Squid Game 2 reverses one of season 1's biggest twists.

squid game We entered the second season with great expectations. The first season was a huge success with its mix of dark humor, biting commentary, and surprisingly brutal violence. Amidst all the hype, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk took on a seemingly impossible task with his return. It's about giving audiences all the elements that made the first season a sensation without falling into repetition.

The answer seems to split the difference. season 2 squid game It offers brightly colored brutality while telling a story that focuses less on the game and more on the characters struggling to survive in it. And rather than ending the season with a big twist like in Season 1, Hwang turns the element of surprise around and provides the audience with information that the characters lack. Essentially, Hwang Ui-jo reverses one of the biggest twists of the first season.

spoilers ahead squid game Seasons 1 and 2.

The big twist in season 1

In the last episode of squid game In Season 1, a year after main character Seong Ki-hoon (Lee Jung-jae) wins a grand prize as the last man standing, he receives an invitation to a seemingly empty office complex. There, he discovers Oil Man (Oh Young-soo), a kind old man he befriended during the game and whom he believed to have been murdered. It turned out that Ilnam was not just a participant. He was the man behind it all. Il-nam, on his deathbed, tells Ki-hoon that he created the game to entertain boring, wealthy elites like himself, and that most of them participated out of youthful nostalgia.

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Looking down at the snowy streets of Seoul, the two play one more game. Ilnam assures him that no one will stop to help the homeless man lying on the street before the clock strikes midnight. A kind citizen proves him wrong, but Ilnam dies a short time later, and it is unclear whether he knew the truth before his death or not.

This was a pretty huge twist towards the end of the first season. It's about playing with the audience, revealing the essence of the character they care about and empathize with. Additionally, viewers were left in a position of uncertainty about the future of the game. Who knows what other tricks the game might have hidden if its creators could participate undetected?

How Season 2 reverses the twists of Season 1

In Season 2, this question is answered for the audience, but not for the characters. When Ki-hoon's efforts to capture the front men and end the game fail, he makes the last-minute decision to rejoin the game to take them down from within. At first, there's no reason to think anyone involved with the game would try to stop him. That is, until the end of episode 3 ‘001’.

After nearly 100 lives are consumed in the first game, players vote on whether to continue playing. Working in reverse order, the last player to vote is player 001, who then casts the deciding vote to continue the game. The camera zooms in on his back, and when he turns, it is revealed that he is none other than frontman Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun). Ki-hoon, who has never seen him wearing a mask, does not recognize him. In-ho gains Ki-hoon's trust and friendship, even siding with Ki-hoon and trying to end the game in the subsequent vote.

Throughout the remainder of the series, Hwang is able to steadily increase the dramatic irony, where the audience is given important information that the characters do not have. In Season 2, rather than revealing the existence of the mole player with a twist at the end of the season, it is revealed to the audience at the beginning without the characters being fully aware of it. This has the effect of adding more tension to the story. Viewers are constantly left to question In-ho's motivations and guess what he's going to do to manipulate Ki-hoon and stop his efforts to take down the game.

This is not to say that one storytelling choice is better than another. Rather, the two simply create different effects on the overall season. By revealing Ilnam's identity until the very end, Season 1's finale will make viewers question all their previous interactions with the character, and perhaps even check back to see if there were any hints they missed along the way. In the beginning of Season 2, In-ho, rather than a character, is revealed to the audience, creating a more immediate effect as viewers can see the manipulation unfolding in real time.

Dramatic irony is one of the oldest tools in the drama playbook, dating back to the days of Greek tragedy. oedipus rex And more. It is also a wise choice by Mr. Hwang. squid game Season 2 is a distinct yet complementary experience from Season 1. The season ends on a cliffhanger, and viewers will have a lot to think about before Season 3 gets them back into the game for one last time.

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release date

September 17, 2021

cast

Ha-jun Wi, Anupam Tripathi, Young-soo Oh, Seong-tae Heo, Hae-soo Park, Ho-yeon Jeong, Jeong-jae Lee, Ju-ryeong Kim

season

2

showrunner

Donghyuk Hwang

move

Donghyuk Hwang

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