A version of this story about Hwang Dong-hyuk and “Squid Game” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
It’s been a little less than a year since the debut of Netflix’s smash hit “Squid Game,” and only from this distance are people beginning to understand the true scope of the show’s influence and registering that even if the series wasn’t the best of the season — which it very well might be — it was certainly the most important.
The facts have been recited endlessly but remain as impressive as ever. A whopping 1.65 billion viewing hours on Netflix during its first four weeks of streaming.