A Netflix Original, Squid Game, named after a children’s play, is written and directed by Hwang Dong-Yuk. With an original storyline full of suspense and uncertainty, this South Korean survival drama is orchestrated by some ultra-rich betting on human beings, not horses! The winning person will walk away with $ 38.7 million as a cash prize.

Since its release on September 17, it has become a global success and has been trending on number 1 spot.

This 9-episode, nail-biting season has everything that a thriller and mystery are expected to be. It begins with the 456 cash-strapped contestants vying to win a huge amount of money with ‘deadly stakes’. Most of the episodes are named after the children’s games that give the impression of being harmless. However, the gradual and highly dramatic progression of the plot shows otherwise.

In the very first game, titled Green light, Red light, popular among the children globally, players have to reach the finishing line in the given time. A huge doll equipped with motion sensors is there to monitor the players. Any player noticed to be moving at the call of the ‘red light’ is eliminated with a sniper shot. Shocked to the core, a majority of the players freeze when they see the red light, while the rest get eliminated.

The unusual juxtaposition of children’s games and murderous ways of eliminating the players points towards the ‘loss of innocence’.

The inherent purpose of such activities is usually fun and enjoyment. However, here it is organised for eccentric billionaires only. One also learns that such power can corrupt anyone. The recreational game gets transmuted into a Darwinian contest with the survival of the fittest. No matter what, you must kill the other to survive.

The recreational game gets transmuted into a Darwinian contest with the survival of the fittest. No matter what, you must kill the other to survive.

Squid Game has got even deeper folds than what is apparently visible. Ironically, real democratic norms are depicted in exploitative manners. Every participant before becoming a part of the game has to officially sign the wicked contract with its rather crafty and devious ‘third point’ suggesting that, if the majority wants the game to end, it will end. Some recant after the first game.

After a few days, the harsh realities of the real world start taking a toll on the players. They are forced to review their decision of leaving the game for the sake the of the cash prize to help them win their fortune once again. Hence, the majority returns, and the game of death continues.

The brutality of rules, in the private island where games are held, is also democratic in nature. Equality is ensured throughout the contests. One contestant gets the leverage of knowing about the next game in return for lending his hand by extracting the organs of eliminated players for the few soldiers involved in selling the organs. But once the ‘front man’ aka ‘the handler’ of the games learns about it, he kills all the soldiers and the contestant, and hangs their bodies to make sure that everyone knows the rule of equal opportunity for everyone.

There is a treat for Pakistani viewers in the character of Abdul Ali. Despite his alienation from the Korean culture, Ali uses a significant amount of time to survive along the main players of the game.

Betrayal and mystery are at the heart of this season as most characters that are expected to be major players, turn into unexpected entities. Squid Game is highly recommended for those who love survival series.

The writer is a graduate in English literature from University of the Punjab