# Squid Game - Season 2 and Season 3 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, netflix\ **Created:** [December 26, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189 "2024-12-26T14:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/21 "2024-12-29T22:14:34Z")
That’s a pretty good list. I’d say that there’s about a 0% chance that they all survive. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/22 "2024-12-30T04:24:52Z")
Finished the season today and liked it a lot. I predict that: All living contestants will simply be forced to play the games until one winner is determined. No more voting between rounds. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/23 "2025-01-01T02:13:50Z")
Just finished season 2 and I wish I had known ahead of time that this is one of those split season deals. I would have waited for the full thing to drop later in 2025 so I’d remember all the details. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/24 "2025-01-01T17:16:26Z")
I’m not reading the thread but we’ve watched the first two episodes. We loved season 1 but didn’t see how they could possibly transition to season 2. We were wrong, they pulled us in and we’re hooked. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/25 "2025-01-02T15:24:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I predict that: > > All living contestants will simply be forced to play the games until one winner is determined. No more voting between rounds. I think they’ll keep the games going exactly as they are, but keep the protagonist alive, making him watch the games go on, as the contestants keep voting to continue, and die, just to emphasize the point: They always choose the money. Make him watch and realize all his efforts were for nought. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/26 "2025-01-03T05:47:20Z")
Finished watching Series 2. Enjoyed very much! That Front Man, boy. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Also probably the best looking of the bunch. Def enjoyed the rebellion in ep 7. Looking forward to Series 3 (2b?) in six months. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/27 "2025-01-03T14:52:15Z")
I’d say unboxed spoilers are fine now. What was 001’s point of joining the game? ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/28 "2025-01-03T16:18:51Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > What was 001’s point of joining the game? And it obviously wouldn’t be for some ‘undercover’ reason, because could you have a more attention drawing number? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/29 "2025-01-03T18:31:12Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > And it obviously wouldn’t be for some ‘undercover’ reason, because could you have a more attention drawing number? Or name. His name was, in Korean, something like Zero-Zero-One or just “One” or something. I kind of liked him and hoped for a better twist than him just turning out to be bad as had been expected. I liked how he worked with 456 and the team. I hope there is more about him other than just pure villain. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/30 "2025-01-03T23:25:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I kind of liked him and hoped for a better twist than him just turning out to be bad as had been expected. I liked how he worked with 456 and the team. > > I hope there is more about him other than just pure villain. I thought there was slightly more to him than just a villain. My take was that he was an ideologue who was trying to prove to a kindred spirit (456) that even a kinder, gentler, fairer competition would still end up in the same kind of massacre because of human frailties. (Similar to the earlier exhibition with the bun vs. lottery ticket choice.) Maybe I’m reading too much into it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/31 "2025-01-04T00:06:58Z")
And 001 is also the brother of the cop who is looking for the island, right? I really don’t know why he became a player, I guess we’ll have to wait six months to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/32 "2025-01-04T00:23:28Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > And 001 is also the brother of the cop who is looking for the island, right? Wait, is that right? Man, I really should have re-watched season 1. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/33 "2025-01-04T01:00:09Z")
I’ve got 2 episodes to go. All I can say is, 456 has _got_ to remember that number 001 was a VIP ringer in the first Games, right? If he doesn’t, that’s gonna be super disappointing. Other than that, the plot, characters, and conflicts are well-constructed. The aesthetics are weird, spare, elegant, relentless. The cinematography is exquisite. Even if at times it does hit some of the clunky notes typical of Korean thrillers/drama (excessive earnestness, occasional melodrama, misplaced wholesomeness), on the whole I think Kubrick would take his hat off to this one. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/34 "2025-01-04T01:02:32Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I’ve got 2 episodes to go. All I can say is, 456 has _got_ to remember that number 001 was a VIP ringer in the first Games, right? If he doesn’t, that’s gonna be super disappointing. Wait, what? 456 has seen him before? Or was the old guy in the first season 001? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/35 "2025-01-04T03:58:45Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > All I can say is, 456 has _got_ to remember that number 001 was a VIP ringer in the first Games, right? If he doesn’t, that’s gonna be super disappointing. Oh wow I had _completely_ forgotten that! They didn’t even mention that in the recap at the beginning of the season. I just had to read through every episode on Wikipedia. The old man, 001 in season 1, turned out to be the creator of the games. The Front Man, 001 in season 2, is the brother of the cop whom he shot on the edge of the cliff last season, and has also been a previous winner of the games! So yeah 001 seems to always be a plant. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/36 "2025-01-04T05:32:11Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Wait, what? 456 has seen him before? Or was the old guy in the first season 001? I don’t think Gi-hun had ever SEEN him, but he had certainly heard his voice. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/37 "2025-01-04T11:32:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Wait, what? 456 has seen him before? Or was the old guy in the first season 001? What I’m saying is, at the end of Season 1, 456 learned that player 001, presenting as a timid, frail, elderly man was actually the one responsible for the Games. In the final S1 episode, they meet at 001’s deathbed where he explains why the games exist, and then 001 dies of natural causes. Between S1 and S2, apparently 456 has made his life’s purpose of stamping out the Games created by (now deceased) 001, Il-nam, to prove him wrong. So how can 456 NOT be utterly suspicious of 001 from the very beginning, just from the mere fact of how number 001 was used in the previous Games, and well, “number 1” does carry some symbolism, which is only highlighted by the fact that the hero is the highest number, 456. I think maybe this bit of symbolism was not intended to be diegetic, it’s just for us in the audience. Or, perhaps 456 has such a positive view of human nature that he considered the concidence to be outweighed by the new 001 being such a stand-up guy. That would be more in tune with how these notes of earnestness, wholesomeness, and naivete frequently emerge in ways that I find cheesy and annoying (again, watching a Korean show, that sort of thing is to be expected and accepted for what it is). That confrontation will have to happen in S2, it’s inevitable. But after watching 7 episodes, it’s increasingly 456 will be the one who is shocked. He’s not been feigning ignorance as a ploy, he’s really been duped by the new 001, and the revelation will just be a straightforward “it was YOU all along” kind of deal. Unless it turns out to be something totally out of left field, like, the fisher-boat captain was actually the REAL owner all along. It’s farfetched, but again remember this is Korean drama, where farfetched twists are the name of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/38 "2025-01-04T16:04:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > What was 001’s point of joining the game? I think it’s part of a larger effort to ultimately corrupt Gi-hun. Like Vader and the emperor trying to turn Luke to the dark side. Gi-hun defies the organization’s core belief that the decisions of all people are guided by greed and self-interest, and they need to prove that those are also his ultimate motivations, as well. They are half-way there by forcing Gi-hun to sacrifice people on his X team to the O team’s assault to pull off his rebellion. I suspect the front man’s (001) plan is to groom Gi-hun as his replacement. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/39 "2025-01-04T16:24:40Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I think it’s part of a larger effort to ultimately corrupt Gi-hun. You explained my thoughts better than I did. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189/40 "2025-01-04T17:27:51Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > …I suspect the front man’s (001) plan is to groom Gi-hun as his replacement. Oooh, I bet that is it. Even though they appear to be about the same age. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/squid-game-season-2-and-season-3/1012189.md?page=3)