There is no escaping death when it comes to Squid Game. Let’s have a look at the show’s most memorable deaths, both, of those you despised and loved:
1. Player 069
Player 069 entered the Squid Game with his wife waging twice the chance of winning, overlooking that it could also mean that only one of them would survive. In Mr 69’s case, not only does he have to witness his wife dying, her sacrifice is rendered useless because his grief leads him to die by suicide.
2. Jang Deok-su & Han Mi-nyeo
Sure, the eclectic Mi-nyeo did know how to get on your nerves, but I forgive her because she finally served Deok-su some poetic justice.
After Deok-su uses her and betrays her, Mi-nyeo promises him that if she died, he would die with her. A true woman of her word, she grabs Deok-su as she plunges to her death in the Bridge Game.
While I’m not a fan of either, they each highlighted two different forms of desperateness that fueled their hunger to win.
3. Oh Il-nam/Player 001
We have to live through Player #1’s death twice: In the first one, Il-nam chooses to sacrifice himself so that Gi-hun can live. This, as we know, is not the end. Gi-hun finds out that not only is Il-nam alive, he was the one who hosted the Squid Game.
Now finally on his death bed, Il-nam challenges Gi-hun once again to test out humans’ moral compass. His death strikes right when he loses the bet, and it is both fitting and unsatisfying.
4. Ji-yeong
Ji-yeong makes for a plucky partner for Sae-byeok, as the two team up witnessing how the games can be disadvantaged to women.
Becoming best friends in this obscure, twilight setting, Ji-yeong chooses to lose and die so that she can give Sae-byeok the life she deserves.
5. Sang-woo
Sang-woo is Squid Game’s resident grey character, reflecting humankind’s unemotional, calculative side needed to survive. His cheating and betrayal are paired with a mentally heavy burden that had once prompted him to commit suicide.
His actions are in no way justifiable, especially being responsible for Ali and Sae-byeok’s demise. But his death is still sad to watch, knowing how he traded his morals for almost nothing.
6. Ali Abdul
Right from the moment Ali saved Gi-hun in Red Light, Green Light, I knew that he was someone you could trust. Ali is kind and willing to help, even if it is coupled with being naive and too trusting.
His death may have been sad, but it is also a testimony of how genuinely good a person he was. I definitely don’t want to be in a Squid Game, but on the off chance, it would be good to have someone like Ali around, especially as a reminder that humanity still exists.
7. Hwang Jun-ho
When you look at Jun-ho, you’re looking at the superhero of Squid Game. It was impressive (and sometimes, almost too easy) how he infiltrated the Game and tried to bring down the bad guys.
But what if the bad guy is none other than the brother you’ve been looking to save? Unlike the other players who were betrayed by strangers, Jun-ho gets shot by his own kin. If that’s not painful, I don’t know what is.
8. Kang Sae-byeok
The fearless, crafty Sae-byeok put everything on the line to give her family a safe life. As much as I wanted her to win, two things tipped me off — one, Gi-hun was the protagonist, and two, the game would have only one winner, one survivor.
Although it is Sang-woo’s knife that ends Sae-byeok’s life, it is the glass bridge breaking that throws her into a vulnerable state. For a game that prides itself on giving all its players an “equal” standing, it was unfair that the glass bridge fatally wounded Sae-byeok even though she had successfully completed the game.
If not for this disadvantage, I would bet my life on Sae-byeok winning.
9. About Squid Game
Squid Game is a South Korean survival show written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The nine-episode series released on Netflix on September 17, 2021 and has become an internet sensation.
It features an ensemble of Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, O Yeong-su, Wi Ha-joon, Ho Seong-tae, Kim Joo-ryung, Jung Ho-yeon and Anupam Tripathi. It became the first Korean show to reach No. 1 in the U.S.
The plot revolves around 456 people deep-in-depth, playing multiple dangerous games based on children’s games in a bid to win 45.6 billion KRW. The employees wear a mask with a triangle, square and a circle, signifying the hierarchy and an ode to the ‘Squid Game’ Koreans play.
It’s acclaimed for its dark satire, violence and the class and wealth inequality showcased flawlessly.
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