Squid Game 2 reverses one of the biggest twists in Season 1

SUMMARY

  • Season 2 of The Squid Game focuses on character development and twists from the beginning to create tension.

  • A major twist in the first season reveals the true nature of a character, leaving viewers with questions.

  • Exciting irony is used in season 2 to give important information to the audience without knowing the characters.

Squid game entered the second season with high expectations. The first season was a runaway success thanks to its mix of dark humor, dark commentary, and surprisingly intense violence. With all the great ideas, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had a seemingly impossible task in his return: to give the audience all the elements that made the first season what it was, without holding back.

The answer, it seems, is to split the difference. Second season of Squid game brings the brutality in bright colors while telling a story that is less focused on the game and more on the players trying to survive them. And instead of ending the season with a big cliffhanger like the first season, Hwang flips the magic element on its head, informing the audience that the cast is missing. Basically, Hwang reverses one of the biggest twists of the first season.

Spoilers ahead Squid game first and second season.

Big twist of Season One

Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su) on his deathbed in Squid season 1
Netflix

In the last section of the Squid game season one, a year after actor Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) won the grand prize as the last man standing, he receives an invitation to a seemingly empty workplace. . There he finds Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su), the kind old man he befriended during the game and believes to have been murdered. As it turns out, Il-nam wasn't just a competitor, he was the one behind everything. Lying in bed, Il-nam tells Gi-hun that he created the game to entertain bored, wealthy elites like himself, and that he played a part in mostly teenage nostalgia.

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The two look out over the snowy streets of Seoul, playing another game. Il-nam bets that no one will stop to help a homeless man lying on the street below before the clock strikes. A helpful citizen proves him wrong, but Il-nam dies a short time later, and it is unknown whether he knew the truth or not before he passed.

It was a great twist at the end of the first season, playing with the audience by showing the true nature of a character they cared about and sympathized with. It also shakes up the audience for the playoffs. If the developers can contribute unseen, who knows what other tricks the game might have?

How the second season turned the tide of the first season

The front man and the guard in the squid game
Netflix

In the second season, this question is answered for the audience, not for the players. After Gi-hun's quest to end the game by capturing the Front Man fails, he makes the final decision to join the game to eliminate them from within. At first, there is no reason to think that any of the games will stop him. That is, until the end of the third episode, “001”.

After the first game with nearly a hundred deaths, players choose whether to continue playing or not. Going in reverse order, the last contestant to vote is contestant 001, who casts a vote to decide to continue the game. The camera pans to his back, until he turns to reveal it's none other than the Man in Front, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun). Gi-hun had never seen him without a mask, didn't know him. In-ho manages to gain Gi-hun's trust and friendship, and even sides with him to try and end the game with the next stone.

For the rest of the series, Hwang is able to constantly raise the shocking irony, where the audience has important information that the characters don't. Instead of revealing the presence of a mole character with a disorder at the end of the season, the second season reveals it to the audience first, without the characters knowing. This has the effect of adding more tension to the story. The viewer is constantly forced to question In-ho's motives and speculate on what he might be trying to do to manipulate Gi-hun and prevent his quest to bring down the game.

This is not to say that one narrative option is better than the other; but the two create different effects on the overall period. By saving the reveal of Il-nam's identity until the very end, the season one finale leaves viewers questioning every previous interaction with the character, and possibly revisiting if there are any suggestions he missed along the way. At the beginning of the second season, showing In-ho to the audience instead of the characters creates an immediate effect, where the viewer can see the manipulation unfold in real time. .

Dramatic irony is one of the oldest devices in the playbook, dating back to the days of Greek tragedy as Oedipus Rex and more. Hwang's is also a smart choice, a way to do that Squid game season two a unique yet complementary experience to season one. The season ends on a cliffhanger, and viewers will have a lot to think about before the third season brings them back to the game one last time.

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