Yesterday I managed to finish watching 'Squid Game' a super popular 'survival' series that was released on Netflix a month ago. I watched the series after hearing a lot of good news about it from my friends who had already watched the show and had managed to like it.
Indeed, they said that this South Korean 'Battle Royale' style series, even though violent, was something that they got hooked on and couldn't stop watching. The series was entertaining and despite its brutal nature had a message that they could relate to.
So having now finished watching the first season of the series - nine episodes total - I have to say that I'm pretty glad that I gave the series a chance. 'Squid Game' managed to be fairly entertaining, even though I have some issues with how the show was written in certain places.
Premise-wise, we're dealing with a situation where people who are in a financially dire situation are given a chance to 'redeem' themselves. They are given a chance to take part in a mysterious, secret game in a secret place, in which they can win significant amounts of money.
The big catch here - that they don't know about before they participate - is that if they - at any spot - fail at these games, they get killed. They will be executed on the spot by the organizers of the game, who will show no mercy towards the participants.
Character-wise, our main character is Seong Gi-hun (Lee-Jung-jae) who as a divorced gambler is in a dire situation. Deeply in debt and being chased by the loan sharks, he lives with his elderly mother and is desperate to get anything going on in his life.
The catalyst in the story is when a mysterious person in the subway makes him an offer - as Seong finds out that his ex-wife is about to move to the U.S. with his daughter - he's willing to do anything. He takes the bait and - after being put to sleep - is taken to an island.
Not that surprisingly, once he wakes up in a facility with hundreds of other 'players', things get brutal rather fast. As the 'green light, red light' children's game starts and the failing players get gunned down, the situation that they're in becomes completely clear.
Quality-wise, when it comes to the show's overall quality, I have to say that for the most parts of the show, I was able to appreciate the quality of 'Squid Game'. There were a lot of things that the producers and the writers managed to do fairly well here.
By that I mean that there's no question that the series as a whole has pretty solid production values. The series looks really good - despite its pastel color palette - and its clear that a lot of money was spent to make the sets and locations look believable.
Acting-wise, if we don't count the VIP-characters that are awful, the acting was pretty good too. Especially when it comes to our main character Seong Gi-hun, the actor manages to make the character - despite his personal flaws - surprisingly likable and relatable.
Story-wise, it has to be said that the first five episodes are easily the strongest in the series. This is when all the different characters are still being introduced/developed and the 'children's' games that the contestants are forced to play are interesting to the audience.
However, the real problems start with the sixth episode when not only do we have to get rid of some of our 'supporting cast' but the games they play - as unfortunate as it is - become boring. The show loses pretty much all of its direction and energy here.
Indeed, in the sixth episode when the contestants play a marble game of their choice that decides who gets killed, the show gets pointless and come to a standstill. The episode goes nowhere and there's at least 30 minutes of material that could have been easily cut.
Furthermore, this section is also where we're introduced to the VIP persons who come to the island 'for fun' to observe the massacre. They don't work at all and especially when it comes to all their lines, the exposition (ultra on-the-nose) and the acting is abysmal.
Fortunately, even though this part of the series doesn't work (I think includes also the organ harvest sub-plot), it manages to rebound from this. Once we get back to the remaining battles that are a bit better and we have gotten rid of the cast, the series gets watchable again.
After all, even though in the final act the 'cop angle' (including too many convenient close calls) doesn't get resolved properly, the story beats for the main character are good enough. The finale is pretty entertaining and the reveals are somewhat logical and expected.
In that sense, when it comes to the show as a whole, I think it's clear that 'Squid Game', despite some of its problems that are pretty obvious, still manages to deliver. There's clearly a lot of things going on in here that work and the hype for the series is earned.
After all, even though the writing could have been better, when it comes to the show's message, that part definitely works. The series drives well across its point of what rogue-capitalism, cruelty and overall lack of empathy can do in society, if we don't take care of each other.
In that sense, in the end, when it to comes to whether you should give the show a chance - in case you haven't managed to watch it yet - I think the answer is fairly clear. You should watch it and give the show a go and not be discouraged by its violent content.
After all, even though there's some violence and bloody content here, that's not what the show is about. The show has other things going on in it and these aspect, like it being entertaining and having a solid message is what makes it worth watching and worth your time.
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