Squid game this, squid game that – when is the internet going to s-quit spoiling the show for me?
The latest trending survival show, “Squid Game’, has absolutely blown up the internet – evidenced by its widespread presence on social media; from Twitter, to Instagram, and even to my own “For You Page” on TikTok. Seemingly no matter where I direct my focus to, “Squid Game” is there. This morning, I could help it no longer and caved to see for myself exactly what the hype was about. I had originally attributed this show to be similar to Netflix’s other survival show, “Alice in Borderland”, but no, the pacing of this show was an entirely different beast.
The premise of the show is essentially this: a survival of the fittest, fight to the death tournament with 456 individuals all competing for the grand prize of 45.6 billion won, or about 38.4 million USD. However, these contestants are not strictly fighting each other to the death “Battle Royale” or “Hunger Games” style; they are competing against each other in a series of children’s games. You heard me, children’s games; and no, we are not talking about something as trivial as Pokemon or YuGiOh, we’re talking old school games you would find on the playground during recess. Imagine playing freeze tag or handball for 40 million dollars against 455 other individuals. I’m sure most of you would think you could win easily, but this is life and death we are talking about. Win, and you move onto the next round; lose, and well – you die.
“Squid Game” does an amazing job of exploring both the mindsets of its characters and the overall situation at hand. How do individuals cope when faced with life or death? What motivates the characters to do what they do and go as far as they do? How much is too much? Watch the show for yourself and you will find that nine episodes is simply not enough. You will find yourself caught up in the story, eagerly anticipating what will happen next. You will also find yourself asking where the next season is, much like I did this afternoon after binging the show for nine consecutive hours. Simply put, the show deserves the hype and I would recommend it to a friend in a heartbeat. 9/10, avoid spoilers while you can!
