It feels a bit like being a human pinball to go from celebrating Christmas, arguably the most commercial global holiday, to binge-watching a show about the insidious evils of capitalism one day later. But, then again, being stuck in a life-size pinball machine is perfectly in step with “Squid Game,” Netflix’s South Korean survival drama where unwitting contestants find themselves playing augmented, lethal versions of their favorite childhood playground games for a chance at a lifetime of riches. The first season of “Squid Game” tore up the rule book for streaming expectations, quickly becoming Netflix’s most watched show of all time — a title it held onto, despite heavyweight contenders like “Wednesday” stepping into the ring in the years since the show’s 2021 debut. The runaway success of “Squid Game” was definitive proof that audiences are looking for the spark of originality in familiar formatting, and that language is no barrier when it comes to streaming entertainment.
