Episodes with their own pages:
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General:
General
- A running theme in the show is the Driving Question about if people are fundamentally bad. Sure there are some rotten apples and Hate Sink characters, as well as those who let the games corrupt them. The season finale has the protagonist Gi-hun come to the realization, however, that Humans Are Flawed, and no one deserves to have their money problems used against them to become pawns in a horse race. Little moments of kindness matter, that give a lot of faith.
- The Reveal comes out that the old man is Oh Il-nam, the real Big Bad who created the games. He believes Humans Are Bastards and thus the poor deserve this. Then Il-nam enters the games because he wants to feel alive before a terminal brain tumor kills him. A random player approaches him as he's counting the players in the barracks, asking if he's okay, and if he has family. Gi-hun also asked why a man like him was in a place like this. A stranger was concerned about who he thought was a sick man that had been kidnapped. That was enough to get Il-nam to consider that perhaps he was wrong about his views, and maybe millions of people died for nothing save his nihilim.
- It's hinted that the Front Man didn't want Il-nam, his boss and mentor, killed during the game. In the first two rounds, Il-nam gets a lot of leeway considering his honeycomb had a hairline crack and he was moving slower during Red Light Green Light. Then when Il-nam seems to forfeit his life to help Gi-hun move forward, the guards fake his death instead out of deference to the old man.
Other episodes:
"Red Light, Green Light"
- A little boy helping Gi-hun win the crane game prize he wanted to give to his daughter. Gi-hun's gratitude is also noteworthy; going as far to pick the kid up and swing him around.
- Ga-yeong clearly enjoys every moment she gets to spend time with her father. Even though she got to eat a nice steak dinner for her previous birthday celebration thanks to her stepfather, she admits she prefers the simple street vendors Gi-hun takes her to because her mom rarely lets her eat their food.
- Gi-hun, despite his gambling addiction and thieving, repeatedly shows his inherent goodness. He helps up Sae-byeok after accidentally running into her and even stops to put the straw back in her tea while being chased by loan sharks, and he gives a piece of fish to a stray cat even though he hardly has anything for himself.
- It doesn't last due to the Mood Whiplash, but 324 and 250 playfully planned to race to the finish line, betting a million dollars. 324 gets ahead, but he doesn't freeze in time. 250 snickers that 324 lost, only to go Oh, Crap! when a gunshot rings out and 324 collapses. As soon as he gets the literal greenlight, 250's first instinct is to run towards him and go Please Wake Up, saying it's okay, it's just a game.
- Sang-woo whispers advice to a Deer in the Headlights Gi-hun, who is frozen on the ground. He advises Gi-hun that he needs to get moving or he'll be shot when the timer runs out, and to hide behind bigger players.
- Ali Abdul catching Gi-hun before he fell due to accidentally slipping on one of the fallen players during the first game even if he didn't have to, which establishes him as the Nice Guy.
- More significant considering that the timer almost ran out and both of them barely made it in time for the second round.
"Hell"
- The episode cuts to the barracks, where Sang-woo, Ali, and Gi-hun are huddled. Gi-hun thanks Ali for saving his life when he didn't have to do that. Ali is modest, saying that he's just glad that Gi-hun made it as well.
- Sang-woo wants the games to continue for his benefit. When he sees the guards are scaring the people, however, and threatening to shoot them for refusing to play per clause two of the contract, he stands up and cites clause three: players can vote to end the games. The Front Man, after a Beat, says that's a fair option and allowable per the rules. They set up a voting machine, and make sure no one is intimidated to change their mind. Sang-woo votes to continue the games, much to Gi-hun's horror, but he made sure the players had a sporting chance to choose.
- Il-nam casting the deciding vote to let the players go home rather than forcing them to stay and play.
- At a bar, Gi-hun and Il-nam share a drink after a chance encounter in the street. Gi-hun expresses worry if Il-nam is supposed to even be drinking with his tumor, but the old man worries him he's fine. The old man also says that he's going back into the games, hinting that he'll help out Gi-hun if the latter makes that choice as well.
- Ali and Sang-woo are dropped off at the same place. Not only does Sang-woo let Ali use his phone to call his family, but also buys him food and pays for his bus fare back home despite being very deep in debt himself. Ali is dumbstruck by this kindness and thanks him profusely.
- After Ali's disastrous attempt to get his wages lead with him mangling his boss's fingers by accident, he gives the envelope of money to his wife. All of it. It may or may not be enough to support her and their child in Pakistan, but he tells her No Time to Explain, the two of them need to get on a plane while he stays in South Korea. While the narration doesn't confirm if Ali was staying for the prize money/compensation money offered to the dead players' families in the case of a vote to stop or to avoid hurting his family with his crimes, it was forward thinking.
- Jun-ho encounters a depressed Gi-hun, and begs him for help. He says his brother went missing after receiving the same card. Gi-hun thinks that the man must be dead and bitterly says that he can't help anyone. Jun-ho, however, doesn't give up. He follows the truck that picked up Gi-hun, with a serious expression, and hope that he'll find his brother.
"The Man With the Umbrella"
- Gi-hun tries waking up Il-nam when seeing he returned. Il-nam happily says, "It's you!" as Gi-hun expresses relief that the knockout gas didn't kill him.
- Gi-hun comes up with the idea that he, Sang-woo, and Ali should all team up for the games, which delights Ali in particular. Then the old man asks to join, which Gi-hun does not hesitate to agree to since he likes the guy.
- Gi-hun is lactose intolerant and Jang-woo doesn't eat breakfast, so Gi-hun can't drink the milk they're given for breakfast. When Ali politely asks if he can have Jang-woo's breakfast item if he's not going to eat it, Jang-woo gives it to him and Gi-hun donates his share of milk.
- Mi-nyeo saves Sae-byeok from Deuk-su by flirting with the latter. While she wants to ally with the strongest guy, her timing was perfect to stop Sae-byeok from pulling a knife on a group of thugs. When they go to the bathroom later together, though she's sour about the pickpocket following her, Mi-nyeo also covers for her when Sae-byeok asks and helps her climb into and out of the vents just before the guards come inside. While she did have an ulterior motive about the latter— if Sae-byeok got a hint about what's to come— it shows that she's not all bad.
- When it's Down to the Last Play and with seconds to go, Gi-hun starts licking the back of the honeycomb candy. The other players see what he's doing, and more than a few do the same. They pass the round for the most part, meaning that Gi-hun probably saved a few strangers.
- It is morbidly heartwarming by the fact that the square guard, who is likely aware that his action will get himself killed, still complies with Player 119's threat and his last wish and reveals his face. Granted, he was dead anyway since a pistol as aimed at the back of his neck. Of course, Front Man executes him shortly.
"A Fair World"
- Ali saved Gi-hun from falling by pulling back with all of his strength.
- In the middle of her Knew It All Along boasts, Mi-nyeo thanks the old man, telling him that his leaning back strategy made her feel powerful. He smiles in appreciation of the compliment.
- Il-Nam shows genuine sympathy for Gi-hun when hearing about his past and how he lost his job.
- Sang-woo breaks the corn Ali saved for him (in gratitude for saving his life in tug of war) in half so Ali can have some.
- Sae-byeok giving Gi-Hun a bottle to help him take care of Il-Nam, who's suffering from a fever.
"Gganbu"
- As short-lived as it was, the friendship between Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong definitely counts.
- Them talking to each other about their pasts during the Marbles game shows the trust they have in each other.
- Ji-yeong's Heroic Sacrifice by throwing the marble game and allowing Sae-byeok to win. She does whatever she can to help someone she believes deserves a chance to live on and fight another day.
- Before being shot by one of the guards for losing the Marbles game, Ji-yeong thanks Sae-byeok for having played with her.
- Ji-yeong's sacrifice allows Sae-byeok to live long enough to tell Gi-hun about her younger brother, allowing him to ensure that the little boy is cared for.
- Also, the conversation Ji-yeong and Sae-byeok share, with Ji-yeong asking her what she would do once she got out of the games and use the money for. When Sae-byeok says she would like to take her brother and her family on vacation to Jeju island, Ji-yeong asks her to dream bigger, like going to Hawaii. She starts to get excited and tells Sae-byeok they should plan a girl's night out when they go to the island. The Mood Whiplash settles in when Ji-yeong pauses and remembers where they were. She repeats this action again when she starts imagining the two of them just hanging out as friends before being brought back to reality. Despite how terrible these games have been to everyone mentally and emotionally, Ji-Yeong was allowed to imagine a better life and a brief moment of happiness between herself and her new friend.
- Despite knowing Gi-hun was tricking him, Il-nam still allows him to take all his marbles and move on, thanking him for such a good time. As Gi-hun starts to cry Tears of Remorse, Il-nam gives him a Cooldown Hug and reassures him that it's okay.
- There's also Il-nam fondly recalling his memories of his son happily playing with his friends.
"VIPs"
- No one in the barracks can eat happily after what happened, mourning who isn't there. Sang-woo is the only one able to chew on his potato. He attempts to comfort Gi-hun about the old man choosing his fate, and Gi-hun's Moment of Weakness.
- While all the support went to contestants who died mere seconds later, everyone offers words of encouragement to the person at the front of the line during Glass Stepping Stones. Even Deok-su assures the person before him that he won't shove him (which he does follow through with; in fact, he's one of the competitors who doesn't do so) and says he's doing good when the man starts hesitating.
- Mi-nyeo's Heroic Sacrifice where she takes out Deok-su and herself, so that Deok-su doesn't waste precious time forcing the other competitors to go forward. What's more, she used the strategy that the old man taught them in tug-of-war to lean back and pull Deok-su with her, showing that the panel ahead of them was tempered. She promised him that she would kill him for betraying her, and she may be a liar but she doesn't break her promises.
"Front Man"
- When Jun-ho gets reception on the mountain island, he dials his police chief. The chief is first berating him for missing work, only to go Oh, Crap! when Jun-ho explains hurriedly that he's on an island in the south and needs backup. You can tell he wants more information despite the bad service.
- Sae-byeok uses her last conscious moments to stop Gi-hun from killing Sang-woo in his sleep because he's not that kind of person. Then she extracts a Last Request from Gi-hun that whoever wins, they take care of the other's family. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
- Gi-hun tries calling for help when Sae-byeok is forced to reveal that she was mortally wounded. He asks the guards to treat her before she dies in her sleep.
"One Lucky Day"
- The Front Man is uncharacteristically gentle with Gi-hun after he wins, escorting him home blindfolded in a limo. He advises Gi-hun to think of this experience as a dream and to enjoy the prize money. It wasn't a bad dream for him after all.
- Gi-hun is now a VIP at the bank where the money is set up; he has only taken out the 4 million won for his mother and everything else from debts. The banker who wants to upgrade his account treats him with respect because he's now a millionaire, but looks genuinely concerned for him when a Heroic BSoD Gi-hun can't respond and asks for a $10,000 won loan instead. The man gives him a bill out of his own wallet, knowing that they can deduct it from his account, but gives him a worried look as Gi-hun walks out. If you don't believe that he was in Il-nam's employee and keeping tabs on Gi-hun, it was a moment of human decency.
- Despite revealing that he was the creator of the games and really looks down on the poor, Oh Il-nam admits that he genuinely grew fond of Gi-hun and liked him as a sincere friend. In fact, that's why he called Gi-hun to a deathbed visit when hearing that he was in a PTSD funk. Il-nam wanted Gi-hun to snap out of it, because he doesn't deserve to waste his life away.
- How does he summon Gi-hun to talk to him? Via a lady claiming she needs to sell her flowers before they wilt. Showing he knows Gi-hun has a kind heart and will accept it, even after what happened in the marbles game.
- Gi-hun asks, in hurt and anger, Was It All a Lie? when he realizes that Il-nam orchestrated his suffering. Il-nam honestly says that the friendship he had with Gi-hun was real, along with the brain tumor and the family he mentioned.
- The nameless passerby who came back with a police car to help a freezing homeless man, proving Gi-hun right that there are still good people in the world.
- Gi-hun tracks down Sae-byeok's younger brother and puts him under the care of Sang-woo's mother, as well as giving some of his prize money to them.
- Gi-hun sees the same Salesman that had recruited him playing ddjaki with a new participant - while he's unable to catch the Salesman in time, he is able to wrest the card from the prospective player's hand, warning him off of going to the game at all.
