“Red Light, Green Light”: Everything to Remember Before ‘Squid Game 2’
[This story contains spoilers from Squid Game season one.]
Three years after taking Netflix by storm to become the streamer’s most popular series of all time, Squid Game returns Dec. 26 with its highly awaited sequel season. Set in the aftermath of the first finale, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk’s thriller looks to plunge deeper into the titular competition’s violent history, with Lee Jung-jae once again braving the games as Seong Gi-hun.
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Before diving into Squid Game 2, you’re probably wondering if you need to recall every single detail about the original. That answer is complicated. You don’t need to remember every character and beat, but there are definitely recurring figures and plot points you should refresh yourself on before hitting play. If you don’t have time for the full rewatch, here’s a pocket-sized primer on what you need to know before Squid Game 2 (trailer, below).
Filmed and set in South Korea, Squid Game followed Gi-hun, a down-and-out gambler and deadbeat father, despite his love for his kid. He often gambles and runs schemes alongside his best friend Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), set to return in season two. Jung-bae barely registers in season one, however, as an increasingly desperate Gi-hun takes an enigmatic salesman (Gong Yoo) up on an offer to earn real money playing in the Squid Game, leaving his world behind. (That salesman, by the way? Also set to return in season two.)
After sleeping through a gas-filled limousine ride, Gi-hun wakes up wearing a green jumpsuit, in a massive bunk hall, alongside a small army of similarly dressed individuals. They’re all here to compete for an insane amount of money, all having signed on before fully understanding the rules of the game. They figure the rules out quickly, with a huge swath of competitors dying in the opening Red Light Green Light game, an instantly iconic sequence. A majority of the survivors vote to end the Game and go home. But within a week, those very same survivors decide to return, preferring their odds in a series of death matches to their odds of surviving at home.
So the games go on, with all eyes on Gi-hun and an accompaniment of fellow contestants, allies and enemies alike. The eyes belong to a masked figure called the Front Man, played by Lee Byung-hun, whose undercover brother of a cop Jun-ho (Wi Ha-Joon) has infiltrated the game, hoping to find his long-missing sibling. The Front Man and Jun-ho have a brief but tense reunion in season one, ending with Jun-ho shot and presumed dead — but very much still alive, if out of the equation.
Both the Front Man and Jun-ho will play roles in season two, but other returning players? Not so much, considering how season one ended with the deaths of every single one of Gi-hun’s allies. As the sole survivor of the game, Gi-hun walks away with more money than he could ever spend in his lifetime. But the cost far outweighs the reward, as a year on from his victory, Gi-hun seeks down the architect of the game, Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su), a dying old man who pretended to be Gi-hun’s ally in the game.
With “Player 001” dead, Gi-hun lacks any real leads on how to stop the game, so he does what anybody else would do in his shoes: dye his hair hot pink and head out to the United States, where his daughter now lives. But right before he boards the plane, Gi-hun gets a phone call from the Front Man, and the siren song of revenge sets in. The season ends with Gi-hun turning right around, vowing vengeance — and that’s exactly where we’ll begin when Squid Game 2 drops all episodes on Dec. 26.
“He’s a very changed person,” Lee recently teased of his Gi-hun when Squid Game returns for a season that has already been nominated for a Golden Globe. “How he perceives the circumstances around him and engages with the world, he will almost seem like a different person. He is goal-driven more than anything else — and he has an extremely strong conviction to put an end to the game.”
The clash between Lee’s Player 456 and the Front Man will continue until the series finale with the already confirmed season three, which will be released in 2025.
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