Warning: Spoilers ahead for Squid Game
When a second season of Squid Game was greenlit following the massive success of the first, it was unclear whether the story warranted an extension. Writer-director Hwang Dong-yuk, previously best known for feature film work like 2017 period war epic The Fortress, had not planned on continuing it. And so much of the first season relied on the novel horror of watching the barbaric, exploitative Squid Game play out, hoping that protagonist Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) could hold onto his humanity in the face of it all. Could a second season really recapture the visceral emotions provoked by that unpredictability?
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Well, naysayers need not have feared. While Squid Game Season 2 contains some of the same story beats as the first season, this is a much different story that ends up in a much different place, driven by a protagonist who is much changed from the Gi-hun who played the Squid Game in Season 1. Let’s break down everything that happened in the violent, action-driven ending of Squid Game’s second season, and what it could mean for the upcoming Season 3.
Much of the dramatic tension in Squid Game Season 2 is driven by the addition of Hwang In-ho—aka the Front Man, aka Oh Young-il, aka Player 001—to the Squid Game as a contestant. While the Front Man is a previous winner of the game, by the time we meet him in Season 1, he is a higher-up within the game’s behind-the-scenes organization.
The Front Man’s Season 2 decision to join is motivated by Gi-hun’s own request to take part in the game. While Gi-hun’s involvement is presumably good for the game’s behind-the-scenes betting business (everyone likes a defending champion), he is also unpredictable. Unlike the other contestants, he has previous knowledge of the game and has different motivations. While others are in the game to win the money, Gi-hun is looking to take the whole operation down. The Front Man could try to control Gi-hun as a behind-the-scenes force, but he has much more agility to do so as a fellow competitor and eventual ally. As the season progresses, we see the Front Man slowly earn Gi-hun’s trust and then use that trust to manipulate him in subtle ways.
One of the most interesting changes to the rules of the competition in Season 2 of Squid Game is the vote players have after the completion of each round. If a majority of players vote to leave, then the game will end and the surviving players can split the prize money accumulated thus far.
The players vote to continue after the first two rounds, but the vote following the third round ends in a tie. In the season finale, the contestants are informed they will have another vote the following day to break the tie. The violence escalates: First, there is a guard-sanctioned bloodbath in the men’s bathroom that gives the “X”s a slight advantage in number. Then, once the dorm lights go out for the night, the “O”s attack the “X”s in an attempt to cull their numbers and ensure an “O” victory in the vote. For each person taken out in these “special games,” more money is added to the prize pot, further encouraging this behavior.
Most of the contestants in the Squid Game only see two options. They can either stay in the game and fight to survive and win more money, or leave with the money they’ve accumulated and live. Gi-hun, however, sees a third option. He wants to risk his life for the chance to take the game down. Gi-hun knows that, after some of the contestants have killed one another, the guards will eventually step in. He instructs his small band of fighters to avoid the fight, leaving their fellow “X”s to the slaughter, and instead use their energy to overpower the unsuspecting guards. They retrieve the guards’ weapons and make for the control room.
Was this effort doomed from the start? Not only do the guards outnumber the contestants, but the Front Man is a mole. Once the fight begins, he uses his influence to subtly maneuver the outcome (though, notably, does shoot and presumably kill some of his employees in the process). When Player 388 Kim Dae-ho (Kang Ha-neul), who claims to be a former Marine, freezes up in the fight and is unable to bring more ammo to the rebels, they are easily taken out one by one.
Gi-hun’s friend Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) is the last to die in the failed rebellion, shot by the Front Man (donning his boss mask once again) right in front of Gi-hun. It’s a gut punch for both the viewer and Gi-hun. In many ways, Jung-bae is the Gi-hun of this season: a divorced father hoping to get his life back on track, but not willing to kill anyone for it. His death echoes thematically across the finale and presumably into the next season.
The Front Man knows just how devastating a blow this is for Gi-hun.While Gi-hun values all life, Jung-bae isn’t just another contestant; he is an old friend. They were on strike together years ago, a period that was a major turning point in Gi-hun’s life. In a conversation the Front Man overhears between Gi-hun and Jung-bae earlier in the season, we learn that Jung-bae was responsible for Gi-hun’s entry into betting on horse races. In that same scene, Jung-bae expresses regret for not being able to give Gi-hun money when he stopped by his pub, prior to the start of the Squid Game, in Season 1.
Gi-hun ends the season in utter despair. He has not only failed at both of his stated goals (to take down the game, and to get everyone out alive), he has lost an old friend—someone who trusted him with his life and who died because of it. Before they went into the fight, the Front Man asked Gi-hun: “Are you suggesting that we make a small sacrifice for the greater good?” When Gi-hun agrees, the Front Man smiles. For him, this is a happy ending.
In the season finale, the fishing captain that detective character Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) relies on in his search for the Squid Game island is revealed to be a spy. When one of Jun-ho’s hired muscle men catches the captain tampering with a search drone, the captain ruthlessly stabs him and pushes him overboard. Presumably, the captain is working for the people who run the game, and his “rescue” of Jun-ho three years prior was anything but a happy coincidence. Could he have been sent specifically by In-ho, aka the Front Man, to save the brother he shot from certain death?
So many people die, as is Squid Game’s way. Characters taken out in the bathroom fight include rapper Thanos (played by real-life rapper T.O.P.), sure to be a fan favorite if only as a rich source of Season 2 memes. Another rash of killings comes once the lights go out and the “O”s attack. This includes Player 380, Se-mi (Won Ji-an), who was reluctantly pulled into Thanos’ orbit. Though timid Player 125 Min-su (Lee David) tries to help her, Se-mi is killed by Player 124 Nam-gyu (Roh Jae-won).
We see Player 246, aka Gyeong-seok (Lee Jin-uk), shot by one of the guards when the rebellion fails. However, we also know that No-eul (Park Gyu-young), a North Korean defector who works as a guard, is sympathetic to his cause as the father of a sick girl. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gyeong-seok somehow makes it to Season 3.
The players left standing include: trans woman and impressive fighter Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon) and Dae-ho, who were back in the dorms when the guards took out the remaining rebels. Mother-son duo Geum-ja (Kang Ae-sim) and Yong-sik (Yang Dong-geun), pregnant contestant Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri) and her crypto YouTuber Myung-gi (Yim Si-wan). And of course Gi-hun and the Front Man.
Off of the island, Jun-ho is still searching for the Squid Game, unaware that the fishing captain he trusts is a mole. However, he still has good-natured gangster Woo-seok (Jeon Seok-ho) by his side.
Netflix has already filmed a Season 3 of Squid Game, with plans to release it in 2025.
The final scene in Season 2 Squid Game shows a group of contestants (including Players 100, 096, and 353) walking into a game, like the next round. While viewers may recognize the giant girl doll from the Mugunghwa (the Korean version of Red Light, Green Light) games in both Seasons 1 and 2, there is a second giant doll in the scene. Both dolls are modeled after characters from a classic Korean children’s education book series. Young-hee is the girl, and Cheol-su is the boy. What does the arrival of Cheol-su mean for the next game? It can’t be anything good.
