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?
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.