Kdrama 2021
Netflix Original
Squid Game (Kdrama Review & Summary)
✴️✴️✴️✴️✴️/5
Global Granary Recommendation.
Squid Game
- Genre: Game, Thriller, Fantasy, Action, Drama
- Release date: 17 September 2021
- Origin: South Korea, Netflix Original
- Kdrama: 9 Episodes
Cast
- Lee Jung Jae as Gi Hoon / No. 456
- Park Hae Soo as Sang Woo / No. 218
- Heo Sung Tae as Deok Soo / No. 101
- Wi Ha Joon as Joon Ho
- Jung Ho Yeon as Dawn / No. 067
- Kim Joo Ryung as “Beauty” / No. 212
- Lee Yoo Mi as Ji Young / No. 240
- Anupam Tripathi as Ali / NO.199
- Special Appearance
- Gong Yoo as Salesman
- Lee Byung Hun as Joon Won/Ji On
Snippets
- 22 September 2021: Squid Game is the first Korean drama that topped the US Netflix, UK Netflix & Worldwide Netflix.
- 24 September 2021: It has now passed Sweet Home as the most popular Kdrama on Netflix.
- The writer/director, Hwang Dong-hyuk said that whether the contestant chooses blue or red from the Salesman, doesn’t really matter. They were being invited to play the game of Squid Game.
- He further clarified that the Salesman was once one of the guards who got promoted.
- Squid Game is expected to overtake Bridgeton as the most watched drama series on Netflix worldwide.
- 13 October 2021: Squid Game had officially become the most watched drama series on Netflix worldwide at 111Million views overtaking Bridgerton at 82Million views.
Episode 1 Red Light Green Light
Gi Hoon had never been so desperate in his life. He owes 100,000 won to loan sharks and he had a week to pay up or else…
In addition to this his daughter is being taken abroad by his wife with her new husband. He doesn’t want to lose her but what can he do.
Then out of the blue, he met a weird salesman at the underground metro. The gorgeous salesman played by Gong Yoo challenged him to a game of ddakji or teks. The game involved fliffing a card and if it lands face up then he wins.
The salesman said that if he wins he will give him 100,000 but if he loses he will slap him.
So Gi Hoon only thought of the 100K. He got slapped several times until his face was red raw but then he finally won. No one was allowed to slap the gorgeous face of Gong Yoo so he got his 100K and an invitation to go play more games for an even bigger prize.
He was given a card showing a triangle, square, and circle with a telephone number.
When he called the number he was given a location where to meet up. He was picked by a car and then he was gassed with the others in the car except for the driver of course. LOL
When he woke up, he was one of the 456 contestants. He was actually number 456.
He saw a familiar face. It was Sang Woo (218). Sang Woo. is famous in their neighbourhood for having gone to Seoul National University (SNU). But he got involved in embezzlement so needed money to clear his name.
Their first game was Red Light, Green Light.
A giant doll that can turn her head 360 would turn back at them and those who are found moving would be gunned down. The contestants were shocked. They did not reckoned that game would be a matter of life and death.
Sang Woo (218) encouraged Gi Hoon (456) to not give up. As Sang Woo was already over the line, Gi Hoon was assisted by Ali (199) to go over the line.
Many fell to their death.
Episode 2
It was announced that the prize money was a staggering 46 Billion Won.
With half of the contested killed during the first game, the majority still opted to leave the game and go home.
But life outside the game was as hellish. So after a few weeks 2/3 of the leavers returned to the game.
Episode 3 Sugar Honeycomb Snack
A police officer smuggled himself to the game to look for his brother. He was Jun Ho. He managed to make himself to be one of the staff.
The group started to develop cliques.
Sang Woo (218), Gi Hoon (456), Oh Ill Nam (001), Ali (199), Kang Sae Byeok (067) started to team up.
The next game was to get a shape out of a cookie without breaking it. Many died from the game.
Episode 4 Tug of War
There is a side story that was happening to this game. A group started harvesting organs from the dead players before they were cremated. As they needed a doctor to do the harvesting, Player 111 who was a doctor, was given inside information in return for harvesting the organs.
The third game was tug of war. 456 group were rather wary because they had a frail 001 as one of them and would not be able to provide power but then they found that he was as good as gold because he strategised for them. He knew where to turn when to tug, etc. So they won.
Episode 5
The numbers of players are getting lesser and lesser and the atmosphere was so hyped up that a riot happened.
They were killing one another and those found contravening the rules were killed by the monitors.
Episode 6 Marble Game
Jun Ho managed to get into the archive.
The next game is the marble game. Each player were give 10 marbles. The idea was to get all the marbles of your opponent.
Ali/199 died because he was cheated by Cho Sang Woo/218 by stealing Ali’s marble.
Oh Il Nam/001 sacrificed himself to allow Gi Hoon/456 to go through.
Ji Yeong (240) allowed the North Korean Sae Byeok/67 to succeed because Sae Byeok had more reasons to live.
Episode 7 The VIP
As the game was getting really exciting, the VIPs mostly Americans, turned up.
The next game was crossing a bridge made of ordinary and toughened glass. If you step on the ordinary glass, it would crack sending you to your death.
There were only 16 of them left.
Gi Hoon (456) was the last one to cross.
Han Mi Nyeo/212 knew that it was an impossible task so she hugged the nasty gangster Jang Deok Soo/101 and crashed to their death.
Very exciting episode but ruined by overacting and bad dialogues of unknown American actors.
There were only three left: 218, 67 & 456.
Episode 8 – Front Man
Hwang Jun Ho the policeman found out that one of the organisers of the game was his own brother, In Joo, who shot him in the chest. Jun Ho fell on the dangerous water below. (if there is a second series, it is possible that he survived as In Joo shot him in the shoulder.)
Gi Hoon/456 was so annoyed with Sang Woo/218 because he had lost empathy with people. He pushed a man ahead of him to his death so he finds out which glass was safe to go to.
The prize money had gone u to 45 Billion.
The money was too much for Sang Woo to ignore so he cut Sae Byeok/67’s throat despite her being injured as it is.
So there were only Sang Woo and Gi Hoon left to battle it out for the prize money.
Episode 9 – the Squid Game
It was a battle to the death between Sang Woo and Gi Hoon.
Gi Hoon is now turned mean seeing that Sang Woo was meaner.
However, Gi Hoon won and was about to walk into the final part of the squid game but he stopped. He told the guard that according to the rules, they can stop the game if the majority agrees.
He went back to the bleeding Sang-Woo who was prostrate on the ground.
Sang Woo told Gi Hoon to go for it and just do him a favour and look after his mother. Sang Woo then grabbed the knife next to him and stabbed himself in the neck.
Gi Hoon was absolutely gutted.
He won and was taken back out by In-Joo with the debit card firmly in place inside Gi Hoon’s mouth. He was dumped unconscious next to a man who was proclaiming Jesus as Lord.
When Gi Hoon was compos mentis, he went to withdraw 10,000 won and saw his balance as 45,999,999,000 billion won.
He went home to his mother who he found was stone cold dead.
1 year later…
Gi Hoon was living like a vagrant. He had no interest at all but one day he was called by his bank manager to tell him that he had all his money in an ordinary account which was not earning much of an interest.
Gi Hoon was not interested but asked the bank manager if he could have 10,000 won. He bought himself soju and was drinking by the riverbank when a flower seller begged that he buys flower from her.
He gave her some money and she left him a rose. He found the flower with a card. It was an invitation from No 1, who was supposed to be dead.
He went to see the dying No 1. It turned out that he was one of the creators of the game. Like the other creators, he was bored and wanted to have some fun.
Gi Hoon could not believe the coldness of No 1’s thinking but No 1 told him that people have lost their humanity and would do anything for money. The game is just like betting on horses. It is a game.
He pointed to a drunk man below who they can see from the glass-fronted building. Despite the snowy day no one seemed to care and stop to take the man to safety.
But there was one but still, he left as well.
They bet that the man would die before midnight from exposure to cold temperature. But just a couple of minutes before midnight, the man who stopped by a while ago returned with the police and help the drunk man. So Gi Hoon proved that humanity is not completely dead. No 1 died before midnight.
His talk with No 1 helped him to think about what he could do with his money. He smartened himself up with new red hair and a good long shower. He then went to the orphanage and took Kang Seo Byeok’s brother to be looked after by Sang Woo’s mother, who he left a suitcase full of money with a note that the money was Sang Woo’s share.
Gi Hoon called his daughter and they happily promised to see each other soon.
He was on the metro on his way to the airport when he spotted gorgeous Gong Yoo’s character doing the slapping game once again.
This completely distracted Gi Hoon who went running towards Gong Yoo but he was already inside the metro while the man Gong Yoo had just slapped was holding the game card.
Gi Hoon grabbed it from the man telling him not to go.
Anyway, Gi Hoon was about to board the plane when the card on his hand just kept niggling at him.
He called the number on it. He gave his name and he started spouting that he was not a horse.
The voice of Ji-on came over and told 456 to go to his daughter, go to America, board the plane. Get a life.
This was enough for Gi Hoon to do the opposite.
His poor daughter might never see him again. Another disappointed human being after he had already killed his mother for not being there when she needed him most. Totally selfish git. LOL
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