‘Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae and Lee Byung-hun Breakdown Season 2

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

Facing betrayal by an inside man who infiltrates the Squid Games is nothing new for Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) in the twisted ‘Squid Game’ universe.

When the first season of the Korean drama released on Netflix in 2021, seeing Player 001, the old man Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su), was revealed as the creator of the games, it came as a total surprise for both Gi-hun and the viewer. But in Season 2 of “Squid Game,” which released Thursday, the unexpected involvement of head game guard The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), whose real name is In-ho, is handled very differently when he participates in the games as Player 001 . after Gi-hun’s return to the competition.

In-ho uses the fake name Young-il when he introduces himself to Gi-hun, who has returned to the games in season 2 of “Squid Game” to try to take them out from within, and he hides his real identity and motives as he slowly tries to earn Gi-hun’s trust and build a group of like-minded players.

“I think it’s quite fun because only the audience knows it’s him, so it’s more exciting for them to see him in the game and form an alliance with Gi-hun,” says Lee Jung-jae. Variety. “I think the only thing viewers will be thinking about is when Gi-hun will finally realize he is The Front Man, or what game he can play without revealing his identity.”

When Lee Byung-hun first met with “Squid Game” creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk to discuss possible directions for Season 2, they casually speculated about In-ho’s backstory over drinks. Although Season 2 ultimately does not show his past – instead providing details through dialogue about In-ho’s late wife who died of illness when they were destitute – Lee Byung-hun continued to reflect on how his character first came into the Squid game ended up. he played and, like Gi-hun after him, won the competition, and how his mind has changed since then.

“He’s really seen a kind of low point for humanity, and amid the violence and despair of Squid Game, his hope for humanity and the world has really dwindled,” Lee Byung-hun explains. “He has a very pessimistic view of the people in the world around him.”

Another recurring “Squid Game” character is Detective Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who teams up with Gi-hun at the start of Season 2 to find the Squid Game Island again. Jun-ho made his way there in Season 1 in search of his missing brother, In-ho, and later discovered that his brother has gone from being a former competitor in the Games to becoming The Front Man himself. Jun-ho was shot by his brother after this revelation in Season 1 and barely survived a fall from the cliffs of Squid Game Island. When he teams up with Gi-hun to try to get back to the island and end the games in Season 2, he decides not to tell Gi-hun that The Front Man is his brother.

Showcasing In-ho playing the games alongside Gi-hun, who still fights to believe in the best in people and humanity – despite the cruelty of the Squid Game – two opposing characters come together. Lee Byung-hun was tasked with carrying out much of this subtly while In-ho (who watched Gi-hun from behind a mask in Season 1) studies Gi-hun through the various games while building a bond with him and doesn’t show his true feelings. express thoughts.

Lee Byung-hun describes how “when [In-ho] meets Gi-hun, who is still trying to tear down the system, who returns to the Games to be able to make a change, because he still has hope for humanity – I think In-ho really wants Gi-hun’s spirit break, and that’s why you see him watching him during the games and very carefully making a plan to dismantle a lot of what he does.”

Season 2 of ‘Squid Game’ features a new series of violent games that test alliances with a largely new cast of players. But it all starts with the same “Red Light, Green Light” competition that started the first season. Although Lee Jung-jae says it was a difficult five-day shoot, he found it the most fun of the season 2 games to film.

Lee Jung-jae explains, “It’s very different because this time Gi-hun’s goal is to save as many people as possible. The ‘Red Light, Green Light’ game was a big shock to fans in Season 1, but now it’s a completely different atmosphere.”

Lee Byung-hun says that for In-ho, while participating in the games as Young-il, “you can tell that he is almost temporarily enjoying the situation.” “And I think this is just a very small glimpse of his former self,” he added.

The most challenging part of the season from an emotional point of view for Lee Jung-jae was the rebellion scene in the season 2 finale. In the final episode, Gi-hun watches his good friend, Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), die from at the hands of The Front Man, marking the end of all hope for the rising rebellion. The Front Man puts his mask back on, out of sight, so Gi-hun doesn’t know it’s In-ho/Young-Il, who Gi-hun actually thinks has already been killed during this fight.

Lee Byung-hun explains why In-ho makes the choice to kill Jung-bae in front of Gi-hun after previously trying his best to save his life during the bloody musical chairs-like Mingle game, in which he another man killed with his bare hands to keep Jung-bae alive.

“I would say that until the Mingle game, In-ho is still a participant or member of this very close group with Jung-bae and Gi-hyun,” said Lee Byung-hun. “So despite the fact that he shows Jung-bae this very violent side of himself by killing someone in the room, he still has to maintain the impression that he is one team with Gi-hun and Jung-bae. At the very end of season 2, I was really thinking about it: how does he feel when he has to kill Jung-bae, because at the end of the day he’s still human, and he goes through the games together, and there’s to at least be some kind of emotional bond built between him and Gi-hun and Jung-bae. However, I do understand that killing Jung-bae is a tool to make Gi-hun aware of the reality of what is happening. And a conversation I had with director Hwang was: How does In-ho, or The Front Man, feel when he kills Jung-bae? And I think it’s a feeling of bitterness, but I think the way In-ho understands it is that he’s giving up something small for a bigger message to Gi-hun.

The Front Man’s actions (a betrayal that has yet to fully reveal itself to Gi-hun until he knows In-ho is the one behind the mask) sting even more as Gi-hun and his group of friends come so close to bringing about the rebellion and escape the games for good.

“I think the finale did a good job of maximizing the emotions for the viewers so that they feel like they are on an emotional roller coaster,” said Lee Jung-jae. “They are left behind at the very highest point.”

Lee Byung-hun believes that In-ho’s betrayal confirms that “during these truly grueling and violent games, his feelings faded.” “Feelings of hope and joy are long gone in the In-ho you meet in Season 2,” he said.

With season 2 of ‘Squid Game’ only consisting of seven episodes versus the first season’s nine, and the big cliffhanger that ends the second season’s story, Lee Jung-jae isn’t sure how viewers will receive it. “Maybe they will curse us for stopping there at the final,” he wonders, laughing.

While season 2 leaves many questions unanswered, the episode was filmed back-to-back with the show’s third and final season, which has been confirmed for release in 2025. So fans won’t have to curse the team for too long before they find out how this showdown between Gi-hun and In-ho ends. And it seems like it will be a very dark conclusion indeed, if In-ho has his way.

“In-ho is a character who no longer has faith or hope in the outside world,” says Lee Byung-hun. “So it’s almost like he can’t go anywhere because that’s not really a world that he feels like he’s a part of. So it’s less about him wanting to protect the world of Squid Game and more about him feeling like it’s completely hopeless outside. All these people are going to die in a very sad way anyway, so why not play the games, and why not give at least one person a new life and a sense of opportunity? Because he has a very pessimistic view of the world, he feels that the world of Squid Game at least makes more sense than the world outside.”