How Squid Recreation Season 2’s Large Cliffhanger Units Up Season 3

Proceed fastidiously; spoilers for the top of “Squid Recreation” season 2 lie forward.

The second season of writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s acclaimed — and unbelievably standard — Netflix collection “Squid Recreation” is formally right here, and the third season, in response to Hwang, will premiere someday in 2025. Based mostly on the season finale, “Pal or Foe,” what can viewers count on … and what about that huge cliffhanger?

Let’s again up for a second. Originally of season 2, the winner of the video games seen on display in season 1, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), stays in South Korea regardless of the sport’s Entrance Man, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), urging him to decamp to America and depart his time within the recreation behind. He would not — and because the collection jumps two years forward, we be taught that Gi-hun has spent that whole time attempting to suss out the Entrance Man and cease the video games as soon as and for all (on account of all of the homicide concerned). After his plan involving a GPS tracker inside a false tooth goes awry, Gi-hun is simply caught within the video games, however has one benefit: he is achieved this earlier than.

Similar to in season 1, there’s loads of petty squabbling amongst the 456 contestants over the huge quantity of prize cash, however amidst that, Gi-hun is ready to corral a small and constant group of fellow gamers to revolt in opposition to the guards and, within the course of, the Entrance Man himself. Because the gamers cut up into two factions — those that need to hold taking part in and people who need the sport to finish — Gi-hun and some others assume they’ve overtaken a handful of guards, just for your complete mission to finish in utter catastrophe. So the place does Gi-hun find yourself, and the way does this arrange the present’s third season?

On the finish of season 2 of “Squid Recreation” — which is comprised of seven episodes — pandemonium breaks out within the participant quarters between the “X” faction (who need to depart the sport and which incorporates Gi-hun) and the “O” faction, who need to keep and end … and right here, “pandemonium” implies that all of them begin preventing to the loss of life. (That is partly out of sheer rage and partly as a result of each participant is aware of that as you whittle down the variety of contestants, the prize pot grows.) Gi-hun and his small military all conceal below the bunks and principally let different gamers duke it out, all of the whereas ready for guards to return in and break up the huge combat. When the guards arrive, Gi-hun and his buddies subdue a couple of guards and steal their weapons, opening fireplace on the pink suit-clad masked oppressors.

There’s one huge drawback with this plan, unbeknownst to Gi-hun. One in every of his “allies,” who’s masquerading as Participant 001, is really In-ho, also referred to as the Entrance Man. (Followers of “Squid Recreation” will recall that the present principally did this very same factor in Season 1, in order that’s … neat.) All through the combat, In-ho acts like he is on Gi-hun’s facet, however when he elements methods with Gi-hun, In-ho fakes his personal loss of life, dons his masks once more, and kills Gi-hun’s closest good friend Jung-bae (Lee Search engine optimization-hwan) proper in entrance of Gi-hun. The present then cuts to black (other than a post-credits scene), so it is comparatively secure to imagine that season 3 will decide up proper the place season 2 left off.

It is affordable sufficient to imagine that, as season 3 of “Squid Recreation” will get going, Gi-hun will be taught that the Entrance Man is definitely the man who’s been his ally within the recreation itself up till this level. That would mimic the twist in season 1 fairly instantly (though the present already repeated mentioned twist verbatim, so something goes, apparently), nevertheless it actually looks like season 2 was constructing as much as this large reveal. However, possibly the Entrance Man finds a special strategy to punish Gi-hun and retains him in the dead of night about his id — other than Jung-bae, Gi-hun’s different buddies within the recreation are nonetheless alive (so far as we all know) — so the Entrance Man may keep masked, not reveal that he is really Hwang In-ho, and easily decide off the remainder of Gi-hun’s allies. (This could be actually merciless for audiences, however that is “Squid Recreation,” in order that would not precisely be unprecedented.)

There’s additionally the matter of In-ho’s brother as Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), a detective who’s trying to find In-ho and the particular location of the video games. He isn’t precisely getting wherever, however hopefully, his lackluster storyline will put him again within the motion in season 3. At this level, one factor feels considerably sure: Gi-hun will not be casually becoming a member of the video games as a brand new participant for a third time, and the collection undoubtedly feels prefer it’ll shift its battle to a showdown between Gi-hun and the Entrance Man.

“Squid Recreation” season 2 is streaming on Netflix now.