Squid Game
Who is not talking about Squid Game right now. I learned about this show a few days ago from a recommendation during a twitch stream. I recently finished binging the entire series and have some thoughts particularly about one episode. Overall a solid show with minor issues. This will be going into spoilers so fair warning. I will set up my initial experience and go in-depth about a particular episode.
Premises
I did no research and dived straight into episode one. Squid Game at its core is essentially a battle royale death game. Now, I have seen many variations of the the battle royale genre such as Btooom, Liar Game, Mirai Nikki, Gamble Fish and Magical Girl Rising Project to name a few. It is a commonly used plot in manga around late 2000 to early 2010. Even now there are new iterations of high stakes or death game. Typically, we get a group of people from all walks of life. A mix of environment, equipment, abilities, or rules to equalize the playing field. Usually ending in some human experiment, betting spectacle, or some divine joke. The setting typically lends itself to examine humanity when pushed to extreme conditions.
Squid Game follows the formula very well while being brutal so strong warning for graphic violence. Children games are used as the great equalizer due to the simple rules and appeals to nostalgia. We gather a varied casts of players that are knocked down and kept down by society. Our main cast, Seong Gi-hun a man who wants to be there for the people he cares but spiralling into gambling addiction to find a reversal in life. Cho Sang-woo, the village’s prodigy, who landed a successful career but seems to have dipped into white collar crimes to maintain the good son facade. Kang Sae-byeok, a northern defector, involve in the underworld to gather her family for a new start. Oh Il-nam, an aged man, that wants to enjoy his remaining time. Jang Deok-Su, the thug and bully, a gangster who crossed some bigger thugs. Ali Abdul is working to support his family while navigating a foreign land.
A Marbelous Episode
There is a pool of concepts Squid Game has thrown at the audience ranging from social economics to chasing joy and happiness. Today’s topic of interest is the good and evil of humanity. Are humans inherently evil or are they inherently good? We observe players in a stressful environment resort to horrendous acts of evils and betrayal to selfishly get ahead. On the flip side, there is also the human compassion for others and bonding to overcome adversity. Episode six is the prefect encapsulation of these themes. The episode had everyone pair up giving way to interesting dynamics.
Betrayal as a given
First up, we have Deok-Su and his henchmen 278. Deok-Su believes the strongest is the most fit so he rules the group with violence and coercion. He gathered like minded followers who follow the strong but are looking to be the strongest themselves. It was mention in an earlier episode that Deok-Su has a likelihood of being usurp by his own group. We see it manifest here when henchmen 278 gets their chance to beat Deok-Su. We have a straightforward example of human capacity to be be ruthless cut throat. Just as the last marble of this game shows Deok-Su got out only by luck. The one on top is only hanging there by mere chances and coincidences. Betrayal is a standard it is only a matter of time and chances.
Advantages of Relationships
Next we move to Sang-woo and Ali. Ali is in a foreign country and working in dodgy manual labor. He is used to taking the lower position in a social dynamic. That is why Ali defaults to nim instead of ssi when talking to Sang-woo in episode two. Throughout the games Sang-woo and Gi-hun help supplement Ali’s ignorance in language and culture. That is why Ali sees these two people as reliable teammates and begins forming friendly bonds. Ali changes the honorifics as the episodes go by to show how close he has grown as a friend. This is why Ali gives Sang-woo the benefit of the doubt in addition to having to decipher cultural nuances with a native speaker.
Sang-woo is an interesting character but for brevity I will only touch upon his archetype here. Sang-woo always weigh the cost and benefits while helping others when it is not detrimental to himself. This behaviour pattern can also be cynically interpreted as putting on a facade of human relationships for your own benefits. He creates the team but rarely sticks his neck out and is cautious of the smallest risk. Sang-woo’s behavior is selfishness but is able to foster long term useful human connections.
The logical end in this dynamic is Sang-woo coming out on top by taking advantage of Ali’s trust. Humans are capable of forming bonds and equally capable of taking advantage of those bonds.
Entrusting it All
Sae-byeok and Ji-Yeong is a pair that closely resemble each other. Both are females that has built walls to shield themselves from the world. They agree to bet it all in a single round at the last moment. In the mean time, the two trade life stories to past the time. Sae-byeok motivations still remains gathering her family and starting a new life. Ji-Yeong wants to share a world Sae-byeok has not seen yet only to realize they can not leave together. Their conversation turns to Ji-Yeong’s dysfunctional family dynamic as a nice juxtaposition. Family is the reason both end up in this death game. It is the reason why Sae-byeok is driven while Ji-Yeong is lost. There are enough social and narrative clues to see the outcome of this pair when Ji-Yeong picks a game they can volunteer to lose. This pair demonstrates the human capacity to connect, understand each other, and be self sacrificial for another’s benefit.
Healing Humanity
Finally, we have Gi-hun and Il-nam pairing. We see Il-nam show signs of deteriorating mental faculties placing him in vulnerable position. The dynamic is very similar to Sang-woo and Ali. Sang-woo is Gi-hun’s foil. They both act similar but have differing core beliefs of the world. Sang-woo normally acts for his own benefit and self-image. Gi-hun cares for other and takes action, often ill advised, for the benefits of others. That does not make Gi-hun a saint. He is also looking for ways to survive this game. Gi-hun takes advantage of Il-nam to escape his own death. The acting really sells this sequence as Gi-hun is visibly remorseful every time he cheats. This gives way to the highest emotional point of the episode where Il-nam confronts Gi-hun’s betrayal. Gi-hun is crushed by guilt and it is Il-nam who gives the final marble in honor of their friendship. The moment hits hard when we realize humans can understand and empathize with each other because it allows for forgiveness. Il-nam saves Gi-hun from the guilt and allows Gi-hun’s heart to heal. Friends can hurt each other and they can also reconcile past grievances.
The marble games wrap up in that specific order in the episode. It starts at selfish betrayal end of the scale. It moves to the pragmatic middle. Then it goes to the selfless sacrifice. Finally the last is the lessons from the previous three. People have the capacity to betray and yet everyone can connect and forgive. The betrayer is jaded by the world and seeks to protect themselves. People can connect, understand, and forgive. The forgiven can heal their trust in humanity.