There's a scene where the protagonist is playing russian roulette with one of the bad guys and when he's down to the last two chambers (they don't spin the gun) the bad guys says "Yeah you could just shoot me, but then you'd just be like all the rest, a piece of trash. You just got lucky." and then to prove a point Mr. Squid Game doesn't just shoot the other guy, but instead takes the 1:2 chance and makes it. Then he passes the gun to the other guy.
When the villain had that monologue I was so ready for the protagonist to go "yeah I did just get lucky, what are you even going on about? I know I'm not special." and then shoot him or something.
How many netflix failsons were allowed to give notes on this?
I felt the same way during the roulette scene. It was such a perfect opportunity for the MC to shrug off the explanation of luck but they just lean into it. I think the justification was to put the other guy on the spot so that he had to abide by the rules of his game, but then that also just waves off his behavior as ideological rather than opportunistic. The recruiter is just a poor who adapted rise n grind culture as deeply held values to the point where those values actually govern events. In real life those people are just riding a wave, they're getting lucky, their principles don't actually cause things to happen.
I didn't much like the bread or lottery scene either. The poors kept choosing lottery, which I understand what they're going for. They choose lottery because they're given false hope of a rigged game (Just like Squid Game!) but it also comes across as "look at all the irresponsible people. If they chose bread they would be better off." There's a very fine line between showing a class ravaged by greed and false hope and then condemning people for being naive dupes.
It's funny you mention the bread & lottery scene because I disliked it initially, but have come to enjoy it as a nice piece of characterisation. I think I was apprehensive about the show, so anything that could be read negatively was.
But another reading is that the recruiter guy is copying his masters to validate himself. He needs to feel that he is in control and above "the trash". The bread & lottery was just something he did, it was unrelated to his job. Of course most people would pick a lottery ticket unless you're literally starving you're not gonna go for a cheap, shitty, potentially poisonous (too old or other stuff) snack, you're gonna go for something that has a pretty decent chance of being worth 5$. But the recruiter feels like his half-assed copy of the games proves something, makes him less alienated. That's why the "dog" comment gets to him.
I didn't mind that the recruiter shot himself, but I really minded that the show felt the need to establish the protagonist as being "special". I feel like him struggling with the fact that he just got lucky was a large part of the ending of the original.