By: Ty Wilson
Shows like “The Office,” “Vampire Diaries” and “Grey’s Anatomy” have dominated Netflix for a long time. Now there are some
new kids on the block, and they’re Korean.
Netflix’s new
original show
“Squid Game” has
already become the
most watched show
in Netflix’s history,
having reached 111
million views in its
first month on the
streaming service.
I was hooked after the first episode, so much so that I binged watched the whole first season until 4 a.m. I just couldn’t wait until the next day to keep watching.
The show follows a few main char- acters through their attempts to sur- vive the games they have volunteered to play. The winner of the grand prize
is guaranteed millions of dollars if they are the last contestant remain- ing. Those who fail the challenges, though, are met with a swift death.
The twist in the story comes from the challenges that the players have to conquer. They’re a series of games that the cast would have played as kids: Red Light Green Light, Honey- comb, Tug-of-War, Marbles, London Bridge, and of course Squid Game. While some of these games are more traditional in Korea, they’re easy to follow along with as a viewer.
What I liked the most about Squid Game was its authenticity. The char- acters are all unique and have differ- ent backstories that pull you into their lives. You really begin to resonate with the characters and want to see them all survive the games. Even though you learn that there can only be one winner. The characters are what I think hook the viewers. Being that each player has a different personality that everyone can identify with.
You may be asking yourself, “Why would all these people put their lives at risk to win all this money?” Each and every one of the contestants is in massive amounts of debt. This money would be able to pay off their debts and give them the opportunity to live a lavish lifestyle.
It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to bring this idea to Newman. We all know it’s not cheap to attend NU, so we can assume there’s a large amount of student debt on campus. A week off from class and millions of dollars up for grabs is sure to bring in thenumbers to play the game. Red Light Green Light in the Fugate Gym should be first up.
But since we don’t want our stu- dents dead, we would have to find an alternative consequence for losers. Something almost worse than death would be having to bathe all of the cats on campus. While I am a huge fan of raccoons, the cats of Newman are one rodent I would not want to touch.
PHOTO: Courtesy Photo, seeklogo
