Episode 1: Bread & Lottery | Squid Game

Seong Gi-hun is seen spending his money trying to find the Salesman with his briefcase, recruiting people for the Squid Games at the public transport stations playing Ddakjis. Gi-hun has bought a motel where he spends his days away from society living in the dark. He is determined to find the creators and stop the games. He himself has payed of his dept, and his creditor is seen helping him with the chase of this unknown man. With all the money Gi-hun owns you might think he could set up a better and strategic way to find these VIP Squid Gamers. Yet he spends his days like Batman in a cave.

The creditor finds this Ddakji playing recruiter on the subway. They follow him all day questioning if he really is as bad as Gi-hun implied. They find out this Salesman is really messed up when he plays the game 'Bread or Lottery' with the homeless people. The creditor and his right hand follow the Salesman to an abandoned alley and find themselves in a game of Gawi Bawi Bo with some Russian roulette. The Salesman has a really good storyline in episode 1. He was definitely the center of attention and he was presented conflicted and dangerous at the same time. 

As we know Squid Game has a few side stories. While Gi-hun is trying to reach his creditor friend, he get's pulled over by the cops for speeding. And the little brother, of the Front man, Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) recognised Gi-hun. It is a bit of a stretch that they just meet now at this moment, but it's a good story to present. Faith brought them together at the right time. Personally the side stories are not as exiting as the main story, but they are good to bring the balance in the show. 

In the end of this episode Gi-hun finds himself back at the table of a Squid Game. He will play Russian roulette with the Salesman for the Key that will bring him closer to the Front Man. Will Gi-hun die or will the Salesman let him live his life as Batman? I will not spoil it for you. Maby the Salesman dies in this game, who know. This scene was really gangster style fun to watch. It was well executed and it made sense that the Salesman would want to play games. His character was conflicted with the actions he took as a soldier in the Squid Game. The Salesman dropping a few hint that will fall in place in the future episode. Would you dare to play Russian roulette with him?

The Games

The games in this episode are old school games with some new variations. There are some obvious games, but also the less obvious games we daily play to determine our fate. The games we see are: 

1. Ddakjis (Flip the card) 
2. Bread or Lottery 
3. Rock, Paper, Scissors and Minus (Gawi Bawi Bo Ppaegi)
4. Russian Roulette 
   1. 1 out of 6 win Chance 
   2. 6 out of 1 win Chance

It was really refreshing to see the new variant of Rock, Paper and Scissors. Russian roulette was not so new, but a real gangster game to use by the salesman (recruiter). The 'Bread or Lottery' game was a real power move by the Salesman. At first you might think that the salesman has an alter ego where he might be doing good deeds. The spiritual person in me was jaw dropped when he murdered those breads. I mean did he really use his shoes? You might even think he genuinely wanted to do something good and was upset people turned out to be as awful as he thought. 

What would you choose? 

Bread or Lottery?

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