TR is currently on vacation with her favorite little bear. But before she left, we had watched Netflix’s Squid Game – the nine-episode series about a survival competition involving seemingly innocent children’s game. 456 financially struggling individuals participate in the Squid Game dreaming of winning the whopping 45.6 billion won (US $38.5 million) prize money inside a giant transparent piggy bank suspended high above the main hall. Squid Game is intriguing, which made us watch the first episode last Saturday. Since it has a giant doll in the first episode, TR was glued to the screen concentrating on how to be as statuesque as the Squid Game doll.

Squid Game reminds TR of Cersei Lannister’s line in Game of Thrones where she tells Eddard Stark that, “when you ply the game of thrones, you win or you die”. Same, Cersei, same.

Here are TR’s thoughts on Netflix’s Squid Game (this contains spoiler, so tread carefully):

Favorite Players:

Player No. 456 Seong Gi-Hun (Lee Jung Jae), Player No. 199 Abdul Ali (Anupam Tripathi), and Player No. 67 Kang Sae-byeok (HoYeon Jung). They kept their humanity while playing a deadly game. TR wished that the three of them made it to the end and divided the pot among themselves.

Least Favorite Player:

Player No. 218 Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-Soo). Dirty and selfish. He played the game as he lived outside the game arena.

Saddest Death:

Player No. 199 Abdul Ali’s death was the most tragic. He was tricked by someone he trusted. But that also happens in real life, much more in a scenario where life is at stake. TR hoped that his wife and baby made it back to Pakistan safely.

Death with a Twist:

Player No. 101 Jang Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae) and Player No. 122 Han Mi-nyeo (Kim Joo-ryoung)’s simultaneous deaths was a surprise but not unexpected given their love-hate history together. TR actually clapped her hands in glee when it happened.

Smartest Player:

In relation to tug-of war and the marble game, Player No. 001 Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su) is the most strategic – partly due to his advanced age and experiences and partly due to his secret role in the Squid Game. Still, it is a delight watching him explain the way to win tug-of-war and how he guessed the number of marbles Player No. 456 Seong Gi-Hun had in his hand. Had we not discovered his secret role in the game, he would have been one of our favorite players.

Favorite Game:

All the children’s games featured on Squid Game necessitate a degree of strategy, smarts, and cunning. However, tug-of war is the only one that is a group game. It makes tug-of-war more difficult than the other games as it needs cooperation from the individuals and unity among the members.

Red Light, Green Light is the runner-up. It dictated the tempo and severity of the competition. And it has TR’s relative in it – she calls the Squid Game doll her BIG sister.

Least Favorite Game:

The sixth and last game, squid game, is TR’s least favorite game. After the glass bridge game, the squid game is a little bit of a letdown.

Favorite Shape:

Circle. It has no edges and things look the same from every angle. It is fair game all the time.

Surprising Appearance:

The appearance of the recruiter (Gong Yoo) in the first and last episodes of Squid Game.

Maybe-not-so-Surprising Twist:

Part 2 of Squid Game