Even months after the Korean drama Squid Game [1] came to Netflix [2], its cultural impact and popularity hasn't waned. The show focuses on a secret competition where people buried under a mountain of debt are given the opportunity to play children's games to win unimaginable amounts of money. The only caveat: you lose, you die. Squid Game [3]'s unique concept and strong cast led to it becoming the platform's most-streamed show ever with 111 million viewers in September. Since then, Squid Game inspired a variety of Tiktok challenges, Halloween costumes [4], and even its own line of cookie cutters [5] inspired by the Dalgona candy challenge.
While the show is praised for the excellent acting [6], plot twists, and anti-capitalism commentary — as with any suspenseful story — there are still some aspects of the story that didn't quite pass the smell test. Here are the most glaring Squid Game plot holes. (But be careful, there are spoilers ahead!)
Hwang Jun-ho's Immortal iPhone Battery
When police officer Hwang Jun-ho manages to sneak into the games and go undercover as a guard to find his brother, he documents his experience throughout his time there on his iPhone. Despite Jun-ho's lack of access to a charger and his frequent usage, the iPhone never seems to lose any juice. How his phone managed to stay on for that long without being charged remains a mystery.
How Could Player 212 Use a Lighter in the Dalgona Candy Game?
In the second game, Han Mi-nyeo, or Player 212, manages to sneak her lighter into the arena and uses it to heat up her needle in order to get the shape out of her candy. With the amount of security cameras and armed guards poised to kill them at any given moment, it's hard to believe she and Jang Deok-su (Player 101) were both able to cheat so easily, or that they would have even taken the chance.
Everything About the Organ Harvesting Business
One of the more confusing subplots of the show is the underground organ harvesting business that some of the guards participate in. The show doesn't provide many answers about how long the operation has been going on and where exactly the organs are being sold, but those aren't even the biggest questions viewers have. Like, how did the guards know a doctor would be present at the games to help with the harvesting? How long does the organ harvesting business last, especially if they rely on competitors to do the dirty work? What happens if the guards don't have access to a doctor with the experience to properly harvest the organs?
Is it Really a Fair World?
In episode 5, the frontman discovers some of his underlings have been helping Dr. Byeong-ki cheat in the game in return for his help harvesting dead contestants' organs, an operation he doesn't appreciate, as it supposedly breaks the most important rule of the game. "Whether you sell the dead body's organs, or eat them, or whatever, I don't give a damn," he exclaims before killing his underlings and the doctor. "You ruined the most important aspect of this place: equality. Everyone is equal when they play this game. Here every player gets to play a fair game under the same conditions. These players suffered from inequality and discrimination out in the world, and we're giving them one last chance to fight fair and win. But you broke that principle."
That's all great — if you can ignore everything else that goes down throughout the show. First, the puppeteers of the game let the contestants kill one another in all-out brawls, which isn't exactly fair to those who are elderly or not physically strong. Then there's the Oh Il-Nam factor. By the end of the season, we learn the unassuming older man is actually the affluent mastermind behind the game, which means he uses his influence to get as far as he does in the game and to evade death even though he technically loses his game of marbles. He also favours Seong Gi-hun throughout the games, ultimately faking dementia to let his Ggangbu win and escape death as well. How is that fair to the other players?
Why Didn't Contestants Invoke the Third Clause More?
In Episode 1, the players end up invoking the third clause, which states that if a majority of players vote to end the games, they will be able to walk free without the prize money. However, the third clause isn't invoked again through any of the other dangerous games except at the end.
On Reddit, user Survivoria [7] pointed out, "At the end of the day, human beings are hardwired to survive. The will to live trumps everything. You don't just die because you're thinking of how much you invested in a situation. If you're literally about to die because you'll lose a game of marbles, your will to survive will try every single way to get out of that situation. The fact that no one even brought it up through any of those games can only be explained by acknowledging it to be a product of flawed writing."