I’ve got to say - your stories are way too dark
Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2021.
#5 : 오징어 게임 (Squid Game)
The grim, grisly South Korean drama became a global word-of-mouth smash in a matter of days. We saw 456 debt-riddled contestants compete in a horrific gameshow whose winner goes home with 4.6bn won (£28m), and losers get killed on the spot
Wait - #5 comes after #3 now, does it? (and don't think we've forgotten you still haven't done #1!). Yeah, yeah - I'm sorry, but #4 is a third season of something I've wanted to watch but not caught at all yet, so I've got some catching up to do (and I'm still only half way through season 1, so don't hold your breath). And since this has subtitles, it's good for watching late at night or early in the morning, so I started it in parallel. OK?
Anyways, back to Squid Game. It probably won't surprise you to hear that I've heard of this one - but I've never managed to catch up with it, except for a 30 second slot on Gogglebox which made me think I'd like it...
...and yeah, having watched it all, I can confirm I did! Let's have a quick run across some of the episodes first.
Episode one introduces us to the main character and the concept in an effective manner - you're certainly drawn in and want to see what's going to happen. For those that don't know the overall concept, contestants have to play six childhood(ish) games with a lot of money on offer for those who win them all, but unfortunately the losers are killed. Which is a bit of a downer, I guess.
It then goes to an interesting place in episode 2, stepping away from the game, which I wasn't expecting and it definitely is the better for it. But after that, it's a "reasonably" straightforward run through some games for the next few episodes until we get to game 4/episode 6 which is an absolute doozy - it comes out of left field with a beautiful twist which I didn't see coming at all. And it also gets very, very dark…
The penultimate episode (which for no obvious reason is 30 minutes long as opposed to the hour that all the others are) features a particularly odd plot twist for no obvious reason. And a heartbreaking ending - so sad!
And so, we're at the final episode - and it felt to me like they were going to have to come up with some more side plots or do some serious explaining (which seemed unlikely tbh!). But no, we got some post-game exposition - and that gets pretty dark too! And then a plot twist I totally didn't see coming and some wordy attempts at explanation which all seemed a bit of a pointless letdown, so I was suspecting I was going to be left with a mildly unsatisfied feeling, but it pulled it back at the end (oddly, having him dye his hair really helped!). But then personally I felt it let me down right at the end, although I totally understand why they did - there's got to be a sequel (you can't be successful these days without being made to do one) but I'm not sure how it's going to work out.
But yeah, overall I enjoyed it. It's an odd mix of over-the-top big concept and surprisingly subtle (at times) characterisation and it goes without saying that it makes absolutely no sense at all, but you really don't care. It's very quirky (to say the least) both visually (the multi-coloured Escher staircase is particularly impressive) and in terms of the plot, with a surprising number of side plots being introduced throughout the season - some of which made absolutely no sense (even within the context of the whole thing not making any sense). It's also extremely tense at times and surprisingly violent - yes, I realise that a load of people have to die but it really doesn't pull any punches with the blood!
It's generally pretty well acted - the lead character is a bit of a dick to start with which makes it hard to have too much sympathy for him, but he does go on the required journey to at least become a bit less of a dick (and he gets to dye his hair at the end!). We do pick up other characters along the way, but I actually would have had liked a bit more back story on them - it often only gets introduced as they are about to leave (and you can probably guess how they leave!)
And finally, a few more random observations for you which won't make any sense unless you've seen it. I thought it was interesting that the VIPs spoke in English - I assume it’s saying something about the ruling class but I’m not sure exactly what. To be honest, I suspect quite a lot of this is saying something about something (greed, risk, relationships, priorities, shiny masks) but I'm not sure exactly what.
I do like the idea of a transparent piggy bank filled with money though - they should have one in every office as a motivational tool.
Why was that woman soooo annoying with no redeeming features?
And, really finally and completely randomly, didn't the Front Man look like a Korean Avon from Blakes 7?
Overall, it's an enjoyable diversion on Netflix - you might not want your kids to watch it, but they probably already have and are waiting for season 2 to appear.
Comments
Post a Comment