Squid Game | All Episodes Review, V.I.P. | Netflix
I was always going to watch Squid Game, from the very first trailer I saw, I knew it fell into a genre I set very comfortably with, but what if you don't know if it's your cup of tea? Well, I got you covered with a Squid Game Netflix review. We biodtells and I usually walk in the indie game space, but if you like this review, I will keep the first half spoiler-free, but there will be details from the later episodes towards the end.
What is Squid Game?
It's a Korean action drama show that has just been released on Netflix that follows the traumatic experiences of a group of people who are playing some schoolyard games in an unknown location well away from society. It all seems like fun and games at first, but the contestants quickly realize that losing is a fatal event, and any aspect of fun quickly goes out the door as the bullets and blood start flying. Each death results in an addition to the prize pool, and as you can imagine, when millions of dollars are at stake, there's a little bit of aggression happening here.
Squid games sit comfortably in the "hunger games" style of people's deaths for entertainment tent areas, although, unlike dystopian books and films, they are set within current times in Korea.
The main character of the series is Seong Gi-hun, and we learn very quickly that he's pretty much a loser, a gambler, a dysfunctional father and not all that likable indeed. This is a trait that you will find with a large host of characters, as we learn that they are all crippled by debt, and the game is their last chance to escape the inevitable consequences of their poor choices.
Be expecting a lot of stereotypical characters in the Squid game, from the young, moody, quiet but highly effective Kang-same book to the very buff and antagonistic criminal Jang Deok Su. However, the addition of the timid Abdul Ali, a foreign worker from Pakistan and Oh il nam, an elderly dying man does add to the interesting dynamics that we get learning about the characters.
Indeed, one of the reasons's that I would completely recommend watching the Squid game is for the way that e characters interact and strategies throughout the whole process. Yeah, it's cliche at times, but the dialog is interesting and you can't help but have your favorite characters, which is a game that leads contestants towards death, is probably not a good thing to do.
The Squid Game has this interesting mechanics of setting the tone very early on that the contestants will be playing in 6 different games, and we're probably starting to head towards oiler territory here. What this does, heightens your interest as characters get ready to compete. You can't help but wonder and predict what the game will be, just as the character is, and when that music starts and the game is about to begin, you find yourself sitting up, ready to spectate, just like others might be doing. The games, though, were a bit hit and miss.
Given the scope of the first, red light green light in which you would have seen this lovely doll from trailers is so large, moving along to some simple games like the honeycomb scene was a bit of an anticlimax for me. The full points to the bridge game, which for me is the most interesting game played, and interestingly enough coincided with what I would say was my biggest gripe of the series so far, which starts to bear its head towards the end.
The introduction of the VIP is a plot tool designed to start to explain the why of the games, and whilst millionaires gambling on death games are not in any way original, it's still a concept that would make sense if it wasn't for the absolute shocking choice of VIP cast and dialog. I don't know if it's the actors or just really poor writing, but there wasn't a single VIP scene that sits comfortably within the quality of the rest of the show. My favorite comment I read about the VIP was that those scenes were Cringe, and it completely describes how I felt watching them.
I do think that Squid Games found it hard to bring everything together, with attempts to add complexity to the divers and organ harvesting, all the way to a very open ending which leaves a lot of questions and the ability to create a second season if the first does well enough.
But let's move on to the ending, the scene with the dying of il name doesn't provide all that much closure, and whilst it's an interesting twist, one I didn't see coming, it still reeks of, we do it because we're kind of assholes, and I don't know if that the complexity that this show deserves.
Then we have Seong Gi Hun, the person who has grown from this loser to a very likable character, who turns his back on his promise to his daughter, to go and fight the squid game establishment, yeah that doesn't sit too well with me. Don't get me wrong, I loved this series, and would happily watch it again. I just feel that there are a few areas where the writers have been unable to bring everything together, and that mostly sits with the big picture, why is this all happening in the realm of the story. Let me know what you think of the Squid game, and if you've watched the series, tell me if I'm wrong about those VIP scenes. I need a second opinion there!
Full Casting Details
Watch the cast of Squid Game: The leading character of this series is "Lee Jung-Jae" Player No. 456, guys Lee Jung-Jae, a famous South-Korean actor and model. He started his career in 1993 and his birthday comes on Friday, 15 December, 1972 and Age of Lee Jung-Jae is now 48 years old.
The second and most interesting character of the Squid Game "Park Hae-soo" Player No. 218 guys Park Hae-soo also playing the main character in this series. South Korean actor Park Hae-soo's birthday is on Saturday, 21 November, 1981 and the age of Park Hae-soo is 39 years.
Oh Young-soo player no. 001 guys, his birthday is on 19 October, 1944 and his age is 76 now. Oh Young-soo is from South Korea.
Lee Yoo-Mi, Player No. 240 a younger South Korean actress, started her career in 2009 Lee Yoo-Mi's birthday is on July 18, 1994 and her age is 27.
Lee Ji-ha Player no. 070 in Squid Game is a South Korean actress and model whose birthday comes on october 7, 1970 and the age of Lee Ji-ha is 51 now.
Heo Sung-tae is a South Korean actor, whose birthday is on October 20, 1977 and his age is 44 years old.
Wi Ha-joon, started his career in 2012 guys Wi Haa-joon's birthday comes on August 5, 1995 and the age of Wi Ha-joon is 26 years. Police Man.
Jung Ho-yeon player No. 067 is a younger South Korean actress and fashion model. Jung Ho-yeon's birthday is on June 20, 1994 and her age is 27 years.
Squid Game V.I.P.
The Squid Game is a battle royale game conducted by a group of twisted but filthy rich people (V.I.P.) who have nothing better to do with their money. So, this group of rich friends constructs different buildings around the world somewhere hidden on an island where they can hide their sick pastime activity from the public. This game is not limited to South Korea only because in Ep 7 when the V.I.P.S arrive, they mention how the games have been going in different countries. They were here just to attend the finale of the game occurring in Korea.
This game has been going on since the 90s as we can see loads of databases the cop Joon Ho finds in the building while spying around. Each year there's one player who wins this game at the cost of the lives of all the other players. Briefly going over the idea of the game. This organization brings in desperate, poor, and needy people who are drowned in debts and standing at the lowest point of their lives and manipulates them into playing this game by showing them the hefty amount of reward that is of 45.6 billion won.
Squid Game Ending
This organization gives itself an edge and tries to make itself not responsible for the killings of all the people involved by giving the players full permission to participate or not. They even include a clause that lets them leave the game if the majority of the players agree to not continue the game. The 2021 players shown in this series do so in the beginning, only to find out that the real world is also torturous, so they'd rather play the game. The players come back which also shows how strong humans' greed for money is. But as the old saying goes, "Greed is a curse."
That's how the game proves to be for all of these players - --- is a curse. Long story short, through many traumatizing challenges and watching his friends die but by the end, he realizes that no amount of money is better than human life and he would rather have his friends back and live with no money. And that's how he spends his life. There's a 1 year time leap after winning the game and we see that even after winning all that money, he never used anything from it as he can't bring himself to use this money which he won after the death of all those people.
Regret kills him every day until one day he receives a card from the game organization once again. He goes to the location mentioned on the card only to find out the biggest secret that one of a friend he made in the game, Player 001, the old man was one of the founding members of the game and the mastermind behind all this. He had called Gi Hoon to ask why he hadn't been using the money.
There were multiple instances during the series which show how this old man was a V.I.P. all along. The way how during the night when a fight breaks out amongst the players, he is nowhere to be seen, and when he screams to stop this fight standing on top of the beds, the *Front Man, the guy with the black mask, immediately asks to turn on the lights and break the fight. It has been hinted multiple times that a V.I.P. is in this place, too, who has the owl's golden mask, but it's never shown where he is. When the other V.I.P.S arrive, they also ask where the V.I.P of this place is and the *Front Man gives an excuse about it. Also, in the marbles game, they don't specifically show the old man getting shot, we only hear a bullet being fired.
Anyways, coming back to the present. The old man is on his death bed and he gives lame reasons as to why the game exists in the first place. How he does it for fun. He mentions that before dying it was his wish to play the games he used to play with his friends back in his childhood again. That's why he enters the game himself as it's more entertaining for him than only watching the game. Also, he tries to justify himself by saying that no one in the world cares for the poor and that by conducting this game, they're somehow helping the poor.
The old man and Gi Hoon make a bet on a drunken guy on the street if someone will help him or not before midnight. Gi Hoon wins because a woman brings the cops with her to help this man which proves the old man and his stupid reasons for conducting these twisted games wrong. There are people still in this world that do care and humanity is not entirely dead. Gi Hoon believes that this is the end of it because Gi Hoon doesn't know the scale of this game.
We get to know about all these internal secrets because of the cop Joon Ho who secretly enters the building and spies there. But Gi Hoon still has no idea. By the end, Gi Hoon fulfills the wishes of his dead friends by helping their loved ones and when he's about to leave the country to meet his daughter, he notices someone else being approached by the game. He rushes to them, but the guy who invites the people to the game escapes before he reaches there.
I believe this guy who invites these people to the game is only doing this job without having any idea about the whole game. His job is only limited to inviting people and he has no particular idea about the gravity of this game. That's why I believe he isn't playing a very major role in the overall story. Gi Hoon takes the card from the needy man and forbids him to ever play this stupid game.
Gi Hoon decides to leave the country, but he can't bring himself to just leave everything behind after knowing that the game is still going on. He turns around and calls the number on the card and gives a warning to the game that he won't let them continue with this all. Gi Hoon is determined to get to the bottom of all this and the series ends here. We can consider this an end and move on thinking that these sick games will always keep ongoing as long as there are twisted rich folks and greedy people who are ready to kill for money. Also, we can think that Gi Hoon will start his investigation and will somehow and someday get to end this organization.
Season 2 Possibility:
There are countless possibilities for Season 2. The creators can extend the series easily. I believe the 2nd Season could focus more on the First Man. Maybe they can show how the *Frontman won the game himself and his back story and how this first man got to become the first man and how he is ahead now. One of my theories is that the players who win are allowed to head the other games in different locations as more such games are happening around the world. But Gi Hoon was never approached, so there might be some other criteria to head the games. I believe there's a possibility that the cop Joon Ho is still alive. After all, he was *Front Man's brother.
I think the first man purposely shot him in the shoulder so he can save him later on and also show the workers that he is on their side. The *Front man's betrayal of this whole game will help Gi Hoon a lot in fighting this organization. Also, the cop's phone still has those video proofs. The phone can still be discovered and the data in it can be retrieved which will reveal the ugly secrets of this place. That was it for this article. Comment below with your theories for Season 2. I would love to hear your views.
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