10 Defining Moments From Top Netflix K-Drama 'Squid Game'
We take a look back at some of the moments that catapulted this nine-episode thriller to cult favorite status
Squid Game has done spectacularly. Having received overwhelmingly positive reviews on a global level, it’s now the number 1 Netflix show in 90 countries and is well on its way to becoming the streaming platform’s most notable series of all time. For a Korean program to edge out heavyweights such as Bridgerton, Lupin, and even The Witcher—well, that’s no small feat.
The premise alone is enough to get one hooked on the drama. Hundreds of individuals, all in some form of debt, are handpicked to compete in a series of deadly children’s games. For every player that is eliminated, the cash prize increases, paving the way for dirtier tactics.
Writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk was inspired by his own economic struggles as well as the wealth disparity within the social classes in South Korea. He’d finished writing the script in 2008, but had difficulty finding a production company that would take it on. Fortunately, Netflix stepped in, and the rest is history.
Bolstered by relevant themes, clever cinematography, and stellar performances, it’s probably safe to say the gates are wide open for a second season. But before we start theorizing about what’s next on Seong Gi-hun’s agenda, let’s look back at some of the moments that catapulted this nine-episode thriller to cult favorite status.
Are you ready?
10 Defining Moments From 'Squid Game'
10 Defining Moments From 'Squid Game'
1. Fly Me to the Moon
The infamous first game has inspired a hilarious Instagram filter and a doll copycat policing pedestrians at Robinsons Galleria. Red Light, Green Light operates on simple mechanics: move towards the finish line when the leader shouts “green light” and freeze in position when they shout “red light.” As this is a death game, any player caught in the doll’s motion detector crosshairs will be shot on sight.
1. Fly Me to the Moon
The first casualty triggers panic en masse. Players scramble every which way, setting off the doll’s sensors and resulting in an unprecedented elimination by the dozens. The violent montage is set in stark contrast to singer Joo Won’s rendition of the jazz classic “Fly Me to the Moon”. And while watching, the mysterious Front Man calmly sips on his scotch. Let the games begin.
2. Sneaky Sneaky
Portrayed by our newfound fave Wi Ha-jun, detective Hwang Jun-ho infiltrates the game headquarters as cleverly as he infiltrates our hearts. After finding the telltale business card in his missing brother’s room, he tails the van that shuttles players to the facility and sneaks into the car carrier ship, overpowering one of the guards to steal his uniform.
2. Sneaky Sneaky
His out-of-character actions merit suspicion from a few guards, but Jun-ho manages to weasel his way out of a few nerve-wracking situations, going as far as to figure out the hierarchy. Encumbered by the limitations of his circle guard mask—they’re the lowest in the rung—he even manages to poach a square guard mask to be able to cover more ground. Cute, smart, and capable. We’re here for this.
3. Rules are Rules
Front Man and Co. have been nauseatingly chill about the entire debacle—mood to match the candy-colored MC Escher-esque staircase, perhaps?—which makes everything all the more unsettling. The rules are pretty clear: play fair and you’ll be fine. That is, until it’s time to take your final bow by virtue of game regulations. When your time is up, your time is up. Rules are rules.
3. Rules are Rules
The honeycomb game has players tearing their hair out, and understandably so. Damage the shape you’re cutting out, and it’s game over. At his wits’ end, one player attacks a guard and orders him to take off his mask. Breaking rule number 1, the guard complies, revealing the face of a young man. This action prompts the Front Man to intervene and execute him.
3. Rules are Rules
Meanwhile, the ex-doctor strikes up a deal with some guards to assist in their organ trafficking scheme in exchange for information on the games. Because he has gone against the principles of fair play, the Front Man hangs his corpse along with those of the organ harvesting guards in plain sight as a warning.
4. Losing Your Marbles
Ah, the game in which we were almost as emotionally compromised as the players were. When tasked to pick a partner, it’s natural to gravitate to your closest ally despite not knowing the circumstances of the challenge. Leading man Seung Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) considers Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), a clever man and his old chum, but loses the opportunity when the latter selects Abdul Ali (Anupam Tripathi). He ends up choosing Oh Il-nam, an elderly man grappling with a life-threatening brain tumor.
4. Losing Your Marbles
The rules of the game come as a shock. You and your partner are each given a bag of marbles along with the freedom to play any game you like. Whoever is left with the most marbles wins while the loser will be eliminated by gunshot. It’s a gutting concept to grasp, especially to those who chose a friend.
4. Losing Your Marbles
Sang-woo manipulates and betrays Ali. Ji-yeong (Lee Yoo-mi) sacrifices herself for Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) by dropping the final marble at her feet, saying she has no reason to win.
4. Losing Your Marbles
And Il-nam gives Gi-hun his last marble, happy to have had fun for one last time. (…someone please pass me the Kleenex.)
5. I Jump, You Jump
Squid Game’s ticking time bomb is Han Mi-nyeo (Kim Joo-ryong), a shady, volatile woman who tries to gain sympathy as a poor single mother. Instead, she courts chaos, attempting to rile up her fellow players and the guards. As clever as she is annoying, she will do whatever it takes to survive, which often entails jumping ship to whichever team is in the best position to move forward. She attaches herself to the gangster Jang Deok-soo (Heo Sung-tae), a hot-headed thug with massive gambling debts to settle. Their raunchy hook-up paves the way for an odd partnership that has its uses, but he is quick to cast Mi-nyeo aside when she becomes too much of a burden.
5. I Jump, You Jump
This makes their shared end all the more poetic. When Deok-soo gets to the front of the line in the stepping stones game and refuses to budge, Mi-nyeo takes matters into her own hands by grabbing him as she jumps off, costing her her own life. RIP, queen. You were a crazy one, but we love you, anyway.
6. But You’re Still a Traitor
We’re never going to run out of backstabbing and betrayal in this show—that much should be clear. Sang-woo, the brilliant Seoul National University graduate and the pride of Ssangmun-dong, is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Wanted by the police for stealing money from his clients, he is desperate to emerge victorious in hopes of getting his life back. Always one to put himself ahead, he conceals his honeycomb game theory from his teammates, leaving them at the mercy of the more complex shapes.
6. But You’re Still a Traitor
His true character is made clear when he finds himself losing the marbles game, cruelly manipulating Ali into giving him all of his on the false premise of getting them out together. After a strangely orchestrated dinner for the finalists, he murders an injured Sae-byeok while Gi-hun attempts to find help. And when Gi-hun bests him in the sixth and final game, Sang-woo finds himself beyond redemption and ends his own life, making Gi-hun promise to use the prize money to help his mother.
7. Brother Dear
Here’s a plot twist: Front Man is Jun-ho’s missing brother, Hwang In-ho. Theirs is a long game of cat and mouse, marked by Jun-ho breaking into the Front Man’s office in hopes of digging up more information. He learns that the game has been running for over 30 years, and that In-ho was a winner in the earlier rounds. He escapes the island in hopes of turning over his findings to the authorities, but Front Man is on his tail.
7. Brother Dear
Cornering Jun-ho at the edge of the cliff, he reveals himself to be In-ho—and the inimitable Lee Byung-hun. Jun-ho refuses to surrender, which leaves In-ho with no choice but to shoot him, and he falls into the sea. Is this the end for our fave? You know what they say when we don’t see a body. And we definitely want to see more from Front Man, too. What was his experience in the games like? What else is he hiding? Will he be taking over from Il-nam now that the old man is dead?
8. Be Careful Who You Gganbu
“We are gganbu. And gganbu share everything.” All together now: LIES. When you think about it, the old man was definitely sketchy from the beginning. He was enjoying Red Light, Green Light a little too much, he voted to end the games when he clearly wanted to be there, and the lights out ruckus concluded a little too conveniently when he called for it to stop. Any other player would have probably been shot.
8. Be Careful Who You Gganbu
Still, it doesn’t take away from the shock that hits when he is revealed to be the actual mastermind behind all this violence. Especially not after we bawled our eyes out thinking that he died after losing the marbles challenge. When he meets up with Gi-hun in the final episode, he reveals that he put this all into motion in hopes of deriving some form of happiness from life because, according to him, both the wealthy and the poor live very monotonous existences. It was also a test to see if humanity was still capable of innate goodness when faced with the allure of a prize that would solve their individual problems.
9. The Guilty
In the pilot episode, we meet Gi-hun as a good-for-nothing mooch that sponges off his mother and blows all his earnings off on horse racing bets. It is the realization that he has no money to fund his mother’s medical treatment that ultimately sends him back into the arena. Upon winning, his first course of action is to return to his mother, relieved that he can finally afford to send her to a hospital. However, he comes home to see her lifeless body, reeling from the conclusion that the hell he went through was all for nothing in the end.
9. The Guilty
As an audience, we can only watch with heavy hearts as he curls up next to his mother’s corpse, mourning her. This very moment may very well be what cements his trauma in the flash forward. One year later, he is living as a beggar, refusing to spend his winnings due to the weight of his guilt.
10. Is That You, Oppa?
This is totally top one. Of all the things in the show, it’s the cameo from our OG oppa that really blew us out of the water. I personally had to hit pause, rewind, and do a Google search the moment his visuals graced the screen. Seriously. Gong Yoo. Never mind that this is all your fault to begin with. While Gi-hun is waiting for his train, a suited-up Gong Yoo invites him to play a game of ddakji for some money. And because Gi-hun is stubborn despite being terrible at this, he gets slapped around—the consequence they decide on—quite a bit before finally winning a round. Gong Yoo then passes on the infamous business card, telling Gi-hun that there are high stakes, high rewards games he can participate in.
10. Is That You, Oppa?
It’s obviously some sort of con, but the direness of Gi-hun’s circumstances motivate him to dial the number. (We would probably get conned, too. Just because this is Gong Yoo and his charisma can convince us to do anything.) Trivia: Gong Yoo worked with creator Hwang Dong-hyuk on the 2001 film Silenced. This was probably how they managed to get him onboard.
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