Warning: This article will have major spoilers for the Netflix K-drama, Squid Game. Please proceed with caution.
Squid Game has taken the internet by storm, and if you haven’t heard about it by now, allow me to fill you in. Squid Game was released on September 17th and is now considered Netflix’s most-watched debut show, with 111 million accounts watching it within the first three weeks. It has even passed Bridgerton, which had approximately 82 million views within its first 28 days. Squid Game itself is a violent and thrilling South Korean drama series following a man named Seong Gi-Hun, who gambles for money and lives with his mother. His life then changes when he meets a mysterious man who offers him 100,000 won if he’s able to beat him at a classic childhood game. From here, he joins the vicious Squid Game, where players play six different South Korean childhood games with a deadly twist to them.
Like everyone else, I was obsessed with this show within 48 hours, and I binged all of the episodes in two (almost one) sittings. The show is super violent and dystopian, but it provided a great social commentary on how society failed each of the players. Through the connections made in each game, the viewers can really see who the characters truly are – they either stuck together to achieve a common goal (like in the group games) or betrayed each other to succeed. After finishing the show, I realized there was so much to discuss with each episode in regards to foreshadowing in the details, and without further ado, I’d like to point them out:
Detail #1: The Walls
I know I’m starting with something that doesn’t get revealed until later, but if you look hard enough in the first few episodes, the walls have depictions of each game that is played throughout the show. At first, they are hidden behind the beds and are hard to see, but by the final episode, they serve as a cruel reminder of how far the characters have come. I didn’t notice it until my second time around, and it makes it that much more chilling once you see it.
Detail #2: There was no Player 1 in the Binder
In Episode 5, we see that the police officer Jun-Ho manages to sneak into the main penthouse of the Front Man, and in there he finds a room that is loaded with binders and information on all the players from both past and present years. At first, Jun-Ho goes to the 2020 Binder, and when he opens the binder, the first Player that is listed is Player 2, not Player 1. This is because Player 1 is the Oh Il-Nam, the elderly man who is really behind the whole Squid Game, and he knew about all of the games and what was going on. Though this is revealed in the very last episode, this hints at the eventual plot twist, and if you’re watching closely, you might’ve figured this out before episode 9.
Detail #3: The Birthday Gift is Actually Foreshadowing to the Coffins
In Episode 1, we see Gi-Hun give his daughter her birthday gift in a black box with a pink bow, and her gift is a toy gun that is a lighter. Later, when the pink security guards come to collect all the dead players after the games, we see them bring coffins that are similar, if not identical to the box that Gi-hun’s daughter received; they are also black with a pink ribbon on top. Additionally, the birthday gift also foreshadows the players’ death process. As they are first shot by a gun and then are later burned in the incinerator.
There are many more details from the show, but I highly recommend rewatching it and catching the details if you have already finished it. By doing this, you will see more foreshadowing with the characters and more details regarding the plot twist. The show does a fantastic job of providing social commentary on capitalism in South Korea, and it’s also great to see more non-English shows and movies become popular around the world. Hopefully, from Squid Game’s success, we can see similar shows from South Korea and from around the world as well. Until then, I’ll still be trying to carve out my own shape in the Honeycomb game, though I’m sure I won’t die if it cracks.