Squid Games Overview

Social Media is blowing up with videos, memes, and posts about Netflix’s South Korean phenomenon, Squid Game. The survival drama television series includes one season, nine episodes. Since being released on September 17, 2021, the show has gained insane traction across the world. It is currently the most watched show in over 90 countries this week.

The series includes a cast of South Korean actors and actresses. Although the series is originally filmed in the Korean language, it is dubbed over in English for those who don’t care for subtitles. 

“I think that they could’ve done a better job on the little English part because the lips were so off…” junior, Kye Hansen said. 

Squid Game was a really popular kids’ game in Korea in the 70s and 80s, around the time when the show’s director was growing up in Seoul. In the game, kids were divided into defense and offense and played inside a Squid-shaped board drawn on the ground.

According to Squid Game director Hwang Dong-Hyuk, he chose to name the show after Squid Game as it was the most physical kids’ game of the times and for him, it was “the most symbolic children’s game to represent the kind of society we live in today.”

“My favorite part of Squid Games was when he started licking the cookie because it’s hard to get that umbrella…it was very innovative…” senior, Brady Barnett said. 

In the series, a cash-strapped, desperately indebted group of 456 South Koreans are tricked into a deadly tournament. Individuals sign a waiver to participate in Squid Game to win a prize worth millions of dollars. The contestants compete in various traditional children’s games, but the stakes are literally deadly. The series is comparable to Hunger Games, but features games such as “Red Light, Green Light” and “Tug of War”.

-Addison Crane

Squid Game Review

This show is intense, unique, and very compelling. In the show there are multiple games that people compete in to win the money prize. The challenges create lots of suspense and have you constantly on the edge of your seat. Each episode is a different challenge and it makes you want to keep watching to see what challenge everyone will compete in next. The only problem with the series is that it isn’t in English and you have to either read subtitles or listen to the dubbed version. The English voices on the dubbed version are so weird and made it hard to watch, but once you get into the games and the deeper meaning of the show the voices don’t bother anymore. 

“I love Squid Games. I think it is a very intricate tv show, but it is also very kind of disturbing,” senior Abby Watkins said. 

 Let’s talk about the games…

Here is a list of the games that the people play: Red Light Green Light, Squid Game, Tug of War, Midnight Fight, Dalgona Candy, Glass Stepping Stones, and Marbles. 

Honest opinion, the introduction to the show where you learn about why they are playing the game is pretty boring. You needed an introduction as to why they were entering the game, though. It took a minute to catch on, but once they enter the game and participate in the first challenge, it goes crazy. It increases the intensity like crazy in just the first episode. Right when Red Light Green Light starts it escalates to a new level of suspense and action. You don’t know who is going to die next. This challenge is the most iconic one and one of the best ones because it sets up the level of violence shown throughout the series. You soon realize that they are going to show no mercy in this show. It’s the craziest show ever.

The Dalgona Candy is another challenge that everyone is trying to do. You randomly select a honeycomb cookie shape and have to use a toothpick to pick around the shape without the honeycomb breaking. Of course the main character selects the hardest shape. You can’t even sit still during it. 

“…it kind of showed how people that are so down bad for money will do just about anything for it…” senior, Paxton Frasure said. 

These are just some of the games played throughout the series, but it’s definitely recommended to give this show a try. This is a great show to watch with friends and talk about. Despite all the negatives, still try out the show and see if it works for you. The whole story line is about the extreme people would go to to get out of financial debt and it makes you wonder if you would do the same thing. It is somewhat relatable and for sure worth the watch. 

-Lille Udy