Squid Game vs Invincible - Bad & Good Twists

[@uricksaladbar]

Old (i) Man

[@shaggydoody]

I'm glad someone has a take that lines up with how I felt about the show too! There was promise and good moments in the show, but too many details, when watching again peel away and ruin the core experience and events. It doesn't make the original moments bad, just derails it from anything that makes sense

[@calamity3177]

Old (I) man

[@MrZDMan]

Oldiman is my favorite hero

[@KittyKatty999]

Oldi Man from hit show Invincible Squid

[@ericquiabazza2608]

Urick, you lost it man, read the comments. For me it looks like you WANT the moment between Gi-Hun and the Old man to MEAN, to MATTER, and not be wasted, so you reject the twist and see more in it. Also, those momentcan also mean what they show, as the Old man trully wanted to have this experience, and for Gi-Han was real. But norlt for that you must ignore the reality it tries to show. Is quite ironic really, show begin with the same carrot and sticks use to trap so manny, and later unvail the lie, yet, some embrace the light or refuce the statement is a lie. Humans are trully something else.

[@Cyynapse]

my favorite detail in Invincible is that when Mark tells his parents that he has powers, Nolan asks "are you sure?" and Debbie gets on to him for not being happy for Mark. this shows that, deep down, Nolan almost doesnt want Mark to develop powers, because it means he has to finally throw away the comfortable facade and do his mission

[@Ledecral]

True, it even mentions later in the comics that Nolan genuinely saw the guardians as friends. Heck, even though he calls he wife a “pet”, he meant that he sees her as something he loves, but knows won’t be around long in his life, and isn’t worth sacrificing his whole future over.

[@jackhall4767]

@@gonzoclan9603 🤣💀

[@scarletcosmo]

Later in the comics Omni Man says that he agreed with Mark, but only got angrier the more he heard the truth from him. Omni-man isnt arguing with mark he's arguing with himself.

[@arklados3596]

@@Ledecral I love how he realizes he misses Debbie and how they reconnect later in the story.

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

But what makes no sense is the viltrumites would eventually come to earth right if he didn't do his job

[@NMA-q5n]

I might have getting it backwards, but the omniman scene, when he hesitates, is not about the inability to solve invincible hatred for him, but realizing the love his son feels. The statement about "what will you have after 500 years?" is more like "everything you care now will be gone, so think about what matters" the response is "if I lose everything, I'll still have you, dad". Omniman has nothing, he was willing to sacrifice his life and everything for the empire, but his son is the first to tell him that no matter what, he is important, not as a vultrum soldier, but as his family

[@justinrush7463]

It may indeed be a mixture of both. The guilt, surprise, and regret paired with his previous frustration may have overwhelmed him at that point.

[@KazeMemaryu]

The great thing about that scene is that it doesn't spell anything out for the viewer. It presents the dilemma through choice words while allowing us to interpret it in a multitude of ways, but not without the general notion that the bond between the two is meaningful. To what extent, hopefully we'll get a second season for that.

[@wrongthinker843]

Yeah, there's not really hatred there. On the contrary, Mark refuses to believe his father is merely a villain, in spite of all the evidence.

[@WoodlandDrake]

It's definitely an emotionally charged moment, Mark stood no chance against his dad physically, but emotionally he was far stronger than Omniman ever was.

[@RanMouri82]

Damn. So many fantastic layers to that moment.

[@zarkflappysheep]

Love the art that you apply to your essays. It adds just the right amount of personality to everything you make.

[@aki-rw9vu]

Oh hey its you!

[@La-Machina]

Honestly, his typography skills are incredible, and they add so much to his already amazing points. I found myself understanding every point he made very well, and his videos appear very linear and well thought out.

[@megamaggotman7025]

Omg guys back blabby beep is in mine craft 😳😳😳😳😳😢😢😢😢😎😎😎😎

[@jdv637]

Who creates the art for the video

[@crisismoon880]

Verified user = free likes

[@Marguns21]

Don't forget Debbie! She may be a pet but she planted the seed of humanity in Nolan. She had two superpowerfull beings in her house and made one go to bed and the other sleep on the couch. She is my favorite character

[@Icepiq72]

When Nolan murdered the discount Justice League, I kept giving him outs like “maybe something happened behind the scenes. He can’t be the villain it would be too obvious” and that’s what made the twist. The amount of odds that we gave him because we hoped he wouldn’t be the villain as opposed to bad twists where we have no idea it even could be them

[@danielshore1457]

I thought it was like well with the viltrumites being protectors of planets, Nolan killed them because he thpught he was supposed to be the only protector of earth as if there were others he would be useless

[@BlackHippy313]

I didn't give him a out. I took him as he was shown in that episode. I'd have given him a out if it was just a fight, but nah him killing them was more than enough for me.

[@LucyWest370]

While watching the show even knowing he was the villain and having killed the guardians he was still written as such a likable character, almost relatable, that I couldnt believe he was actually the villain which is what made me like him so much

[@naomistarlight6178]

It kind of makes you feel what Debbie is feeling; that you know something's wrong but don't want to believe Nolan is truly evil.

[@thomasfisher4833]

At first I thought it was some wacky part of Mark's training - he killed all the other heroes so Mark could have more work to do.

[@userpersonwhoisahuman]

I love when you say something will come out soon it actually does.

[@cleversmart0303]

What about the Terry Hintz video?

[@Sussy_Bottom_Boys]

It goes against the entire history of KZbinrs!

[@Phillylove100]

I don’t mind if things take a while, or the KZbinr updates their fans when things get delayed. I just get annoyed when KZbinrs mention a release date and when months pass after the release date with no updates they get angry at the fans for being frustrated.

[@Ttegegg]

@@Phillylove100 I wonder if he works for someone else considering his talents of editing

[@mcbiscuits8015]

Silksong

[@Chan0art]

I love how invincible progressively gives Mark hints to the backgrounds of viltrumites. I absolutely hate the Ocean 11 types of twists because it feels so empty.

[@Chan0art]

@Ahmed Malaki Anything that has a twist at the end that does not enhance the narrative in anyway/does not have any hints leading up to it. like Frozen or that new movie red notice.

[@iquestioneverything3426]

@@Chan0art how does frozen have a twist that does not have hints leading up to it ? i don't remember any when i was watching it, the whole love breaks curse thing was stated pretty obviously, or are you talking frozen 2 ? i haven't watched that.

[@jar_knight]

@@iquestioneverything3426 I believe he's referring to the twist that Hans is actually evil.

[@SoulBro12]

@@jar_knight Oh yeah he exists like he wasn't even needed at all and it was pretty obvious that the only way to repair a broken relationship with a sister is to talk with your sister. Hans absolutely should not be a twist villain

[@peytonalexander5300]

@@Chan0art Red Notice has a billion hints leading to the twist. I literally called it in the first 10 minutes when Dwayne Johnson refused to show his badge. They even do a little montage when the twist happens of some of the hints that were given.

[@horationelson2440]

I feel like this is similar in essence to Hitchcock's bomb. Essentially, he explained that there are two ways to write a bomb under a table. You can show a dinner party, show the conversations, the characters, the food, and then it all of a sudden blows up. This may shock the audience in the short term, but in the long term it will leave them unhappy with the sudden an unearned twist. If you however, show the bomb under the table, then it changes the entire dynamic. Now, the audience is left asking "when will it explode", "will they find it and escape", "who's going to die". Basically, if you give an audience enough information before a twist, they'll become more invested in what happens, and will feel more fulfilled with a story when the twist occurs, and it will make the story feel natural in it's progression rather than forcibly changed for shock value. Now, I know Hitchcock used this analogy for horror, and tension, but it could work exactly the same for a twist as giving the audience SOME information can cause the audience to prepare for the outcome, and give them multiple ideas as to how the twist will turn out, doubly subverting their expectations, in a way that feels natural and earned.

[@thedigodragon]

Yeah, I think you have it right. The twist in Squid Games felt sudden with no hints to work with. It just happens. In Invincible, you know Omni Man killed the not-Justice League from the start, and you get invested figuring out why he did it. You put thought into it, which just draws you deeper into the story.

[@StillRimmo]

Man, if anything the wisdom of Hitchcock is underrated.

[@alphanoodle1877]

but what if you threw a clown in the scene for shits and giggles?

[@blinkachu5275]

​@@thedigodragon It doesn't just happen. Anyone that paid attention during the show saw the hints that there was something more to 001. The way the targeting system of Red Light, Green Light couldn't target him. How he "randomly" happened upon Gi-hun in the real world trying to persuade him to go back. How in tug-of-war his restraints were already loose at the end when everyone else was still locked to the rope, clearly indicating that if he had lost the tug-of-war, he wouldn't have fallen down. People just didn't notice those things, so they call it a bad twist.

[@ThugOG30VIPs3rd-T]

It fr is I’d wonder how he’d rate something like AOT or This or any modern plot filled story (mostly would like to see his take on AOT tho)

[@screamsintothevoid9968]

As someone pointed out in another comment, the hipocrisy was the point of the games. So in the thematic aspect it doesn't get that worse. However, you are right when it comes to the emotional part of the old man's death, it makes it weaker, despite the twist being in line with the themes of the show.

[@defectivesickle5643]

I'm pretty sure this is a point he brought up

[@radishjuice8662]

I still think it's too much of a trope and makes the writing worse overall. Even if it was the point, it was the wrong point to make

[@mesiagamer5217]

I think the worst part is the twist makes sense and was set up from the start with so many clues basically screaming he's not here because he has to be. From his age to the 001 on his uniform to how he performed on the first game doing very well in it having a smile on his face the entire time.

[@gearsie_]

Dude, I believe the old man's "death" is even more powerful. By making the old man have zero risk, it makes every action that he committed a bigger betrayal. How many times was Herr Seong on the brink of death? How many people died during the night-time massacre when he could've stopped it at any time? How many lives did he personally order to have a harder time by making Front Man commit actions outside the game to push the players into being in a situation desperate enough to come back to the game? Hell! maybe these players were gonna have a decent, if hard, life if it wasn't for Herr Oh using his wealth to make people desperate enough to join the game to begin with!

[@Chielmeisters]

I agree, that was a really weak point. You're taking the front man's speech of platitudes at face value? It's so clearly a bunch of bull they spout to pretend that the games are about more than just indulging their sick desires. They're making poor people fight to the death over money, but somebody says it's actually a really great and noble thing they're doing, giving these poor sobs a chance to be rich! Like... seriously, how does anyone buy that? It's not even true. Most of the games very clearly favour young, able-bodied men due to sheer reliance on physical strength, even down to the last game. The social commentary is very obviously that the wealthy rig the system in such a way that the 99% are too busy fighting each other over scraps to realise that they could and should unite against the 1% putting them through the misery. If anything the front man said was true, *that* would weaken the whole point of the show, because then what would the message be? The 1% are actually really fair and kind giving the poor sobs a chance at becoming one of them and just continue the cycle? Urick really didn't think this one through enough. It's not exactly a subtle show, but I doubt it was trying to be.

[@an_oracle]

11:22 Personally for me it wasn't that he died off screen, but that when he "died", there wasn't a thud. My brain is so wired to hear that when a character dies standing up, especially when the sound effect of the gun was so emphasized, that I was really caught off guard at the lack of a thud.

[@peridrawland5955]

That's a big brain observation my friend, I didn't notice that

[@sproutstuffs]

That was the same for me! I was expecting a splat noise for the blood and then even looked to Gi-Huns right as he was walking away to see if I could see anything. (all you can see is the back of the guard's head for anyone that's interested).

[@breakmycursegaming]

Yeah my dad instantly caught that

[@onelusciouslad7841]

I was too busy bawling my eyes out at that episode to notice

[@cinder7258]

@@onelusciouslad7841 why

[@Katsby83]

Given the Front Man is a previous winner and not a creator, he could believe that the games are based on equality when that isn’t true.

[@ABUBBA22]

But he knows the game is entertainment for rich people...

[@abandonedpterodactyl5484]

This is how I read the scene. The game isn't fair, it isn't even truly equal. A shit ton of your fate depends on blind luck (Gi hun wouldn't even have survived the first game if it wasn't for Ali and his almost superhuman strength). It can also be rigged at any given moment (the glass panels and turning off the lights). The front man is a previous winner. He got lucky. And yet, after he won, he buys into the capitalist lie of the meritocracy, the myth of the bootstraps. He truly believes he won, because he was in fact the best (and not due to circumstances) and that everyone can do it if they put the proper effort in. He bought into this system hook, line and sinker once it benefited him.

[@SacredDaturaa]

Plus, it's absurd on the face of it. The games are very blatantly arbitrary and unfair - at every stage of the game random chance has a far larger impact on whether you live or die than any skill or virtue, and the Front Man is surely aware of this. That whole monologue simply doesn't make sense.

[@akramirez]

@@SacredDaturaa It's almost like the show is about some kind of system that portrays itself as fair when it only helps the rich in ways they don't even need.

[@greg4587]

@@akramirez FACTUAL. MAD FACTS ARE BEING SPOKEN SO HARD YOU ARE FLOODING MY HOUSE.

[@catthefat232]

The plot twist did feel rushed but I think that hypocrisy was the whole point. The game was never equal. Rich folks created this game in order to see desperate people reach out for their last hope that causes them death/trauma, that was their entertainment. Obviously they’re not gonna make the game fair, if it’s fair then there’s no entertainment. Examples: Red Light, Green light: no one told them that they were gonna get shot/killed if caught Honeycome: didn’t disclose the rules and just made some shapes more easier than others, the umbrella was just a death wish Glass bridge: they turned off the lights when things were finally going right They didn’t treat 06 something her wound in which that Lowkey caused her death. Etc etc For them it was like betting on horses or baiting mice with cheese. The game itself is practically pointless and hopeless, yeah you win but you’re left with trauma and some ppl’s debts were in the millions/billions. All of this was for entertainment.

[@boobeebah1349]

yeah the hypocrisy is the whole point of the statement they were making, because the show is a commentary on capitalism. capitalism claims that everyone has equal opportunity when those who already have money have a clear advantage in the system. the old man is supposed to symbolize the unfairness of capitalism. they really emphasized the part when they decide to turn off the lights during the glass bridge because it's supposed to be the part that clues you in to the fact the game isn't what they claim it is. and now that I think about it every scene where they show the foreign spectators is basically a big LED sign saying that they don't actually give a shit about any meaning for the games.

[@goastlyarrowplays]

@@boobeebah1349 that’s the problem, everyone thinks it’s about capitalism when it’s not, squid game can be better described as a critique of literally anything. Squid game is so perfect because anything fits the mold. The people dying for the benefit for one can easily be a allegory for Marxist Revolution due to “break a few eggs to make an omelette,” being a pillar of justification for the Revolution. Squid game is not a good allergy for capitalism because it critiques capitalism for it’s unfairness, the problem is the world is unfair.

[@tacomeme429]

@@goastlyarrowplays but the thing is, squid game was designed by its producers to be a criticism of capitalism

[@goastlyarrowplays]

@@tacomeme429 I’m trying to make the argument he does a bad job doing it.

[@nowhereman6019]

This. The point of Squid Games is that capitalism is unfair and rich people are monsters.

[@solecrab2133]

The thing that Invincible does so well is how it handles Nolan. It doesn’t have one big moment that is like “Woah, he’s evil!” You see him perform an evil act in the very first episode which builds that tension every time he’s on screen. It makes you think about lines like “Earth isn’t yours to conquer” and what he really means when saying that. The ending gives closure to the tension that had been built and isn’t just surface value shock as you said.

[@bananaboyval]

the scene where the old man gives away his last marble was honestly the most tear jerking scene of squid game, i remember crying well into the next episode after watching it

[@DangStank]

I thought the same thing at 001’s “death”. I thought they just wanted to spare the audience from seeing a kind old man get his brain shot out.

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

Same

[@mrninjagon270]

Also tbf Ali dies off screen in that part too, so it doesn’t seem that unusual in context (Although they show his body in the next episode)

[@Agent-ur7tf]

After watching stranger things, 001 means anything but an old man.

[@Rukalin]

Episode 6 of Squid Game brought me to tears, unfortunately the twist ruined a lot of it in hindsight. (Sae-byeok's and Sang-Woo's parts luckily remain unharmed)

[@Rukalin]

@@imlostatseadontbotherme2060 Oh, I didn't mean her death, I meant her part in episode 6 (and Sang-Woo's)

[@hush3956]

seriously, thats what I thought when the twist happened "That totally ruins the sadness from earlier, when he pees himself during the lockdown, when he 'dies' "

[@waspywasp451]

@@imlostatseadontbotherme2060 It was so dumb and cheap. The show really fell off in the end which is such a shame

[@alexvaughan1013]

That's why the meme, "I wasted my tears on this man"', exists!

[@99batran]

@@waspywasp451 Not everyone could have a fantastic or dramatic death, you could say the same for the other 400 something people that participated. Why should the main characters be any immune to it?

[@bdhhsgbyddhggg]

Hearing mark say “You dad….I’d still have you.” Still makes me cry. I really didn’t think it would, given how long ago I watched that show, but it did.

[@XxSteamStreamxX]

There's so few scenes where a show so perfectly encapsulates its idea with a simple phrase for me, and this was definitely one of them.

[@thelastcrow5660]

The scene where the old man reveals how he knew about Gi Hun's deception gives me chills every time.

[@grimsladeleviathan3958]

I love how slow that scene is. So much empty space for everything to sink in. At first you're taking in Gi-Hun's anger and frustrations, and then it immediately gets flushed by that one sentence. It is absolutely phenomenal.

[@Athanelar]

It's worth noting that although Ali dies offscreen in this episode, the first thing we see in the next episode is Ali's body to confirm his death. 001 is the only character whose death and body are both never shown, except for also arguably Jun-Ho the cop, who's shown being shot and falling into the water but never actually shown dead

[@annimu9081]

I know people were most touched about Saebeyock's and Jeyoung's scene but to me it was Ali's death and Il nam's death that really broke my heart and had me ugy cry. The plot twist made me want to vacuum up my tears so bad lol

[@FunkyGhostHD]

Tbh in a show where NONE of the characters were seemingly safe from death, the most pure, innocent, good hearted person, at least imho, were destined to die, directly after their first couple of seconds on screen. Same goes with Il Nam. Like Urick said, his memory seemingly going on and off for plot's convenience was the biggest clue about him being much more than he let on. I can go as far as to say all his "misery" was simply put, fake. And to me it was, again, obvious from the get go (AKA the second episode). The show's (subsequently the writers') biggest mistake was to think that they've outdone the audience, to think they are one step ahead, that they've covered all the (plot) holes... While they've gone on to create new ones... And then look at Invincible. They WERE one step ahead, yet they drip feed it so good with the catharsis moment coming on to play, it was all worth it, it all payed off. However I'm just geeking on about this masterpiece of a video with which, Urick managed to convey almost my exact feelings about both shows. So, yeah, whatever.

[@DrGandW]

I’ve checked out many people’s opinions and reactions and you’re likely mistaken in thinking that the most commonly saddest deaths aren’t Oh Il-nam and Ali. Ji-yeong is probably next.

[@masonminor177]

Ali deserved better.

[@thebigstinky6438]

I'm really sorry to be laughing at your broken heart, but "vacuum up my tears" seriously cracked me up! lol

[@Brokudo]

26:55 I never thought it was hate that Nolan saw in this moment; I thought it was his son's love. The fact that Mark cried for him, and still calls him dad after everything he put him through(literally). The fact that when it was silent and the attacks stopped, Mark called out for him to see if he was still there. After being able to stop everything with his power, he couldn't stop his son from still loving him, even after all of that damage.

[@supersani21]

This. Nolan realized everything he did to Mark and what he told him. I mean he literally just told Mark that he'll simply replace him by making another kid. And yet, Mark's love and kindness did not break. Nor did his heroic spirit. After everything he went through, he still loved his father. I think Nolan asking Mark what he'll have after 500 years was just him trying to rationalize his own detachment to earth. But Mark told him that he'd still have his father with him. Nolan realized that maybe for the first time in his life someone truly and genuinely needed him and that person wouldn't be ashes in the blink of an eye for a Viltrumite. His only real connection that's likely to last and he almost beat it to death. He realized that maybe in the hundreds of years he lived and the thousands more he might continue to live, Mark was the only person who'd genuinely love him. The only person who could give him a reason to be alive other than to be a disposable tool who gets planets for an unfeeling society drunk on its own power and superiority. He never had such a person before and he might never find such a person again. He gave up on Debbie by then because: 1) she hates him for killing the guardians 2) even if she loved him, her life will only last as long as a few decades (4-6 more at best after their nearly 18-20 year old marriage) which for a Viltrumite is the same as how a human sees a single year. Even pets last longer than a year and that was the only thing he could compare it with to truly reject his life on earth.

[@domclegg1225]

defintely agree. mark does not hate his father, even after being beaten close to death. that's why its so emotionally gut wrenching

[@blastermaster5039]

@@supersani21 Love this explanation. This is so similar to the Zentraedi and Meltraedi race of Macross/Robotech fame. Both races who are incredibly militaristic and Darwinian in their society of galaxy conquering supremacist, both giving in to empathy once they realized that their is more to life other than fighting, duty and death. That caring for someone and experiencing for the first time that someone out there cares and is giving a rat's ass about their health, safety, life and love as an individual is definitely something truly great and irreplaceable. Which of course end up with both the Viltrumites and the Zentradi's/Meltradi's getting decultured and becoming a force for good.

[@allot5530]

I think the reason why squid game feels needlessly complex is because the dude that was writing the script for 10 years and kept getting rejected so he probably felt the need to add more stuff in it

[@micro_micr0774]

Squid game was a commentary on capitalism, where people keep repeating that we all are equal and have equal opportunity but the rich have a clear advantage. It was never about equality because the reason the game exists breaks that reasoning. It was for rich people to be entertained and if it was fair it would be boring and stale for those rich people funding and hosting the games. Every-time players got a glimpse of equality it got shut down. The perfect example was when one guy knew the difference between strong and weak glass at the bridge game and so they got rid of the lights so they didn’t have a clue and ended up dying. Thats not equality thats just making everything exciting for the people in the audience wondering who would win. If there was one guy that knew everything they would all bet on him and the games would have 0 purpose. Thats why they handicap the skilled that deserve the money to stay superior (does this start to sounds like capitalism already?)

[@dislike_button33]

@@micro_micr0774 You literally described Communism.

[@Ale-dd3ek]

@@dislike_button33 it's both

[@shadowfreaper8158]

@@dislike_button33 commusism and capitalism have alot in common and commusismwas meant to save capitalism did the opposite but i do think we need a hyrid of the two

[@Ballingokustate]

​@@dislike_button33 When you don't understand socialism/communism

[@FluffiBois]

Honestly while I do understand people's frustration, I never personally found the old man's twist to be bad. Like, I can totally understand why it feels rushed/tacked on, the final moment does feel separated from everything else without much lead up! But for me, instead of changing how I viewed the old man's actions, it changed how I viewed the story's themes as a whole. Yeah, it does undermine the CEO/Black Mask's speech about equality, and makes it feel like the whole structure doesn't matter. And that's the point. How many of the games were truly, 100% fair and equal? RLGL: Rules were explained and overall fair, but the aspect of death was not explained, leading to people panicking and them getting killed. Honeycomb: They were told to chose the shape they were to carve without knowing what they were doing. Tell me it's as easy to carve an umbrella as it is to carve a circle. Tug of War: Even if there is some strategy involved, in the end it mostly comes down to being stronger. Marbles: Arguably the fairest since they could choose the games. Bridge: To balance out the previous one. They were told to choose the position they were to go in line without knowing, but it was 100% luck. There is no way the first person could've deduced how to go forward without dying. The people in the back had an infinitely higher chance of winning than the people first. Squid Game: Again, another game about strength. Again, while there is some strategy, if the old man and the thug made it here there would be no contest. With the exception of Marbles and potentially Red Light Green Light, nearly all of the games were stacked in the odds of people because of things out of their control. You tell me right now that, if the old man was 100% a contestant with no prior knowledge, he had as much of a chance of hopping across that bridge and winning the Squid Game brawl. This isn't even bringing into account the nighttime brawls and the pickpocket dying from a glass shard by the way. If they truly wanted "equality," they would've made things more accesible to those who didn't have the same advantages. So now, knowing what we know about the old man, it changed my perspective about the game as a whole. This game isn't some idealized version of society where everyone is equal, it's a reflection of society itself. People get dealt bad hands with no way of winning, and those who make it to the top either need to manipulate, be cutthroat or lucky. It sucks and it's unfair and that's the exact point. As for the Black Mask, of course he would think it was equal. He won, and he's trying to lie to himself to justify the actions he likely had to take. But the rest of the people behind him probably didn't think as much. And the rich guys? While their acting was bad I agree, it shines a light on the old man. He says his reason for starting the game was so people could acknowledge how valuable their lives are or whatever, but it was because he was bored and giving people money. He very easily could've just paid people to compete against him in chess or something with hopes for a cash prize, or did the exact same thing without killing people. They had the power, but chose to do nothing because they saw it as beneath them. And the main character, now being in the exact same position as the CEO and having the ability to live comfortably and lie to himself, he turns back and strives to make a difference when they did not. So again, while I agree that the acting of the rich dudes was bad and the twist scene feels a little rushed, I personally see it as changing how the viewer looks at the story as a whole. It focuses less on recontextualizing a character's actions and instead recontextualizes the game and themes as a whole. Even if it wasn't pulled off the best, I still feel it added to the story in a meaningful way.

[@Rikrobat]

This. This is exactly how I interpreted the reveal after thinking past my initial disappointment about the reveal. I did think it undermined the emotion at first, but it really brought a lot of other things into a new light.

[@katethegoat7507]

This. The show is about its messages

[@Rikrobat]

With Honeycomb, it could have been equal by giving the shapes different time limits. “Choose the circle? You only have 5 minutes to complete it. The umbrella? 20 minutes.” Heck, if you played these games in your youth, you already have an advantage over everyone else. That isn’t an equal playing field then.

[@patrickkirby6580]

So many people have biological disadvantages in the real world so having them in the games doesn’t change much. Of course a team of 3 skinny women’s and an old man is very likely to lose against a team of buff strong guys in tug of war, hence that why they never make men and women compete against each other in some sports, just to make the game seems more equal and fair. But the sad reality is the world itself is not equal people who are born with disability’s will always have to compete against people who doesn’t, weather it finding a job or having a fist fight people with biological advantages always have a higher chance of surviving, it’s just how the world is.

[@Rikrobat]

@@patrickkirby6580 - Yes, the world is like that. But unlike the Inspector, we aren’t claiming that everyone is equal in this space. He makes a big speech about how they are all equal to each other, making an example of “a cheater,” but this is a lie, and that’s the point. Capitalism tells us we’re all equal and anyone who works hard will attain the same rewards, but you don’t gain that much wealth just by “working hard.”

[@signpaintr4evr]

I think the Squid Game Twist makes the commentary stronger because it’s showing that this place that claims to be fair and equal gives exceptions to the people who run it, just like a lot of governments and organizations in the real world. They trick you into thinking they’re doing something for you, but become real enemies when they go back on their own words. Also him saying it was all for rich people’s entertainment is a huge part of the games. That’s where they get the ability to do this and without the motivation of entertainment no one would actually pay for it. It really creates this scenario that seems so obviously unfair to us but to these characters that only see it on the surface level, it’s even somewhat generous to them.

[@amysteriouspersonintophat1458]

I guess you could argue that, but for me the twist tried to hammer in that message of "the world is a hypocritical place" so hard that it became preachy xD Not to mention, as this video highlights, it's making this unnuanced social commentary by sacrificing its best character moments, which may not have been worth it.

[@Fern1e_]

Agreed!

[@BrezelCeviche]

Yep, I disagree with Ulrick on this one; the anti-capitalist theme works much better when the game has no purpose other than to amuse the rich.

[@Fern1e_]

@@BrezelCeviche EXACTLY!!!

[@fieryrebirth]

@@BrezelCeviche Yep, even though Ulrick is right that the twist does damage the antagonist's integrity as a human being, he is overlooking that rich people generally have no morals/ethics, no challenges that many face everyday, and thus, no fucks to give other than their image and wealth - and it's very understandable. So it's not off the mark when people claim they "sell their souls".

[@benjaminmatheny6683]

The squid game twist really needed a degree of separation. Like, it's not the old man who contacts Gi-Han, but either the old-man's best friend from their former life or his adult child. Someone who was invested in what happened to the old-man, and wanted to know what happened. Why/how the old man died. They can give that "twist" of the Old-man having created the games, giving the old man more depth without actually undermining his sacrifice.

[@dappercharmer9176]

Did Squid Game's twist have clues that have greater meaning after revealing the twist? Admittedly, yes. Is it a satisfyingly twist? Fuck No!

[@yennefer440]

I don't think it's needs to be a satisfying twist

[@denboix7524]

Anybody that payed attention instantly figured out what the "twist" was going to be. Even worse the twist actually hurt the show and took away from the characters and their accomplishments. What a terrible twist.

[@miyamotomusashi6450]

@@denboix7524 I guess 99% of the viewers didn't pay attention.

[@denboix7524]

@@miyamotomusashi6450 If they didnt connect one of the only main characters dying of screen to the host being teased to be an elderly man, then yes. They probably didn't pay attention and often miss certain plot points in movies in general. But there is no way that amount of people is even close to 99% lol.

[@IEatYourSandwiches]

You should get someone to take a look at the gas leak in your house

[@TravisBroski]

I think that Omni Man is also hesitant in celebrating the fact Mark got his powers, because his wife had to stomp on his foot to get him to react at all. And I believe that’s the case because now he realized that he had to prepare his son for such a harsh truth of the Viltrum Empire (instead of the lie that it was heroic).

[@3bodYking99]

Yup, and that shows just how much he is changed from what he was in viltrume, he was probably HOPING for humans to be incompatible with viltrumite DNA and for his son to turn out to be a normal human, so they wouldn't NEED to conquer earth

[@3bodYking99]

And what he said about his wife was probably a justification for HIMSELF, not for mark

[@A-1412]

@@3bodYking99 Nolan probably didn't mean it as in "Your mother is nothing but an animal to me" but more like "I will eventually outlive your mother and see her die the same way that humans see their pets die".

[@supersani21]

@@3bodYking99 Its the only term he had for the life he lived with her. Someone he loves but knows he will lose in a very short period of time. Combine that with his forced rejection of the planet he defended and you've got this statement

[@3bodYking99]

@@supersani21 I mean, he has the term of wife, yes, he knows how short she would be in his life, but also how different she is from a pet, an animal that you care for and take care of for a while of your life. It's just the wrong term, and HE knows it, he said so HIMSELF later in the comics(sorry for slight spoiler, but it's needed to explain my point). Again, it's simply him trying to convince himself to go through with it, the same with the statement of "I can always make a new one, what's 18 more years"

[@KeithBallardA]

Contradicting the speech makes the commentary stronger, not weaker. People don't have equal opportunities in life. Similarly, none of the games were actually fair or equal. Red Light Green Light: Many are killed because other people knock them over when they can do nothing to stop them. Honeycombs: This is the most immediately obvious one: the contestants are separated into four groups with massively different levels of challenge to overcome, with umbrellas representing extreme poverty and triangles being Elon Musk. Tug of War: You literally live or die because of the actions of like 20 other people, where your impact is minimal. Hopscotch: All of the early players are doomed no matter what, and everyone after the first person to succeed gets a free win. One of our main characters also basically dies because they blow up the course and mortally wound her after she already won. The speech was the kind of nonsensical rationalization that people in power give to justify their own power. And no, the "choice" segment before Honeycombs, Tug of War, and Hopscotch don't make those games fair. Their choices are devoid of context because they're meant to arbitrarily sort them into classes, showing that the circumstances in which someone enters the competition (capitalism) are more impactful on their chances of success than their actual performance in the challenge. Yes, you can fixate on the protagonist's success despite his constant underdog status, but that would be ignoring the ocean of deaths around him. The old man's hypocrisy isn't a plot hole. It's the commentary. He's a poverty tourist that trivializes the hundreds of deaths he caused. (commenting at the speech part of the video hope it doesn't age super poorly lol)

[@kota8045]

I agree a lot with this, though I do think the rich foreigners definitely ruined a lot of the tension behind the games. I think the contradiction with the speech was actually really important in highlighting just how unfair the games actually were. I also think the twist of the old man being one of the founders was fine as well, for the same point you made with him trivializing everything. I think it is *supposed* to frustrate you and kind of ruin the sweet moment that him and MC had, however I do think it was a little underwhelming? I'm really sure what I would do to fix that though..

[@KeithBallardA]

​@@kota8045 I like the idiot foreigners with bad dialog and cringe jokes because it demystifies the billionaire. In our society we place them on such a pedestal that they must be geniuses who are just smarter than us and worked way harder to get where they are. Because we're taught capitalism is a good system, there's an inherent need to justify it's results no matter what. If you're poor it's your fault and if you're richer than an entire nation you somehow "earned" it. But no, the richest people in the world got lucky, exploited and abused hordes of people, came from wealth to begin with, explicitly cheated the system, and often all of the above. They're not special humans that are "just made of different stuff." They're just as petty, dull, and prone to thinking "69" jokes are the height of clever comedy. Hell, they're worse than most people, since they're surrounded by people who constantly laugh at all of their bad jokes and shower them with compliments.

[@Angel-eu7pt]

I agree with both the video and this comment, the twist ruined any rewatchability for me, BUT the realization that the old man had been behind it all and just basically killed and traumatized the participants all for a good time made me furious just like gi hun, knowing that those moments of care gi hun gave to the old man were just a facade made me want to tear everything down, and I think that the second season could play into a sort of revenge plot for gi hun, use his new found wealth to infiltrate the games once more to end it all, and the audience will be right there with him, knowing what kind of sick fucks are behind it all also makes it more enjoyable? I like that gi hun's unorthodox methods and life experiences gave him an edge over the games, that even the old man was surprised about ( cue honeycombs and gi huns licking that saved him from the timer) and puts a nice contrast as the young and poor know how to survive while the old man relies on kindness from someone to keep going (and being honest to god a parasite) also the idea of the old man "never going to be hurt" in the games is stupid, in all the games he is out in the open and not shooting him would reveal the farce instantly (and would probably upset the old man and front man knowing that the front man would enforce equality in the games, and the old man actively seeking the thrill of maybe dying) the only reason he was not shot in marbles was because the shooter was a human staff and not the enviroment or an ai and he was the last one in the room, allowing for an easy exit to safety,

[@nathanieljones8043]

Okay good I do not need to make this comment.

[@yikes6758]

exceptional comment. people failing to realize the commentary against capitalism and how poignant and absolute it is frustrate me

[@blazingzombiex1724]

When the old man died in squid games I shed a few tears and not a lot of shows can do that, however when I got to the twist I picked my tears off the ground and shoved them back in

[@boaz2578]

I always thought mark said, “I love you dad… I still love you”. This made sense to me because at this point in the show I interpreted Omniman’s feelings as initially conflicted but after the loss of his wife’s love, determined. He loves his son but when he saw that Mark may have hated him, he was willing to sever that connection if he could not get him on his side. However, hearing and realizing that he is still loved at the end, despite his actions, was enough to make him feel conflicted all over again. Thus, preventing him from severing his connection he feels for mark and killing him.

[@ghhn4505]

Honestly this interpretation still has a lot of merit. There's definitely a shift in Nolan's determination once he knows that Debbie knows.

[@sleepingworldchampion]

I agree that ilnam's character would've benefited w/out the twist but I don't think the games were ever supposed to actually be fair. For example men are more likely to have an advantage in strength-based games and game runners allow night brawls to happen; they also let players get more than their share of food while others get none. The director blatantly says SG is a critique of capitalism so of course the game itself reflects life, in that we(the nonowners/laborers) need to undermine and destroy each other in order to get on top. The front man's idea of the game being fair is just his own bias, since he survived his own game and probably doesn't want to think about all the others who had to die for his winnings. There's a lot of videos about this

[@StickNik]

This structure/scenario doesn't really graft so directly onto capitalism.

[@asmodeus304]

@@StickNik its an allegory of course its not direct

[@rjai5003]

I get what you’re saying, but I feel like the hypocrisy you mentioned in Squid Game’s twist was intentional. There never really was much “fairness” in the game, and that would be true with or without Il Nham’s involvement. If fairness was really the most important part of the game, then it wouldn’t be so needlessly cruel to the players or do things to manipulate their actions. Plus, there were plenty of times where some players had an obvious advantage like in the honeycomb, tug of war, and stepping stone games.

[@eillo3060]

True. The fairness was never for the players. It was for the billionaires placing bets on the players.

[@foxmamer]

Also, I totally buy the billionares acting, have you ever seen Elon Musk twitter account?

[@ethanhawksley9097]

@@foxmamer ah yes, because Twitter = how people exactly act in real life. I’m sure of it.

[@RKateb]

@Ethan where you from 2016-2020???

[@ethanhawksley9097]

@@RKateb Assuming you're talking about the individual I think you are talking about: get your mind out of the political gutter, dude. Do you act on Twitter how you act in real life? Christ. Fuck off with politics, and have a normal damn discussion.

[@juanrodriguez9971]

"Complex ≠ good, simple ≠ bad" this quote is so simple yet so necessary, I have seen so many people talking down to old shows because they are episodic, without a linear story to tell, because "that's too simple and bring, there is no point in watching them", yet, a lot of peopluar series are popular among everyone, let's not go to far and watch at SpongeBob, every character is already defined and there is no story to tell beyond each chapter, yet everyone loves the good parts of it.

[@ir6734]

I didn't really feel the twist undermined the themes of the story. While watching, I have always noticed how you can never make any game completely fair and equally hard or equally easy for everyone. And it turned out I was exactly right. It was never fair. Black Mask was full of shit

[@maxanderson3733]

Darn right black mask was full of shit. Dude WORKS for those rich assholes

[@Markustempest]

Yeah. Not to mention that black mask is just an employee. He’s not really in charge, he’s just middle management. He can have his own ideas about what the games mean to him and they can have nothing to do with what the original founders believed.

[@ines5383]

@@Markustempest Exactly, it felt like someone trying to put a meaning to a rigged unfair horrible game, while justifying the atrocities that happened with a "it's a fair game". This idea can be tied back to the fact that the participants went "willingly" in the squid game, as if the makers of the game don't prey on people with very hard lives. Its this pretence that the game is this neutral fair thing when in reality it's a game of luck where you mostly have no chance of winning. Whether you play the game well like Sangwoo or you behave like a good person like Ali, in the end the winner was the guy who was the closest to one of the founders and who had no real abilities and simply was lucky with the people he surrounded himself with. (sorry for the bad grammar I'm french)

[@takeshimoral8738]

The most important thing is that he won a past game, people who find success in a system often delude themselves into believing that the system must be fair, because humans have an overwhelming bias to believing they earned things when there's evidence they didn't

[@smileyent.3055]

@@ines5383 fr Idk how the creator of the video didn’t mention this and I can’t believe I saved this video for later just to see this. The twist was great and the deeper metà commentary was great . Something along the lines of Eyes wide shut

[@teethan3928]

dude i love the effort put into this. the art, the editing, the effects, as a graphic design major this itched my brain in the best way

[@Draigo_MD]

As someone who has read an unhealthy amount of korean manwhas I've got to say that the "rich people bad" trope is exceedingly common there

[@shocknawe]

Gangnam Style is satire about the opulence of the Gangnam district, where rich people live.

[@mcgfn]

"rich people bad" is everywhere

[@shen-qf9mc]

rich people bad is just as popular in western media???

[@mrsunderstood8141]

I mean to be fair its kinda true most of the time. Especially in America.

[@Replica_Rabbit]

Looking at their history, it make sense that trope is in a lot of their media

[@poppingrico1381]

When the old man was shot off screen, I had a feeling as well he was still alive too since it didn't show his death, and the show reminded me constantly of Charlie and the chocolate factory and snowpiercer. Where there's always someone on the inside before winning the game...I guess lol

[@Paddlegoober]

In my opinion, invincible's twist wasn't even a twist. I went in blind and saw through what the series tried to set up. I liked the show a lot but I don't there was much of a mystery or twist. Even up to the end with Nolan seeing what he's done as wrong. It was all so transparent in my opinion. It doesn't knock my enjoyment of it at all

[@PiranhaTeeth]

I agree tho I can see why they saw it as a twist though

[@rikowolfin4984]

I think this is sort of the problem with people's understanding of what a twist should be, so many people think a twist should be surprising more then anything which results in events where people call out the twist early and the ending gets changed to be shit just to shock people. I'd say the twist wasn't that Nolan was just evil, it's that he literally had no good reasons for it like the show has been leading up to. Mark and his mother still care about him and try to believe there is a reason for his actions, Cecil has worked with the guy for years and just wanted something to explain why Nolan was killing people, but in the end it really was just Nolan was a bad guy from the start and he doesn't care... until he realizes that he does care, at least about his innocent and loving Son. I think the biggest twist about Invincible wasn't that Nolan was evil and his people are all evil as well, it's that despite all that he's done and his up bringing he can still care about anyone else more then completing his mission after slaughtering so many and living so many different lives.

[@liamtreat5194]

Additionally the comic was written in the very early 2000s, and was one of the first to pull such a twist. Now that type of twist is far more common, and it’s fundamentally important to the story so the adaptation can’t change it too much.

[@JogVodka]

@@liamtreat5194 Yeah back then Invincible was known as a "sky high" tone superhero comic and when the guardians were killed everything changed. People were hooked to the whole series

[@Justin-ul7fh]

Invincible's twist was more of a twist in universe. I heard it got revealed to the audience in episode 1 anyways, it's a twist to the other characters rather than to the audience. I'm not that familiar so I could definitely be wrong

[@whatsinaname7289]

I like how you draw and animate your videos. It's extra effort most video-essayists don't go through, and I appreciate that

[@guse7688]

This channel is a great commentary channel, one of the best just for the effort you put into art and editing alone but also has a person alongside it who has an actual personality. It's the best of both worlds mixed in an amazing way

[@SomasAcademy]

I called Squid Game's twist early, in the episode where the characters started killing each other at night, so I found the reveal pretty satisfying personally, but this video is a really good critique. I didn't think about how the final episode took away from the ideological foundations of the games laid out earlier in the series, because I was just satisfied to have noticed the clues, and since I was expecting the twist from so early, it didn't ruin my perception. Really good points on why it wasn't the best choice for the story.

[@malum9478]

the thing is that the ideological foundations of the games was always a lie. of course the SG's are unfair. the show is a critique of our current system where we tell ourselves and eachother that the world is fair and just if we just work hard when in reality it's not and this is a lie. i think this idea kind of went over urick's head a bit.

[@曾華偉-k7t]

honestly the twist is kinda obvious, just how it was revealed is bad

[@maninblack3410]

@@malum9478 y’all read too much into it. The show was plagiarized off of the anime Kaiji and other battle royale stories that *actually* had themes making it look like squid game had these themes. Squid games takes things from other stories and actively makes them worse.

[@TekSoda]

@@maninblack3410 just because it borrows heavily from Kaiji doesn't mean it's incapable of having it's own themes, you know.

[@maninblack3410]

@@TekSoda it doesn’t just borrow from Kaiji, it seriously rips it off. To be honest it takes away from Kaiji’s nuanced themes and waters them down with boring popcorn philosophy. The show was entertaining, but only because I wanted to know what blatant rip off they were going to pull next episode lol

[@katethegoat7507]

The problem is that the games were never equal or fair. The entire show is an exploration of capitalist exploitation and class conflict. It makes sense for the character that is conspicuously the only one with a definite physical disadvantage to be the one who is at least danger while also believing he's fair to others.

[@stovespiegel]

Except he's objectively not in less danger in the tug of war game. He only won due to plot armour lol

[@fillosof66689]

The fairness was never supposed to be anything more than marketing pitch for the victims and the bored rich assholes who bankroll the games, yeah. The game runners cheated in a heartbeat when one of the players found a way to rob the latter of their bloody entertainment. Though I still agree with the author of the video that the social commentary of the show is pretty basic and inane (at least for someone from outside of South Korea) and that the show's main draw was interpersonal drama - which was ruined by the twist.

[@athath2010]

@@stovespiegel Apparently, from what I've read online, he wasn't tied to the rope, so he still wasn't actually in danger in tug of war.

[@stovespiegel]

@@athath2010 if this wasnt explained in the show, it's no more than a desperate fan theory scrambling to cover a plot hole not to mention, what would have happened if he lost and his whole team fell in and he didnt??? all the other players watching would instantly know the game is rigged

[@Lack_Of_Interest]

@Kate The Goat You are correct. This video missed the one cruicial element that connects the dots for Squid Game. Capitalism. There are tons of good breakdowns of this- as well as many bad ones... unfortunately, this video falls into one of the bad ones that ended up having a cringe joker moment.

[@SoulBro12]

It's weird that this year has one of the most succesful and (probably) best TV shows yet I haven't even tried to touch any of them yet.

[@DrickRT]

Lmao stone ocean is gathering dust in my watchlist

[@uhoh7545]

Please watch Arcane

[@BobbinRobbin777]

same. i barely watch cable anymore.

[@yennefer440]

@@DrickRT Same I haven't had time to watch it

[@GrandleJams]

@@DrickRT Honestly, I've already read half the manga, but I don't know the full ending yet and such, but I'm waiting for my friends to catch up so we can watch together, which is taking a little longer than expected, oof

[@ivest4672]

I love your editing. It’s so unique and very expressive. The way you display your subtitles and the characters. It’s amazing.

[@PR1ME98]

Despite the cases for both of these shows, I still think that they’re both phenomenal overall. Even the greatest stories have their flaws.

[@Breadyetagain]

the one thing im confused about is the punishment for losing, everyone in the squid game was specifically in debt or a gambling addict. everyone there would be encouraged enough to try their very best to actually win the money so killing people for me was completely pointless but at the same time they needed to add tension to the games

[@scarecrow7421]

It’s for the amusement of the rich and powerful characters.

[@Breadyetagain]

@@scarecrow7421 oh ok

[@ThePsychoRenegade]

I think the writer just needed a reason that would stop people from sabotaging others without potential consequences.

[@copitopicaporte5068]

@@Breadyetagain it's also to make a point about how bad their debt and lives are, that they choose to go to a place where they'll probably die or have to kill if it means they can live a better one

[@benzur3503]

The point is that killing each other is genuinely redundant, but as each backstory of the characters followed exemplified, people fuck each other out of their share to survive, so those fucked their capacity of survival. Instead of a dumb murder game O I’m Nam could’ve just wiped off these debts. But that’s not entertaining, that doesn’t sit with his worldview that everyone would kill each other for money given the opportunity. That does not settle with the perception that humans are necessarily evil and self interested alone. So he just repeats the game. Trying to excite some happiness he remembered he once had, even though he doesn’t really understand it, while giving someone else an opportunity to climb to the top like him. Cause the equality squid game is trying to show is what is practically done with “equality of opportunity” on our day and age. It’s equality of opportunity to limited sustainable jobs and maximal debts. Opportunity to luck out and survive big while all potential competition has to get out of the way. Gi Hun isn’t particularly smart, strong or talented. He’s not even absolutely kind. Ali was absolutely kind, he got fucked as soon as he got in the way. Gi Hun was mostly lucky, and there was no reason this nightmare of a situation was made besides the whims of billionaires that don’t need a reason to ruin the lives of people. They just can.

[@SunsetSullivan]

I think the Old Man twist is kind of the point. He wanted to experience the games without putting himself in any real danger, because the whole point of those running the show is to experience joy at other people's suffering. It's like a rich dude driving to downtown Philly and just walking around dressed as a transient. He's trying to vicariously experience the suffering without actually putting himself at the same risk as others. So as you pointed out, him essentially cheating is just another way the show drives home it's message of exploitation. The rich and influential are fundamentally at a better advantage, both in resources and help, than the poor will ever be. That's how I saw it anyways

[@emptyteacup8228]

Agreed!

[@rakish8737]

Feel like the twist would be better explored with some other character that was close to our MC but not TOO close so that these intimate moments wouldn't go away. A character that feels a bit washy but that audiences care for regardless.

[@Birthday888]

@@rakish8737 But that would kinda go against the point of the whole twist? Like, the twist was meant to ruin those intimate moments between Gihun and the old man, in fact that sense of betrayal is pretty much what Gihun is feeling when he realizes the old man was a VIP. You can argue that the impact of the twist wasn't worth ruining those earlier intimate moments, but saying that the twist would've been better if they chose a random side character is completely missing the point of what the twist was meant to accomplish

[@nyabis8044]

You get it. The mantra of “everyone being equal” wasn’t true and that was the point. It fits perfectly with the themes.

[@cameronjohnson918]

I disagree because other people cheated at the games and weren't punished. Someone manages to sneak in a knife, someone else sneaks in cigarettes they could trade for advantages, the thug is given info from the doctor doing the surgeries, etc etc. The point of the twist is supposed to be, 'oooooh society is so unfair that you can get an advantage in a fair system with money' but that makes no sense when other actually poor contestants cheat unpunished too. IMO, Squid Game fails to communicate its themes consistently, and the strength of the show was in the emotion of its simplicity. Undercutting that to create an unsatisfying moment could work, but the show muddies this point significantly. Case in point, The Frontman. A previous winner of the death game becomes employed by them because....? And his brother is a cop who's exposing all of these games... but he 'dies' by falling off a cliff and we never find out if he accomplished anything. Undercutting some of the strongest emotional scenes of the show to create a shocking twist is just unsatisfying, but I feel like people excuse it for a more intellectual reason because of the strength of the episodes 1-6. I understand why Squid Game made it's twist the way it did. But I'll probably never watch the show again because of it.

[@クリームソーダ1999]

I would like to mention a show that might have been said for a hell lot of times ever since Squid Game went viral: *Kaiji: Ultimate Survival* I just can't watch SG without seeing "references" after "references"

[@yikes6758]

i cant recall any explicit references but I'd like to be enlightened, been a long time since i watched kaiji

[@rhettoric5796]

@@yikes6758 I wouldn't say there were true references but there were lots of similarities. My favorites being a "lethal bridge" sort of game and examining being a good person in a cutthroat/survival world.

[@JackOfen]

Well, Squid Game's concept isn't exactly new. There are many other examples of a survival game like this. Battle Royale, Hunger Games, Danganronpa, Gantz... just to name a few. Basically Squid Game is nothing original, which doesn't mean it is neccessarily bad. But finding similarities between them is really easy.

[@クリームソーダ1999]

I may have worded my comment too emotionally, but about possibly one of the most obvious one, the glass bridge "Contestants gone through bridge(s) that consists of precisely four steel beams, placed high above the ground, has gimmick about glass, people push each other off, some even drag others down, and with rich people enjoying their deaths" Sounds like "Brave Mans Road" to me

[@didles123]

Invincible already had a bad twist: Amber knowing his identity the whole time.

[@UnknownGamer40464]

to be fair, it did totally recontextualize her character. Just not in the way it was meant to by the writers.

[@TheNinja94a]

@@UnknownGamer40464 If its purpose was to introduce a character flaw for Amber, I’d accept it. Okay, so Amber has an insecurity about Mark trusting her and wants to know too much too soon. But shit, it just makes me want to kill her as I’m rewatching the episode where Will’s boyfriend becomes a robot and she’s berating Mark for running to “get help”. Not only was I already mad at her the first watch because him running would be understandable if he was a regular person when you’re talking a cyborg who can punch a hole through someone like notebook paper, but now you know he was getting his ass demolished and you wanna make him feel like shit for trying to balance being a hero and navigating his split identity? Now it turns out, you know he’s been not only doing the most for Cityville (or whatever the city’s called), but also for YOU? Like, what the hell? Why the fuck would Mark trust someone he’s known for like, a few weeks-hell, even a few months, with the fact that he’s a superhero? There are gay people don’t come out to people they’ve known for decades! I think about this shit a lot.

[@noneofurbusiness906]

I really like the editing Ed: The claim "everyone has the same opportunities in the game" is a lie, some games are won by chance, others by natural/physical ability. Also, certain behaviors are punished while others aren't. Inconsistency, lies, hypocrisy, unfairness etc. seemed to be as inherent to the squid game as they are to life, so that twist still checks out to me.

[@miguelanjo2776]

i understand the unfairness of the squid games, but the twist ending still ruins my favorite character for basically shock value

[@robocoastie]

The player on player riot which was supported shows how unfair the game is. So don’t use the claim by a guard that the games equal. He’s a no name guard

[@earlysteven123]

The twist sucked for me

[@neartheplumtree]

I cried my eyes out throughout the entirety of squid game episode 6, and this twist soured it so much that I decided to just pretend it never existed, because it made for a better experience lmao

[@littlemoth4956]

Like Death Note

[@KangarooMonkey]

@@littlemoth4956 Death Note got worse but it didn’t make any changes that lessened the effect of the rest of the series,

[@naobi666]

@@littlemoth4956 no?

[@sithmaster4305]

@@naobi666 The entirety of the second season is a joke. Near luck sacked Light and won.

[@naobi666]

@@sithmaster4305 it got worse but it's nowhere near bad. Near won because Light was too far gone, the ending might not feel satisfying to the viewer but that's the point

[@fenrirsrage4609]

I admit comparing the show to Invincible was one hell of a curveball. But because I love that show and have mild interest in Squid Game I see this as a definite win-win.

[@thestanman1486]

There's actually a lot more they have in commom then you may think. Both are 2021 tv shows that blew up in popularity and had a lot of memes made from them. A lot of people who decided to watch the shows at first did it to see gory deaths with little plot. But the shows turned out to be way more then that as they both have a great supporting cast (sorta), a great sense of tension whenever there's a character you like on screen due to the fact that they could die at any moment, and both take concepts that have been done in the past by other forms of media but make the concept more interesting.

[@AssortedGarbage23]

One of my favorite details about **TITLE CARD** is the fact that Mark doesn’t end up defeating his dad. Realistically, he could never do something like that. Nolan is a battle-hardened warrior and Mark is an inexperienced kid. I love that Mark doesn’t defy these impossible odds and instead appeals to Nolan’s emotions.

[@Welpmyart]

Hinging the twist being bad because it goes against the "equal grounds" ideal is missing the point: it’s not equal Squid Games social commentary is on how the poor are forced into bullshit conditions that are framed as "their choices". The creators of the game could very easily wipe the debts of the players but instead gave them play to the death for their amusement. We are told the games are "equal" but the show goes out of its way to show how the games set up makes contestants lean on sexist ideas (more then one game starts with groups being selected on raw strength and preferring men over women). The point is that the games aren't equal and the choices presented to the players isn't a meaningful choice when they've already been filtered for people desperate enough to be assaulted for $100 (if I remember the exchange rate properly) Yes the emotion of the old man's "death" is less sad now that we know he survived and was never in danger. The point is that he was a fucking villian. He pushed Gi-Hun to rejoin the games after the vote to leave. He got to decide when to stop the flashing lights that heightened the violence and agitation during the murder night. He decided to fuck with Gi-Hun by playing dementia during the marble game. Most of all he was one of the people who set up a game where people would kill each other out of desperation. He was a money lender, someone who gets people desperate enough to play the games in the first place by leaving them in debt! He's literally only in the game cause he thought it'd be a fun last thing to do before his brain cancer killed him

[@thefantasylife]

Honestly, i felt that the old man's pitying was because its supposed to call out on how rich people in real life pretend they're in the same boat as the rest of the population, and say that they're just as likely to end up bad situations, when in fact, thats not the case because if they were to struggle from any kind of issue, they can use their money to help solve it. But with the majority of the population, the ones that dont have that kind of safety security net, who may live, pay check to pay check, those with disabilites or illnesses that'll either harm us or kill us early in our lives, if we encounter a single disaster, then we are fucked

[@TheFoxHound626]

I agree you need to view squid games from the anti capitalist view that the creator has implemented into it

[@samuelsoliday4381]

Also, the ruining of his "death" was probably exactly how gi-uhn feels.

[@thefantasylife]

@@samuelsoliday4381 yeah, like he was absolutely pissed and was like “if I win this bet then I get to kill you”

[@samuelsoliday4381]

@@thefantasylife "I cried for you you bastard."

[@aleks.k1382]

Just found your videoes and this is literally PEAK editing. I’ve never seen a more consistently fluid and asthetic editing style🥵

[@ALtheBoi]

My god, Urick avoids copyright while making it stylish, absolute madlad

[@markhumphreys4496]

I really have to compliment how well formatted your videos are and how it’s not just talking while clips play. It is but you use a lot of visuals that get your point across very well while making it enjoyable and keeping me engaged. Keep it up!!!!

[@veermanghnani]

I gotta say this is one of the best written, structured, edited and artistically directed videos I've seen on this site in a hot minute. Those illustrations are chef's kiss and the way you use text, color and graphics to make your point in subtle ways is amazing. +1 subscriber

[@turdnugget]

14:28 "then the old man's presence scream hypocrisy!" Yes, that's the point lmao

[@djt3332]

also the VIP are bad on purpose not because of bad action or direction

[@torpid2906]

Doesn’t matter if that’s the point or the vips are supposed to be bad, they could have done this so much better. This dumbass twist made the old mans character so much worse and the vips could have been, like, actually cool and mysterious. Actually, in a way this can be called bad direction since they went through with a decision that made the story so shitty

[@malum9478]

@@torpid2906 if you notice, you don't have any critiques or ways the story can improve or even specific issues with anything; you're just saying that it's bad and you don't like it and it should be different instead.

[@torpid2906]

@@malum9478 cus I came here to vent my frustration about the show, I don’t need to tell you anything. I’m not gonna waste my time telling you how the show could be better because nobody will care. Also your comment had a like two seconds after you made it, liking your own comments is cringe Edit: lol all your recent comments have exactly one like, funny coincidence innit?

[@cristianpereyra6912]

@@torpid2906 now they got 6, keep coping b

[@SimGunther]

The twist can be great when it logically makes sense to supplement/craft unique insights related to themes in the story; but I agree that it doesn't make sense to have a twist just to "subvert expectations".

[@-cams.]

001 could've died peacefully in the 5th game, and the story would've been MUCH better. If you _really_ need that scene between Gi-Hun and a VIP, then the scene with him and the Front Man in the car could've done it, or maybe do something similar to the original scene with Front Man instead (doesn't have to be dying).

[@IEatYourSandwiches]

No, it wouldn't have. You just want a feel good story instead of something actually insightful commenting on the nature of a viewers relationship with media narratives and perceived hardship, but because you're mentally 8 years old and not ready for something more thematically complex than blues clues you just wish everyone got to be friends and nothing made your head hurt. Go play in traffic

[@-cams.]

@@IEatYourSandwiches lmao complex = good 24/7 huh? And a kys comment as well. Log off and touch some grass boi

[@shen-qf9mc]

front man wouldn't have been as effective tbh, bc he had nowhere near the connection with gihun as 001 did. i think the ruining of the character is purposely done to highlight the show's themes. doesn't make it good and i didn't like it either, but i can see where hwang dong-hyuk was going with it

[@-cams.]

@@shen-qf9mc yeah, now that you say it that way, it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Thanks!

[@shen-qf9mc]

@@-cams. np :)

[@Yuki_Seraphim]

1:26 The omni man meme is clearly superior to the squid game one

[@OverlordZenith]

Both of the twists were televised a mile away, but the thing is that the squid game one was making me want the twist to get over with already whereas invincible's made me excited for every development in the story.

[@do-nothingbear9474]

I didn’t even know that the invincible thing was supposed to be a twist. I feel like the “earth is not yours to conquer” line was actually very on the nose. It was really weird wording that I feel would have been better if he hadn’t already killed the justice league.

[@belbercike2344]

it's the fact that Omni Man emphasized "yours"

[@JogVodka]

Killing the guardians of the globe in the first episode was a big hook. In the comics it took like a couple of issues for it to happen then 2 or so issues after to have omni man fight invincible. Notice how the short gap between those events in the comics? I think it was a pretty good idea to widen the gap between those moments

[@GippyHappy]

Yeah I personally do not think this is a good comparison. Like he's using examples of stuff that comes in the later eps to prove this is a good twist but none of that had happened yet so the first time we see it we already know what's going on, there's nothing being twisted or recontextualized at that point.

[@NeoAya]

I actually made it into a video :OOOO Thank you so much for drawing Aya Shameimaru, Urick! It means a lot to me to see a KZbinr I enjoy so much acknowledge a series that otherwise goes unnoticed

[@Panda1627]

Oh wow now I notice aya there Nice!

[@jormilos]

I'm glad I saw this comment. Aya cute and I noticed her immediately

[@hairglowingkyle4572]

Touhou isn't a really unnoticed series, rather it's always there in the background silently watching

[@twobei]

I actually find Squid Game's twist to remove complexity from the old man's character. Scenes like him being afraid during the blackout or having fun during the first game felt like really strong character moments to me and gave me room for interpretation. Why does he hate human on human violence, yet doesn't bat an eye when humans are killed en masse in the name of the game? It felt more... human and faceted to me, especially because it makes other characters feel less one note when they stand among him. After the twist, it is painfully obvious why he does anything he does during the game: There's no stakes. He does everything for fun. And when there are stakes, he becomes cowardly and afraid. Real shame, in my opinion. As a sidenote: I do, however, think that how "horribly written" that twist and the VIPs are is part of the experience. I do think it's part of how the show deconstructs capitalism to opt for the whimsical way in which the VIPs are portrayed to go "Wow, this is awfully simple."

[@livingangrycheese2668]

I know this is a super late response, but I think him not being afraid when they're being shot by his game but being afraid when there's violence in front of him is also a commentary on capitalism. How the rich will cause the suffering and deaths of thousands or millions, but get freaked out when the action is less removed or "sanitised". It's like the difference between seeing two dogs fighting to the death and putting a dog down - he thinks of them as less than human but is freaked out by the fighting.

[@jambononi]

Well it removes complexity as a human but adds plot complexity. Which is kind of a sin in cinema (or series in this case). Because you relate to him less. He becomes more cartoon like as a human but more complex as a plot point. Complex in that he literally isn't who he appeared to be and has an entirely different persona behind the pretend persona. So is effectively two different characters and raises stupid questions rather than complex questions. But yes, I agree with what you're saying.

[@twobei]

@@jambononi Good way of putting it! Helped shine light on a concept I had a hard time defining. Narrative complexity overall can at times put pieces into a puzzle that make the big picture not only obvious, but also a lot smaller than it first seemed!

[@jambononi]

@@twobei yes definitely! Sometimes the mystery in the plot is what gives it tension and withholding plot points is better than disappointing the audience. I think I agree that Squid Game needed a twist. There has to be something emotionally shocking about the games that is relevant to the main character, to give it meaning. But I agree, it makes it unsatisfying. And often mystery is what gives a plot tension. And sometimes finishing the puzzle is disappointing if not done well. But they also don't want to fall into the trap of kicking the can down the road with everything being mysterious.... not sure what could have been the better twist?

[@badabing9402]

@@jambononi I think being relatable as a character isn’t entirely necessary, especially when a character is the embodiment of the concept the show is critiquing. And Il nam still is a pretty complex character. He, despite being responsible for all the deaths in the games, still makes friends with Gi Hun and his team. He still has fun throughout the games, knowing all the killing he’s responsible for. Which shows how he kinda believes that what he’s doing is kindness and he “shouldn’t” feel bad. Take his speech at the end: he points out the homeless man who will most likely die of hypothermia and bets that no one will help him. Through the bet, we can tell that he believes that no one helps the poor, so they will stay poor and suffering. Of course, he is proven wrong by the man getting the police, but more importantly, it points out how, even though Il Nam tries to justify the game, the justification is terrible.

[@MYSTmke]

Idk If you've seen the film "truman show" but I feel like that is the PERFECT example of good twists and just as good on rematch (also it's my favourite film and I love Jim Carrey's acting in it)

[@jashcicle]

It's interesting to me that this guy thought the Squid Games were genuinely intended to implement a truly equal scenario for everyone. Not only are the games a really unsubtle metaphor for a capitalistic society but it's obvious that there is no fair element to them to begin with. If the explanation was genuinely that some rich people wanted to create a genuinely fair opportunity, the rest of the show wouldn't make any sense. I didn't even really see that as a twist, I had thought this already but idk. I agree that the old man's twist is weird but I appreciate it because it was well foreshadowed and makes sense. He's there to play, just as the other rich people are using these games as entertainment. He is living life on easy mode while the other people, who are in genuinely desperate situations, are risking their lives in an attempt to escape the immense hardship they've encountered while realistically just participating in something equally unfair, if not moreso. This makes him another element to confront for the other people participating in the Squid Games. I also think the charicatures of the rich help the cruel pointlessness of the games, so ig I just can't really see his argument on this one

[@vicentereyes8463]

Very pumped to see your new drawings!!!

[@erttheking]

You make good points, but I have to dispute the idea that the Game was ever supposed to be fair. It wasn’t, and the Front Man was clearly talking out of his ass when he said it was. The people who go first on the glass bridge? Screwed. The people who picked umbrella in the second game? Screwed. The people who got murdered during the riot? Screwed. Ali losing the marble game not because his opponent was better but because he was just lied to and the guards were cool with that? Not fair at all. It’s a critique of capitalism, and a narrative about capitalism is that it’s fair and anyone can succeed. That’s not how it works, and the game reflects that. Like when the glassmaker starts getting through the bridge and the VIPs start throwing a fit because that’s boring.

[@theslavemotivator3571]

Sounds more like a critique of Communism. No matter how equal everyone is born human instinct and nature will separate the weak from the strong.

[@April480p]

I don't really agree with the marbles example. Ali lost the game because his opponent WAS better. The only rules were to collect all marbles, without using violence. Tricking the opponent was a valid way to win. In this example, it's Sang-Woo who had been unfair, not the games. And, obviously, there's no equality in any kind of game, because the winner isn't equal to the loser (which, of course, proves your point of the games never being about equality)

[@theslavemotivator3571]

@@Mystical_youtube I phones good bro

[@fellinuxvi3541]

@@Mystical_youtubeAgree with that guy or not, he actually made a point.

[@fellinuxvi3541]

Yeah, but it's not really a great one at that. In capitalism, the greatest unfairness is inheritance, some people are born with more chances and some with less, but within the competition, things are a little more fair. Yes, not fully, privilege unbalances things, but the mechanisms within capitalism are not arbitrary. In capitalism, money is present in all aspects of life, in the squid game, it exists outside of the game in question, this makes it seem like the old guy's upper hand is magic, or supernatural good luck, and this separates from more meaningful analysis of capitalism.

[@echocharlie00]

Love how the Hot Milk instrumental played on the mention of OmniMan

[@Wolfman-rd1pv]

Imagine having had the luxury to watch Invincible before the entire internet spoiled the twist

[@UnknownGamer40464]

I was lucky since I found it scrolling netflix before I knew anything about it. Binged the whole thing and then made my family watch it too.

[@Jiyanico2]

It's kinda great that this video came out when it did,I finally just finished both after hearing so much about them, and squid games ending felt dissatisfactory.You pointed out my gripes wit it perfectly. I especially relate to the segment on invincible, I never saw invincible before I was spoiled on practically the entire first and last episode.So going in knowing what happens (and essentially just getting the footnotes) makes every episode feel so high stakes. Great video!

[@renatotejada8073]

It felt like a bigger and better twist in the comic, there Mark is so OP that the one-shot that rock guy, and Omniman didn't even sweat in his figh with The Guardians, it was a one side slaughter. And Omniman was more carefull when he had to hide his sectrets, it made the twist even more shooking.

[@tacomeat5689]

I get that, but that also weakens a lot of the writing. Why would Omni-Man even need to kill the Guardians if he’s so strong? Why do any of the heroes count if Mark and Nolan are so ridiculous? I’m glad the creator agreed and altered the show’s power balance

[@renatotejada8073]

@@tacomeat5689 you are right, but I think they made both a little too weak, especialy if we take the original material. The power balance is better, but I think they nerfed Mark and Omniman too much

[@tacomeat5689]

@@renatotejada8073 mark I can definitely see as being too nerfed, even if I don’t agree, but Nolan I think is perfect. Strong enough to take on the Guardians alone when caught off guard, but believably capable of losing to them like in the SPOILERS alternate timeline

[@TheArklyte]

Since you claim to have read the comic then you know that there is a rematch after Mark changes timeline and Nolan is bodied there without any damage to the Guardians, right? So it's not "hey, they nerfed him, how dare they?", it's more about making both fights consistent to each other. Meaning that eventual rematch in the show would also be much closer and less one sided. This is also why Battle Beast is so much better represented in the show the moment he appears, because they know he's making a return later.

[@chrwhish]

@@tacomeat5689 atom eve alone is enough to kill omni man if she knew the extent of her powers atom eve +all the guardians+ every hero yeah he would. Lose. That's why he killed them

[@kmn9568]

It's also worth noting in terms of the whoel equality aspect that the old man was never really going to participate, as he isn't getting tracked in RL GL and he isn't chained to the rope in Tug of War

[@Coconut_Prrson]

The editing that you use to showcase this scenes is great and makes it so much interesting than just flipping the screen or adding a filter. It's really amazing and creative

[@jerrymajors8132]

I only saw the first three or so episodes of Squid Game. When I saw the first episode, I thought the twist was gonna be that the Games Master (the guy with the Mister Roboto looking mask, sort of overseer of the games, I only mention this because I'm 90% certain that wasn't what the actual show called him) was Gi-hun's daughter's stepdad (hereby referred to as "the stepdad"). Evidence was there: the stepdad was moving his part of the family to America, the Games Master was the only character in the episode to speak English, and he spoke it fluently (this also spawned an idea that maybe the next set of games would be held in America); the stepdad was hinted or maybe said to be a rich businessman, that would be a perfect cover for what he was actually (in theory) doing; I seem to remember something about the stepdad regularly coming home late (but this might just be my mind conjuring evidence that isn't there), and that would make sense if he were going to and from the secret facility; and, just, how poetic (there's probably a better term, but this is the best I got) it would have been if the man curating the games just so happened to be the guy currently caring for our protagonist's child. So I was pretty confident that that was where they were going. Then episode two showed the stepdad, and immediately I knew that wasn't it. They were just not the same, voices didn't match, body didn't match. I was a bit disappointed, but, y'know, the show was still good from what I saw. I never saw that twist you spoke about, so I thought that my episode 1 prediction was gonna somehow come back around and you would talk about that. Video was still good though, and I agree that their twist was probably not the best play.

[@Fenryk]

I just about lost it when Hot Milk started to play when you introduced Omni Man, seriously good touch there.

[@LightningSpeed001]

I got this video randomly in my recommended, and I got to say, I loved this. The editing, the script and how the ideas are conveyed, and especially the drawings and images used to help get your point across, kept me engaged the whole video. I don’t usually comment on videos but I felt the need to put into words how much I personally appreciated this video and how entertaining it was. Definitely subscribing and turning on the bell notification, this was a great watch.

[@temutemacular]

Damn, that edit with the marbles game is downright unsettling... and I can't believe you referenced the Rick and Morty Bushworld adventures here of all videos 😂

[@lollertoaster]

I read somewhere about a study that people self-reported greater satisfaction with watching movies after reading spoilers than going blind. Such a great example, I wanted to watch Invincible for a long time, but didn't because I'm not really thrilled to watch superhero cartoons and I knew it would be such a boring thing for me to go through. Knowing there is a twist at the end that recontextualize and subverts those superhero tropes made me strongly reconsider watching it after all.

[@ravimanne8148]

Personally, I quite liked the ending of squid game for a couple of reasons and I think it actually reinforces the narratives themes rather than demeaning them. Firstly it demonstrates that realistically the game is not fair. The reality is a mixture of sheer luck, individual strength, in the case of the glass worker glass making, or corruption like with doctor each skew the system in their favor. A lot of the events are purely luck-based and individuals have personal strengths. For Il Nam in particular he's the host so he can get away with anything he personally wants. He doesn't get executed in the marble game, he has no hand cuff lock on his arm for the tug of war (when the entire team is laying down on the ground after winning you notice a lock on each handcuff except Il nam's. He is cuffed but he isn't locked in.), Gi hun is the last number while Il nam is the first, Il Nam personally stops the fighting on that one night by demanding it stop, the robot doesn't scan Il Nam, etc. Secondly, it creates a juxtaposition of moral values. Il Nam believes that there is no morality in the world and simply the pursuit of personal pleasure, highly selfish hedonism if you will. He feels a lot of his life ended up no longer having much fun in it so he created the games, however it is upon participating in the games themselves that he finally begins to have joy in life again. It's this fact that being so disconnected from struggle of any sorts can lead to genuine boredom, and it can be a major problem for the upper class when they don't actually take the time to invest themselves in hobbies, media, books, games, friends, etc and instead start doing things like drugs, alcohol, or just generally unhealthy behavior. Contrastly, Gi Hun believes that there is good in others and one should help (even to the extent of compromising himself and those he cares about as he misses his daughter's birth while attempting to help someone). However, it's the fact that Gi Hun feels alone in this world and that he feels it's inherently cruel. While it's not true obviously (there is some good in it), the fact that he had gone through so much pain and suffering to the extent he even had to have his mother die really took a number on him. So much so he was not willing to try or help anyone. Not those he cared about, not Sang Woo's mom, not Sae-Byeok's brother, not even that hobo who was freezing. However, it's the final game that helps Gi Hun realizes he's not alone. In the end there is a final game being played where the Il Nam and Gi Hun make a wager if someone will help a freezing person outside. If Gi Hun helped the old man while I agree it would be him taking matters into his own hands which could be just as cathartic, the fact that Gi Hun is so beaten down and depressed that he's lost his way is what the final scene aims to rectify. The final game has two key things at stake. Il Nam's morals and life and Gi Hun's morals (and possibly life considering the level of depression that Gi Hun is at he might consider suicide in all honesty). The fact he sees there's another kind soul in this world after all this heartache is what enables him to truly get back up and know that he's not alone. (Just a note while a police officer did help the freezing man it was in fact a blonde woman who initially noted the freezing man's condition and then went to the police to get assistance. Without the notification of this woman, the man would've died. I'm bringing this up because some people confuse the officer for helping the freezing man when it's his job to if he noticed him, but in reality, it was the blonde woman who actively brought the officer's attention to said man.) Thirdly, (this is basically reiterating what I mentioned prior) while I agree that Gi Hun not helping the man kinda makes him seem like one of the VIPs, that's partially the point I think. Except in this case instead of being overly bored and needing something to give him some form of pleasure, Gi Hun is extremely depressed and feels the world is a grim place after all that's happened and losing his mother atop it. Gi Hun is a spectator simply because he feels he can't participate after having experienced so much heartbreak, and it's only after seeing that there is some good in this world that he feels he can be better. While I agree that if he helped the freezing person himself it might give more individualism to his actions and a sorta "Gi Hun himself proved Il Nam wrong", the thing is we've already seen that numerous times and so has Gi Hun. Gi Hun has consistently helped others to the end, and inevitably all he's had to show for it is cruelty and suffering. But it's that last spark of true human compassion demonstrated by another person that gives Gi Hun the courage to believe in humanity and not give up. The confliction of moral compasses, the demonstration of socio economic backgrounds and the reality that they actively will tamper with a seemingly fair but harsh system making it feel even more grim in the grander scheme of things, and the fact that these impoverished people had to turn to such a horrible system in the first place due to a mixture of their personal circumstances and emotional health really goes to show the grim realities of the impoverished and the unfairness of the current status quo. While I do agree the VIPs in the show that spoke english sucked, Il Nam himself I found quite compelling as a character.

[@unicornactual3432]

Consider this; what are the odds oh help arriving a minute before the clock runs out and him dying in that same minute? Conveniently in view of that room? The whole thing was staged to restore his faith in people and his zest for life. They're just actors, the cop the woman and the homeless guy.

[@ravimanne8148]

@@unicornactual3432 Yes, it is in fact true that film is a dramatization of real life and human values.

[@JOfJaZ]

Honestly, I think it would fix a lot of problems if the investors were “investors” by the fact that the masked people are stand-ins for the real ones because it would be insane to have all these rich folk in one place in a high stakes game where someone who won could have easily been unhinged by all of it.

[@Above_Average_Joe315]

The one scene I think that gets elevated by the twist in Squid Game is the scene where the old man votes to end the game. It's his game, he could force everyone to play to appease the VIPs, but he doesn't. He gives those who truly don't want to play an escape. It kinda proves that he made the games to help people despite how twisted they are and he became. I think if the old man died in the marbles game and it was the front man or someone else at the end instead, then it would've been a better twist. (Still not great though) Despite making the game, and being a rich and powerful man, he's still bound to the rules of equality.

[@bluesyrupgc4224]

I think he voted to leave not because he wanted everyone to have a chance to get out, but because the games would just not be fun if people don’t try to play it. Sure, they will have to play to get out alive, but if Il-Nam didn’t let them go, I imagine that he would have to hear people complain every single time. I mean, you wouldn’t want to force someone who is not interested in playing to play with you

[@misirtere9836]

I think it's more that Il-Nam knew the financial situations these people were in, so he knew most of them would be back. Only like 15 people actually ended up quitting when given the opportunity to escape. He knew how screwed someone had to be in order for them to get scoped out, so he knew giving them the opportunity to leave would just show them that participating in the games would be a risk worth taking. I mean, Gi-Hun was in the kind of debt where the debtors threatened to cut out his eye. When you're that utterly screwed, you might as well die with a chance to make it big rather than die in an alley somewhere with your organs harvested by loan sharks.

[@netonnaanigbogu8304]

I agree

[@pangetpampam8272]

12:30 I'd like to think that that sentiment is exclusive to the front man's Ideals (because he experience the whole thing himself and get pooked in the head into believing that it's fair and square) and doesn't necessarily knows the old man's true motivation to make the game in the first place.

[@OctEddie]

I think the twist of Squid Games would have worked better if at the end when he bets with Gijun for answers, and after Gijun wins the bet we turn to see the old man has died. We get no answers. Nothing. Just a sense of unfairness and left with the whole “what the fuck. How did he survive.”

[@g0dsp3ed13]

the twist in mr robot is another great example of a good plot twist The fact that the Elliot we see for the whole show was just a personality like mr robot, who was created with no idea of Elliot’s friends and family. This gives context to scenes that was unusual, like when he has no idea who Darlene is.

[@andrewvillatoro4605]

Except the games were never fair, you didn't need the old man twist to realize that, it was literally rubbed in your face in every episode, the old man twist only reinforces that The Old Man treating all that horror like a game, while everyone is suffering, really sells it

[@foxmamer]

They literally let people kill each other outside of the games, TWICE

[@stilbie]

I love how huggable you draw gi hun. I need a plushie of him now

[@Tournesol_en_moquette]

29:58 You literally read throught my mind, really tpn season 2 made me question everything and anything, that adaptation can be screwed this badly and that we may have our hopes and dreams crushed again like this. But even if I'm avoiding to hope for anything so I'm not disapointed as much as I was for tpn2, I cross my finger that invicible season 2 will have as much care as it received for season 1. Great video btw, I recently discovered your channel, the edditing and artstyle used to illustrate everything is just relly nice and entertaining, I didn't saw the half an hour fly by, great job!

[@seanreiman5277]

I disagree with the reading of the VIP’s in Squid Game. I always assumed that they were purposely written like fucking idiots to subvert the trope of the “intelligent evil mystery man” by just making them essentially just a bunch of rich frat boys. Agree with the twist with the old guy though, that was an awful twist

[@hbch1co]

The song that started playing the moment he started talking about Invincible LMFAOOO

[@TheApoke]

11:26 technically alli's death was also off screen. You just see the guard point the gun to his head, then in the next shot sung wu reacts to the gunshot

[@turxar2145]

@Philosophy i can tell you that this was important for the watcher. Only because of alis off screen death did i not find the supposed death of the old man suspicious. The director knew this exactly, played around this and showed the corpse from ali in the next episode because most watchers like me forgot that the old mans corpse wasnt shown in the end. So i think it did its job in hiding that twist.

[@rasmusmalmberg6468]

I think good twists are good even if you see them coming and a crucial part of this is making the aftermath of a twist a more interesting scenario than the one we started out in.

[@Fruitabat]

Lol premieres exactly when my physics quiz starts

[@lanikusaii]

Good luck my guy

[@Fruitabat]

@@lanikusaii thanks :3

[@-cams.]

Good luck my man, hopefully you ace it out.

[@comfortzoneking8785]

Good luck my homie

[@Johan_Liebert_]

Best of luck, friend!

[@asterr001]

What's funny is that I immediately knew that you'd say that Squid Game's twist is bad and Invincible's is good before I even clicked on the video... And I agree. I knew the Old man was the mastermind during the first night-time FFA. He mysteriously disappears and appears on top of a row of beds "begging" to stop the killing. And the frontman stops immediately? That was a dead giveaway for me. And while I agree with most of the points you made in this video, I feel like the bit with the VIPs is a nitpick. While their dialogue was uuhhh iffy, I've had bosses, supervisors, and even college professors/deans who've acted and said things just like that (minus the r*pe vibes thank god). So it didn't ruin anything for me to see assholes with money and power act in that manner; because I've met them.

[@aubreyterry9453]

This makes me realize how well Invincible is written.

[@Roygasm]

I feel like you're not taking into account that Squid Game was originally written to only be a single season. While Invincible is a comic adaptation that will span multiple seasons. I do think the twist was weak but in this case it was done because there was never meant to be more Squid game while there's supposed to be more Invincible. I do think the creator can write himself out of this though. But I feel that distinction is really important when contextualizing both twists. One was meant to end right there and one was meant to continue.

[@gale1243]

It wasn't even initially written to be a TV Show, the creator wanted it to be a movie but upon it being ordered as a series he had to add a lot more in to the original script, specifically the entire plot regarding the Detective's infiltration to find his brother.

[@shen-qf9mc]

time to play devil's advocate for an ending i never really liked in the first place :))) i believe hwang dong-hyuk's intention was to create a story that more reflects society than one that showcases good characters, and that's mostly encapsulate in 001. as most rich people do, he has no stakes or dangers within society and treats life as a gamble that he can't possibly lose. you know how multi millionaires do that thing where they go to poor countries and show how kind they are on instagram by helping the people around them, even if their help was minimal at best? i see the same thing with the old man. even if it started with good intentions, the result is wholly unfair, and geared towards giving the already powerful more of a benefit than it gives the actually suffering. in the end, he wasn't there to help anyone, or to be anyone's friend - he was there to play a game while other people fight for their lives. *just to be clear, i didn't actually like it. i'm divided on whether the sacrifice to the story is worth it for the themes to be played more effectively. i just want to defend this part from my perspective* cultural differences also played a part in it. season two has been announced but it was never created with that intention, as many asian shows are done; they have to answer all questions about the show or fans will be left wanting for more that probably won't come. also, common writing pitfalls become much more obvious alongside the fresh concepts and writing that come with foreign shows. we all know the overly done bad guy twist, but we aren't familiar with everything else, so this sticks out like a sore thumb. i have no defence for the VIPS, fucking awful. change it dear lord

[@DrGandW]

I respect what they were going for while also acknowledging that it makes the story less engaging. Maybe there was a way to do that twist where it doesn’t rip you out of the series but it wasn’t this.

[@shen-qf9mc]

@@DrGandW same tbh, but i don't think it's possible. the twist was essentially made to make you feel bad, so :///