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SYFY WIRE Squid Game

'Squid Game' becomes a hilariously deadly country rap sing-along in Rami Malek and Pete Davidson's 'SNL' spoof

By Matthew Jackson
SNL Squid Game

Over the past few weeks, the Korean dystopian series Squid Game has taken the world by storm with its strange vision of a game show where a simple round of "Red Light, Green Light" can spell either death or lifelong wealth. It's become such a ubiquitous part of pop culture at this point that, even if you haven't seen it, you've at least heard about it.

That makes it perfect fodder for parody, and Saturday Night Live was bound to get around to it eventually. The inevitable SNL version of Squid Game arrived this past weekend as host Rami Malek (No Time to Die) stepped up alongside cast member Pete Davidson for a send-up of the popular Netflix series.

Instead of doing a straight-up sketch, though, Davidson and Malek took a music video approach (something Davidson is rather fond of doing on the show), framing the bit as a country hip-hop song about two down-on-their-luck guys who seem to have no choice but to try their hand at the Squid Game in order to reverse their financial fortunes.

As you know if you've seen the show, that can really only go one of two ways, and most of the time it doesn't go well.

Check out the full SNL skit below:

As usual, SNL's production design team absolutely stepped up to meet the needs of this sketch with some top-notch replicas of Squid Game's various key designs, from the masks of the guards to the numbered tracksuits of every contestant. That level of attention to detail allows you to slip right into the parody, so that when the "Red Light, Green Light" robot starts interrupting the song, the laughs hit even harder.

Throw in some truly over-the-top (yet strangely accurate) country accents from Davidson and Malek, a great joke aimed at New York Jets fans, and plenty of homages to the show's brutal kills, and you've got one of the best genre parodies SNL has put together in a long time.

Now, if Squid Game ever does get a second season, we can also hope SNL will break out these costumes for another send-up.