Squid game Russian roulette with Gi-hun, recruiter in season 2 explained

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers from the Season 2 premiere of “Squid Game,” now streaming on Netflix.

The second season of Netflix’s hit Korean drama “Squid Game” starts off with a literal bang — quite a few, in fact. But by far the most shocking is the final few moments of the episode, titled “Bread and Lottery,” in which Squid Game winner Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) needlessly risks his life in a game of Russian roulette with The Recruiter ( Gong Yoo) working for the games.

While Gi-hun could instead just shoot The Recruiter if he has the gun in hand, he decides to go ahead with the odds clearly in no one’s favor as they start reloading every time before pulling the trigger. The decision is risky when Gi-hun’s goal is not to die, but to live and obtain the information the Recruiter has about who is behind the Squid Game and where to find them so that Gi-hun can finally can try to eliminate them for three years. after winning the deadly Battle Royale.

Lee and “Squid Game” creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk broke down Gi-hun’s choice during the season 2 premiere for Varietyand provides more insight into The Recruiter’s backstory and what Gi-hun’s plans are for the rest of the second season.

What made you want to bring The Recruiter back for Season 2 and what did you want to show about who he is as a person outside of work to bring new people to the Squid Game every year?

This Recruiter character is someone who will recruit new players, probably only for about two months out of the year. Then I started thinking: What would he do in his spare time when he’s not working and recruiting people? I imagined this character as someone who was extremely distorted, broken, and hurt inside because of all the horrible memories he carried. And every day I felt that he was someone who had to do something to believe that what he was doing to the weak and vulnerable was justified, and that he had to do something to truly believe that these people were worthy of being treated like trash. To do that, he approached these people, ridiculed them, ridiculed them and showed great contempt for them.

And that’s what I wanted to express with that bread versus lottery ticket – food that you can consume immediately versus that desire to win the jackpot. And in doing so, he was able to convince himself that he was right all along: that people were scum, that these people who had no money to buy a meal that day, their greed would still drive them to play the lottery to elect. And that would allow him to give himself determination and justification for what he did as a profession. I almost saw that as a kind of game that he would play alone, or almost like a ritual that he would do.

Why does Gi-hun even entertain The Recruiter’s suggestion to play Russian Roulette to win the information The Recruiter has about the people behind the Squid Game? Why doesn’t Gi-hun just choose to shoot him, pocket the details and hunt for the games as he plans, and not risk his life at all in a match with very deadly odds ?

Hwang: Gi-hun is a character who has a sense of justice and is fair. At the end of the day, he is just a man who loves a good game. You see him in season 1 when he’s at the track, how excited he is when he takes part in that bet and that game. And I see him as someone who is addicted to playing a game, addicted to winning. Many addicts who actually start gambling are not addicted to the money prize, but they are addicted to that game and playing that game. Gi-hun came from Squid Game and was the only winner of the games. I saw him as someone who was naturally addicted to winning; there was something in it and it was broken and damaged that way.

And so instead of taking the more reasonable route and holding the gun to The Recruiter and ending it all there, I see him as someone who wants to make The Recruiter submissive by winning him in a good round of a game. And so I wanted him to, as you put it, entertain what The Recruiter was initiating. And I also saw that round as almost a game or a clash or a competition between the two’s personal values ​​and principles – I wanted to prove to the other person that I’m right and you’re wrong, I wanted to prove to The Recruiter that I’m a am a better person than you.

Lee: I think what Gi-hun was thinking was that if he doesn’t agree with what The Recruiter wants to do, he won’t have a chance to find the guys behind the games. He has to go along with what The Recruiter says in order to get back into the game or meet one of the people behind the game. So I think that’s why he wanted to do Russian Roulette, even though he knew he might get killed, and he was so desperate for that opportunity.

In that scene they had this dialogue, and The Recruiter says to Gi-hun, “You’re nothing special and you can’t stop us.” And Gi-hun says back, “Well, you’re nothing special either, and you’re like a watchdog of the people behind the games. And I want to talk to your owner.” They have this very intense dialogue throughout the game, which makes Gi-hun want even more to win the game. The way it was written was just so flawless; director Hwang was such a genius in writing that scene.

Now that he’s killed The Recruiter and gotten the information he needs to move forward in finding the Squid Game again, what’s Gi-hun’s plan for the rest of Season 2?

Lee: The first plan he thinks of is to stop the game, and the second is to save more lives, and the third is to punish the host behind the game. So I think it will be a lot of fun for the viewers to see if he will be able to achieve and achieve all these goals throughout the episodes. These are some of the questions that really drive the story of season 2, and what makes it all the more intriguing.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.