13: Squid Game Season One Catch-Up

[00:00:05] Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast. I'm Jason. And I'm Daphne. And this is Squid Game Cast, Episode 13. Season two comes out on December 26th. So in this episode, we're catching you up on what happened in season one.

[00:00:49] That's nine days as we're talking here. So we're here to catch you up. Plus, we'll share a little bit, actually not much information about what's in store for season two, because I don't like spoilers, but we will talk about it a little bit and also some of our hopes for it.

[00:01:07] Mostly, we're here to catch you guys up. If you're new to us, thanks for checking us out. We're glad you're listening. We are the Podcastica Network. We do in-depth episode by episode coverage of TV shows that we all genuinely love. We only cover shows that we really like and some movies too, of course. And you can find all of our podcasts and contact information and things like that at podcastica.com.

[00:01:32] I thought we would talk just a little bit about why we're even covering the show. Why do we like it? It's one of the most popular shows ever to be on. I think it's the most popular show ever on Netflix, even more than Bridgerton.

[00:01:47] I just think it's one of those shows that you can't look away from. It's so engaging. It's different, the juxtaposition of the childlike with the cruel and horrific, the commentary on class and wealth disparity and really putting forward these characters that personalize that and you just feel their

[00:02:15] their desperation and a lot of times they're depravity. It's really interesting. It's smart writing. It's darkly funny at times, which I love. The characters are great. Most of them are dead, but we like Song Gi-hun's performance, Lee Jung-jae's performance. So good. The visuals are so interesting, striking.

[00:02:38] And how it's all like kids game visuals expanded up into this adult level. The reality show addictiveness of the competition that draws us in. The music is so unique and ominous and cool. And, and, and I was just thinking about it too. Why do I like the show?

[00:02:59] And I've always been drawn to stories where somebody or a small group of people go to a place that's really dangerous. And it seems like their odds of survival are very low. Like I felt that way about Luke and Obi-Wan when they went into the Death Star and Star Wars and Frodo and Sam in Lord of the Rings.

[00:03:20] And now Daphne here is covering a skeleton crew, the new Star Wars show. I've only seen the first episode, but that gave me that same feeling. These kids go off onto this. Well, I don't want to spoil it, but it's the same kind of thing, you know?

[00:03:34] Yeah. And me covering a Star Wars show does not seem like it's something that I would ever do, but for various reasons, as we talk about in the podcast, I'm loving it.

[00:03:46] And it's great. It's, it's been tons of fun on the flip side of that, the squid game. I like the sense of urgency. I like the social commentary. Like you just mentioned.

[00:04:01] I appreciate the writing. I'm one of those people that's going to watch the subtitles and not listen to the dubbed. So I pay very close attention to that.

[00:04:11] I do that mostly because I want to hear the actors voices. I want to hear their performances, you know, even if I can't understand what they're saying, you can still get a lot through how they're saying it.

[00:04:23] Yeah. And I think you get as they're saying it and their emotional reaction, like it's the diction. It's all of that just comes across better than if you're listening to something dubbed.

[00:04:36] I agree.

[00:05:07] Then the next time through, I will take notes.

[00:05:11] So we're going to read a summary of each episode and just talk a little bit about what stands out in our memory about it. We, we, let's try to keep it, you know, five to 10 minutes on each episode, just so we, we can not take too long, not go too deep.

[00:05:25] We'll go plenty deep though. And we cover the episodes one by one, a full on spoilers for season one here.

[00:05:31] Obviously, if you haven't seen squid game up until now, and you don't want to be spoiled, then you should not be listening to this.

[00:05:36] Go watch it and then come back.

[00:05:38] But here's a quick synopsis just to remind us of the full season and then we'll get into the episode by episode.

[00:05:45] So season one in South Korea, Song Gi-hun, a divorced father, an indebted gambling addict who lives with his elderly mother is invited to play a series of children's games for a chance at a large cash prize.

[00:05:57] Accepting the offer, he's taken to an unknown location where he finds himself among 455 other players who are all deep in financial trouble.

[00:06:06] The players are made to wear green track suits and are kept under watch at all times by masked guards in pink jumpsuits with the games overseen by the front man who wears a black mask and a black uniform.

[00:06:17] The players soon discover that losing a game results in their deaths with each death contributing 100 million won, which is about 70,000 US dollars to the potential 45.6 billion won or $32 million grand prize.

[00:06:37] Gi-hun allies with other players, including his child friend, Cho Sang-woo and North Korean defector Kang Se-byeok to try to survive the game's physical and psychological twists.

[00:06:47] Whilst Detective Huang Jun-ho infiltrates the games as one of the guards to find his missing brother.

[00:06:55] So why don't you read the synopsis for the first episode and then we'll get into a little bit.

[00:07:01] Okay, so the first episode is Red Light, Green Light.

[00:07:05] Song Ji-hun is down on his luck having accumulated enormous debts with loan sharks while becoming estranged from his daughter and ex-wife.

[00:07:14] In a subway, a well-dressed man invites him to play a game of dakji for money and offers an opportunity to play more games with much higher stakes.

[00:07:26] Ji-hun accepts, is sedated, and awakens in a dormitory with 455 others, identified only by numbers on their green track suits.

[00:07:36] A group of masked guards in pink jumpsuits arrive and explain that the players are all in dire financial straits,

[00:07:43] but will be given billions of won in prize money if they can win six games over six days.

[00:07:50] The games are overseen by the frontman who is masked and dressed in black.

[00:07:54] Gi-hun befriends player 001, an elderly man suffering from a brain tumor.

[00:07:59] He also recognizes two other players, Chong Sang-woo, a childhood classmate who became an investment broker,

[00:08:06] and player 067, a pickpocket who stole Gi-hun's money after he won a horse race wager.

[00:08:14] The first game is Red Light, Green Light, where anyone caught moving is shot dead on the spot,

[00:08:20] revealing the sadistic nature of the games.

[00:08:23] Half the contestants panic and attempt to flee upon realizing this, turning the game into a massacre.

[00:08:30] With help from Sang-woo and player 199, Ali Abdul, Gi-hun finishes the game alive.

[00:08:40] So what stood out most about that one?

[00:08:44] Well, first of all, I think up until they went in to play that first game,

[00:08:48] they were all kind of in this dream world, thinking that they were going to be able to win this money.

[00:08:54] They didn't realize what the stakes were, and then they go in to this big room,

[00:09:00] they realize what the game is, but when that first guy is shot dead,

[00:09:05] they all start panicking, which results in half of them dying because they're trying to escape.

[00:09:12] They don't really know what's going on.

[00:09:15] Yeah.

[00:09:16] Yeah.

[00:09:17] I mean, to me, the moment everybody starts getting shot and blood everywhere and people freaking out

[00:09:25] and half the people managing to keep their shit together enough to stay still, but most not, half not,

[00:09:32] that of course stands out.

[00:09:35] And I think that's one of the moments that stands out the most in the whole series.

[00:09:38] And I don't think Rima ever watched any more after that.

[00:09:43] She's like, I'm out.

[00:09:45] That was it.

[00:09:46] And we used to do a segment called Fucked Up Moment of the Week.

[00:09:49] And I feel like this could be a nomination for Fucked Up Moment of the series.

[00:09:53] You know, it's pretty bad.

[00:09:55] Well, what better way to solidify what they're trying to do?

[00:09:58] Yeah.

[00:09:59] Right.

[00:09:59] And how serious it is.

[00:10:01] This is the kind of show we are.

[00:10:01] Yeah.

[00:10:01] But to save it for the end when we're already kind of invested, you know, like,

[00:10:04] what are we watching here?

[00:10:05] Oh, that's what we're watching.

[00:10:07] Yeah.

[00:10:07] Yeah.

[00:10:07] But we hadn't really met any of the players at that point, really.

[00:10:11] We hadn't gotten too deep into it by the time they first go in.

[00:10:15] Except for Gehun, that's it.

[00:10:16] You and you know.

[00:10:17] The rest, you kind of, you might see them, but it's not such a big deal.

[00:10:23] But still, it's human beings.

[00:10:25] But still.

[00:10:25] So we're like, whoa.

[00:10:26] Yeah, what?

[00:10:27] And I just remember, and I don't, I won't preface this.

[00:10:32] I won't talk about this too much.

[00:10:35] But you mentioned the reality style competition vibe of this.

[00:10:39] And it just makes me think of the reality version of this show, which I know we both loved and covered on the podcast.

[00:10:47] Squid Game, the challenge.

[00:10:49] Yeah.

[00:10:49] Yeah.

[00:10:49] Some of the similarities between the two and the excitement.

[00:10:53] And thankfully, they weren't going through the same things that they're going through on here.

[00:10:58] I wouldn't watch that if they had that.

[00:11:01] No.

[00:11:02] No, but this kind of has like a Hunger Games vibe.

[00:11:05] Absolutely.

[00:11:06] If you think about it.

[00:11:06] Oh, yeah.

[00:11:07] It's weird because, I mean, we talked about it during the podcast that, like, I think a lot of us, not all of us, maybe not even the majority, maybe just a small few.

[00:11:18] But some of us watch this show really wanting to be like, I'm only watching it because it's got this great message about wealth disparity and it's smart.

[00:11:28] But I think just about every person also gets caught up in the competition of it, just like you would when you're watching any reality show.

[00:11:35] You know, you want to win and you can't help but feel that.

[00:11:38] But still, if it was real and it was that cruel, I'd like to think, I know I wouldn't want to watch it.

[00:11:45] So it helps that it's fiction.

[00:11:47] Yeah.

[00:11:48] Yeah.

[00:11:48] And I think, too, the underdog nature of it.

[00:11:51] Yeah.

[00:11:51] Because at first you see what Gihon has been up to and it's hard to feel bad for him in some ways just because it's a situation he created with his gambling.

[00:12:03] And he's kind of not as likable at first either.

[00:12:06] No.

[00:12:06] Yeah.

[00:12:07] But over time he becomes this great underdog that we...

[00:12:11] And a hero.

[00:12:12] Yeah.

[00:12:12] For everyone.

[00:12:14] And I think the character moment for this episode that stood out to me was Ali Abdul saving Gihon's life.

[00:12:24] Because literally he had him in his hand.

[00:12:29] If he hadn't done that, Gihon would be dead.

[00:12:31] And we'd have had no more of...

[00:12:33] I mean, what's the story after that part?

[00:12:35] But I think that was a real character moment for this episode.

[00:12:39] It made you really like him and feel sad for him and hateful towards...

[00:12:46] What's the guy's name?

[00:12:47] Sung Woo.

[00:12:48] Sung Woo.

[00:12:49] Yeah.

[00:12:49] Later on.

[00:12:50] We'll get to that.

[00:12:51] Yeah.

[00:12:51] Friend.

[00:12:52] His childhood friend.

[00:12:53] Yeah.

[00:12:55] So...

[00:12:55] And I just think this is a great first episode.

[00:12:58] It has...

[00:12:59] Everything I said I liked about the show at the beginning, it has all of that.

[00:13:02] You know?

[00:13:03] The visuals, the intensity, everything.

[00:13:07] Yeah.

[00:13:08] So...

[00:13:08] Okay.

[00:13:09] If I go to the next one?

[00:13:10] Yeah.

[00:13:10] I think we're ready.

[00:13:11] Okay.

[00:13:11] Season 1, Episode 2, Hell.

[00:13:13] With over half of the players killed in the first game, many survivors demand to be released.

[00:13:18] Using the game's third clause, they narrowly vote to cancel the game and send everyone home, but without any prize money.

[00:13:26] Back in Seoul, Gi-hun goes to the police, but no one believes him except Detective Hwang Jun-ho, whose brother received the same invitation card and has recently disappeared.

[00:13:35] The players are invited to re-enter the game and many return out of desperation.

[00:13:40] This includes Gi-hun, whose mother needs surgery.

[00:13:43] Sung Woo, who is about to be arrested for financial fraud.

[00:13:46] Player 001, who does not wish to die in the outside world.

[00:13:51] Player 067, who wishes to rescue her parents, that's Sebiok, from North Korea and get her little brother out of an orphanage.

[00:13:59] Player 199, Ali, a Pakistani migrant worker who attacked and gravely injured his boss for withholding his wages.

[00:14:07] Player 101, named Jang Duk-su, a gangster on the run from gambling debts and his ex-bosses.

[00:14:13] Player 101, who wishes to rescue her parents, the police, and the guards were supposed to be arrested for the game.

[00:14:18] So what about this one?

[00:14:20] I feel like this started to take us down the road of Jun-ho.

[00:14:25] And what his part in all of this is basically, he's looking for his brother.

[00:14:31] His brother has disappeared.

[00:14:33] And Gi-hun's little card is really the first bit of evidence that he's been able to get his hands on to understand what may have happened to his brother.

[00:14:46] And at this point, all we're thinking is, is his brother, you know, participating in the game?

[00:14:53] This year, you know, where is his brother?

[00:14:55] Yeah.

[00:14:56] We're not really sure.

[00:14:57] You'd think, yeah, he'd be one.

[00:14:58] Yeah, I think we thought he probably was one of the contestants.

[00:15:02] And then the desperation.

[00:15:04] Everyone going back, or most of the people going back, because even death, even though death is a scary thing for them,

[00:15:13] going back to the real world empty-handed and the despair that they're in,

[00:15:19] they realize that they just, they had to go and fight for it anyway, because there's no,

[00:15:25] it's not worth living, I think, is what they got in their heads, is that there's no life for us out there.

[00:15:31] We have to go and try to do something.

[00:15:35] Yeah, we have to.

[00:15:36] And it's very much a commentary on social class and how, I think the reason why there's so many, like, child,

[00:15:46] so much childlike imagery in this show is because you find out rich, bored people are doing it just for their own entertainment value.

[00:15:55] And the poor people are like their playthings.

[00:15:59] They have no regard for their value as human beings.

[00:16:03] And then the people who are playing have no power.

[00:16:09] And so they are desperate, like you said.

[00:16:12] And you said that the first episode, you don't really get to know them when you just get to know Gi-hun.

[00:16:17] So now we do get to know a few of them and see that they're just as desperate, if not more, than him.

[00:16:22] So we get more connected with them, too.

[00:16:26] Yeah, we get to see Sebiok's little brother that she's trying to protect.

[00:16:30] We get to see Ollie's family.

[00:16:33] And you start to connect with these people and realize that they're so much bigger than their numbers and that some of the stories can pull on your heartstrings.

[00:16:43] While on the flip side of that, Player 101, Duxu, is an evil gangster-type character who you know is going to be a menace.

[00:16:53] Yeah.

[00:16:54] Within that Squid Game bubble.

[00:16:57] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:58] And it's even worse than you think by the end of it.

[00:17:02] Yeah.

[00:17:03] I really also, one thing that stood out to me is when they lined up to decide whether they were going to stay or go.

[00:17:10] And there's that big green O and red X on the buttons and they had to press.

[00:17:16] It was just so well presented.

[00:17:18] It's not even one of the games, but it brings all that tension and the childlike imagery and everything.

[00:17:24] And then to have who we find out later is O'il-Nam be the final vote, the old man.

[00:17:31] I was sort of wondering when I was reading this, oh yeah, why did he, since we know, it's okay to say what happens later on, that he's the one who started the games, why did he vote to let everyone go home?

[00:17:44] And my only guess would be that's just part of the game for him to see if they're desperate enough to want to come back or something, you know?

[00:17:51] Yeah, I think it's honestly, he had everyone's note, including all of us.

[00:17:57] Nobody knew that he was behind all of this.

[00:18:00] And I think it was just another part of his twisted game that he was putting people through.

[00:18:06] He created this world for them to duke it out to the death.

[00:18:13] And this is just another way to him to add another little element to the situation.

[00:18:21] I think he knew based on all of the times that they'd held these games, they were probably going to come back anyway.

[00:18:27] Yeah. And also then you would have a game where everyone really chose to be there knowing exactly what they were getting themselves into.

[00:18:36] That's different than people feeling like they were forced to be there, you know?

[00:18:40] Yeah.

[00:18:40] Everyone who ended up there chose to be there knowing they could die being there.

[00:18:45] Exactly. At that point, at first, they're coming to join a game. They think it's just a regular game.

[00:18:53] When they come back, they've made a choice that means that they will most likely die.

[00:18:58] Right.

[00:18:59] Because only one person's going to win this.

[00:19:01] Although we're all foolish enough to think that we could be the ones to win.

[00:19:05] I think so. I think the dream, the hope of being able to escape the life they were in,

[00:19:11] is enough to keep them going because that sacrifice is, you know, I mean, they get nothing if they die.

[00:19:21] They get nothing. There's nothing sent back to their families.

[00:19:24] But the hope of being able to provide something for their family.

[00:19:29] So we hope.

[00:19:30] Yeah, is their only hope. And they just keep pushing themselves through it.

[00:19:36] All right. Let's go into the next one.

[00:19:38] Okay. So, the man with the umbrella.

[00:19:43] Junho successfully infiltrates the games by disguising himself as a mass worker,

[00:19:50] and it is revealed that the location is a remote island.

[00:19:53] Players are now more prepared and start forming alliances.

[00:19:57] Gihan, Sangwoo, Player001, and Player199, Ali Abdul, team up.

[00:20:04] Se-Biak explores an air vent and witnesses workers melting pots of sugar.

[00:20:09] The second game is revealed to be Popki, which is where each player must perfectly extract a stamped shape

[00:20:18] from a Dalgona honeycomb candy under a 10-minute time frame.

[00:20:24] Sangwoo learns of Player067, Se-Biak's discovery, and recognizes the game beforehand,

[00:20:30] but does not warn his teammates and chooses the easiest shape for himself.

[00:20:35] This is where we're starting to really get him.

[00:20:38] Gihan ends up picking the most difficult shape, an umbrella.

[00:20:42] Still, he is able to complete the game by licking the back of the honeycomb to melt it.

[00:20:47] Player 212, a rowdy and manipulative woman, helps Dixu complete the game with a smuggled lighter.

[00:20:55] A player about to be executed takes a guard hostage and forces him to unmask.

[00:21:00] Shocked that the staff member is a young man, the player shoots himself,

[00:21:04] and the front man kills the guard for revealing his identity.

[00:21:08] They have very strict rules in the Squid Game Dome.

[00:21:13] What stands out the most to me in this one, I think, is it's just so weird and unique and interesting

[00:21:21] to have a grown man sitting here with a little candy and a needle,

[00:21:26] scritching at it, knowing if he breaks it, he's going to die.

[00:21:31] It's like, where have you ever seen anything like that before?

[00:21:33] Never.

[00:21:34] Nowhere.

[00:21:35] Nowhere.

[00:21:36] Nowhere.

[00:21:36] I mean, it's life or death, and we're talking about a piece of candy.

[00:21:39] In this room that looks like it's right out of romper room or something.

[00:21:43] It's true.

[00:21:45] It's true.

[00:21:47] And we get to meet Mignot, who is Player 212.

[00:21:51] She is definitely...

[00:21:53] Delightful.

[00:21:54] Yeah.

[00:21:56] She's a wild woman.

[00:21:58] She's kind of manipulative and very loud.

[00:22:02] And...

[00:22:03] And the kind of woman who would walk by you and pretend not to see you,

[00:22:07] and then just like, like, try to scare you or something, you know?

[00:22:11] Exactly.

[00:22:12] She's very creepy.

[00:22:13] Yeah.

[00:22:14] You can't trust her.

[00:22:17] And she's all about, you know, Duxu, which means that I'm not all about her.

[00:22:23] Because he's such a...

[00:22:26] He's a problem.

[00:22:27] She did have some sympathetic moments later on because he treated her so badly.

[00:22:32] But for the most part, I was just like, man, I would be keeping as far away from her as I could.

[00:22:37] She did have a redemption moment later once we get to that episode.

[00:22:41] I'm sure you already know what I'm referring to.

[00:22:44] I can picture it now.

[00:22:46] Also, what stands out to me is that Gihun, he got stuck with that umbrella in part because of Sang Wu.

[00:22:57] And he seemed like he was going to be a goner.

[00:23:00] And then he, I think, sweated on it.

[00:23:02] And then it dawned on him that if it was wet, it would be easier to cut out.

[00:23:06] So he started licking it.

[00:23:08] And that just shows you that he's a resourceful person.

[00:23:12] You know, he seems at first like, oh, man, he's not going to last very long, this guy.

[00:23:18] He's sometimes not too bright or whatever.

[00:23:19] But he ends up being a very resourceful, persistent person.

[00:23:25] Yeah, he is.

[00:23:27] You start to get a little bit Indian to him.

[00:23:29] Yeah.

[00:23:30] Especially because you see him really connected with Oel Nam.

[00:23:36] And he just, it gives you that, you know, that feeling of, you know, even if he is a bit of a jerk and kind of out of control, he's got a heart there.

[00:23:49] Because Oel Nam at this point seems like a frail old man.

[00:23:52] So, yeah.

[00:23:53] Exactly.

[00:23:54] Like I said, he had us all snowed right from the beginning.

[00:23:57] We all looked at him like he needed to be protected.

[00:24:02] But, yeah, you're totally right.

[00:24:04] Like, he often reacts with his heart before his calculating minds where he will try to protect the less strong people.

[00:24:16] Yeah.

[00:24:16] I think, too, we got to see a bit of Jun Ho, like, really starting to use his undercover skills to infiltrate this squid game.

[00:24:31] Not, still not realizing what this is going to lead him to.

[00:24:36] Like, he has no idea.

[00:24:37] He's just trying to find his brother.

[00:25:07] Mm-hmm.

[00:25:09] Probably the least interesting.

[00:25:10] It's still interesting.

[00:25:11] It's thrilling.

[00:25:13] It's mysterious.

[00:25:15] It's tense.

[00:25:17] But it doesn't tap in, to me at least, to that whole theme of class difference.

[00:25:25] Or I can't tell how it has any deeper meaning.

[00:25:29] Maybe I'm missing something.

[00:25:31] But to me, it's just a straight up kind of thriller kind of thing.

[00:25:34] And I presume he's still alive.

[00:25:37] We don't know for sure.

[00:25:39] But they left it open.

[00:25:42] And you would think there's some reckoning that's left to come between him and his brother.

[00:25:46] So I hope, if that's true, that they use him well in the second season.

[00:25:50] You know?

[00:25:51] Yeah.

[00:25:51] I think his story is one that's meant to really be a slow burn until we get to the climax between him and his brother.

[00:26:00] So I expect more potentially out of season two than what we saw in season one.

[00:26:08] I think that was really just the slow incline.

[00:26:13] And then it will amp up.

[00:26:14] Because really, front and center was how terrifying this game is that everyone is in.

[00:26:22] Yeah.

[00:26:22] That was a lot of the attention.

[00:26:24] While he's starting to bring attention to, well, you know, it's not just about what the actual threat in the game is.

[00:26:32] It's about the people who built that world, too.

[00:26:35] Yeah.

[00:26:35] He kind of draws attention to that.

[00:26:38] Yeah.

[00:26:39] And it's very odd.

[00:26:41] Another thing that's left to be mined and for us to discover is why did his brother, after he won the game, decide to stay and be an administrator of the game?

[00:26:53] Yeah.

[00:26:53] So, but I think maybe an interesting way to go with the story of these two brothers is because this is a story about class difference and wealth, disparity of wealth.

[00:27:03] They used to come from the same family.

[00:27:05] Oh, they came from the same family.

[00:27:06] They used to be at the same level.

[00:27:08] Now his brother is one of the other kinds of people.

[00:27:11] And so how do they deal with each other?

[00:27:16] When we get to that.

[00:27:17] And I think, like I said, I think Junho is trying to do his best to figure things out.

[00:27:27] And there's a lot he's going to have to reconcile within himself because in this whole process, he hasn't been the good guy cop.

[00:27:36] There are a few things that he's done that aren't necessarily what I think he would have preferred to do, which is like when he took the guy's place.

[00:27:47] Mm-hmm.

[00:27:50] I mean, yeah.

[00:27:51] I feel like once he got in there, a lot of times if he didn't kill somebody that he would probably die, right?

[00:27:59] Yeah.

[00:27:59] Yeah.

[00:28:00] But I don't think that sits well with him.

[00:28:03] I don't think that sits well with who he is.

[00:28:06] Yeah.

[00:28:08] All right.

[00:28:08] Should I go on to the next one?

[00:28:09] Yep.

[00:28:10] I think we're ready.

[00:28:11] It's number four.

[00:28:12] Stick it.

[00:28:13] Stick to the team.

[00:28:15] Not stick it to the team.

[00:28:16] Stick to the team.

[00:28:18] Player 111, a disgraced doctor, secretly works with a handful of guards to harvest organs from dead players to sell on the black market in return for information on upcoming games.

[00:28:31] That story, it's like just when you think, I mean, we didn't need that.

[00:28:35] It was already dark enough.

[00:28:36] And then it's like, oh my God.

[00:28:38] When Duxu kills a player accusing him of taking extra food, the guards do nothing to stop him and the prize money's value is increased.

[00:28:45] Realizing they can freely kill other players to raise the prize money, Duxu and his gang start a massive riot after lights out, resulting in players attacking each other.

[00:28:55] Gi-hun's group survives and exchange names to build trust.

[00:28:59] Player 199 is Ali Abdul.

[00:29:02] Player 067 is Kang Se-byeok.

[00:29:04] Player 001, because of his brain tumor, has trouble remembering his name.

[00:29:09] Player 212, named Han Min-yao, has sex with Duxu.

[00:29:13] In the third game, players are told to form groups of 10.

[00:29:17] For Gi-hun's team, Se-byeok recruits Player 240, a girl close to her age.

[00:29:21] The game is revealed to be tug-of-war on two raised platforms, where a team wins by dragging the opposing team off of the platform to their deaths.

[00:29:31] Duxu, having learned of the game from Player 111 beforehand, picks only strong men and rejects Min-yao, who joins Gi-hun's team.

[00:29:39] After Duxu's team wins their match handily, Gi-hun's team struggles against another all-male team.

[00:29:46] Yes.

[00:29:47] Great episode.

[00:29:48] It was, and I couldn't believe that they were taking a game as simple as tug-of-war and turning it into like a murder fest.

[00:29:56] I know.

[00:29:56] Basically.

[00:29:57] And they were all watching it happen, so they knew...

[00:30:00] What they were about to be a part of.

[00:30:02] What they were about to do.

[00:30:03] Yeah, that's a good point.

[00:30:05] They're like, horrified.

[00:30:07] Oh.

[00:30:10] But, Gi-hun, I mean, Sang-woo came through.

[00:30:14] This is the first time I feel like Sang-woo came through.

[00:30:17] Yes.

[00:30:18] And that was with the idea of how to beat the other team.

[00:30:21] Oh, well, Nam tried, but it wasn't enough.

[00:30:24] They needed to do more.

[00:30:25] And Sang-woo came through with what they needed to do to win and survive.

[00:30:31] Because, honestly, on paper, there's no way that Gi-hun's team would have won.

[00:30:38] Yeah.

[00:30:39] There's no way.

[00:30:40] I mean, it doesn't make sense.

[00:30:43] No, I mean, it was great.

[00:30:44] So, yeah, having a player, as we know him now at this point, player one, give all this strategy about leaning back to start.

[00:30:54] And then, I forget what else he said, but just all this technique.

[00:30:57] And you think, okay, maybe they have a chance.

[00:30:59] And they do it, and it seems to be working, but then not.

[00:31:02] That was good, because you like the back and forth where you think, oh, wait, maybe it isn't so bad.

[00:31:08] Oh, wait, it is bad.

[00:31:09] Now what are they going to do?

[00:31:09] That kind of a thing.

[00:31:10] Yeah.

[00:31:11] But then, yeah, Sang-woo.

[00:31:12] I mean, it's the next episode that they win, because I think this is the only game that ends on a cliffhanger.

[00:31:17] Yeah.

[00:31:17] Which is great, because they're actually on a cliff.

[00:31:20] Yeah, basically.

[00:31:21] I mean, getting pulled off.

[00:31:23] He decided to just kind of let go of the rope a little bit, let the other team fall on their asses, and then drag them off.

[00:31:31] Yeah.

[00:31:31] And it worked.

[00:31:32] Yeah.

[00:31:33] And, I mean, I wouldn't give Sang-woo too much credit for that, because he's only helping his team, because that's what he has to do to survive himself.

[00:31:41] Yeah.

[00:31:41] For him, it's all about self-preservation and money.

[00:31:45] Like, it's all about greed and money for him.

[00:31:48] Yeah.

[00:31:49] At any cost.

[00:31:50] At any cost.

[00:31:51] Yeah, I know they're all there for the money, but with him, he's ruthless.

[00:31:56] Like, in some ways, he's on the level of Duxu as far as villainy.

[00:32:03] Because I think he may not be as brute force crazy as Duxu.

[00:32:09] He's intelligent and using his brain to be strategic in a terrible way.

[00:32:17] Like, well, the conclusion I came to with him, and I think you guys felt, he's a sleazy guy.

[00:32:27] I think you guys might have felt more critical of him than I did, because I do think they're all there to win, and that means other people die.

[00:32:36] But, and, you know, Gi-hun was right there with everyone else helping drag a bunch of other guys to their death in Tug War.

[00:32:44] But the thing is, when they started the Squid Game, they said something like, those of you who make it to the end of all six games will win this money.

[00:32:57] I think they made it sound like it could be more than just one person.

[00:33:01] They never, I was listening, unless I missed it, they never said only one person was going to win.

[00:33:07] And so, with that, then it makes, in my view, Sang-woo look a lot worse.

[00:33:12] Because if he thought there was a possibility that he could be sharing that money with five or six other people, then he shouldn't be trying to stick it to his friends.

[00:33:22] But if he really thinks that only one person is going to win, then I can't say I totally blame him for trying to be that person, no matter what it takes, personally.

[00:33:33] I don't know.

[00:33:33] I mean, going into it, he didn't know some of the other people that they all teamed up together.

[00:33:40] But he did know Gi-hun.

[00:33:43] They were friends.

[00:33:44] Or classmates growing up together.

[00:33:47] They did have a relationship at one time outside of this game.

[00:33:52] And I just think that he didn't do anything to try to save his friend.

[00:33:58] At all, to me.

[00:34:00] Other than when he had to do it.

[00:34:02] With Tug War, yeah.

[00:34:03] With Tug War.

[00:34:04] Yeah, I mean, I'm just saying, if you know that the only one person is going to win this game and everyone else is going to die, then I don't blame anyone for doing whatever it takes to make sure they're not that person.

[00:34:20] Because whoever you know or not, they're either going to be dead or you are.

[00:34:25] You know?

[00:34:26] True.

[00:34:27] I mean, that is true.

[00:34:29] That is, yeah, that is true.

[00:34:31] The whole side story with the doctor was, I mean, at first I was thinking, why are they adding this to it?

[00:34:40] And honestly, I think I came to the conclusion that it just showed another level of how people are commodities outside of this.

[00:34:56] Like, they thought of everything.

[00:34:58] Not only, okay, we're going to kill people, but, oh, we're going to harvest the organs and we're going to put them, we're going to sell them.

[00:35:05] Like, what other way to make money off these people?

[00:35:08] And even, there was one part that I was reminded of when I went through my notes where, so Jun-ho and this other guard are down near the water because they were going to dive to go, I think, take the harvested organs to sell them.

[00:35:25] And the guy figured out that Jun-ho was an imposter and drew his gun.

[00:35:29] They drove their guns on each other or something.

[00:35:30] And actually, I think it's where Jun-ho has his gun on this guy and this guy's helpless and Jun-ho's demanding information.

[00:35:37] And the guy's begging to have his life saved or whatever.

[00:35:41] And he admits that him and some other guards, before they harvested the organs of this woman, they had sex with her.

[00:35:49] And I'm like, wow, okay, maybe this is the most fucked up moment in the series.

[00:35:54] Like, that's incredibly horrible.

[00:35:58] But it also, yeah, just shows that the depravity extends to the guards and the desperation.

[00:36:03] It's not just the contestants.

[00:36:05] Like, I think you were just saying that.

[00:36:06] Yeah.

[00:36:06] Yeah.

[00:36:07] And one thing I didn't bring up from the episode before this, the importance of secrecy and having no one see anyone's face, including the guards, and how serious it is.

[00:36:19] To the point of killing a man who had no choice but to take his mask off because a gun was being held to his head.

[00:36:27] Just shows you that there's, you know, people are expendable.

[00:36:33] Yeah.

[00:36:34] Yeah.

[00:36:34] Like, I don't even know for sure how much that says about how strict they are.

[00:36:40] Or is it more just how little they care about these guys?

[00:36:44] Maybe it's not even that strict a rule.

[00:36:45] They're just like, oh, well, he broke the rule.

[00:36:47] Kill him.

[00:36:48] You know, who cares?

[00:36:49] There's no talking them out of it.

[00:36:52] There's no begging for your life.

[00:36:54] You break a rule and you know the consequences.

[00:36:57] And I just get that that is the norm for Squid Game Dome.

[00:37:08] That was four, right?

[00:37:10] Is there any?

[00:37:11] Let me see.

[00:37:11] I thought the visuals and intensity of the tug of war were so great.

[00:37:17] It was so intense.

[00:37:19] It was so intense.

[00:37:46] Just incredibly intense, too.

[00:37:49] Yeah.

[00:37:49] Yeah.

[00:37:49] And Duck Su, I think, is going to use everything to his advantage.

[00:37:54] And knowing he could kill people and take them out and put more money in that pot.

[00:37:59] Yeah.

[00:37:59] He's got his little group of thugs.

[00:38:01] He's going to make that happen.

[00:38:03] He's going to do what needs to be done.

[00:38:05] Yeah.

[00:38:06] Yeah.

[00:38:06] And he like that fits more into his world where he's more comfortable probably as a gangster.

[00:38:12] You know, the killer be killed.

[00:38:13] No morals.

[00:38:15] Yeah.

[00:38:15] It's all about Braun.

[00:38:17] Yeah.

[00:38:17] With him.

[00:38:19] All right.

[00:38:20] Number five.

[00:38:21] Number five.

[00:38:22] A fair world.

[00:38:24] Gihan's team wins their tug of war match with player 001 strategy and Sangwoo's quick thinking.

[00:38:31] Anticipating another riot, they build a barricade and spend the night taking turns on guard.

[00:38:36] But Duck Su's team does not attack.

[00:38:38] Gihan reminisces on a similar situation from 10 years ago when he and many other workers from an automobile factory protested a mass layoff, which caused the failed trajectory of Gihan's life.

[00:38:51] Player 240 attempts to befriend Sebyuk, but she does not reciprocate.

[00:38:56] Junho witnesses the organ harvesting racket as the guard whose identity he stole took part in it.

[00:39:02] But Player 111 turns on the racketeers when the guards are unable to tell him what the next game is.

[00:39:09] Everyone involved in the racket except Junho is eventually killed, including Player 111.

[00:39:15] The front man begins a facility-wide manhunt for Junho, who breaks into the front man's office.

[00:39:22] Junho learns that the game has been running for over 30 years and that his elder brother, Huang Inho, was the winner in 2015.

[00:39:33] Yeah, that was a cool revelation.

[00:39:36] That might have been my favorite part of the story when he goes in there and finds those records and everything.

[00:39:41] I think, like I said earlier, we were kind of expecting that either he died in a prior game or he was a contestant in this one.

[00:39:51] Yeah.

[00:39:52] And for neither of those things to be true and for him to be a winner, it just opened things up for, okay, then what happened to him?

[00:40:02] Right.

[00:40:03] Yeah, because I think I was probably, I don't remember actually, but I would imagine I'd be thinking in Junho's place like,

[00:40:09] that son of a bitch, he's in some mansion somewhere and I'm stuck here with my life in danger or something, you know?

[00:40:16] It makes me wonder if his brother, with what ends up happening to his brother, if that's just a common thing that happens with winners,

[00:40:28] like that they do this, that they get recruited.

[00:40:33] But yeah, I'm not sure.

[00:40:37] Yeah.

[00:40:37] I don't know.

[00:40:38] I was thinking about it today because I, well, we're going to get to the episode with the VIPs, but it's just like,

[00:40:47] they're so obscenely rich that they, and they just treat people like play things and, and, um,

[00:40:58] they have fun pitting them against each other.

[00:41:01] And I do think that's another sort of layer of commentary on society where we have these rich billionaires who feel like they don't need to follow laws,

[00:41:10] you know, and they, um, they do pit people against each other.

[00:41:15] So that we don't come after them kind of a thing, you know?

[00:41:19] And, and, and it does feel sometimes like it's all part of the game and we're the powerless ones in the game.

[00:41:25] See, I'm getting myself all whipped up for a rebellion here, but anyway,

[00:41:29] but, uh, uh, so why was I bringing that up?

[00:41:33] So like if, if, uh, Dune Ho's brother became one of these people,

[00:41:38] would he immediately start to feel that way?

[00:41:41] It is also sort of made me feel like in, um, a movie like star Trek or something,

[00:41:46] when there's a character like Q, you know, he just can't help, but fuck around with people because he's so powerful that they seem like nothing to him.

[00:41:54] And I think it's sort of like that.

[00:41:55] And so I can imagine when you get that powerful, because in this world, money is power that if you're not careful,

[00:42:03] or if you're a certain kind of person, you could easily start thinking of people who have no power as less significant than you are.

[00:42:10] You know, that's, it's a problem.

[00:42:12] I mean, it's through the ages, there've always been minorities and oppressed groups of people.

[00:42:21] And this kind of points or shines a lens on it that there are people who feel that having that much money gives them a right to like basically determine if someone lives or dies by putting them in a game or celebrating when people die in this game.

[00:42:46] Like they have so much power and it's all gone to their heads and they think that they get to play God.

[00:42:53] And that's kind of what I feel like with this.

[00:42:56] And so much of it reminds me of, um, the most dangerous game, which is there have been so many movies built off of that story, but, um, it's very, you know, very telling, you know, man versus man.

[00:43:12] And then all of these different elements thrown into it at the, at the end of the day, Oh, he'll nom built this world for them, for his friends, him and his friends to celebrate the death of others.

[00:43:30] And just out of boredom, I think.

[00:43:32] Yeah.

[00:43:33] Out of boredom wanting something, you know, to, to entertain, you know, entertain them.

[00:43:41] And it's, it's disgusting if you think about it, but I do still stand by this show brings attention to things.

[00:43:50] And even though it is a game and it's a fiction, fictional show, there are things that you can draw conclusions from.

[00:43:59] And especially in the real world today.

[00:44:05] Yep.

[00:44:06] Um, I'm hoping that I think anyway, I'm hoping that Kihoon doesn't become like that because he did win too, you know?

[00:44:19] And sometimes I think it can be good for a story to not always give us what we want, but I, I don't want to see that for Kihoon.

[00:44:29] So I hope they don't do it.

[00:44:30] I think Kihoon is a different type of winner.

[00:44:33] I think he is probably someone that they've not had that type of person win before, which leads me to believe that Junho's brother could have been a very greedy for all we know.

[00:44:46] Cause we don't really know.

[00:44:48] We don't know him at all.

[00:44:49] And I'm hoping, you know, that we'll learn more.

[00:44:51] Yeah.

[00:44:52] That kind of comes a little bit later when we're talking about what we're hoping for in season two.

[00:44:56] Yeah.

[00:44:56] Okay.

[00:44:57] Yeah.

[00:44:57] Let me move on to the next one.

[00:44:59] Ganbu.

[00:44:59] Number six.

[00:45:01] The players see the bodies of player 111 and his co-conspirators.

[00:45:05] That's the doctor guy, right?

[00:45:06] Strung up for the, for cheating and are assured that the games are designed to give every player a fair chance without discrimination.

[00:45:13] For the fourth game, players are told to pair up, but discover that instead of working as a team, they will have to play against their partner in a marble game of their choice.

[00:45:23] Whoever gets all their partner's marbles within 30 minutes will win and survive.

[00:45:28] Sebiuk and player 240 named Ji Young share their life stories.

[00:45:32] Ji Young sees Sebiuk has more to live for and sacrifices herself.

[00:45:37] Sangwoo tricks Ali into giving up his marbles and wins the most despicable action of the whole series.

[00:45:44] Uh, Duk Su wins against his partner and henchman player 278.

[00:45:49] Gi Hun exploits player 001's dementia to defeat him only discover the, to discover that the old man was aware of the deception the entire time.

[00:45:58] Player one who remembers his name as O'il Nam allows Gi Hun to win anyway, as he is his Ganbu trusted friend.

[00:46:07] Gi Hun and Sebiuk are traumatized by the deaths of their friends.

[00:46:11] As we all were.

[00:46:14] Yeah.

[00:46:15] Yeah.

[00:46:15] We were.

[00:46:16] Let's just say.

[00:46:17] It was a very particular episode where you stick people together who they think they're going to be fighting together and then in every pair one has to kill the other.

[00:46:25] It was so emotional.

[00:46:27] Yeah.

[00:46:27] I mean, we still at that point, there was a husband and wife who had been through the whole game together.

[00:46:33] Um, and the husband ended up winning.

[00:46:36] And for me though, Sang Woo's betrayal of Ali was one of the worst things I've seen on TV.

[00:46:51] Um, because what was there not to love about Ali Abdul?

[00:46:56] At that point, we, everything we had seen about him and his character was something that you could get behind and cheer for.

[00:47:07] And this was like a gut punch.

[00:47:12] It really was.

[00:47:14] I agree with you.

[00:47:16] It was awful.

[00:47:16] And then there's a part of me that's like, yeah.

[00:47:19] And Gi Hun lied to what he thought was this old man with dementia.

[00:47:23] True.

[00:47:24] But knowing now what I didn't know then, I'm glad he did.

[00:47:30] That's all I'm going to say.

[00:47:31] You just don't know.

[00:47:33] You can't always trust what they're showing you because.

[00:47:36] No.

[00:47:36] And I'm sure there'll be stuff like that in this season too, this coming season.

[00:47:40] I hope so.

[00:47:42] I hope so.

[00:47:43] Uh, one thing that I loved about Squid Game, the challenge, the reality series based on the show that we also covered in the podcast, if you guys didn't know, um, was that they successfully engineered a similar dynamic where players didn't maybe realize that they were going to be.

[00:48:04] Um, I think they, what did they do?

[00:48:07] They said, pick someone to have a picnic with or something.

[00:48:10] And then whoever they picked, they pitted them against each other.

[00:48:14] That was great.

[00:48:15] It created the same kind of thing.

[00:48:18] They should have, but it created the same situation where you had like mother against son and stuff like that.

[00:48:24] Oh my gosh.

[00:48:25] That was so hard.

[00:48:27] That created such a difficult situation to watch because like in this show, Squid Game, the challenge,

[00:48:34] you get connected with characters.

[00:48:36] Yeah.

[00:48:36] And it was, it was rough because you didn't want anything to happen to certain people.

[00:48:42] I mean, there were definitely the villainous type, um, people, but not to the level of Duxu.

[00:48:50] Let's just say that.

[00:48:51] Right.

[00:48:51] But there were definitely villainous people.

[00:48:53] It was a similar dynamic that I was impressed that they could, that they pulled that off.

[00:48:58] They did lots of little swerves where you think they're going to go do something.

[00:49:02] And then the game they play is something completely different.

[00:49:05] I recommend it for anyone who enjoyed Squid Game.

[00:49:09] It, it has more personal element, but it's a ton of fun because the games like draw you in.

[00:49:17] And some of the stuff that you loved about the, the regular original series.

[00:49:22] Yeah.

[00:49:23] And I mean, the challenge, uh, no pun intended of that show for the producers was that they

[00:49:29] started with 546, right?

[00:49:32] 546 players.

[00:49:33] Is that right?

[00:49:34] How many?

[00:49:35] Um, something like that.

[00:49:36] 456.

[00:49:36] 456.

[00:49:37] Yeah.

[00:49:38] And, and they didn't know who was going to make it to the end.

[00:49:42] So they usually on reality TV, they can follow people around and follow stories, but they

[00:49:48] would choose a few people to follow and then they would die off early.

[00:49:52] Oh, but I'm going to go to somebody else.

[00:49:54] And they got lucky and followed a couple that were there.

[00:49:59] Uh, you know, they followed them from the beginning, but for the most part, they had

[00:50:02] to switch to new people as the series went along and that made it really interesting.

[00:50:06] I mean, I would say if you just hate reality shows, then you probably aren't going to like

[00:50:09] it, but, um, otherwise, yeah, for sure.

[00:50:12] But it was, yeah, it was, I enjoyed it so much and I am so excited for season two of

[00:50:19] that.

[00:50:19] Do we have any idea when that's coming?

[00:50:21] No idea, but I'll be ready when it is.

[00:50:25] That'll be great.

[00:50:25] All right.

[00:50:26] Anything else about this one?

[00:50:27] Number six?

[00:50:28] Nope.

[00:50:29] I think we're ready to move on to number seven, which is VIPs.

[00:50:33] The players returned to find Mignot, who did not have a partner for the Marbles game,

[00:50:39] still alive, having been given a free advantage to the next game.

[00:50:43] That, that also happened, um, in the challenge.

[00:50:48] Foreign VIPs who had been wagering on the games remotely arrived to watch and wager on the following

[00:50:55] rounds live.

[00:50:56] A Jun Ho posing as one of the masked servants is sexually propositioned by one of them.

[00:51:01] Um, the decadence that we saw of the VIPs was beyond.

[00:51:08] Um, in a private room, he attacks the VIP, records his confession, and escapes the island.

[00:51:14] Meanwhile, the fifth game has players crossing a two-panel wide bridge, where the panels are each made of either tempered or regular glass,

[00:51:22] the latter of which cannot support their weight.

[00:51:25] The players at the front of the line fall to their deaths as they progressively test the panels.

[00:51:32] Duk-su refuses to move despite the clock ticking, daring others to pass him.

[00:51:37] Mignot grabs him and, as a revenge for betraying her, pulls him down with her to their deaths.

[00:51:44] Player 017, a seasoned glass worker, is able to determine which panels are safe

[00:51:49] until the front man turns off the lights, removing his advantage.

[00:51:54] With time running out, Sang-woo pushes player 017 to his death,

[00:51:58] revealing the last trick panel.

[00:52:01] Only Gi-hun, Sang-woo, say B-ok.

[00:52:04] Complete the game.

[00:52:05] At its conclusion, explosions shattered the remaining panels and injured the three players.

[00:52:12] Min-yao, you did it.

[00:52:14] You took out Duk-su.

[00:52:15] That was so satisfying.

[00:52:21] Yeah.

[00:52:22] That was good.

[00:52:23] You like to see it.

[00:52:26] I love the bridge game, too.

[00:52:28] The look of it.

[00:52:30] How high up it was.

[00:52:32] The way it was black all around.

[00:52:34] So it was like they're in a void, almost.

[00:52:39] And I don't know.

[00:52:40] It was just cool.

[00:52:42] Me and Karen and David and Jenny did a VR squid game.

[00:52:49] And you go to, you know, in a mall, like there's a room and stuff.

[00:52:53] And the glass bridge game was one of the most fun.

[00:52:57] We'd all jump on there and then it would just break below you and you'd feel like you were falling to your death.

[00:53:02] I can't even.

[00:53:04] I know they did something similar in the challenge and I like how they like transferred it over.

[00:53:11] Because you can't do the same exact thing, but they tried.

[00:53:16] I love that we got to see the VIPs in this because you could see just how depraved they were.

[00:53:21] Some of the things in the room honestly remind me of that Eyes Wide Shop movie by Stanley Kubrick.

[00:53:30] It just was unsettling to watch.

[00:53:35] And it goes along with that same theme that I was saying before, that same idea that they're so obscenely wealthy that they just think of people who aren't as their playthings.

[00:53:45] Even the servants who they just think they can force to have sex with them anytime they want.

[00:53:50] Oh, yeah.

[00:53:51] I love that Junho at least took one of them down or did something.

[00:53:59] Because honestly.

[00:54:00] He bit off his dick, right?

[00:54:02] Yeah.

[00:54:05] Yeah.

[00:54:06] Yeah.

[00:54:06] Yeah.

[00:54:06] Got him.

[00:54:07] Yeah.

[00:54:08] He didn't kill him though, did he?

[00:54:10] No.

[00:54:10] He just, like it said, forced him to confess.

[00:54:12] Yeah.

[00:54:13] We didn't realize those explosions with the glass did injure the players, but we don't realize just how bad it is for Sebyuk until the next episode.

[00:54:27] But she's pretty.

[00:54:29] Fatal wounds.

[00:54:30] Yeah.

[00:54:30] She's pretty well hurt.

[00:54:31] The VIPs.

[00:54:34] One thing that really stands out for me is how it just sounds like they got a bunch of bad actors to play these roles because they're very exaggerated.

[00:54:44] And I suspect the reason for that is that it's for a Korean audience who don't know the subtleties of Western behavior or something like that.

[00:54:57] And so they're purposefully caricatures, you know, exaggerated caricatures that to us seem just exaggerated at the point of being goofy.

[00:55:07] Something like that.

[00:55:08] You know?

[00:55:09] Honestly, yes.

[00:55:10] They were over the top.

[00:55:12] Yeah.

[00:55:12] And yeah, it kind of took me out of the episode a little bit with how over the top that they were.

[00:55:20] It was like they were actors playing caricatures of Americans.

[00:55:30] And yeah, it was a bit too much.

[00:55:32] And I hope for season two, if they have Westerners, that they adjust that a little bit.

[00:55:38] But we'll see.

[00:55:38] I hope so.

[00:55:40] Again, I have lots of hopes for season two.

[00:55:43] I'm so excited.

[00:55:44] I can't wait for the episode to drop.

[00:55:48] All right.

[00:55:49] Next one, right?

[00:55:51] Is number eight.

[00:55:52] Front Man.

[00:55:54] As finalists, Gi-hun, Sang-woo, and Se-byeok are given a change of outfit to formal clothes.

[00:55:59] Se-byeok hides a severe stab wound she received from the glass bridge explosion.

[00:56:03] After eating dinner, each player is left with a steak knife.

[00:56:07] Gi-hun suggests to Se-byeok that they should ally against Sang-woo, realizing he will do anything to win.

[00:56:12] Se-byeok instead begs Gi-hun to promise that whoever wins the game will look after the other's loved ones.

[00:56:18] Gi-hun goes to kill Sang-woo when he falls asleep, but Se-byeok stops him, telling him he's not a murderer.

[00:56:24] Se-byeok's injury worsens, prompting Gi-hun to call for help.

[00:56:28] When Gi-hun is away, Sang-woo kills Se-byeok.

[00:56:31] Okay, this is the worst thing he did.

[00:56:32] And the guards arrive only to collect her corpse.

[00:56:35] I just think that was the worst thing he did because she was so injured that she wasn't even a threat anyway.

[00:56:44] I mean, she's always a threat because she's a badass, but still, anyway.

[00:56:50] Furious and heartbroken, Gi-hun tries to attack Sang-woo, but is prevented by the guards.

[00:56:54] Meanwhile, Jun-ho makes it to another island, but is quickly tracked down by the front man and the guards.

[00:57:00] To Jun-ho's shock, the front man reveals himself to be his brother, In-ho, who tries to recruit him.

[00:57:07] I forgot about that part.

[00:57:07] When he refuses, In-ho shoots Jun-ho in the shoulder, causing him to fall back over a cliff edge and into the sea.

[00:57:15] Well, I'm not sure what the year was on this, but it had been, I mean, In-ho had been part of this for a few years, post-winning.

[00:57:24] I mean, had to have been.

[00:57:26] And you have to wonder if, you know, what he was indoctrinated into, really, truly.

[00:57:34] Yeah, I really want to get, I hope they have a great story for him.

[00:57:39] Yeah.

[00:57:39] About what happened.

[00:57:40] Why did that happen?

[00:57:41] Yeah, why did he do that?

[00:57:43] I mean, and trying to recruit his brother to be part of it with him.

[00:57:48] I'm just like, but you have this really weird life.

[00:57:51] Yeah.

[00:57:53] Like, if I won, I'd be in that mansion, you know?

[00:57:56] No, I'd be, or I'd be helping people and having great experiences, not running fucking squid games.

[00:58:06] No, no, definitely not.

[00:58:08] Definitely not.

[00:58:10] Why would you need to?

[00:58:11] Yeah.

[00:58:12] You've already got enough money to be able to do whatever you want.

[00:58:15] And he, in Ho, as front man, talked a few times about how everyone here, it's a fair game or something.

[00:58:25] You know, we're all, they all have equal opportunity.

[00:58:28] So I feel like that's something in his character where he, maybe he thinks, I earned this and that's a great thing.

[00:58:35] And now I want to give other people the opportunity to earn it.

[00:58:38] Or I don't know.

[00:58:39] I don't know.

[00:58:39] Because they do take the rules very seriously.

[00:58:42] We haven't talked about that, but they're beyond the don't show your face rule.

[00:58:47] It is imperative that everyone has this equal opportunity to win.

[00:58:53] They don't like things like the doctor finding out what the next game is.

[00:58:59] Those little like advantages.

[00:59:01] They want no one to have any advantages.

[00:59:05] Level playing field for everyone.

[00:59:07] They do not want it to be skewed in any way at all.

[00:59:11] And so they take those things out.

[00:59:13] Ooh, I just realized, I bet you at some point, these VIP types are going to be forced to compete.

[00:59:21] I would love that.

[00:59:22] I mean.

[00:59:23] I bet you that's going to happen.

[00:59:24] With the Hunger Games, I know that that was something that was talked about at one point was,

[00:59:29] well, the capital children have to go into the war zone and duke it out together.

[00:59:36] And I'm thinking, wow, that would be interesting because none of them are trained to fight like that.

[00:59:41] Yeah.

[00:59:42] That could be wild.

[00:59:44] If they don't do something like that, they're missing the boat, I would say.

[00:59:47] Yeah.

[00:59:48] Otherwise, in this episode, just the lushness of the dinner and them sitting there in their formal outfits,

[00:59:55] you would think that would be a nice occasion, but it's absolutely not.

[00:59:59] So that really stood out.

[01:00:01] No, it's definitely not.

[01:00:01] It's not.

[01:00:02] And then the sadness of Sebiok's death, because by that time, I think most people watching had really come to admire and like her.

[01:00:09] Yeah.

[01:00:10] Yeah.

[01:00:10] She's doing this all for her brother.

[01:00:12] Yeah.

[01:00:12] And they had escaped North Korea and she was just trying to provide him with a life.

[01:00:18] And all she did, you know, she was a pickpocket.

[01:00:22] She was trying to do whatever she could do.

[01:00:24] And for her to go out like this again, I mean, I guess, yes, it was equal opportunity that the glass shards were going to explode and injure them.

[01:00:35] But there were varying degrees of injury that happened and she took the brunt of it.

[01:00:40] Yeah.

[01:00:41] It's just a tragedy.

[01:00:43] Okay.

[01:00:43] One more.

[01:00:44] One more.

[01:00:45] One lucky day.

[01:00:48] Is it really lucky?

[01:00:49] I guess we'll see.

[01:00:51] In the final eponymous squid game, Gi-hun defeats Sang-woo after a brutal fight, but refuses to kill him.

[01:00:58] He begs Sang-woo to stop the game and using the third clause.

[01:01:03] Sang-woo instead stabs himself in the neck and asks Gi-hun to take care of his mother before dying.

[01:01:09] Gi-hun is returned to Seoul with a bank card to access the prize money, but discovers his own mother has died.

[01:01:16] A year later, Gi-hun remains traumatized and has not touched his prize money out of guilt.

[01:01:21] He receives an invitation card from his Gang-boo and finds a Will-nam on his deathbed.

[01:01:28] Surprise!

[01:01:30] Il-nam reveals he created the game to entertain bored, wealthy people like himself.

[01:01:35] He chose games he played as a child and participated in Gi-hun's group out of nostalgia.

[01:01:41] As they talk, Il-nam wagers with Gi-hun on whether an unconscious man lying on a street corner will be held before midnight.

[01:01:50] The man is saved just before the stroke of midnight and Il-nam dies shortly after.

[01:01:56] Gi-hun retrieves Se-byeok's brother and has him looked after by Sang-woo's mother and gives them a share of the prize money.

[01:02:04] As Gi-hun travels to the airport to reconnect with his daughter in Los Angeles, he sees the same game recruiter playing Doc G with another desperate player, but manages only to get that player's invitation card.

[01:02:18] He calls the card's number before boarding his plane, demanding to know who was running the games.

[01:02:25] The front man joins the call and curtly orders him to get on the plane, but Gi-hun ends the call and returns to the terminal.

[01:02:34] Yeah, doesn't he then vow to take the game down or something like that?

[01:02:39] Which seems like you wonder how the hell could he end up in the Squid Game again when they know or that he won, you know?

[01:02:48] I mean, I don't know.

[01:02:49] There's no point in what he knows.

[01:02:51] Imagine, though, what him going into a game knowing everything he already knows.

[01:02:59] That doesn't seem fair.

[01:03:01] It isn't, but it could turn everything on its head if people listened to him.

[01:03:09] It could shake things up a lot.

[01:03:12] That's true.

[01:03:13] But I don't know.

[01:03:14] Like, what are you going to do?

[01:03:16] Are you going to believe someone who says, I've won this game before, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah?

[01:03:20] No!

[01:03:21] I mean, you won?

[01:03:23] Why the hell would you ever come back?

[01:03:25] Like, it doesn't make any sense.

[01:03:27] Do you think they'll play all new games?

[01:03:30] I think so.

[01:03:31] I don't think it's going to be the same games.

[01:03:33] Although, I don't know.

[01:03:34] If Gi-hun is in the games again, they have to change it up, I would think.

[01:03:40] You'd think so?

[01:03:41] Because that really would put a new spin on the games.

[01:03:43] He'd be like...

[01:03:44] It would.

[01:03:45] I mean...

[01:03:45] It would.

[01:03:46] Yeah, I don't know.

[01:03:47] But again, he's kind of an outside force.

[01:03:51] He would be an outside force coming into a regimented, well-oiled game machine.

[01:04:00] It's like when a rock hits your windshield.

[01:04:02] You're going to get a crack and then a bigger crack and a bigger crack and things, you know, until it eventually shatters.

[01:04:09] Well, I think there's a guy...

[01:04:13] What's his name?

[01:04:15] Hwang Dong-hyuk.

[01:04:17] He's the guy who created this.

[01:04:19] Writer.

[01:04:19] He wrote them all and I think he directed them all.

[01:04:21] I think he said he's planning three seasons total.

[01:04:26] Mm-hmm.

[01:04:27] So, I don't see how Gi-hun could successfully take down the squid game in season two then, right?

[01:04:36] I don't know.

[01:04:38] Unless it's a much bigger thing.

[01:04:40] Yeah.

[01:04:40] Unless the squid game is just a small part of it.

[01:04:43] Yeah.

[01:04:44] I mean, I'm thinking about, like, the Belko experiment and how that was just one piece of a much bigger thing.

[01:04:51] Right.

[01:04:52] So, I don't know.

[01:04:55] Yeah.

[01:04:55] Could be something like that.

[01:04:57] I think this episode really gave us the shocker of Oh Il Nam being alive and being behind everything.

[01:05:05] So, this frail old man that we had come to, you know, adore at the beginning snowed us the entire time and was a mastermind behind it all.

[01:05:18] So, that was a big thing to stomach.

[01:05:24] Twist.

[01:05:25] Twist.

[01:05:25] And then Sang-woo killing himself.

[01:05:29] I mean, what I...

[01:05:30] So, this twist...

[01:05:31] Let's stick on this for a second with Oh Il Nam.

[01:05:36] Twists are fun, but to be really good to me, there has to be some deeper meaning behind it, you know?

[01:05:46] And otherwise, like, for me, Sixth Sense...

[01:05:51] I don't care about Sixth Sense.

[01:05:53] He was dead the whole time.

[01:05:55] Okay, who cares?

[01:05:56] Like, so what?

[01:05:57] That's how I felt.

[01:05:58] Like, yeah, I didn't expect it, but I don't...

[01:06:00] So what?

[01:06:01] What does that mean?

[01:06:02] But for this, he...

[01:06:05] Oh Il Nam actually, you know, created the games.

[01:06:09] He is dying, so he decided to go ahead and play the games just for kicks, I think.

[01:06:13] Like, that's sort of interesting to me because...

[01:06:17] Especially because when he tells Gi-hun why he did it, because he was bored and he just did it for his bored friends.

[01:06:25] Because that really drives home the theme that these people are so rich and powerful that they think of other people as playthings.

[01:06:31] And so then it makes it a better twist for me, you know?

[01:06:35] So it's still fun anyway, but I'm glad that it had a little bit more to it than just being something we didn't expect and that's it.

[01:06:42] Yeah, exactly.

[01:06:43] Like, when you...

[01:06:45] Realizing that someone that you thought was a good person is actually incredibly evil and a mastermind behind this entire, you know, dome of misery that has been going on for years and years and years.

[01:07:00] It's...

[01:07:01] I mean...

[01:07:03] That was just...

[01:07:05] I just was so angry at that point because I was snowed.

[01:07:11] And I like to figure things out as I'm going along and I like to think I'm pretty perceptive.

[01:07:16] There was nothing that pointed to him being involved in this that I could see.

[01:07:21] Yeah, because when we podcasted on it, we knew the whole story because we podcasted on it a couple of years after it aired.

[01:07:28] And so we tried to look and see if there were clues.

[01:07:32] And I can't remember, but I don't think we found many, maybe one or two, but nothing.

[01:07:38] Yeah, they didn't really give it away.

[01:07:40] I mean, there was like...

[01:07:42] I think when the riot was happening and one of the people behind the camera said something about the old man or something.

[01:07:51] I can't remember now.

[01:07:52] I don't even remember.

[01:07:53] Yeah.

[01:07:55] Anyway, what were you going to mention about...

[01:07:58] Well, Sang-woo taking himself out of the equation.

[01:08:01] Yeah.

[01:08:01] What do you think?

[01:08:02] I mean, in that case, I think he kind of did something selfless or at least to help his mother.

[01:08:08] It was kind of a redemption thing, but I also look at it like, hmm, it's too little too late.

[01:08:15] Just because he had done...

[01:08:18] He was out for himself the entire time.

[01:08:20] But I also think that he felt his behavior outside of the games, embezzling in all of the things that he had done, was really a black mark on his family name.

[01:08:40] Disrespectful to his family.

[01:08:42] And he was ashamed.

[01:08:43] Yeah.

[01:08:44] Yeah.

[01:08:44] And I think, had he left the game, he was still going to be stuck with all of that.

[01:08:49] Like, they were going to arrest him.

[01:08:51] He tried to kill himself outside of the game before.

[01:08:55] Yeah.

[01:08:55] So he knew, if we both leave here with nothing, then I'll probably just kill myself anyway.

[01:09:01] So why not kill myself right now and leave some money for my family?

[01:09:05] And Gihon, he knew that Gihon was an honorable person in that he would take care of his mother.

[01:09:11] Yeah, absolutely.

[01:09:12] Because that is what, you know, he had known him in their childhood experience, that he'd be a man of his word and take care of his mother.

[01:09:21] I wonder if their positions were reversed.

[01:09:25] Would Gihon at this point trust that Sangwoo would try to help his mom if his mom was still alive?

[01:09:31] I don't know about that.

[01:09:32] I don't either.

[01:09:33] I think there is a chance that he would.

[01:09:35] But I don't think it's as sure, nearly as sure of a thing as Gihon being that type.

[01:09:40] I wouldn't say that Sangwoo wouldn't do that, but maybe not.

[01:09:44] It's unlikely.

[01:09:45] I think it's unlikely.

[01:09:46] You think it's unlikely, yeah.

[01:09:47] Yeah.

[01:09:49] What else?

[01:09:49] The squid game was really intense, and I loved that it ended with just these two men battling it out.

[01:09:56] It was raining, right?

[01:09:57] And they're just fucking viciously fighting knives.

[01:10:00] Visually.

[01:10:01] Yeah.

[01:10:01] So good.

[01:10:02] Visually, it was really compelling.

[01:10:04] And one thing that I just figured out today, which probably I'm dumb and I should have figured out a long time ago, because they say, you know, this is the squid game and they show the layout of the game with this triangle and square.

[01:10:18] That that's the head of a squid, I think.

[01:10:21] It's the head of a squid.

[01:10:22] Because I always thought, that doesn't look like a squid.

[01:10:24] There's no arms.

[01:10:25] But I think it's just the head.

[01:10:27] Anyway.

[01:10:27] I think that has been debated by so many people over the last couple of years, just because we don't really know.

[01:10:34] It's not a game that's played here in the US, so it's not something we're familiar with.

[01:10:41] But that makes the most sense to me, because they have that tip at the top sometimes.

[01:10:45] You can definitely, though, relate to a lot of the other games, because those are games that we played before.

[01:10:52] And so you could look at it and say, OK, yeah.

[01:10:55] And didn't you try to lick the honeycomb candy?

[01:11:00] Is it you that had the honeycomb candy?

[01:11:01] We got some squid game branded ones, and we played it, and it was really fun.

[01:11:08] Yeah.

[01:11:08] We weren't always successful.

[01:11:13] I feel like we have covered all of this.

[01:11:15] I think we have hopefully brought people up to date on everything that happened in season one and should.

[01:11:23] I mean, do you have hopes for season two?

[01:11:25] Because I do.

[01:11:26] Let me just say one more thing.

[01:11:28] I thought it was really striking at the end, because Gi-hun didn't collect his money for a long time, and he seemed really troubled by the whole experience.

[01:11:36] But I think it was like a year later, he decided to get his act together and go see his daughter.

[01:11:41] And I think it was weird that he had bright red hair.

[01:11:45] I didn't understand that.

[01:11:45] Was that like a glow up or something to show that, OK, I'm back or something?

[01:11:49] I don't know.

[01:11:49] But then he decides to go and take down Squid Game because he sees that guy.

[01:11:54] And I'm like, man, that's a little cheesy, but it's also exciting.

[01:11:59] So I guess, yeah, I'm excited to see what's going to happen next.

[01:12:03] So for hopes for season two, I will mention that there is a trailer out there, and I will put a link in the show notes.

[01:12:10] But as Daphne alluded to earlier, I personally don't like watching trailers, so I haven't watched it.

[01:12:16] And for me, if I already am excited about something, then I want to experience all of it in the context of watching it.

[01:12:23] And watching a trailer takes away from that more than it adds to it for me.

[01:12:27] So I probably won't watch it.

[01:12:28] But I'll put it in the show notes if you guys want to watch it.

[01:12:31] And my main hope is just really that it's as good as season one, that they have enough to say still about the human condition, that it's still good.

[01:12:42] And if it has all the things I said, I really love like juxtaposition of childlike and horrific and that reality show addictiveness.

[01:12:54] But it doesn't have anything more to say about the human condition or commentary on wealth disparity or something new, then I probably won't like it quite as much.

[01:13:06] It's weird because I don't want it to just be a repeat of season one.

[01:13:11] But I also would not want them to go off in some new direction that's not as good.

[01:13:16] You know, I think it is going to be more games.

[01:13:18] But you had me, you were getting me more excited about it just in this podcast when you were saying that Ki-hun having done it before will turn it on its head somehow.

[01:13:27] So that's exciting.

[01:13:29] Yeah.

[01:13:30] So unlike you, I have watched the trailer about five times.

[01:13:34] I've also watched the introduction to the new characters.

[01:13:40] So I have that information going into it.

[01:13:44] Does that make you more excited what you've seen?

[01:13:46] I'm so excited.

[01:13:47] I'm so excited for what they're doing just based off watching those things.

[01:13:56] Because when I watch a trailer, I don't read too much into it.

[01:14:00] I'm really just looking at, are there some cool things coming?

[01:14:03] Like that's all that really matters to me.

[01:14:06] But meeting the new characters, that made me even more excited because of what they're trying to do.

[01:14:14] And I think, I think that it's going to bring even more dimension to what they've already presented.

[01:14:22] And that I'm excited about.

[01:14:24] And I also, I'm really hoping that we get more backstory on Jun-ho and his brother.

[01:14:33] Yes.

[01:14:33] What led his brother to be part of Squid Game.

[01:14:38] And why, like, in Ho is, is he leading?

[01:14:42] I think he's leading it now, right?

[01:14:43] It seems like it.

[01:14:44] He's the front man, yeah.

[01:14:45] After O Il-nam died, why is it still going on?

[01:14:49] Yeah.

[01:14:50] I think that was the big thing that, I think, um, Gi-hun could not leave in good faith knowing that that was still going on.

[01:15:00] And I think he knew that he may have the power to stop it.

[01:15:07] How he does that or attempts it, I don't know.

[01:15:10] But I'm really intrigued by the potential for this.

[01:15:14] I'm also excited that they already, you know, have said it will only be X number of seasons.

[01:15:21] Because I think when you drag something out, even as good as it is, it can sometimes be too much.

[01:15:28] Like some of those books that are turned into two movies because commercialism, they're trying to make more money.

[01:15:35] Milk it, yeah.

[01:15:36] Yeah.

[01:15:37] I'd rather it end where it needs to end and not be pushed or stretched out.

[01:15:44] Yeah.

[01:15:45] And I think there's a chance even a second season could do that.

[01:15:50] But I hope not.

[01:15:51] I hope not.

[01:15:52] I'm really excited by what I've seen and the potential.

[01:15:58] I'm excited by the potential for us to get to see more of the games, maybe more behind the scenes, like why it was started.

[01:16:09] It would be great if they gave us a little bit of that info.

[01:16:11] Like even if it's like a 10 minute, like this is why Oh Will Nam decided to start it.

[01:16:17] Like why it is in existence.

[01:16:19] I feel like Jun Ho is like the pathway to us finding and getting to the bottom of some of that information.

[01:16:27] And maybe Gi-hun and Jun Ho will actually work together now.

[01:16:33] They could.

[01:16:35] It would be great.

[01:16:38] I wish they wouldn't drop them all at the same time, but I think they're going to.

[01:16:42] But we'll be covering it week to week and we're going to try our best not to watch ahead.

[01:16:47] Right.

[01:16:48] And so.

[01:16:49] Going to do that.

[01:16:50] I'm not going to be on every episode.

[01:16:52] So the in-betweens, I'm not going to say I'm not going to binge the heck out of it.

[01:16:55] Because I totally, totally am.

[01:16:58] Fair.

[01:16:59] So excited.

[01:17:00] But you guys listening, if you're going to, I hope you'll follow along with us, even if you decide to binge it, which I'm guessing most of you will.

[01:17:09] It still hopefully will be fun for you to listen along and hear us theorize on things that you know the answers to and things like that.

[01:17:15] You can yell at us as we're going along.

[01:17:18] God, guys, that already happens.

[01:17:20] I know what happens.

[01:17:21] Blah.

[01:17:22] Please feel free to do that.

[01:17:23] I do that with podcasts sometimes.

[01:17:25] I just yell because I already know the answer to something.

[01:17:29] It's fun if you're in the car, especially.

[01:17:45] All right.

[01:17:46] I think that is it.

[01:17:48] That's our show.

[01:17:48] Thanks so much for listening, everyone.

[01:17:50] I hope you enjoyed that.

[01:17:51] We'll be back soon after season two drops.

[01:17:55] David and Daphne and I are going to podcast about it that day, and I'll try to get it out for the next morning.

[01:18:03] And then after that, as I said, we'll be doing them episode by episode week to week.

[01:18:07] And love to have you guys listening, watching and listening along with us.

[01:18:12] And if you want to write in about any of the episodes or send us a voice message, you can reach us at squidgameatpodcastica.com.

[01:18:19] And as we always do, we'll put up weekly posts about each episode on our podcastica Facebook page.

[01:18:26] So people comment on those posts and we read them and respond to them on the podcast.

[01:18:31] And you can find all that contact information that we just mentioned at podcastica.com.

[01:18:38] While you're there, be sure to check out our other shows.

[01:18:42] Like?

[01:18:43] Like?

[01:18:43] Star Wars TV cast.

[01:18:45] We're covering Skeleton Crew.

[01:18:47] If you want to hear Peik and I not covering a movie and actually talking about a TV series,

[01:18:54] we are actually getting to do that, which is cool because we don't usually get to break down something week to week.

[01:18:59] It's always a movie.

[01:19:01] Almost always a movie.

[01:19:03] So it's very cool that we're getting to nerd out about something,

[01:19:07] especially because he's such a big Star Wars nerd and I am the opposite.

[01:19:12] And so the two of us are getting that opportunity to talk about something from two different places, too.

[01:19:20] That's really cool.

[01:19:21] We do that.

[01:19:22] We've done that a lot over the years.

[01:19:24] Like with Game of Thrones, we'll have book readers and non-book readers on the same podcast, you know?

[01:19:29] And I think it's really good to have different perspectives like that so you can see it in different ways.

[01:19:37] Yeah.

[01:19:38] And also there's a bunch of stuff coming up.

[01:19:41] But we're this is a little ways out, so I don't know how much it bears mentioning,

[01:19:45] but it's on my mind today because we've been getting ready, getting plans ready.

[01:19:49] But in February, we've got the last part of Cobra Kai.

[01:19:52] We've got Yellow Jackets Season 3 and White Lotus Season 3 all starting within like three days of each other.

[01:20:00] And soon after that, The Last of Us Season 2 will be coming out on HBO.

[01:20:05] So we're excited about a whole bunch of new content to get into pretty soon here.

[01:20:10] I know.

[01:20:11] It's exciting.

[01:20:12] I feel like the writers and other strikes really slowed things down for a bit.

[01:20:19] And I think 2024 was a bit slower for TV, but we are going full warp speed when we get to 2025.

[01:20:28] And the shows are just going to keep coming all year.

[01:20:31] Yeah.

[01:20:32] And they're all great.

[01:20:33] They're great shows.

[01:20:34] All right.

[01:20:35] That is our show.

[01:20:36] Thanks for listening.

[01:20:38] We'll talk to you soon for Season 2.

[01:20:40] Ganbu Gang out.