TV

Squid Game

Surviving under capitalism is child's play.

Photo: Youngkyu Park/Netflix

Seong Gi-hun is down on his luck — as are at least 455 other people in South Korea who accept an offer to escape financial hardship by playing a series of children’s games. The catch? Only one person can win the ₩45.6 billion (and growing) grand prize, and anybody who loses dies.

Squid Game, a thrilling and dark indictment of capitalism and class disparity from South Korean creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, became Netflix’s most-watched series shortly after its September 2021 premiere, and it is the first non-English language series to be nominated for Best Drama at the Emmys. Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung star.

  1. Episode 9 One Lucky Day
    Squid Game Season-Finale Recap: You Are the Horses A winner emerges, but the game continues.
  2. Episode 8 Front Man
    Squid Game Recap: You Aren’t That Kind of Person Gi-hun and Sang-woo finally have it out, and there is no coming back for them.
  3. Episode 7 VIPS
    Squid Game Recap: A Different Kind of Fun As Gi-hun and Sae-byeok hold onto their last shreds of humanity, Sang-woo goes full villain mode.
  4. Episode 6 Gganbu
    Squid Game Recap: Your Stories Are Way Too Dark A brutal twist forces the players to place their lives in the hands of those they’ve come to trust the most.
  5. Episode 5 Stick to the Team
    Squid Game Recap: Last Chance to Fight Fair and Win An exposition-heavy episode gives us more insight into Jun-ho’s investigation and Gi-hun’s backstory.
  6. Episode 4 Stick to the Team
    Squid Game Recap: Lights Out Alliances are broken just as quickly as they’re formed. Then again, how much can you trust other players in a death game for millions of dollars?
  7. Episode 3 The Man with the Umbrella
    Squid Game Recap: I’m Screwed While the episode serves as a coming out party for Mi-nyeo and her chaotic gameplay, Sae-byeok is the episode’s MVP.
  8. Episode 2 Hell
    Squid Game Recap: Out There, I Don’t Stand a Chance The game is paused, and we get a glimpse of everyone’s tragic and debt-riddled lives.
  9. Episode 1 Red Light, Green Light
    Squid Game Series-Premiere Recap: Don’t Get Hurt Too Bad Netflix’s South Korean survival drama is a brilliantly nasty series that plunges its characters into a mysterious, deadly game for $39 million.

More on Squid Game

  1. trailer mix
    Even Squid Game Doesn’t Seem to Know Why It’s BackThis Christmas, here comes gore.
    By Jason P. Frank
  2. 무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다
    Squid Game Season Two Is Closer Than You ThinkWe’ve got a release date, a teaser clip, and season three news.
    By Alejandra Gularte and Jennifer Zhan
  3. verdicts
    Squid Game Star O Yeong-su Found Guilty of Sexual MisconductThe 79-year-old was sentenced to eight months in prison, and said he will appeal the verdict.
    By Jennifer Zhan
  4. vulture recommends
    Is D.P. the Unluckiest K-Drama Ever Aired?It’s had to contend with two of the biggest Korean television exports in recent memory: Squid Game and Moving.
    By Geoffrey Bunting
  5. chat room
    Squid Game: The Challenge Winner Mai Whelan Doesn’t Believe in Alliances“I was more stealthy, getting to know a person instead of a group.”
    By Nic Juarez and Alejandra Gularte
  6. cue stomach sounds
    Squid Game: The Challenge Season Two Gets the Green LightStart saving your spit.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  7. 25 days of reality
    Yearbook Superlatives With the Cast of Squid Game: The ChallengeAfter all, the onscreen villain may not be the same as the one behind the scenes.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  8. tv review
    Oh No, Is Squid Game: The Challenge … Good?The adaptation of Netflix’s capitalism-skewering phenomenon is so openly venal it might just reinvent reality TV.
    By Nicholas Quah
  9. trailer mix
    Squid Game Is Real, Beware of Large DollsThe Challenge is out November 22 on Netflix.
    By Jason P. Frank
  10. buffering
    Squid Game Was Just the StartNetflix’s head of content in Korea takes us inside the service’s massive K-content strategy.
    By Josef Adalian
Load More
`; // integrate Sub(x) scripts and elements if (hostname !== 'subs.nymag.com') { // do not integrate on this subdomain document.head.appendChild(trackingScript); document.body.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', subXAnimationElements); }