SPOILER ALERT: This textual content incorporates major spoilers from “Squid Sport” Season 2 finale, now streaming on Netflix.
Going via betrayal from an inside man infiltrating the Squid Video video games is nothing new for Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) contained in the twisted “Squid Sport” universe.
When the first season of the Korean drama launched on Netflix in 2021, watching Participant 001, the earlier man Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su), be revealed as a result of the creator of the video video games received right here as a whole shock for every Gi-hun and the viewer. Nonetheless in “Squid Sport” Season 2, which dropped Thursday, the sudden involvement of head sport guard The Entrance Man (Lee Byung-hun), whose precise title is In-ho, is handled pretty differently when he joins the video video games as Participant 001 upon Gi-hun’s reentry into the rivals.
In-ho makes use of the fake title Youthful-il when he introduces himself to Gi-hun, who has returned to the video video games in “Squid Sport” Season 2 to try to take them down from the inside, and conceals his precise id and motives whereas slowly making an attempt to attain Gi-hun’s perception and assemble a bunch of likeminded players.
“I consider it’s type of pleasurable because of solely the viewers is conscious of that it’s him so it’s additional tense for them to have a look at him throughout the sport, forming this alliance with Gi-hun,” Lee Jung-jae tells Choice. “I consider all the viewers might be critical about is when Gi-hun will lastly discover that he’s The Entrance Man, or what sport he can go until with out revealing his id.”
When Lee Byung-hun first met with “Squid Sport” creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk to debate doable directions for Season 2, they casually speculated over drinks about In-ho’s backstory. Whereas Season 2 in the long run doesn’t current his earlier — choosing instead to current particulars by dialogue about In-ho’s late partner who died of illness as soon as that they had been destitute — Lee Byung-hun saved critical about how his character entered the Squid Sport the first time he carried out and, like Gi-hun after him, obtained the rivals, and the way in which his spirit has modified since.
“He’s truly seen type of the underside pit of humanity and throughout the midst of the violence and desperation of Squid Sport, his hope for humanity and the world has truly dwindled,” Lee Byung-hun explains. “He has this very pessimistic view of the parents on this planet spherical him.”
One different one among many returning “Squid Sport” characters is detective Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who teams up with Gi-hun initially of Season 2 to attempt to uncover the Squid Sport island as soon as extra. Jun-ho made his strategy there in Season 1 looking for his missing brother, In-ho, later discovering out that his brother has gone from a former competitor throughout the video video games to turning into The Entrance Man himself. Jun-ho was shot by his brother upon this revelation in Season 1 and barely survived falling off the cliffs of the Squid Sport island. When he teams up with Gi-hun to try to get once more to the island as soon as extra and end the video video games in Season 2, he decides to not inform Gi-hun that The Entrance Man is his brother.
Exhibiting In-ho collaborating within the video video games alongside Gi-hun, who nonetheless fights to think about in the simplest in of us and humanity — whatever the cruelty of the Squid Sport — pits two opposing characters collectively. Lee Byung-hun was tasked to behave out a whole lot of this subtly as In-ho (who watched Gi-hun from behind a masks in Season 1) analysis Gi-hun by the various video video games whereas forming a bond with him and by no means letting his true concepts out.
Lee Byung-hun describes how “when [In-ho] meets Gi-hun, who continues to be attempting to interrupt down the system, who returns to the video video games to have the power to alter one factor, because of he nonetheless has hope for humanity — I consider In-ho truly must interrupt Gi-hun’s spirit, and that’s why you see him observing him all via the video video games and actually meticulously making a plan to dismantle a lot of what he’s doing.”
“Squid Sport” Season 2 comes with a model new set of violent video video games that check out the alliances normal with a largely new stable of players. However it absolutely all begins off with the an identical “Crimson Light, Inexperienced Light” rivals that kicked off the first season. Whereas Lee Jung-jae says it was a tricky five-day shoot, he found it to be primarily probably the most pleasurable of the Season 2 video video games to film.
Lee Jung-jae explains: “It’s very fully completely different because of this time spherical, Gi-hun’s intention is to keep away from losing as many people as doable. The ‘Crimson Light, Inexperienced Light’ sport gave an enormous shock to followers in Season 1 nonetheless now, it has a totally fully completely different ambiance.”
Lee Byung-hun says that for In-ho, whereas he’s collaborating throughout the video video games as Youthful-il, “you do uncover him just about momentarily having enjoyable with the state of affairs.” “And I consider that’s solely a really small glimpse of his earlier self,” he added.
Most likely probably the most troublesome part of the season from an emotional standpoint for Lee Jung-jae was the stand up scene throughout the Season 2 finale. Throughout the final episode, Gi-hun watches his shut buddy, Jung-bae (Lee Search engine marketing-hwan), die by the palms of The Entrance Man, marking the highest of any hope for the rising stand up. The Entrance Man locations his masks once more on out of sight, so Gi-hun doesn’t realize it’s In-ho/Youthful-Il, who Gi-hun actually thinks has already been killed all through this battle.
Lee Byung-hun explains why In-ho makes the choice to kill Jung-bae in entrance of Gi-hun after going out of his technique to save lots of his life earlier via the bloody musical-chairs-esque Mingle sport, the place he killed one different man alongside together with his bare arms to take care of Jung-bae alive.
“I’d say that until the Mingle sport, In-ho continues to be a participant or a member of this very tight-knit group with Jung-bae and Gi-hyun,” Lee Byung-hun said. “So although he reveals Jung-bae this very violent facet of him by killing any person contained in the room, he nonetheless desires to maintain up this air that he’s one crew with Gi-hun and Jung-bae. On the very end of Season 2, I truly thought-about, what’s he feeling when he has to kill Jung-bae because of on the end of the day, he’s nonetheless a human being, and he goes by the video video games collectively, and there must be a minimal of some type of emotional bond that’s constructed between him and Gi-hun and Jung-bae. Nonetheless, I do understand that him killing Jung-bae is a instrument to have the power to awaken Gi-hun to the very fact of what’s occurring. And a dialog I had with director Hwang was, how does In-ho, or The Entrance Man, actually really feel when he’s killing Jung-bae? And I consider it’s a sense of type of bitterness, nonetheless, I consider the way in which by which In-ho understands it’s that he’s giving up one factor small for a a lot greater message to Gi-hun.”
The Entrance Man’s actions (a betrayal that has however to fully reveal itself to Gi-hun until he’s conscious of In-ho is the one behind the masks) sting way more as Gi-hun and his crew of mates come so close to pulling off the stand up and escaping the video video games for good.
“I consider the finale did an outstanding job maximizing the emotions for viewers so it looks as if they’re on an emotional roller coaster journey,” Lee Jung-jae says. “They’re left on the very peak.”
Lee Byung-hun feels that In-ho’s betrayal confirms that “throughout the course of of these truly grueling and violent video video games, his feelings gentle.” “Feelings of hope and pleasure are prolonged gone throughout the In-ho you meet in Season 2,” he said.
With “Squid Sport” Season 2 solely consisting of seven episodes versus the first season’s 9, and the foremost cliffhanger that the second-season story ends on, Lee Jung-jae isn’t optimistic how viewers will get hold of it. “Presumably they’ll curse us for stopping there on the finale,” he wonders with enjoyable.
Whereas Season 2 leaves many questions unanswered, the installment was filmed back-to-back with the current’s third and final season, which is confirmed for a 2025 launch. So followers obtained’t must be cursing the crew for too prolonged sooner than discovering out how this showdown between Gi-hun and In-ho entails an end. And it’s wanting like it’s going to be a extremely darkish conclusion definitely, if In-ho has his strategy.
“In-ho is a persona that no longer has notion or hope throughout the open air world,” Lee Byung-hun says. “So it’s just about like he has nowhere to go, because of that isn’t truly a world that he looks as if he’s a part of anymore. So it’s a lot much less so the reality that he wants to protect the world of Squid Sport, it’s additional so that he feels that it’s absolutely hopeless open air. All these individuals are going to die in a extraordinarily type of pathetic strategy anyway, so why not play the video video games, and why not give a minimal of 1 specific individual a model new life and a method of other? Because of he has this very pessimistic view of the world, he does actually really feel similar to the world of Squid Sport a minimal of makes additional sense than the world open air of it.”
