No, we aren’t done talking about Squid Game.
This show obviously has a lot of death in… I mean, this isn’t Wheel of Fortune… How
else are you going to eliminate contestants?
With that said, today we’re going to get precise… and figure out exactly how much
death there is in the show. We’re talking about giving Squid Game the good old-fashioned
kill count treatment.
How much carnage was there in the most popular Netflix show of all time? Let’s find out.
This is The Squid Game Kill Count.
Okay, let’s establish the rules.
Mainly, we’re including everything. Obviously, we all know a lot of people bite the dust
throughout the games themselves… But we can’t forget about guards, or anyone who
dies outside of the games… and yes, we’ll also factor in deaths that are referenced
as well.
With that said… Let’s get started!
Our carnage starts during Game 1. Despite the fact that our friend in the suit practically
slaps Gi-Hun into another dimension, those hands aren’t deadly.
The killing begins during Red Light, Green Light.
And not only is that where the carnage kicks off... It’s easily the most deadly scene
in the entire season… Over half of the contestants are taken out pretty darn quick.
But our friend here, with the blonde hair, gets the honor of being killed first. Player
324 gets killed before he even realizes that the games are deadly.
Which surprised me, given how much personality this guy had just taking his photo.
Followed by his buddy, Player 250, who picked a terrible time and direction to run…
And then Player 306 with the dome shot. After this, it’s a really steady bombardment
of bullets… that take out all the players dumb enough to disregard the pretty clearly
stated rules. And of course, the Old Man is clearly having the best day ever!
When all is said and done, 255 players have been eliminated. (255)
After the vote to continue and everyone returns back to their hopeless lives… There’s
a bit of a break from the violence… With the exception of Deoc Su. Who’s betrayed
by his friend and ambushed. He makes lives by jumping off a bridge… that’s irony
and foreshadowing… but not before dealing with the man who sold him out with some brutal
stabbing. (256)
Sidenote, this scene is really awesome. It’s brutality mixed with the goofy music; and
the overall framing of the scene. I think Deoc Su is a highly underrated villain.
Before the games kick off again, our heroic cop, Hwang Jun-ho, begins his infiltration
by strangling a guard… one with an “O” mask. (257)
Back to the games… Game 2: The Honeycomb Challenge.
Player 369 is taken out first with a headshot… but can we take a moment to ask why this guy
decided to do this challenge at the top of the slide? I suppose he needed his space to
concentrate, but I like to think it was to enjoy one last slide…. Weeeeee!
We get a montage of executions from handguns, with one firing squad finale for those who
ran down the clock.
And the last contestant to die here is Number 119. We have to give him credit for not going
down without a fight. Though, he ends up killing himself… bringing the death count in this
game to 79 players.
We also get our second pink guard death here as well. This time a Square mask. When Cobra
Commander shows up and lays down the law. (337)
Next, we have Player 271. Not the brightest bulb in the box. Probably shouldn’t have
gotten in the face of the guy with the neck tattoo. So he’s the first player to get
quite literally beaten to death. (338)
Once that guy’s dead, all bets are off and we get to the midnight brawl. This sequence
is probably the most diverse when it comes to deaths… so we’ll break down the on-camera
ones individually.
Mrs. Tattletale gets a knife to the throat.
And this guy gets shanked multiple times.
This guy strangles and breaks another guy’s neck…
And this woman gets bludgeoned by the door…
That’s it for obvious on-screen kills, but when the night is over… 27 players have
been eliminated. (365)
Which conveniently leaves us with 80 players. Perfect for eight 10 player teams.
We see Deoc Su and The Doctor’s team beat another team, for 10 kills.
And of course, Gi-Hun and Sang-Woo’s team beats their opponents, for 10 more kills.
Then there are two more rounds of Tug of War offscreen, resulting in 20 more deaths. (405)
Afterwards, The Doctor stabs another guard to death. This time a Triangle Mask! So we’re
really making our way through all the shapes! (406)
And we check back in on our undercover cop, who puts a round in a Circle guard and dumps
him into the water. (407)
The jig is up for the organ harvesters and our Doctor not long afterwards… so Cobra
Commander executes a Triangle Mask… and then has the doctor promptly machine gunned.
(409)
The next challenge is The Marble Game… Which not only killed a bunch of players… But
also all of us in the audience, emotionally.
We also get our first referenced backstory death… With Kang Sae-byeok mentioning her
father being killed trying to swim across the border while fleeing North Korea. As well
as how her grandparents and older brother died too… (413)
As for on-screen deaths in the marble challenge… This guy is killed near Sang-woo and Ali…
And this guy nearby Sae-byeok and Ji-Yeoung.
One of Deoc Su’s tall henchmen, Player 40, gets eliminated…
Followed by his creepy henchmen…
This guy gets eliminated while Ali is wandering around on his counting mission, and then of
course…
*sigh* why? (Ali death)
*sigh* why? (Ji-Yeoung death)
So, there were 40 players after Tug of War. Minus the Doctor, we’re left with 39 if
you include our favorite crazy lady who sat the round out.
When everyone returns to the bunks, there are 17 players left. Meaning a total of 23
players were killed. (436)
When everybody wakes up the next day, they find the husband… hanging around. (437)
And then we arrive at the bridge game!
Weirdo’s second favorite number, Player 96, is the first to fall to his death…
Followed by her…
And then Player 62, The Math Teacher. Who we have to give credit to, not only for the
quick math calculations… but also those 3 quick correct guesses.
Player 21 forgets which way the math teacher went and falls next.
Followed by her…
And then Player 151 tries to knock the preacher forward but ends up getting killed himself.
The Preacher gets knocked to his death… And Player 407 thinks he can see the tempered
glass… but can’t.
This guy gets pushed by Han Mi-nyeo and then Deoc Su, and falls to his death.
And then, of course, we get our first murder-suicide with Han Mi-nyeo locking onto Deoc Su and
throwing herself and him off the platform to their deaths…
The last Bridge Game death goes to The Glass Maker… Who almost made it. He should have
taken his 50/50 odds; but instead, Sang-woo yeets him forward to make the decision for
him.
When all is said and done… 13 players die during The Bridge game. (450)
With the bridge game wrapped up, and dinner over… Sang Woo shows everyone what we’ve
known for a while… He is not screwing around. He stabs Sae-byeok to death. (451)
Our cop is killed by Cobra Commander, who turns out to be his own brother. Granted,
there is speculation that he isn’t dead… But that’s all speculation. If this dude
washes up on shore somewhere alive in season 2, we’ll amend that in the count. (452)
Finally, we get to the Squid Game… and Sang Woo arguably commits the most brutal kill
on the show… on himself. I mean, stabbing yourself through the throat with your own
knife is pretty hardcore… (453)
Gi-han finds his mother dead upon his return. (454)
And of course… Il-nam kicks the bucket in his bed… I can’t believe we wasted our
tears on you, old man. (455)
Whew… That’s a lot of death. Do you think they should try to break this kill streak
in season 2? Let us know in the comment section below. Don’t forget to hit that notification
bell and binge our Squid Game playlist. But most importantly, stay wicked!