Squid Game has quickly become one of the most popular dystopian thriller television series on Netflix, filled with tons of surprises; here are some of the most shocking moments in the series. 

(Warning: Spoilers Ahead!) 

The Subway Game

What would you do if someone came up and asked you to play a game while you were waiting for the next subway ride home? This scene was the beginning of Seong Gi-Hun, the main character’s journey into the game world, and it was pretty intense to watch. It had already been a horrible day for Gi-Hun after he lost a lot of money gambling at a horse derby and couldn’t afford a nice gift for his daughter’s birthday. In this scene, we see that he had nothing to lose, so he took the chance to play the game and got the business card which would eventually lead him to call, not knowing it was a life or death type of deal. 

The First Game

This was one of the most shocking and significant moments in the film as it was the turning point in which the people realized that the ‘game’ they were participating in was either life or death. The game was Red Light Green Light, and as soon as the first person was shot, chaos broke, and that was when people realized what they got themselves into. When the first game was over, almost half of the contestants were killed, and the ones that were alive were in shock with what just happened and feared what future games were going to be. 

Players Returning After Given a Chance to Leave

187 out of 201 people returned to the game after being freed and given a second chance at life. 93% of all the players decided to come back! This entire scene is super significant to the show because you can see the lives of all the players outside of the game and why they played in the first place. Most, if not all, were in horrible financial and mental situations that made their lives meaningless. What they realized after coming out of the game was that they had nothing to lose and that if there’s a chance for them to win the cash prize, in the end, it would be worth it. The last scene of episode two is heart-wrenching because seeing these characters go back into a game knowing their fate is very sad to see. 

Cho Sang-Woo killing Kang Sae-Byeok

Cho Sang-Woo was a very selfish character in Squid Game and had a challenging family background. Sae-Byeok wanted to win the prize money to get the rest of her family out of North Korea and help support her younger brother. At the end of the entire game, the contestants remaining were only her, Sang-Woo, and Gi-Hun. Gi-Hun was very empathetic towards Sae-Byeok and had no intention of killing her off in order to be the last one standing. Later on, we find out that Sae-Byeok had been stabbed and was bleeding out and at the brink of death. Sang-Woo then took this opportunity to slash her throat and ended up killing her and getting himself one step closer to winning the game.

Seong Gi-Hun Commits to His Promise to Sae-Byeok

After winning the game prize and taking all of that money home with him, right when Gi-Hun came out of the game, he took a large sum of money out and brought Sae-Byeok’s younger brother to Sang-Woo’s mother to take care of him. Gi-Hun leaves a suitcase full of cash and leaves right after attempting to move on from this horrifying experience.