1. Gong Yoo playing the enigmatic (and very evil) slapping man, luring people into the squid world through a game that reeks of excess wealth.

The series actually starts off on a bit of a light note, with Seong Gi-hun being portrayed as a flawed but lovable goofball. The first sense you get that something is seriously off is when he plays the slapping game with a cameo by K-superstar Gong Yoo. And despite him being a recruiter from hell, the internet still wants to be slapped by him.

2. When they play the first game – Red Light, Green Light – and you realise just how terrifying the odds truly are.

The first game is an exercise in testing audience fortitude. For all intents and purposes, it’s a massacre, wiping out almost half the contestants through the use of a horrific doll that can pinpoint moving targets so snipers can take them out. Chucky, who?

3. Literally every scene with Kim Joo-ryoung, who played Han Mi-nyeo (Player 212). From sneaking in cigarettes, to the ruckus she creates in the bathroom, to the ultimate sacrifice she makes on the glass bridge.

Kim Joo-ryoung’s performance as a histrionic master manipulator who’ll do anything to win was absolutely brilliant. She doesn’t give a single fuck, and routinely roasts every player who stands in her way. And of course, grabbing onto Deok-su while they were on the bridge and fulfilling her promise that they’ll die together? Absolutely perfect.

4. Every game sequence that had us on the edge of our seats.

From licking the Dalgona to melt it rather than using the pin…

…to using a special technique during tug of war.

And of course, the glass bridge, as mentioned earlier.

5. Perhaps the most heart-breaking scene in the entire show however, was when Ali realised that Sang-woo had tricked him into giving up his marbles for rocks. That stung.

Screw you Sang-woo.

6. Jung Ho-yeon’s performance as Kang Sae-byeok (Player 067), was a masterclass in portraying steely resolve in the face of absolute horror. She takes no shit, and proves it many times over.

She’s one of the characters we sympathise with most – the suffering she’s endured during the famine, losing her father while crossing over, and being mistreated at the hands of Deok-su – all of that trauma is hidden away behind a stony exterior. But we see it crack once in a while and that’s where her acting chops really shine.

7. The revelation that the front man was Hwang In-ho, officer Hwang Jun-ho’s brother all along. While this may have been slightly predictable, what we didn’t see coming was that he’d kill his own brother. 

8. And of course, the scene where we realise that Oh Il-nam, Player 001 – that sweet, old man we spent hours crying over – was the person running the whole show.

I can’t believe I wasted my tears on you. This is why you shouldn’t always respect your elders.

All in all, a pretty damn good show!