Following its debut on Netflix, Squid Game has taken the world by storm. Recalling themes from fellow South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer and Parasite, the Netflix series examines the relationship between different members of the class system. Squid Game’s horrifying and innovative premise was unprecedented for many, but an episode of the beloved crime drama, Criminal Minds used a similar tactic many years ago.
For 15 years, Criminal Minds startled audiences with its range of heroes and even more sinister criminals. Thanks to streaming services like Netflix, Criminal Minds continues to gain new fans despite no longer being on the air. The series was created by Jeff Davis, who has become associated with other projects including MTV’s hit series Teen Wolf. Like other crime series, each episode of Criminal Minds focuses on one specific crime. The premise for “The Wheels on the Bus” (season 8, episode 8) utilizes a story that fans of Squid Game may find a bit familiar.
“The Wheels on the Bus” is set near the BAU’s backyard of Washington D.C. The ever-changing team of behavior analysts (which consists of Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Dr. Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia, and Alex Blake at this point) are called into action once a bus full of teens disappears. After attempts to contact the bus driver, monitor, and any of the teens aboard the bus are unsuccessful, the team struggles to wrap their minds around what may have resulted in this particular bus being taken. Soon, they realize they are not dealing with an ordinary suspect with a sinister motive. Instead, Rossi begins to recognize that some of the circumstances of the case sound oddly familiar, making fitting connections between facts of the case and a video game called Gods of Combat.
As a crime series, “The Wheels on the Bus” offers both sides of the story. Cutting between the BAU’s attempts to solve the case, viewers also get to see what has come of the children who have been kidnapped. The children find themselves locked in a cage with shock collars tied around their necks. Scenes with the abductors reveal that they are using these teens to create a real version of the Gods of Combat game. The abductors (two brothers who decide to put their competitive nature to a lethal test) speak to their chosen characters through earpieces in an attempt to guide them. The shock collars help the brothers conduct the actions and behavior of their characters much like a video game. Things continue to escalate once the teens are forced to try and shoot one another in order to win.
Placing people in a game-like scenario where they are ultimately battling for their lives is a concept that has been used often. The Hunger Games series forces randomly chosen participants to take part in the Hunger Games to determine a victor. The Hunger Games offers meaningful commentary on the class system and the disparities between the rich and the poor. A similar type of discussion regarding class disparities is prevalent within Squid Game. Naturally, the discussion also begins to evaluate what it means to be morally conscious and empathetic. Squid Game offers serious dilemmas with this, much like “The Wheels on the Bus.” When placed in a life or death situation, how much of one’s morality plays a role in the tough decisions that must be made?
The situations in Squid Game and Criminal Minds are very different, but not nearly as distinctive as they may seem. Participants in Squid Game did decide to compete in the games by choice. Even after deciding that they didn’t want to play the game anymore following the massacre that occurred during Red Light, Green Light, many of the participants ultimately decided to return. As it is revealed throughout Squid Game, for many characters, things aren’t as simple as deciding to participate in the games for the chance to win a massive amount of money. Many of them are facing very serious problems and threats because of the money they owe or need in order to live properly. Unlike these circumstances, the characters in “The Wheels on the Bus” have to participate in order to survive. However, so do the characters in Squid Game. The major difference is that “The Wheels on the Bus” teens never had a choice in the matter.
Much like the circumstances, the outcomes for both are very different. Usually set to find a fitting conclusion within one episode, Criminal Minds ends on a rather optimistic note, contrasting Squid Game greatly. For Squid Game, despite the original idea that multiple people could win the games, most participants become so distracted by the idea of winning the money for themselves, that they lose sight of working together. This is particularly true following “Gganbu” (episode 6). With so many participants losing someone they considered a friend during the contest, “Gganbu” is a gamechanger for both characters and viewers alike. After the loss of such a pivotal person in such a challenging environment like the participants of Squid Game found themselves in, the guilt of winning the game becomes unbearable for some. By the end, Squid Game is ultimately left with one survivor and winner (though it’s hard to call him a true winner in the end).
Both Criminal Minds and Squid Game are now streaming on Netflix.
