Squid Game
In late September, Netflix released Hwang Dong-hyuk’s nine-episode series Squid Game. It didn’t take long for the show to catch on; by October, social media couldn’t stop talking about “Red Light, Green Light,” and people who’d previously never pictured themselves watching a brutal South Korean survival-horror show had begun plotting out their numbered-sweatsuit Halloween costumes. A sensation thanks to its careful and suspenseful plotting, characters who kept revealing surprising new layers, shocking violence, and instantly viral plot points—we all know what dalgona candy is now, umbrella-shaped or not—Squid Game broke Netflix records and reminded us that sometimes, the best entertainment can appear seemingly out of nowhere, with no big Hollywood names to hype it up, and become the thing you just can’t stop binge-watching.
