Well shit. Okay. **deep breath** The Squid Game season 2 finale was less of a finale than it was an… episode? It was a mid-season finale at best, however, it was still a fun watch, and left us wanting more, so I’m not mad at it.
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this episode, and I imagine you do, too. I’ve been avoiding diving into the social medias until I was finished (I despise spoilers more than Shaman, and that is SAYING SOMETHING) but now I’m excited to see all of your theories, thoughts, opinions and (dare I hope) fan art of all the dead characters coming back as ghosts to watch and place bets.
The fight continued in the bathroom, and Thanos hung on (literally) for longer than I expected after getting forked twice in the throat, but inevitably he died and his lackey (who I thought would want retribution, but did NOT care even a little bit) stole his drugs.
Once the guards finally shut it down, it ended up with two Leavers and three Stayers gone, putting the Leavers in the lead. This, of course, meant nothing, and the fact that some players just went to bed as if that settled it made me scream at my screen.
I KNEW IT! Ugh, I didn’t want to be right about this one, but alas… the fisherman is, in fact, fishy (once again, I would like to apologize on behalf on this terrible joke, but it can’t be avoided). One of the Merry Mercenaries found him messing with the drone, and when questioned, Fishy Fisherman stabbed him and threw him off the boat.
What are we thinking? I’ve thought he was an agent for the Front Man for a while. I don’t think he’s necessarily employed by Game Admin, just Front Man himself. Or who knows, maybe he’s just a fisherman with anger issues, I mean, that guy was being kind of annoying.
In their staff meeting, Gihoon told them about the inevitable Midnight Fight, but suggested they play dead in order to steal the guards’ guns and take down the game once and for all. Fake 001 seemed both delighted and disappointed to catch Gihoon in his hypocrisy. Yes, Gihoon was willing to sacrifice the few for ‘the greater good’, but… BUT… NOT LIKE THAT, FRONT MAN, ugh.
Was this is a great plan? Not really—they were obviously going to lose. Buuuuuut, was it the only course they could take given the resources they had and the situation they were in? Kinda! This plan got people killed, but what was the alternative? Play out the game normally until only one person was left? Without this harebrained scheme, those people would’ve died anyway. At least this way they fought back, they died doing something (almost maybe) meaningful, and in Gihoon’s mind, if they really could bring down the game, how many lives would he be saving?
If our guy had a brilliant plan, he wouldn’t be our guy. He’s a dumb-dumb with a heart of gold and we love him for it.
When the fight started, Black Mask Jr. watched them all slip under the beds with his infrared cameras (so they knew the whole time what was going to happen, right??) and the Leavers took significant losses. **pout**
Oh, Sweet Little Bean. I think a lot of people are going to be mad at him for this, but honestly, what was he going to do? By the time he could get down, she’d already be dead, and then so would he. At least he gave her a weapon!
RIP Cool Lesbian. You were very compelling for… *ahem* reasons.
One of the Leavers wanted to kill the Stayers, but Gihoon was like, “no, no, you’re on the main character team now… we don’t do that,” as if they didn’t just let a bunch of their people die. BUT! They were in charge now, and they weren’t going to just kill a bunch of innocent murderers. Instead, they recruited other players to go fight the good fight.
Black Mask Jr. told the guards to retreat, but this sweet child didn’t make it, and so was unmasked and used to lead them to the Front Man’s Office.
Once again, the show has made me question EVERYTHING, because when they got to Head Office Security, this teen murderer saw Fake 001 and was like, “Oh no, I’ve been caught slacking by my boss!” (with his face) before immediately getting shot. But like… WHAT? Why would he know what he looked like?? Wasn’t the whole point of the black mask to make sure no one—NO ONE—saw his face? And if he DID know his face, that would mean he knew he was planted there, so why was he surprised? And why didn’t he see him until then?? Was Fake 001 just hiding behind the other guys the whole time?
This show!
Anyway, a good chunk of this episode was a good ol’ fashioned shoot-out that occasionally ended in someone falling off the stairs and plummeting to their double-death (which felt very Guy Hitting Propeller in Titanic levels of exessive, but I wasn’t mad at it).
This man is not a marine. I was suspicious when he changed the subject and started the getting-to-know-you game, I was almost sure when he started bragging about being a marine during the lively debate, but now I’m a thousand and seventeen percent sure this lovable dummy has never seen combat in his life. I doubt he’s even trained, which either means he’s not old enough to have finished his mandatory military service, or he dodged it.
Fake Marine has a story, and I wanna know it.
Anyway, Gihoon went to find the Front Man’s office, and Fake 001 was like, “Cool, I’ll join,” and Gihoon was like, “Ummmmm, Jungbae mentioned before that he wants to go, so….” and Fake 001 was like, “Well maybe we can all go,” and Gihoon was like, “It’s sort of a two-man job, you know? But like, you can go on the next one, kay?” And Fake 001 seemed VERY put out.
These scenes were nerve-wracking to watch, but in trying to recap what happened, well… not a lot? The pink ones shot at the green ones and the green ones shot at the pink ones, and they all sort of yelled back and forth about ammo and who should go where, and who had the best ‘making a great shot’ face (Hyunju, obviously). Then Fake 001 took two guys to meet up with Gihoon, and Fake Marine volunteered to go get more ammo from the dorm, and IT’S FIIIIIIIIINE!
I fully thought Fake Marine volunteered to get the ammo just so he could screw off, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had legitimate intentions of getting the ammo and returning, he just… couldn’t. I hope Hyunju doesn’t judge him too harshly next season. In the end, the ammo wouldn’t have mattered. Admin was just playing with them anyway, they never stood a single chance. If Hyunju hadn’t had to go get the ammo herself, she’d be dead with the others.
Okay. Here’s where I have beef. I’m hoping this storyline goes somewhere new and interesting in season three, but as of now, this is an exact rehash of Grandpa 001. Man he played the games with ‘dies’ and he later finds out he’s part of it. I was hoping we’d get a moment of Gihoon figuring it out, or least finding out. There were hints and moments leading to that! But alas, instead we had Fake 001 kill the other Greens and use the walkie-talkie to Fake 001 his own death.
Maybe next season we’ll find out Gihoon actually knew. Like, Front Man takes off his mask and Gihoon is sarcastically like, “Whhhhaaaaaaaa????? It was YOUUUUUU????” and Front Man is like, “Don’t do that,” and Gihoon just keeps going like, “I’m sooooooooooo surprised 🙄” and Front Man is like, “That’s hurtful. I worked really hard on this reveal,” and Gihoon’s like, “Uh huh, and it’s SOOOOOO upsetting 🙄🙄🙄.”
Welp, anyone who joined the revolution was shot (except Hyunju and Fake Marine back in the dorm), and our cute Dad with his dying daughter was ‘killed’ by a Triangle Guard. I SEE YOU, NOEUL! She’s saving him somehow, right? RIGHT?!?!?!
RIP Jungbae Bestie, you served your purpose well. We all knew he was going to bite it at some point (you NEVER talk about your long friendship with the main character in a murder show!!!) and I’m honestly surprised he lasted this long.
It does hurt that it was the Front Man who did it, though it makes sense. No redemption arc for him! Was anyone else picturing his quick-change backstage? Running up the stairs into the changing room like, “QUICKLY! MY FROCK! Who has my mask?? If my scary black boots aren’t on in the next SECOND, this production is RUINED.”
And that was that! I’m curious what you all thought. I suppose I can finally go on social media to see opinions now that my fear of spoilers is gone.
I thought there was a lot to love about this season, though of course no season of television is perfect (except of course Pengu). I do appreciate how much they made us question. I was wondering how much the guards/middle management knew from the moment the rebellion started. Black Mask Jr. was pretty adamant that they not reach Head Office, but we also know he was never in danger (with the amount of guards he still had around him). And we know Squid Admin isn’t against the loss of life, but dang, Front Man was taking out a LOT of pink people! Imagine being murdered by your boss? Like… dude, YOU assigned me this task!
So, I did like it, but I will say, knowing they wouldn’t succeed took away the stakes.
My humble suggestion would have been to have Hot Cop and his Merry Band of Mercenaries actually make it through the hatch, meaning the guards would be forced to defend two fronts. That would’ve been something Front Man and Black Mask Jr. wouldn’t have predicted. A wild card, if you will, that would give the audience hope and give the scenes stakes. It would also put Junho in the mix, meaning Front Man would’ve had to decide whether to spare his brother (potentially blowing his cover) or watch him die to keep the game going. Then season three would’ve started with all our characters together, either fighting to get out of the games (if our guys lost) or fighting to find and destroy the VIPs (if they won).
But I digress. I know the creator of this show was under a deadline, and hadn’t planned to write further seasons. I’m impressed he was able to come up with a story we all continued to engage with. I also trust his storytelling instincts, and will reserve judgement until the story is completed. Who knows, maybe this is building to something spectacular. And maybe we’ll finally meet the REAL mermaid who saved Junho.
What were your thoughts? Did you feel like it was a satisfying season ending, or did you feel like this was just another episode in a larger story?
SOME STUFF
- The rock and roll version of the guard’s march as they were recruiting players to go fight was very cool.
- The lady announcing bedtime as the players were heading up the stairs to mount their attack… the details, you guys. THE DETAILS.
- Gihoon and Jungbae opening doors that go nowhere… whatever sicko built that place should lose their license!
- I joke, but honestly, IMAGINE all the characters who died in the game lined up on the walls or stairs, cheering Gihoon and the gang on as they tried to fight back. PLEASE, someone draw it!?!?!?!
- Were there cameras in the bathroom? Everything that happens in the game is for the enjoyment of the VIPs, so there would have to be, right?
- The fact that Front Man used the ammo that Gihoon gave him to kill the Green Suit and fake his own death… diabolical storytelling, you guys.
- See! Adorable Gangster is a prime example of how being a bit dumb saves your life. Maybe someone smarter wouldn’t have bought the Fishy Fisherman’s story and they would have been stabbed off the boat, too. But nope! Our sweet, adorable gangster was like, “Yep, that checks out,” and went back to slumber like the prince he is.
- Hyunju taking out the cameras like a GODDESS. I would love to hear from the trans community about how she was portrayed. I was impressed with how they showed her strength both in moments of vulnerability and action.
- Wonder how it felt as a pink guard to watch your boss murder a bunch of your coworkers on screen.
- On a scale of one to VIP (Very Impatient Person), how excited are you for season three?
Thanks for going on this zany journey with me! I’ll be back for season three (and other shows and movies) so if you want to keep in touch, here’s my Bluesky, Threads, YouTube and TikTok. Depending on whichever one of these apps wins the Social Media Squid Game over the next year or so… I’ll post links to my recaps there. Unless there’s a new social media app that will rise up and rule over them all.
STAY SAFE OUT THERE! ❤
Toni Watches 