of him.
I loved how the organ harvesting was perfectly set up as a red herring that makes you think this all had something to do with him signing the contract with the debt collector and then it completely pulls the rug out on it.
Oh. I had forgotten about that particular contract!
I loved seeing the sacrifices that they made for each other, especially during the marble game. That unbridled selflessness is like peak humanity in my view.
"It was an honor being your partner."
The marble game showed both acts of altruism and self preservation. The complexity of human nature.
Yes it was but none of them had to die if they simply exchanged each other's marbles for the sake of the others.
No one had to die in any of the games besides tug of war.
@@truffle6082 That's interesting. But I thought the goal of the marble game was to acquire all 20 marbles, so the partner would have to die right? I could be totally wrong but that's what I remember lol
@@JCW7100 you're right. The person before probably forgot the rules of that game
@@truffle6082 No. Someone had to die in all of the games. The games have an illusion of being fair but they're anything but.
You never hear the sound of the old man's body dropping to the ground as he was 'shot'
Another hint that my friend noticed with the old man was when the cop was looking through the players and it started with Number 2.
When Sang-Woo told Ali about the loophole and just stole his marbles, I was heartbroken. Especially since there is a potential loophole in the rules of the game. The rules state that you just need your partners 10 marbles, not that you need 20, so if you just trade marbles with your partner you could both win. I thought for sure that's where Sang-Woo was going with his idea.
No dude why is everyone saying this, if you’re using the rules the rules said you needed to use your marbles to get your opponents marbles, sang-woo didn’t use his marbles in any way. There’s a reason everyone showed 20 marbles, and it could prob be something lost in translation as well
@@TrueGamer22887 The rules never said anything about needing to have 20 marbles though. They just that the player that manages to take all 10 marbles from their opponent wins
Keep your mouth closed and let your eyes listen.
@@tannerparks6030 you’re selectively using the rules, the rules also said you need to use your marbles to get the other marbles, howd he do that again?
Even if it was possible, do you really think Sang-Woo wanted to do that? We see him murder a couple of people to even the odds. Knowing sang-woo, he probably did consider it, but didn't want Ali to survive either
I loved the Tug of awar game, it showed the old man, the weaskest in the group, saving everybody because of the games he used to play as a kid.
With how many other years of squid game there were, how are we not sure that the old man didn’t play already in previous seasons? On top of maybe playing it as a kid, maybe he also had years of experience watching the best tug of war teams win to learn that strategy!
True, I guess its open to interpretation
I really thought Gong Yoo would play a bigger role in the show like the marketing lead me to believe but I'm happy he was great in the scenes he's in. Also he looks younger than when he looked like in Train to Busan. Ma man's aging like fine wine.
Now the show is huge. They can bring him back for a bigger role. Also Byung Hun Lee is going to be a lead character in season 2 if it comes back.
With what Netflix did with Money Heist, won't be surprised if they try to get 4 season out of this show.
For me ,Gong yoo is having G Man vibes from Half life 😅
I *hope* I look that good at 42. Man hit the genetic lottery.
The director said on CNN recently that he had something left for that character if he'd do season 2
I actually predicted the old man twist. When he died offscreen it hit me. It was also him smiling with every game but worried when the sirens were going off.
One little detailed many people missed is when GI-Hun won and check the atm to pull out money, He only pulled out 10,000. Which was the worth of one player. Himself. 10,000$ x 456 players = 4,560,000 was the grand prize. Brilliant writing.
It was 45.6 billion.
This show is one of the few shows where i watched like a ton of TH-cam videos on theories and discussions. Thats like Breaking Bad/Game of Thrones level in great writing. (When GOT was still written well)
This show really makes me think if it should dethrone Breaking Bad as my favorite TV show of all time..
@@JayForsure If this is all we get, maybe. If they do make a season 2, we should wait and see how it goes. Hopefully they take their time and flesh the whole thing out.
@@st_raziel2283 I completely agree with you, and you've changed my mind. Because ALL of breaking bads seasons were great. Now we gotta wait and see if ALL squid game seasons are great as well.
@@JayForsure no…..
The whole thing was great! The one thing I just cant buy that even having the knowledge that Sang-woo's mothers house and shop were held leverage on an overdue payment, and that Sae-byeok brother was being held alone in an orphanage and her mother was stuck in NK, Gi-hun still drags his feet over the course of a year to help them even though he felt responsible. That just makes 0 sense to me. The character portrayed would have gone to them as soon as he was done grieving over his mother. Maybe he never touched them money afterward but he would have used it to help out the others first and in a timely manner.
Ask soilders how they feel coming back after seeing things people shouldn't see, just to find the world has both moved on and stayed exactly the same. And who's going to help when they can't know what you've been through?
Depression is a bitch
@@OppositeofHATE7 ty
you ever been depressed? It makes doing thing very difficult, and it weakens one's convictions. He just watched someone he admired for years kill himself in shame after 500+ others died before his eyes. I agree that it was disappointing for him to take so long, but it does make sense.
At the last episode when Gi-Hunn ( I believe that's the main character's name) visited the bank, the Bank Officer offered him to open a special account with his money and make him a VIP. Meaning all the VIPs were a player once and they use their money in gambling in the game.
*Glass Bridge shattering scene appreciation comment. It was a masterpiece when the drum kicked in holy moly.*
you know that scene at the end when they're betting against each other and someone tried to save the homeless guy at the end it reminded of the joker in dark knight and what he did at the end of the movie with bombs and the two ships and the games themselves....this is the kind of shows that make you speechless it is so deep and so violent and brutal and humane you gotta appreciate the artistry in this masterpiece
What I love about this show is how consistent the characters are but they still grow and we are shown how the games have changed them while they're still the same person. That's good writing right there.
As an Asian, I'm super happy that asian films and shows are getting more popular in the west! If you guys want more shows like Squid Game thats on Netflix, I recommend Alice in Borderland. It just released last year and has a similar plot and the characters are pretty great too!
A LOT better than some movies from the West if you as me. And the acting is ALWAYS on point
Is there any other asian series you recomend? Im watching from mexico and fell in love with asian films, i have seen alice in boderland and was amazing.
Alice was such a find! Really introduced me to the death game concept and i've been hooked ever since!
@@pepsitoast2348 let me recommend an older movie, OLDBOY .. I believe it too is a South Korean film. The twist will have you in the shower, washing off what u just watched
Well to be fair asian entertainment as of late has been hitting more home runs than the west. Take a look at Demon slayer destroying the box office during the pandemic
The time that they showed the video of everyone playing the slap game, I was like, wait this frail old guy was getting slapped like that to get here? That got me curious/suspicious.
me toooooooo
maybe not everyone has to be slapped. The girl who just got out of the prison wouldn't care enough to play that game. They probably approached her because they knew she would say yes since she has nothing to live for.
The fact that Jeremy is rounding on 2 mil is crazy to me, been watching since the revenge of the fallen review. Awesome to watch these channels I’ve followed for years get the recognition they deserve
I've been watching him since 2010 :)
Damn so you’ve literally been here since the beginning lol
I fell in love with Jeremy circa 2012, when I watched his original "Batman Forever" review. I've been here ever since.
I'm subscribed since his Mass Effect 3 Ending video. He was as 70k back then. Crazy how he grew, but well deserved. One of the most entertaining guys on YT.
@@MsNotzi What first won me over was his Ninja Assassin review. If you haven't seen it, please change that. It's absolutely hilarious and one of Jeremy's best videos.
The craziest thing I realized on the second watch of squid game was that Seong Gi-Hun swears on his mothers life that he won't hassle Sae-Byeok if she unties him. He the hassles her and his mother dies
Damn!
Fun fact: The VIP's acted somewhat stilted because they were told to by the director. They were supposed to be that way.
I knew the old guy was behind it all after following clues:
1) grinned and did surprisingly well in game 1.
2) knew how to win the tug of war game
3) most important clue: when lights went out and he was standing on top and yelled, the front man immediately stopped the purge. That was a dead give away.
4) lastly the fact that they didn’t show him getting killed
Are we not gonna talk about how LONG they have been playing this game. The old man killed and manipulated hella people just to feel something. Even he said he made the games because having too much money meant the same as having none. No fulfillment.
The VIPs really spoke like every generic anime bad guy ever
9:20 YES!! Totally agree! Soon as the cop got shot in the shoulder, and proceeds to slo mo fall backwards off the cliff….
NOPE! Ain’t foolin’ me!!! I’ve seen enough TV/film to know when someone falls off a cliff into the water without a body, there’s still a solid chance!!!!
There is a theory that with the very very first game played in the underground train station, that this is what determines if you're a player or an enforcer as the colours represent the clothing.
Holy shit, now this is a good. 👍
Its green tho not blue
@@reynaldoadriel3694 Think about it though, clearly the enforcers are there for money, why else would those few be harvesting organs for extra money. And what's green, the paper square or the outfits?
@@branzeegaming6458 the director disproved this theory but its still interesting to think about
@@Willty64 awwww well that's sad
what I love about South Korean films/shows is that they tend to focus more on the characters and give importance to them as they do with the concept/story. It makes me emotionally enganged and invested to every characters, just like on Parasite, Train to Bussan, and this one
That’s what literally every good show or movie does
Real movies and shows have stakes for the characters and not afraid to kill them off to fit the storyline. Movies are more difficult as the storyline is shorter unless its a sequel to a property. Hollywood needs to start to look and learn from the otherside of the world as people want more gritty and compelling entertainment.
This is one of the channels that I'm glad it didn't die.
It makes me happy knowing jeremy still enjoys what he does and that the fans are still loyal
Edit: Wtf is up with people assuming stuff in the reply section? U guys ok?
A Chris stuckman fan I assume .
@@THOMAS2910able what happened to him?
@@carolinaa.4407 if anything, he's getting bigger. His videos about the problems with today's action/horror movies have been cited and shared like crazy. He's even working on a full-production film of his own. The only thing I can think of is that he doesn't grade movies any more, he just reviews them. Idk if that has decreased his viewership, but he's still making videos and being seen
Do you wish most channels will die?
@@JM-us3fr do you assume stuff about most people? 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Tried to watch it a couple of weeks ago and didn't make it out of the first episode before turning it off, it just didn't grab me.
Then after talking to my friend who loves it I gave it a second chance and binge watched it and finished the series this morning.
Red light Green light had me shook wasn't expecting that and it got me hooked.
Great twist at the end and great story.
Awesome show!!!!
When the old man begged them to stop during the blackout killings. They only stopped bc of his position 😧
The contestants don’t know about his position so this doesn’t hold up.. him not being shot when told to get up off the bed multiple times is because his position
@@tonito_el_tigre the contestants didnt stop for the old man tho they stopped because of the enforcers running into the room, the old man pretending to be scared and asking them to stop was the signal the people running the game were waiting for
@@tonito_el_tigre Dude, frontman heard him and ordered them to stop, lights went on, soldiers went in and people stopped
The old man also wasn't apart of any of the drugged van scenes and the clothes changing scene. He also clued he was important when he refused to give his name.
@@omaralkharraz2410 I only watched it once and binged it in one day so I probably remember incorrectly!
The fact you’re sponsored by AMC and the walking dead shows how far you’ve come!😄
Ali got that Golden Retriever energy. Literally one of my favorite characters there😭😭
@@suzygirl1843 it ain’t that deep, a person can be naive just because they are naive
@@suzygirl1843 ive seen it, it has no relevance
@@suzygirl1843 well at least he's portrayed as one of the best characters but I get what you're saying
Shit, when you talked about second watching i started remembering stuff in my head. That flip the card game was totally a test. When they almost forget about the money to instead bitch slap the guy, he's like "this dude got what it takes"
When Gi-Hun received the card that said his “gganbu” wanted to meet with him, I initially thought it was a reference to how the company must be referring to themselves as his gganbu as they are sharing their funds with him, and when it turned out to be the old man, my mind exploded as it hit me both were true; he is the “company” sharing that fortune with him. 🤯 Favorite reveal of the show.
I think the old man’s argument is pretty crazy but relatively true . It was like: people don’t understand what happiness is. And I learned what my happiness is when I played the games. At the same time, people are not kind and I showed you through these games that instead of working together, they would sooner eat each other for a slightly larger and tastier piece of meat at the end of the day…
The fact the old man stopped the game and the people chose to come back and play, is twisted.
Concerning the marble game. The way it was worded I thought you and your partner could both survive by simply giving your ten marbles to your partner and get her/his ten marbles in exchange. Both would have fullfilled the games goal then.
That's a good point someone else In this comment section made. Noticed those who died only died when they had zero marbles.
You were only allowed to play with your partner. I believe they got 10 marbles each so it would of been impossible to both make it out.
@@johnathanhedgepeth5276 They never stated how many marbles you should have in the end, so 20 marbles weren't needed. The rules were to use your marbles to get your opponent's marbles, so techinically you could use your marbles by exchanging them for all of your opponent's marbles. That way both players get their opponent's marbles, but they never reach zero marbles.
@@devilskind92 That is a reasonable assumption, but only if you think the VIPs would be entertained with that outcome or that the games are designed for people to survive them.
Bingo. The games weren't about being fair, fairness was only in service to entertainment.
Like on the Glass Bridge the guy who could discern the difference was playing fair, but it stopped being entertaining so they changed conditions to make it "fun" again.
After literally crying for the marble episode and then seeing the reveal at the end, I didn't know how to feel after that, it broke my heart and it had me calling my weed guy so I can process my emotions.
I wasted too many tears for the old man throughout the whole show. Seeing him just getting more sick I was a mess... Also, I bawled for Ali too during the marble episode, him calling out for his partner just broke me. But yeah, that twist at the end...I just felt so betrayed. Lol Goes to show just how great the actors are.
@@D.R.590 @d.sage fr I felt the same as y’all this was such a good show it made me feel emotions. When I truly felt the saddest in the show was when the girl that made it to the finals died. I was yelling at my tv! I wanted her to win so bad so she could be with her brother, and I started to doubt the fact that the lead would would follow through with her last request but I’m glad he did. That girl(forget her name) was my favorite in the show , I thought it was amazing
The first clue the old man was important, was when everyone started to kill each other after lights-out. The "front man" had the guards stop the players from killing each other. To those not catching the concern of the front man would only understand that the front man was preventing unnecessary killing but he was just protecting the old man.
Actually the Old man yells for everyone to stop, The front man took his orders. I remember thinking that was strange as i was watching it, but i didnt guess he was the mastermind.
@@michaelharipersad9882 Yea, I was like that's weird. I suspicious from then on.
A lot more then just that amigo.
Jeremy that Ted talk at the end was relatable as hell to me. Thank you for that, it was much needed.
The marble game and when he found his mother on the floor hit me hard.
This was a great review! I love when Jeremy goes in-depth and a bit philosophical.
I knew the old guy was part of it. I felt he was there to see who would take over for him.
This show made me feel so bad about humanity when it shows it’s dark sides when backed into a corner, that it made me go out of my way to be friendlier to the people I meet everyday in defiance of that feeling 😅