Disclaimer: this is purely a tongue in cheek article for educational purposes. In no way do I condone the use of illegal drugs or encourage its use. Also, potential spoilers ahead.

Since the season 2 release, Squid Game is once again trending. Season 2 introduces new and interesting characters, one of which is Thanos, a drug addicted rapper who falls into debt from bad crypto investments. Somehow, Thanos was able to smuggle illict drugs into the games, which he is seen taking throughout the games. As a pharmacometrician, of course I had to review this.

In the show, Thanos is observed consuming oral tablets. In order for a drug to exert its effects, it needs to first be released from the tablet, get absorbed in the small intestine and then be transported to the site of action, in this case, the brain. For most of the games, we can see Thanos and his friend take the tablets while they are waiting for the game to start. This allows for sufficient time for the drug to be absorbed and take effect. Possibly, this is at least 30min or more. We thus observe that Thanos has peculiar behavior throughout the games compared to other participants.

Interestingly, when we first see Thanos with his drugs during Red Light, Green Light, there is only 2min and 45s left on the clock. However, within the 2min time span where the participants scramble toward the finish line, we observe Thanos push other participants to their death, and switch from being terrified to happy and playful. This is generally not possible with oral tablets.

What happens if he knew to take the tablets sublingually, by crushing it up with his teeth and putting the powder under his tongue to hasten absorption? We never see Thanos or his friend take the tablets with water in the show, suggesting this might be occurring. It would speed up the absorption, but this is unlikely sufficient to achieve efficacy levels within 2 min. Such a short onset of action is generally achieved only with an intravenous injection, allowing the drug to enter systemic circulation instantaneously. Knowing that Thanos tends to pre-medicate prior to a game, the timing of drug onset during Red Light Green Light is thus a pharmacologic inconsistency I noticed in Squid Game.

Perhaps, Thanos had a very strong placebo effect upon taking the drug, or his character is erratic with or without his drugs.

Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed T.O.P’s performance as Thanos and thought this character was highly entertaining to the show. Did you know, aside from T.O.P, 3 other K-pop idols are also Squid Game cast?