If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve heard of Netflix’s Thrilling Korean show Squid Game. It’s the most-watched show in Netflix’s history, with 142 million households watching it in the first month of its release. Squid Game is the top-viewed series in over 94 countries. This critically acclaimed and loved series took ten years to be picked up by a network. And boy is the creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk glad it did at last. If you haven’t seen the show yet, Squid Game is about a secret contest where 456 players with debt problems had to play a series of children’s games. Why? In order to win a massive sum of cash. The twist is that if you lose, you also lose your life. Believe us, and it will keep you at the edge of your seat.
The show is thrilling, heartbreaking, and it’s inspired by economic struggles that people go thru, including economic inequality in South Korea. However, we are not here to talk about that. We are here to give you light on some of the things that you might have missed while watching Squid Game that will blow your mind. Some details might have been cut in translation. However, some were just there all along, waiting for you to rewatch it and find it. So sit back, and let us show you the way. If you haven’t seen the show yet, there are BIG SPOILERS up ahead. You’ve been warned.
25. The first scene in Squid Game shows you who’s going to win.
The series starts with a flashback of our main character Seong Gi-hun (Player 456). He is a child playing the now-famous Squid Game, a traditional children’s game in Korea. If you pay attention, you can see that his childhood friend and future rival, Cho Sang-Wu (Player 218), is competing closely against him in the opposite team. You might look at it as just a literal explanation of the children’s game and nothing else. However, there is more to it than that. The creator foreshadows how this will end. Actually, it is something that he does a lot, but not many people notice.
The symbolism in this flashback shows that this game starts as a teamwork operation with Gi-hun bringing the victory for his team. Sang-Wu tries his best but, in the end, he ends up falling. Gi-hun’s success in the final battle, winning the jackpot, is just a small part of it. Even if everyone else died, Gi-hun made them win by honoring and taking care of their families with its prize money. Although he tries to be a team player, Sang-woo failed to do so on many occasions by playing to save himself. We are probably going to see what else he does to get justice and fairness to the rest of the fallen on season 2. But for now, let’s keep checking other facts.