The views expressed in this article belong to the reporter, and do not reflect the views held by Rockbridge County High School, the Prowler Staff, and its members.

Squid Game is a new South Korean series streaming on Netflix. Released on Sept 17, 2021, Squid Game has become a big hit in multiple countries. It is currently top 2 on “Netflix U.S. today” and has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite its recent release, Squid Game was actually written in 2009 by Hwang Dong-hyuk, but wasn’t picked up by a streaming service until this year. Dong-hyuk has officially announced that there will be a season 2, but there has been rumors that it will be announced in the Fall of 2022. 

Squid Game begins showing the main character, Gi-Hun, and the hardships he is facing with his life. He is shown struggling over custody of his daughter, running from his debts, and a sick mother in which he lives with. When on the subway, he ran across a well dressed man who proposed to play a game. After many failed attempts, Gi-Hun wins and is given money by the mystery man as well as a proposal to join a game in which he could earn much more money. 

He debated on the opportunity, but gave in after seeing how much of his life was falling apart. 455 other players also give in with the hopes of making it out of their debt. After being taken to a mystery location, all players are given jackets with numbers on them, numbered one through 456, and men wearing masks tell them the rules of the games. Up to this point, players are under the impression that all they must do is win a few childrens games and they will walk out debt free, but they soon find out that it comes at a much bigger cost. 

The first game the players line up to play is red light, green light. Once a player was caught moving during “red light” they weren’t just eliminated, they were killed. Only about half of the original 456 made it out of the first game. One of the rules of the game was that if the

majority wanted to quit then they all could go home. As a group, they decided to take a vote and Gi-Hun was the deciding factor that they would all quit the game. 

After realizing that their lives were still bad in the outside world, most players returned to the game. Also making an appearance in the game was a detective in search of his brother. The players continue going through games such as sugar honeycomb, tug of war, and marbles. While numbers slowly decreased and the prize money increased, the players became restless. Riots broke out and contestants found out that losing games wasn’t the only way you could get other players out. The second to last game was glass stepping stones and this game had an audience. A group of wealthy men come to watch and bet on players. After only 3 players make it out (Gi-Hun, Sang-Woo, and Se-Byeok), they are ready for the final game. After an injury from the first game setting her back, Se-Byeok returns to her bed after the game where Sang-Woo kills her. 

The final game is squid game. Gi-Hun and his childhood best friend must battle it out in the most violent game yet. Right when Gi-Hun has the chance to win he tries convincing Sang-Woo to agree to quit the game. Knowing that he didn’t want to return to life outside of the game, Sang-Woo kills himself declaring Gi-Hun the winner. 

After returning home Gi-Hun learns that his mom has passed and that his daughter has moved to the United States. He realizes that his life is still falling apart despite the new wealth. The last episode ends with him ready to get on a plane to find his daughter, but instead he hesitates after seeing a well dressed man giving someone the same card he received inviting him to play the game. He didn’t board the plane, he instead stated that he would find out who all is behind the game and put a stop to it. 

Squid Game, while described often as a drama, has many elements. There are sections of love, loss, grief, anger, and happiness. It shows what a society could look like with total dictatorship and what it would come with. The show labeled people as dollar signs and it gives you a look into how the government can view its citizens. Dong-hyuk does a good job at letting the whole thing play out the way that it does. 

The small connections that are made throughout the show that later unravel into an intertwined story are impressively thought out. My favorite part of “Squid Game” is that all 456 contestants were so different, but every one of them needed the money for a different reason. It showed that you can come from anywhere and still end up on the bottom. It also proved that money doesn’t equal happiness. 

Gi-Hun had more money than he knew what to do with but was disgusted by the fact that 455 people had to die for him to receive it. I think that Squid Game is different from a lot of other shows currently on Netflix and has a good story behind it. Overall, the show was well written and I would recommend anyone who is looking for a new show to watch.