Squid Game (Dead Meat Podcast Ep. 150) 

the creators of the show gave the guy who played Ali marbles as part of a care package so at least he got his marbles back!

I'm surprised at how no one talking about the show really focuses on how the MC gets recruited into the game, especially with how much it ties into the ending of the show. Other than showing that the MC is willing to be abused for the chance of money, when he finally wins he completely forgets about the fact he was playing for money and tries to slap the recruiter instead. Just like the ending of the show. It's a small thing but I feel like it's worth pointing out.

In Marbles, I knew Ali was screwed immediately when Sang-Woo said he knew how to save them both. But what got me was Ali figuring out he was betrayed before getting killed. That was heartbreaking.

Another thing they did really well is foreshadow the deaths in earlier scenes 1. Ali stole money from his boss, he died having the marbles stolen from him by Sang-woo 2. Sang-woo tried to kill himself in a baththub, he died drenched in rain 3. Sae-byeok (pick pocket) threatened the guy with her knife pressed against his neck, she died being stabbed in the neck in the same spot 4. Deok-su (snake tattoo) escaped jumping into the water off a bridge, he died falling to his death in the glass bridge

Sangwoo asks Ali to call him "hyung" which is how younger males would address older male friends (Sangwoo calls Gihun "hyung" as well) which kinda translates to "older brother". This in my opinion is the reason why Ali's death hits so hard. I think Sangwoo did care for Ali to some degree which is why he asked him to drop the formalities and call him "Sangwoo hyung" but in the end he is too selfish so after that episode, I feel like he loses every thread of his humanity. Ali's voice just sounds like a lost boy looking for his older brother and it just hurts so much.

The one thing I didn't see mentioned in the philosophy of it all is how the coffins are wrapped as bows. Because when a player dies, it is a gift to the other players. Idk why, but that really stuck with me.

Squid game is literally just one big death 💀

I love how when Chelsea was talking about how boring a stream of hers would be, I said out load "I would watch it" just as James said "people would for sure watch it"

Omg, gun lighter. Everyone is executed via gun shot, then their bodies are cremated. In a casket that looks like the box. That toy foreshadowed everything

I liked Ali as representation of South Asians because for once it's a serious and likeable character as opposed to the desperate nerd and/or comedic relief trope they always get stuck with

I think it should be an anthology series, not focused on the surviving characters from this season. At one point one of the VIPs says "the korean games are always the best" and now I can't stop thinking about seasons showing different national games

I think Sang-woo's death is reflective of how he was also on the verge of killing himself in episode 2. He has no hope for his life on the outside without the money and he has seen that he can't beat Gi-hun, so when Gi-hun is ready to give it all up to save him, he knows he's fucked either way and just ends it.

The Director, more-or-less, had 10 years to create this incredible story. I hope the second season isn't rushed to a point where the show becomes a farce of its self

Interesting in Asian horror it focuses on outcasts and vulnerable of society (Squid Game, Alice in Borderland, Parasite), while western focuses on the evil entity behind it. Like Hunger Games and Purge they make sure to point out these are normal people who are just oppressed, while Asian seems to point out the people who couldn't conform or keep up with society.

Haven't finished the episode yet, at 48:29, but I think the twist at the end of the show made me like Il-nam MORE just because it added something a little extra to him beyond his "portrayal" as a kindly, knowledgeable old man. Plus, after I stopped staring at the ceiling for his betrayal, I thought about all the little hints the show had dropped about the reveal: how happy he looked during Red Light, Green Light, how the first riot only ended once he yelled out that he was scared, how he tried to end up without a partner for the marble game (presumably so that he would be "killed" and therefore not have to participate in the bridge game, since it would be VERY difficult to rig the game to keep him alive if he was stuck with a low number). And I like that he actually felt genuine friendship for Gi-hun in his own twisted, evil way. So, yeah. I still feel super betrayed - the scenes in episode 6 where Gi-hun gave Il-nam his jacket, and when Il-nam gave Gi-hun his own jacket made me SOB because they cared for each other so much, not to mention that the last ten minutes of that episode absolutely destroyed me - but in exchange I became WAY more interested in Il-nam as a character and I'm looking forward to a rewatch where I can hopefully pick up on a few more things! :D

I feel would take James like a whole week just to count all of the kills in Squid Game, literally everyone dies lol

With the final scene with the old man, it also demonstrated that Gi-Hun was so wrapped up in The Game and playing it, that he didn't even consider that he could go help the dying homeless man

A theory I really liked was that the amount of edges/corners a mask has dictates the rank of that individual. So the circles are the lowest rank and the squares the highest. Then the frontman has even more and the VIP's have the most. Even within the VIP's you can see that the southern guy has more edges/corners than the others because he is the most powerful.

I’m so glad you guys gave a shoutout to the little girls death in marbles just because I feel like people understate just how attached they made us to her by the end and it had me emotionally wrecked for weeks

To your point about the VIPs, they were watching the entire games on television wherever they were from. So they've seen them all, they talked about and made references to it. It's the equivalent of watching football at home and scoring Superbowl tickets.

Everything is a rip off of Battle Royale in the same way that every first person shooter used to be called a Doom clone. Just give it time, and the death game genre will be recognised. Also, the creators of squid game noted that they were inspired by the anime Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor, which is excellent

I, honestly, don't blame James for not doing a Kill Count on this. It would just take too long. Plus, there's the obvious problem with Netflix stuff getting auto-flagged on Dead Meat. It's just not worth it right now. Doing a podcast is the best solution.

One piece/moment from the show I loved was Sang-woo’s decision to push the guy on the bridge and how it affected his relationship with Gi-hun. I think it’s such an interesting question of whether or not that was a good decision. Like I personally think it was the right decision for survival if that player’s hesitancy would cost all of their lives, but he still killed a guy. He did lose me after he killed Sae-byeok though, that was A Choice that didn’t have to be made for survival.

Personally, I really liked the VIPs coming in on the bridge game. (I'm not really good at breaking down movies and shows) but it felt like a call back to episode one horse race scene, especially with the knight pieces.

The Girl Doll in Red Light/Dream light is a character used in schools with a boy character. They welcome smaller children to school, kind of like a mascot. She would have been immediately disarming and comforting to the players. Keeping the sinister intention of the game secret until it was too late.

i heard james talk about Alice in Borderland and i recommend it fully! It’s very character driven and the games are just brillant! it’s similar to squid game and to anyone who liked squid game will love it!

Squid Game and Midnight Mass both have been such a delight(in the most depressing way) to watch. I hope more sad heavily character focused horror shows come out after their success.

!SPOILER WARNING! this is about Sangwoo and the stuff they talk about around the 25:00 minute mark Ok I'm not finished with the video yet, but I would like to add that Sangwoo was born into the same situation as gihun, but managed to succeed to become a businessman of the upperclass with the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality. I feel like, rather him being an example of someone who makes gambles that don't pay off, he's more on the side of someone who saw capitalism work for him and thinks that it can still work. The actor for Sangwoo's description of why he helps Ali out at convenience store and gives him money for a bus ticket is fitting to this too: he thinks that he is better than Ali because he worked his way up. My interpretation is that he is the representative of someone betraying his fellow workers because he's seen the system "work" for him. I do heavily agree that Sangwoo is one of those people who took advatage of others to get where he is tho, he even used his mother's business and house as collateral. edit: just past the hour mark and they're pretty much agreeing that sangwoo's world view is deliberately ignoring the struggle of those that came before/his peers. They added some other stuff i didn't mention, but basically it looks like we got the same answer just different formula lol

Episode 6 of Squid Game (the one with the marbles) is hands down my favorite episode of any show ever

One of the most satisfying things with The Squid Games is the discussion and analysis it's provoked; from theories about the relationship (ahem) between some of the characters to foreshadowing. My favourite is that the card flipping game is how both contestants and guards are selected. If you lose and are willing to take a slap; contestant. Win and you're willing to deal out the slaps; guard...

One thing that I think is important in Squid Game is how much the show tries to push back against the disposal of periphery characters. In a movie with such a high body count, most of the deaths are shown as more than just an afterthought. During many of the games, we sit with these people for small moments before their death. We see some of them struggling to cut out the shapes or hesitating to jump to the next panel of glass. It tries to humanize these people and their emotions even if we don't know their names or their stories. Another important thing is that unlike many movies with death games, there's no stipulation on the number of winners. A lot of times, the last man standing is the winner (Battle Royale, Hunger Games, etc.). While the games do count on people dying (tug of war, the marble games, and the eponymous squid game automatically reduce the population by half), probability-wise, there's still a high potential for there to be dozens of winners. Yet, we are left with Seong Gi-hun as the lone winner.

What I love about the final game is that it came down to these two. There's Gi-Han, an under activer in life who show's traces of darkness in him but all in all is a good, thoughtful person at heart. Then you have Sang-Woo, once successful in life who show's traces of good in him but all in all is a bad, selfish person at heart. Both 2 sides of the same coin who have troubles that shattering their lives and lead them on the path to the games where they seeked to fix things and that path ended with them facing off in Squid Game, a game they both know well and played back when they were childhood friends, when life was a simpler and innocent time for them both... This is without a doubt one of the greatest show's I've ever seen 👌

I feel there are a few things lost to audiences outside of ROK. One thing non-native Korean speakers may not hear is Kang Sae-byeok speaks to her brother with a DPRK accent. There are other things too but that gave it away before they really clarify. I wish there were a companion release along with the series that highlighted the things people would miss but would appreciate if they knew.

I still can’t believe people asked and begged for fear street kill counts and when James made them litterally no one really cared just blows my mind

Honestly my favourite shows are always "come for the premise stay for the characters" and this definitely delivers.

In defense of the VIPs, I believe they make a perfect foil to the rest of the characters. They're completely detached from reality and the consequences of their actions. They use workers as sex slaves and furniture. They don't seem to even care when one of their own is out for the rest of the games. Put a controller in their hands, hook the players up to rigs like the prisoners in the film Gamer, and those VIPs would feel right at home. Plus, they show a very real, in-universe example of gambling addiction. As the Frontman explained to 456, he was just the winning horse, putting him opposite of where he started in the first episode. Compare them to the players, who (at least after the first game) are choosing to risk their lives for the chance of JUST SURVIVING their circumstances outside of the games. They need money for various reasons, but none of them need that full pot. They're just hoping to see tomorrow with a solution to their various crises. Allowing other players to die and/or killing the opposition just happens to be how they choose to do it, and even "Snake" doesn't treat it as lightly as the VIPs. And of course, you can't forget the masked crew. They're literally just cogs making the machine work. The few that show any kind of personality are killed off midway through the series. The Frontman only intentionally shows emotions while his mask is removed. But they truly don't care who lives or dies... only that the players and the VIPs play by the rules. I'm confident the Frontman would've put a bullet between the eyes of any VIP trying to help their chosen horse win the race.

I get why you can't make a kill count in this but this podcast is everything🙌🤞

Squid Game is one of the best shows this year and I'm so happy y'all did a podcast on it!

10:21 just a little correction "Alice in Borderland" is Japanese 🙏

I'm so happy to hear that Chelsea saw the VIPs that way, because I thought the exact same thing and haven't seen many people mention it. I think it did a really good job of inforcing the idea that the real story is with the characters in the game. The people behind the game aren't some masterminds, they're simple rich men that think their own basic observations about the game are insight. It is a shame that those basic observations make up so much dialogue. Even the old man, in the end, is someone who has always loved the competition of playground games with a cynical view of the world, who got rich and bored.

I may have missed something, but I wish we got to know more about the brothers and how the frontman got involved. I think they showed him as a previous winner but was he involved since the year he won? How long was he missing? What was their story that brought him into the games? If they do a second season that’s something I’d love to see explored.

The fact that Chelsea plays Crusader Kings makes so much sense to me 😂 love this episode, thanks guys!

Something i found with player 212 is one of the translations with her didn't get subbed very accurately; her character was constantly saying things along the lines of "i'm smart but I didn't have the money togo to school" which I personally think adds a lot to who the character is

the whole "you need a college degree to make it" thing is even more depressing when you don't even get that as an option. i was raised by neglectful emotionally abusive narcissists and had undiagnosed adhd, bipolar disorder and autism growing up. i was held back twice and tried online school *and* alternative school before dropping out and didn't comprehend the ramifications of that (and was already doing so poorly in school anyways) because i had no one to advise me or help me or support me growing up. i also grew up poor as hell in shithole oklahoma so the existential dread i deal with when it comes to knowing how worthless i am to society and how im doomed to live a miserable half life because of things out of my control follows me every day. people like me usually resort to crime or drugs to cope or just to survive. this kind of show is painful but deeply relatable in that way.

Damnnn ok. Now I get why the podcast exist. I first only watched kill counts. This is exactly the right setting to talk about movies/shows. Love it!!!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found the girl's death from the marbles the most gut wrenching. I'm not an incredibly emotional person, and I was sobbing!

There are some plot holes in this show and plot lines that come and go but the characters were so good and the main story itself made me keep watching and that marble game had me in tears

I really liked watching the commentary track of the two main actors, the creator of the show and the art director. Like Chelsea said, the visuals don’t get enough credit and the fact that the art director was included in that video was so nice because she got to share her views and behind the scenes of how she came up with certain ideas and details. So much thought and effort was put into this show and it really shows

I usually don't cry at show or movie but, man I cried my eyes out at the last episode mainly cause the plot twist made me so mad (spoilers ahead) That I was so sad over the old man's death in the marble game and wanted to choke out the old man after finding out he was behind it. I mean during red light green light I thought he was suspicious just because he was smiling even though half of the players were shot but man that actor got me so emotional invested

On episode 6 i started tearing up when Gi-Hun starts using the old man's dementia to win, then when Ali gets shot i started crying and when Ji-Yeong gets shot i just broke down into sobs. Easil the best episode i didn't watch something that hit this hard in years.

Its kinda crazy how squid game would steal the throne from zombieland D.T in the kill count, but hey, the podcast is good too

This show got rejected back in 2009 from those corporations, I kind of don’t think it would’ve been as big if came out in 2009

i always love Dead Meat Podcast. Chelsea is so amazing at explained something and doing research about the topic of the podcast. and james is also really supportive and making the conversation full of horror movie reference and many movie trivia. James And Chelsea podcast also make me more excited to be able to learn more about English languange again and to be able to understand more about the podcast. thank you so much for amazing content like this James And Chelsea. keep up the amazing work (Sorry for my english.still learning)

Personally, I think Sang Woo wasn’t irredeemable. Like he definitely was a terrible person by the time we meet him in the show, but he shows a lot of remorse for what he’s done and feels like he has failed everyone. (Which he totally did.) To me, the scene before he returns to the games and it is shown he is within seconds of taking his own life shows that he really has no chance to fix all he has messed up and the games are his salvation. He is so obsessed with this preconception of what makes you successful that he screws people over and pushes away the people that matter, (launders clients money, uses his mother’s shop as collateral, fails to watch out for his friends,) and when he has no money to give and he has become such a shitty friend, he still has Seung and Ali, but he doesn’t put them ahead of himself like he could have to try to atone for his sins. I guess what I’m saying is, he is human. He’s even nice sometimes, wanting to check on his mother, giving Ali money for the bus, and apologizing to Seung when he put himself first in the second game. But, he doesn’t believe in forgiveness, in finding friendship and fixing his life; the scene I mentioned earlier kind of proves that. I think that’s why *spoilers ahead* when he kills himself, it redeems him in a way. He helps his mother, stops his friend from having to kill him, and in some way brings justice to all of the wrongs that he did. Seung forgives him despite everything because Sang Woo is one of the few people Seung has left and in realizing that, he finally lets go of the material and tries to fix what he can with what little he had left.

I was putting off Squid Game for a while because work has been really busy lately, but knowing you guys are going to make an episode about this series I immediately cleared my schedule and binge watch the whole thing last sunday!

For some reason the Maths teacher in the bridge scene was my favourite scene, especially when you're like, "oh shit he YOLO'd and gave the others such a big chance" and then what happens with the next guy immediately after D:

What really flops my chops is how the rules of the game became contradictory. S01E05 A Fair World: "Everyone is equal while they play this game" "Here, every player gets to play a fair game under the same conditions" "We're giving them one last chance to fight fair and win" S01E07 VIPs: #67 Kang Sae-byeok, played by Jung Hoyeon, suffers a hinderence provided by a shard of glass to her stomach. She played every way they wanted her to and got screwed over by a way to eliminate late players. Not very fair and equal 🤔

Imo a 50 min Kill Count on Squid Game would be the best thing to happen all year lol

Favorite moment of the pod was at the end the absolute joy that James has with “I LOVE SHAKING HANDS” so awesome to be around and to see Dead Meat grow!

I'd like to defend the twist at the end since it was pretty foreshadowed There was the fact the old man didn't have any glow to him in the first game, how the Front Man stopped the riot because of the fact the Old Man wanted it to stop, how the old man was by himself before the marble game was picked, and how his death was not shown in the same episode. There was also how "the Host's" hands were very similar to the Old Man's and had the same build as him. There were hints I think

What a wonderful episode. Been watching kill count for a few years and now I'm a bit mad I've never checked out the podcast. This made me love yall a lot more. Scab woo- brilliant. Also respect for chealsea's grandfather. I hope the world takes the right lesson from this series.

*Spoiler* 42:00 I think maybe the old man being the guy behind everything was an intentional reference to how the wealthy manipulate the lower classes and use underhanded tactics to ingratiate themselves to them. Just like the whole BS "we're all in the same boat" thing celebrities like to tout, or when they all sang Imagine in their mansions, he pretended to be in the same situation as all of them, when in reality, he was never in any real danger. He was always protected despite him claiming that he joined the game to experience the "thrill" of being on everyone else's level. It was such a betrayal because that's exactly how the 1% act. They trick people into thinking that they're on their side, that the lower class' hardships are their hardships, when they're really completely protected and can just retreat to their cushy sanctuaries as soon as they've had their fill.

Glad y'all took the time to dig in to this show, thanks y'all! Glad you delved into the themes. So awesome y'all got to interview Jamie Lee, her outfit of Marion Crane at the premiere was so iconic! So happy for all your success and take care team doing all this work!

Growing up in Scotland we used to play a variation of Red Light Green Light called What's the Time Mr. Wolf, where one character would be Mr. Wolf and would stand facing a wall. The other players would ask "what's the time Mr. Wolf?" and whatever time they said was the number of steps forward you'd take, so if they said "it's four o'clock" you'd take four steps forward. The first to touch the wall was the winner, but any point they wanted, Mr. Wold could reply "it's dinnertime!" at which point they'd turn around and try and catch the other players. So yeah, you're totally right when you say the appeal of this is is that these games are a universal thing we somehow all grew up with.

Imagine someone just Complain that James didnt want to make a Kill Count of Squid Game.

After the season ended, I started seeing capitalist bootlickers trying to associate Sang-Woo with socialism when he's literally the embodiment of capitalism while Gi-Hun is a much more accurate representation of socialism (even the fact that he's flawed and socialists understand that the system isn't perfect).

this is a great episode!! i love hearing you guys go deeper into things like this. it gives me so much more appreciation for the content

These episodes that are like a free for all are some of my favourites! Thanks for everything you do guys :)

This podcast is always a delight, Thank you Chelsea and James for taking the time to talk about Squid Game !

🥺 Anyone else Lowkey hoped for Ali being the winner in the end? He was the purest of the Main characters imo 🥺

I watched this purely on reccomendation of the pod. So far its so good. I love it when stories are driven by their characters. Makes for interesting dynamics on screen

Im always excited for the podcast!! I think this is the best place to discuss the show.

I love how you went into a deep dive of the show's themes and allegories. I've seen reviews from other RU-vidrs that only comment on the literal plot details and I think that if you're not discussing the message, you're only half-discussing this show.

Alice in Borderland i also feel like its a mix of the characters themselfs and how they are coping with the situation and the heartbreaking stuff that happen,considering the eps without games and also the games itself bc they are indeed clever and tricky to solve but theres different categories of them including playing with people hearts Definitely worth the watch and the visuals of a empty Tokyo are stunning

Thank you for this podcast! Enjoyed the talking points about this amazing show taking the world by storm. Love y'all!

i will say although Ali's death was sad, i was pretty much yelling at him through the screen like "HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THAT HE'S GONNA BETRAY YOU?!"

Button for early peeps!

I really wish Gi-Hun (MC) developed a better relationship with Ali. He could’ve helped his family with the winnings 😢

Finally finished the series so now I can watch this! :D

You guys make so many great points. Loved this podcast.

Episode 4 of Alice on Borderland broke me just as much as episode 6 of Squid Game. If you like Squid Game you will like Alice in Borderland. What you two said about speculating that AiB was more game driven is wrong, the character work and relationships are amazing.

Correct me if I’m wrong but by my calculations there were 445 deaths in Squid Game (spoilers below) 437 deaths in the games (456 players to start with, minus 17 who left after RLGL and didn’t return, minus Gi-hun and Il-nam who survived) 1 death of a brain tumor (Il-Nam) 1 death of diabetes (Gi-hun’s mother) 1 death by stabbing (the guy who sold out Deok-su, the gangster, to the casino owners from the Philippines) 5 Pink Soldiers (2 shot by the Front Man, 1 strangled by the detective Jun-ho, 1 shot by Jun-ho, 1 stabbed by the doctor Byeong-gi)

Wishes this had lasted more. Excellent episode guys

i’ve been binging some podcast episodes from dead meat and gosh what an amazing variety of topics discussed that aren’t just purely horror related

I agree with Chelsea about Mad Men. Excellent character-driven series.

A popular childhood game from Denmark would translate to "can hide and seek" and is essentially a rework of normal hide and seek, but in it you designate a home area, if any of the hiding people reach it before the seeker then the seeker loses

I love these podcasts please don't stop them.

Perfect timing. I literally just finished watching this two hours ago.

Chelsea playing crusader kings makes me happy, I would definitely watch that stream

Pretty cool hearing that Chelsea enjoys Danganronpa and Zero Escape. Two of my more favorite horror games.

I'm so glad you covered this!!!

It's amazing to see how much Squid Game has blown up and how everyone's talking about it. I know how much the creator had to work and how much he went through to have the show done, but I do hope they make a season 2 soon.

11:11 Danganronpa, One of the best games I've ever played which is only because they can juggle 15 different character types in a killing game fashion, All 3 are coming out on switch in December if anyone Is looking for a piece of media that kills all the characters you love in a gruesome and horrifying fashion that will make you very sad, play it.

When watching the show I gave nicknames since I couldn't remember or pronounce the names It went: The Protagonist The Buisness Guy (San-Woo I think his name is) The Pickpocket Ali (I remembered that ) Old man The Thug Guy The Crazy Woman XD

This came just in time, me and my friend literally binged the whole thing Saturday 😂

Hey Dead Meat -- I've never watched your podcasts but.. I'm going to start now. Your Dad Grass ad made me giggle, then I looked it up and just spent a bit to try some. Thanks!

1:04:00 This is spot on; The "made-it-because-you-earned-it" mindset is a clean representation of a sorta survivorship bias. Maybe even a Just World bias. Love it, good observations

11:45 Yeah, I think I'd be down to watch Chelsea play puzzle games.

It was absolutely phenomenal to meet you both! It was a dream come true to hear y’all reference your content in person and like I mentioned, your personalities and this channel are what brought me into horror! Thanks for the opportunity! Couldn’t have that screening a better experience followed by a few hours of mazes and scare zones! Thanks again and hope to meet you again in the future!

I love all of your podcast film analyses but this one, (series), was exceptional. Awesome job, as usual.