Round 6 (2021)

Money Can't Buy Happiness!

An old man presents an interesting premise. He asks, “What does a person with no money have in common with a person who has too much money?” His response is, “Neither one can have any fun. Having too much money soon becomes boring.” Such is the delusion of money. It cannot buy fun, love, happiness, or anything else that isn’t materialistic. It can only buy things. And things have a highly delusive quality to them. Why? Because people suffer when they don’t get what they want. And even when they get exactly what they want, they still suffer. Because they can’t hold onto it forever.

The same old man reminisces about his childhood days of being able to play with his friends seemingly forever without any rules or constraints. People are very much like children in their attachments to things. A child gets a new toy until he plays with it enough, and then he’s bored with it. Adults are no different. The World of Delusion promises only fleeting moments of happiness that always has the same result for everyone: the feeling of emptiness.

Squid Game is about human greed and how deep and low a person will stoop for a chance at 45 Billion Won (just over 33 million dollars). The target participants in these games are people who are in dire an desperate financial straits. People who owe such a debt that it’s all but impossible for them to get out from under. How they got into these situations isn’t really the issue compared to the fact that they’ve found themselves stuck in a hole they can’t get out of—until they receive a card; an opportunity to not only pay off their debts, but to possibly have enough money to secure their futures. However, nobody explains to them that nearly all lottery winners or people who win exorbitant amounts of money almost always end up broke. Such is the pitfall of “never having enough.” Even Ebeneezer Scrooge once stated, “There is no such thing as rich enough, only poor enough.”

Seong Gi Hun is a man in severe debt. He’s borrowed incredible amounts of money. He’s a divorced man living with his mother and trying to be there for his estranged daughter. He goes so far as to steal money from his mother in order to bet on horse races, with the hope of winning enough to treat his daughter to a birthday dinner. The people he owes money find him and threaten with severe bodily harm if he doesn’t come up with the money soon. He receives the invitation; an opportunity to play a game for money. More money than he could dream of!

Of course, nothing is as it seems as Seong Gi Hun and 455 other participants are whisked away to a strange island to play six games. Winner takes all. What Gi Hun doesn’t realize is that the games played to the death. He watches in horror as 200 people are killed playing, “Red Light, Green Light.” And as with all aspects of human greed, shaky alliances are formed for protection as well employing means of disposing of the competition. Sleepless nights are common as participants fear attacks in the middle of the night, and we wonder just how strong the initial bonds of friendship and comradery will last when lives and the money are on the line.

We find out that this entire game is an instrument of the incredibly rich from various countries and walks of life. Why? For entertainment. For the ability to revel in some “fun.” Never mind that that “fun” comes at the high price of human lives. Nobody cares. Not the people sponsoring the games nor the participants, no matter how much they may cry “foul” they still play. Ironically, after the first game, the participants vote to end the games, but after more time of suffering financial woes, they reluctantly agree to play again. Like people who frequent casinos, they will lose, but they will always come back. Strangely enough, even if they win, they will also always come back. That’s why they say, “The House always wins.”

I watched “Alice in Borderland” right before this series. While both series are incredibly well done and thought-provoking, I found “Alice in Borderland” far more insightful and sublime in its premise that it’s an allegory for life; that the joys and horrors of this world are not real. “Squid Game” is more specific in exposing the level of human greed and how base human “morality” becomes when money is the goal. As the Bible verse states, “For what does it profit a man should he inherit the world but lose his soul?”

It's not hard to guess that Seong Gi Hun wins the games, but interestingly enough, he refuses to use any of the money he’s won. Survivor’s guilt? Blood money? A final conversation with one of he masterminds behind the games causes him to think about his life, as he’s lived a full year without spending any of the money. Finally, after coming across another “participant” it’s clear that the writers have set up a “Season 2” with Seong Gi Hun vowing to expose the people behind the games.

This isn’t your typical “K-Drama.” It’s vicious and brutal without apologizing for it. There are characters you cheer for and others you immediately despise. There are also some you may find yourself cheering for, but in the end, you are hopeful for their downfall. And there are still others you initially despised but find yourself rooting for. Isn’t that very much like how people are treated in the real world? How ironic that most people love to pull a hero up, but not nearly as much as they love tearing one down.

The series was nearly perfect, except for one big flaw. The police officer who is able to sneak onto the island and uncover what is going on. Somehow, the police officer is able to follow a van in the middle of the night along a dark road to an exchange point. I’m not exactly sure how the driver of the van didn’t notice a single car trailing him the entire time. That was really far-fetched. I also didn’t see how the police officer was able to prevent his cellphone from running out of battery power (as he spends much time recording and taking photos). He certainly didn’t have a charger with him! The whole scenario with the officer should have been handled differently. Instead, like too many of the participants, he just had an incredible run of luck!

Performances across the board were fantastic with Lee Jung Jae leading the way. He was fantastic in “Chief of Staff” so I was already excited to see him helming this series. Even the pink hair got a laugh from me!

Squid Game endeavors to say a lot about people and the imbalance that exists in this world between the 1% and everyone else, and how that chasm is getting wider all of the time. It’s been stated that there is only one, true joy that you can have when you have “too much” money. And that, of course, is to share it. To use it to help others who are in need. The irony of money is that it can never buy happiness nor can you take it with you.

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Overrated

Major spoiler ahead. Proceed with caution.

I strongly feel that Squid Game is overrated. It started off well. The story and the suspense was quite good. However, I didn't like the ending. Ki Hoon wins all the money. He leaves Sae Byeok's brother with Sang Woo's mother and gives them the money and just leaves! I'm like, WTH?!?!?!?! That granny will die soon anyway so who will look after that little boy??? He could've at least stayed with them. This is why I didn't like the ending. I heard that they are going to bring a season 2. I hope it turns out better than this with a better ending. It is worth one watch.

Alice in Borderland was way better than this though.

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can't remember well but...

help i totally forgot to add my review to this drama and I've watched it a long time ago, when it was a hype

but as far as i remember, it was a shocking, weird and different experience.

the acting is chef kiss no complains (i guess) the songs were. visuals were good, like, i felt the emptiness and the coldness of that horrifying place

i remember that this damn drama left me with so many types of emotions.
i wasn't sure if i was angry, sad, confused, happy or nervous 😭

i can't go deeper (cause i don't remember the drama really well) but I'm excited for season 2, i hope is good cause the new cast is top tier

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Mugunghwaa koetchii Piat Samnida...

Berkonsep tentang survival game, Squid game menjadi series korea terepic di genrenya. Saya menonton series ini sebenarnya awalnya karena penasaran dari review filmnya di TikTok, banyak yang membahas series ini. Menceritakan Seong Gi Hoon pemuda miskin dan terlilit banyak hutang - dia diundang untuk mengikuti sebuah permainan di suatu pulau, awalnya Seong Gi Hoon tidak begitu faham tentang itu, namun setelah menerima undangan itu dan pergi menuju pulau tersebut Seong Gi Hoon mulai menyadari bahwa undangan tersebut adalah undangan acara game berhadiah uang yang sangat banyak namun harus mengorbankan para pemain lain. Dari segi CGI series ini sangat bagus ya hampir tidak bisa dibedakan mana CGI dan mana yang asli, dari segi konsep cerita mungkin biasa saja ya karena series ini sebenarnya rilis dekat dengan perilisan Alice in Borderland dan berkonsep hampir sama dengan series tersebut, ada series dan film lain dengan konsep yang sama - cerita semacam ini memang sepertinya sudah biasa. Dari segi permainan yang disajikan mungkin unik dan menarik ya karena menyajikan permainan-permainan yang berasal dari korea selatan. Warna dominan di series ini adalah Pink dan Hijau ditambah kuning langsat kuat yang matte, suasana series ini lebih banyak menegangkan dengan beberapa life meaning yang bagus, suasana sedihpun sangat tercipta di beberapa episode, untuk menghibur anda - series ini menurutku sangat layak di tonton. Ada adegan yang saya kurang begitu suka di series ini dan menurutku merusak suasan film, salah satunya adalah adegan kamar mandi dan adegan polisi yang menyamar.

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Who would really do this for money?

A Korean twist to the Japanese action Alice in borderland which I’m a big fan of. It was nice to see the cultural differences in two similar plots.

There seems to be an intentional difference between regular kdramas and international blockbusters like this and Parasite. Certainly made for international buzz. I heard the overhype from family and coworkers and it fits their taste more than it did with me.

However I do enjoy the cast and have watched a few of their other works. I think the ending was well enough if the main character simply went to take care of his daughter I don’t understand the message of seeking revenge/going back for more because unlike in Alice in borderland, the humans have a choice of being there. He was a good guy but unpredictable which could be frustrating at times.

There is no story line to continue in regards to a second season, I think it’s more just for the action of it all. Game playing is an interesting genre to many I suppose however It’s forgettable for me unless the entire world bombards me with anticipation like they did for s1 causing me to not be able to form my own expectations which will result in another disappointment. I however did enjoy those mild moments of reality in between the characters admission/re-admission into the game, which explained why they would ever be so desperate as to return to to this crazy game (and no, none of them were justifiable imo )

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Parasite it was not!

I had such high expectations for this drama. I expected it to be a brilliant, sardonic social commentary like Parasite. Well, I think I'm being unfair comparing it to the film.
It was good. Very good. But it could have been better. So much more than what it is. I hope a second season would add more depth and make the story more rich.
I love the acting. The actors have wonderfully portrayed their characters. I found the evil, rich VIPs to be bland, stereotypical and lackluster. The story feels incomplete. I liked O Henry's "the last leaf" inspired death-bed scene albeit it wasn't very satisfying.

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Too much blood.

I remember back in 2021 when everyone was obsessed with this show and at that time i simply couldn’t even hear about it anymore. Two days ago i was scrolling through netflix and decided to give this drama a chance. First of all: NEVER TRUST ANYONE and don’t “fall” in love with any character bc they WILL DIE.
Secondly: there’s away too much dead and blood in this show and that’s something that i personality don’t like. I also didn’t liked the ending to be honest. And the reason why they did this game like honestly fck you. It’s kinda of hard to watch too. Overall it was good bc the actores made it good.

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