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Despite premiering more than two weeks ago, Squid Game is still sitting comfortably atop Netflix charts, confirming its place as one of the most popular series the platform has ever released. Although the ratings for Season 2 have dropped slightly from the nearly flawless scores earned by Season 1, the second season has still garnered acclaim as a worthy follow-up. Arguably the most shocking and interesting plot point in Season 2 is The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) stepping outside his comfortable box and joining the games, putting his life in danger. He teams up with Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) and survives until the end, and while it seems like he was playing with his food all along, a recent interview with Netflix Tudum revealed that there may be more to his intentions than meets the eye:
"There’s a very small part of Front Man that is actually rooting for Gi-hun along the way, because his biggest goal is to let Gi-hun know that he was wrong. He wanted to choose the most extreme way possible to make his point. [Jung-bae’s murder] is really the climax of Season 2. You could say that Front Man starts off the season with his mask off, but then returns to himself. He ends Season 2 with his mask back on."
After spending so much time with Gi-hun and being in the trenches together with their lives on the line, it’s likely hard for The Front Man to not feel some sort of connection to him. However, even if he did, it ultimately didn’t matter in the end, as he didn’t hesitate to kill Gi-hun’s best friend, Jung-bae, right in front of him and get ready to proceed with the games. Throughout the season, it was hard not to wonder if a change of heart was coming for the Front Man, who saves Gi-hun and other players’ lives on several occasions. But his true identity as a cruel and heartless individual was impossible to hide in the Season 2 climax, and it didn’t matter that he found himself rooting for him at times.
Was the Front Man in Danger During the Games?
It’s never made clear if the Pink Soldiers were aware that the Front Man entered the games as Player 001, and one of the biggest debates among fans this season was if he was ever in any actual danger. It’s entirely possible that none of the workers knew who he was and would have killed him if he failed at the games, but it’s also possible they did know and would have shot him in a non-lethal spot as they did with others, but instead of harvesting his organs, taking him for immediate medical attention.
All episodes of Squid Game Season 2 are now streaming. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the show and watch Squid Game exclusively on Netflix.
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Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes: a survival game that has a whopping 45.6 billion-won prize at stake.
Cast Wi Ha-joon , Anupam Tripathi , Oh Yeong-su , Heo Sung-tae , Park Hae-soo , Jung Ho-yeon , Lee Jung-jae , Kim Joo-ryoung
Showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk
English (US) ·