Squid 2 brings back one of the biggest twists from season 1

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summary

  • Season 2 of Squid focuses on character development and builds tension early on.

  • Season 1's big twist reveals a character's true nature and leaves viewers questioning.

  • Dramatic irony is used in Chapter 2 to give the audience important information while keeping the characters in the dark.

Squid game Entering his second season, he had high expectations. The first season was a success due to its mix of dark humor, sharp commentary and brutal violence. With all the hype, producer Hwang Dong-hyuk had a seemingly impossible task upon his return: to provide audiences with all the elements that made the first season such a sensation without repeating themselves.

The answer, it seems, was to split the difference. The second chapter of Squid game It brings out the brutality in bright colors while telling a story that focuses less on the games and more on the characters trying to survive. Instead of ending the season with a big twist like the first season, Huang turns the element of surprise on its head and gives the audience information that the characters lack. Basically, Hwang turns one of the biggest twists of the first season on its head.

Spoilers ahead Squid game Chapter one and two

The big twist of the first season

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

In the final part Squid game Season 1 One year after protagonist Song Gi-hoon (Lee Jung-jae) won the grand prize as the last man standing, he receives an invitation to a seemingly empty office complex. There he finds Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su), a kind old man who befriended him during the games and believed him to have been killed. As it turned out, Ilnam wasn't just a participant—he was the man behind the whole thing. Lying on his deathbed, Il-nam tells Gi-hoon that he created these games to entertain rich and bored elites like himself, and that he participated mostly out of youthful nostalgia.

Squid director Hwang Dong Hyuk

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Overlooking the snowy streets of Seoul, the two play another game. Ilnam bets that no one will stop to help a homeless man sleeping on the street below before the clock strikes midnight. A helpful citizen proves him wrong, but Ilnam dies moments later, and it is unclear whether he knew the truth before his death.

It was a huge twist at the end of the first season, playing with the audience by revealing the true nature of a character they had come to care for and sympathize with. It also leaves viewers in a precarious position for future games. If the developer could contribute without being identified, who knows what other tricks games might have up their sleeves?

How the second season spins the first season

The Front Man and the Guardians in the Squid Game
Netflix

In chapter two, this question is answered for the audience, but not for the characters. After Gi-hoon's attempt to end the Games by capturing Front Man fails, he makes a last-ditch decision to rejoin the Games to bring them down from within. At first, there's no reason to think anyone from the games is trying to stop him. That is, until the end of the third part of “001”.

After the first game is nearly a hundred people over, the players vote to continue playing or not. In reverse order, the final contestant to vote is contestant 001, who casts the deciding vote to continue the games. The camera zooms in on his back, until he turns around to reveal none other than Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun) himself. Having never seen him without a mask, Gi-hoon doesn't recognize him. In-ho manages to gain Gi-hoon's trust and friendship, even siding with him to finish the games in the next votes.

For the rest of the series, Huang is able to steadily increase the dramatic irony, where the audience has important information that the characters don't. Instead of revealing the existence of a mole player with a twist at the end of the season, Season 2 reveals it to the audience earlier, while the characters are completely unaware. This adds more tension to the story. The viewer is forced to constantly question In-ho's motives and guess what he might be trying to do to manipulate Gi-hoon and prevent him from trying to destroy the games.

That's not to say that one storytelling choice is better than another. Rather, these two simply create different effects throughout the season. By saving the reveal of Il-Nam's identity until the very end, the end of the first season leaves the viewer questioning every previous interaction with the character and perhaps even going back to see if there were any hints they missed along the way. At the beginning of the second season, revealing In-ho to the audience but not the characters creates a more immediate effect, where the viewer can see the manipulation in real time.

Dramatic irony is one of the oldest tools in the playbook, dating back to Greek tragedies Oedipus Rex And beyond that, it's also a smart choice on Huang's part, a way to do it Squid game Season two is a distinct but complementary experience to season one. The season ends on quite a cliffhanger, and viewers have a lot to think about before season three brings them back to the games one last time.

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