The South Korean smash hit drama that gripped global audiences returns for a final instalment. It’s brutal, cruel and, sadly, brings back the animal-mask wearing VIPs whose season one appearance caused global mockery
Look alive – Squid Game returns this week! There’s still no sign of any squid, which is the kind of false advertising that ruined The Pink Panther. But that’s good, because squid are terrifying. Once, showing off on holiday, I offered to cook for a group of friends. I didn’t speak the language where we were, and ended up leaving the fishmonger with a big bag of tentacles. As I attempted to remove the head, guts, beak and skin of the creatures, their internal sacs burst, coating me in viscous black ink. I suffered an allergic reaction, don’t eat squid any more, and don’t see those friends.
Squid Game the TV show (Netflix, Friday 26 June) has proved even more traumatising. Set on a hidden island, the competition pits hundreds of desperate, indebted people against each other in a series of children’s games. The winner gets millions, while the losers are executed by guards, or die via gruesome, in-game accidents. The show’s brilliance is the way it amplifies the emotional stakes of each set-up. Players bond, form alliances, then have to murder each other to survive. The weak are ganged up on, cowards exploit loopholes in the rules to screw over everyone else, while those who make selfless choices are punished. Usually.
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