Emmy Catch-Up: Squid Game (Season Finale)

Squid Game: Season 1, Episode 9 “One Lucky Day” (B)

I was expecting some late-breaking twist that would add an entirely new dimension to all of this and frame it in a new context, and while we did get something like that, it wasn’t what I had hoped. That’s partially because Player 1 seemed like the sole element of true goodness on this show, and it turns out that he was actually the most guilty one, forcing others to suffer and only joining in since he thought it would be much more fun to play the game than to only be a spectator. I should have known that not seeing his death onscreen and only hearing the gunshot wasn’t just a way of sparing viewers from watching a tough death but instead an outlier, since all the other players, as far as I can remember, died onscreen. The final game was actually quite lackluster, and Player 456 trying to quit the game and forfeit the prize made it all seem so worthless, which I suppose is the point. Giving a portion of the money to Player 218’s mother and having her take in Player 67’s brother was a nice way of paying his debts to the people he was closest to, and all seemed good as he was headed with a new haircut to America for a new chance. But then he saw that same man slapping and betting someone else, which reengaged all that trauma. I know that a second season wasn’t initially in the cards but this ending definitely did leave the door open for what’s coming next. I still fail to see the real point of it, but the production values and performances were indeed strong.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Oh Yeong-so as Player 1