‘Squid Game’ Creator Reveals How Violent Finale Sets Up Final Season of Netflix Hit
[This story contains major spoilers through the season two finale of Squid Game.]
The Squid Games are over — if only for now, and if only with a pretty big asterisk.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Season two of Netflix’s smash-hit South Korean thriller Squid Game dropped on Dec. 26 to record-setting viewership, picking up right where we left off after season one. Having won the Squid Game, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) was on his way toward a new goal: defeating the game, once and for all. The seven new episodes explored Gi-hun’s effort, with varying degrees of success — which is to say, very little.
After working with police to infiltrate and dismantle the games from within, Gi-hun finds his plans ruined, stranded back in the familiar playroom arena with no allies to speak of save for one: Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), Gi-hun’s oldest friend. Together, they try to convince their fellow players to vote to leave the game, but find their efforts defeated at nearly every turn thanks to one of their own supposed allies in the game: Player 001, who is secretly the Front Man, the masked face running the whole show.
Despite some moments along the way that made the viewer question the Front Man’s allegiance, it became quite clear in the finale: Gi-hun leads a revolution right until he’s stopped at the Front Man’s doorstep, where the Front Man himself (played by Lee Byung-hun) puts a bullet in Jung-bae’s head.
That’s where the story ends, for now. The games remain incomplete, and may in fact remain that way depending on what the Front Man decides to do with Gi-hun and all of the other mutineers. We won’t find out until the completed third season arrives sometime in 2025, and even then, knowledge comes with a price: Gi-hun’s story will end with season three.
What we do know is that the clash between Gi-hun and Front Man — who is also a past winner of the game — will drive the remainder of the series. Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who recently spoke to THR for a cover story about the show’s return, expands now on why he ended the series with season three, saying in part, “I believe I’ve had closure to the story I wanted to tell about society through the character of Seong Gi-hun.”
In the chat below with THR, the Squid Game’s real behind-the-scenes front man speaks through a translator all about the second season, the Front Man’s story arc, the themes he wanted to establish for a third and final season, and the one way he can imagine Squid Game coming back in the future after Gi-hun’s impending swan song.
***
Was there one big idea that helped you crack season two?
Season one ends with him turning away from the flight and taking that phone call, then making that vow: “I want to know why you do this.” I knew if there ever were to be a second season, that’s where I wanted to pick up. It would be a story about Gi-hun’s journey to find and track down the hosts behind the game, including the Front Man. I knew I wanted it to be a story of what he’d do to stop the game.
That’s Gi-hun’s story. But what about the Front Man? He’s the one who wants to stop Gi-hun from stopping the games, and [in the end], it’ll be a final showdown between their beliefs and views of the world. That’s the story I wanted to penetrate all through the second season.
We needed a new 001, so I had the idea of bringing the Front Man into the game, because Gi-hun doesn’t know his face, only his voice. I thought I would tell that story of him coming into the game, observing and manipulating Gi-hun, pretending to help but in fact bringing all of his attempts to a failure.
Are there any moments during the season where the Front Man is actually sympathetic to Gi-hun, or do you think he’s manipulating the whole way through?
The Front Man — or, rather, In-ho — is just like Gi-hun: someone who entered the Squid Game with very similar purposes. He experienced all of the cruelties, saw the rock bottom of humanity, was extremely disappointed, which led to him giving up humanity altogether. That’s how he became a host. Much like the story of Darth Vader who couldn’t become a Jedi.
At the same time, what he feels toward Gi-hun is hatred. He looks down on him and wants to win above him. However, deep inside, watching Gi-hun having gone through the same experience he first had in Squid Game, and seeing how Gi-hun is genuinely believing in humanity, is persisting to protect humanity… I believe the Front Man harbors a very strange inferiority complex, or a sense of defeat, when he sees Gi-hun.
Even deeper down, I suspect he harbors a bit of respect for Gi-hun as well. That’s something Lee Byung-hun, the actor who plays the Front Man, had a lot of discussions about while we were preparing for the season. Because it’s based on that kind off character interpretation, there are times where that mentality peeks through the character. He really sees what he let go of and what he lost when he sees Gi-hun. Secretly, he might even want Gi-hun to fight on.
Does that mean there’s some hope for the Front Man?
You can see it in season three. There’s an answer to that question.
The season ends with Gi-hun’s best friend getting shot by his new best friend, who he does not yet know is his archenemy. Why was this the note to leave us on?
I wanted to conclude season two after all of Gi-hun’s attempts had gone to failure. The first of them being getting the mercenaries together, letting them know where the island was with the tracker implant. The second was him wanting to persuade the majority of the people through the voting system so they could leave the Squid Game. Then his third and last attempt was leading a rebellion, where he did have to sacrifice people, and all of that goes to failure.
The price he had to pay was losing his longest and most precious best friend at the hands of the Front Man, and I wanted to end the second season at that very moment — then begin the next season from that space where he’s ridden with a huge amount of guilt and defeat. I wanted to see where that would carry Gi-hun further on.
Even before the rebellion, there’s the civil war among the Xs and Os. I was shocked Thanos (played by K-pop star T.O.P) died here!
That last rebellion was against the system. But the fight between the Os and Xs happens among the people within that system, who are controlled and dominated by that very system. I believe that juxtaposition really reflects our current reality. There’s so much conflict, division and war going around, all around the world, not only just between ideologies… we’re coming up with so many ways to divide us. We think everyone’s our enemy. Everyone’s someone you’re against. On the other side of that, I think we ask less questions about our fundamental systems that have made us behave this way, and have created this kind of environment. I wanted to have the fight between the people reflect that.
As for Thanos… he’s one of my favorite characters, too! I believe that was the right time to see him off. Although I will admit, I do think the death was sudden. It was very intense, which was the right way at just the right time for him to go. The way he leaves the story, if you watch until the third season, it will almost feel as if he’s still there in some ways in terms of how he affects the plot.
How much can you say about what comes next in season three, and are you thinking at all beyond a third season? [Netflix dropped a brief season three teaser, previewing the new Red Light-Green light doll seen in the mid-credits scene after the season two finale.]
I wrote seasons two and three back-to-back, we filmed them back-to-back, and it’s currently in post. It’s going to arrive some time in 2025. And the third season will really explore that sense of loss and failure, that guilt weighing so heavily on Gi-hun. How’s he going to navigate the story further with all of that weighing down on him?
Personally, I see the third season as being the finale to this story. That’s because I believe I’ve had closure to the story I wanted to tell about society through the character of Seong Gi-hun. If I ever wanted to go back to the world of Squid Game, it would be about different characters with a different story arc. Some kind of spinoff, maybe. For example, the masked guards. How did they end up here? What do they do in their downtime? Something like that, maybe.
Thanos origin story?
I’ll think about it!
***
Squid Game season two is now streaming on Netflix. Read THR‘s in-depth cover story on the hit show’s return and Lee Byung-hun unpacking the Front Man.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.