Squid Game

[Kyng]

And now, in the least surprising news story of the year, Squid Game has been confirmed for a second series:

https://news.sky.com/story/squid-game-se...s-12464800

Question is: now that everyone's familiar with the concept, can they turn it into something with lasting appeal?

[Detective Osprey]

I watched the first episode and....

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SERIES I'VE EVER SEEN.

I highly, highly, recommend it.

[Kyng]

Well, I said earlier that this series didn't have a whole lot of appeal to me. However, people were recommending it to me - so, once I got a Netflix account, I decided to give it a chance. And... I'm glad I did.

Even if you haven't seen the show, you probably know what the premise is. Hundreds of adults who are deeply in debt play children's games for massive cash prizes - and the losers die . Naturally, this means there's a high body count, and a lot of violence: it didn't bother me too much, but it will bother some people, so it's well worth knowing about it before going in.

Still, the violence wasn't the main attraction for me, or really an attraction at all (it raises the stakes and adds to the tension, but apart from that I really didn't care for it). Instead, the main attraction for me was the element of suspense and mystery - which is where I think this show really shines. What will the next game be? Will our favourite characters beat it - and if so, how will they do it? Who are the pink-suited people running the games - and who is the mastermind behind the whole thing? These questions - and more - always make for compelling, edge-of-your-seat viewing.

If you're squeamish about blood and killing, then do yourself a favour and watch something else . But, if you can handle that, then there's a great show here! I'm certainly looking forward to the second series (whenever that comes )

[Kyng]

Wel, here are my theories as to what season 2 (when it comes) might involve. Obviously, I can't really talk about this without going into heavy spoilers for season 1 - so, here goes:

Season 2 theories

• Seong Gi-hun (Player #456) will work to bring down the games. Not a particularly bold prediction, since this is set up at the end of season 1 . However, he probably won't be able to do it alone, so he'll have to recruit a team. Maybe he could get in contact with some winners of past Squid Games - or even the 14 players who didn't return when the games were resumed? (Remember that 201 players were left when the games were terminated, and only 187 came back; I really thought we were going to see the remaining 14 again at some point, but we never did!)
  
  
• With Oh Il-nam (Player #001) dead, his wife and/or son will take over as the host of the games. He mentions a couple of times during the games that he has (or had) a wife and son, but we never got to see them. There are some people who theorise that Gi-hun might be Il-nam's son... but, personally, I hope this isn't true. Since hardly any important characters are left alive at the end of season 1, they're going to have to establish a lot of new characters at the beginning of season 2 - and it'd be nice if some of these were related to the main characters from season 1 (or indeed, people who had been mentioned within season 1 itself!)
  
  
• Hwang Jun-ho (the detective) survives and continues his mission. Towards the end of season 1, he was shot in the shoulder and he fell off a cliff. In the real world, this would be almost certain to kill someone... but in fiction, the key word here is the word 'almost', especially since we never saw his dead body . And besides, like I just said, hardly any of the main characters from season 1 are still alive - so they'll want to bring back anyone they reasonably can!!!
  
  
• We'll see another round of games. Again, not a particularly bold prediction, since it's what the series is about . However, I am interested in whether the games themselves will be the same, or whether they'll be different. Perhaps they could adopt Sid Meier's "rule of thirds": one-third kept, one-third tweaked, one-third new . If we applied this to Squid Game, there are six games - so, two would be staying the same; two would be modified in some way; and two would be replaced altogether.
  
  
• Front Man will have a redemption arc. I think we saw the beginning of this at the end of season 1, when he was haunted by his brother after shooting him off the cliff. But maybe this will play out to completion in season 2. We know he participated in (and won) the 2015 games - and we also know that past winners are kept under surveillance by the masters of the games (they're keeping an eye on Gi-hun even after he won). So maybe he took the 'Front Man' role as a means of escaping from this surveillance. And perhaps he got along well with Il-nam... but he falls out with the new host, and flips over to Gi-hun's side. It'd be hard to pull this off convincingly, but I don't think it'd be completely impossible!

Any ideas of your own?

[Kyng]

Got another one to add:

Additional Season 2 theory

The homeless man (from the end of Season 1) will be the protagonist of Season 2's games. He's obviously fallen on some rather hard times... he's exactly the kind of person who would be recruited into the games . Furthermore, he's the only potential future player who's already been established by the end of the series (unless a previous player returns, or the guy who had his card stolen from him by Gi-hun gets another one ).

So, my thinking is, the season will have two major plot threads: the homeless man trying to get through the games, and Gi-hun trying to take the games down (with assistance from past players; Hwang Jun-ho if he's still alive; and so on )

[Kyng]

Apparently, there's talk of not just season 2, but season 3 as well:

https://www.ign.com/articles/squid-game-...a-season-3

Furthermore, the show's creator Hwang Gon-hyuk has revealed that the second season might not focus on the contestants and the games - instead switching to the police's efforts to take them down. I think that's a very risky move: while it might be the best way to continue the storyline, it might alienate people who were primarily interested in the games and the contestants.

[Velocity Girl]

Wow, I've heard that there's gonna be season 2, but season 3? I just hope they're not gonna ruin the show by trying too hard to add more and more to the storyline, because I actually enjoy this show.

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"

[Kyng]

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"

Indeed you do...

Spoiler

...or, in Sang-Woo's case, you do both .

Anyway, here's a thought for everyone: if you were in Squid Game, how far do you think you'd get? Myself, I think my enthusiasm for trains would save my life: I wouldn't even engage with the recruiter, because I'd be more interested in the trains than in him !!!! But, supposing I did get into the games, I suspect I'd die in Red Light, Green Light: I'd cough or reflexively scratch an itch, and that'd be the end of me .

[Velocity Girl]

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"

Indeed you do...

Spoiler

...or, in Sang-Woo's case, you do both .

Anyway, here's a thought for everyone: if you were in Squid Game, how far do you think you'd get? Myself, I think my enthusiasm for trains would save my life: I wouldn't even engage with the recruiter, because I'd be more interested in the trains than in him !!!! But, supposing I did get into the games, I suspect I'd die in Red Light, Green Light: I'd cough or reflexively scratch an itch, and that'd be the end of me .

I will definitely die right away in red light, green light. I'm very clumsy...

[Kyng]

Yeah, best do what I'd do, and stay away from any suspicious-looking recruiters at railway stations !

Though, it's a shame I'd probably die in the first game - because I think I'd be better at some of the later ones:

Sugar Honeycombs - Without knowing the game in advance, I'd probably pick an umbrella (thinking I might get one to protect me), so this wouldn't be easy. However, I do have experience of drawing and railway modelling, both of which require precision with one's hands - so that would be very helpful.

Night Riots - I'd be useless in a fight . I'd probably just hide, and hope for the best.

Tug of War - Another one where I probably wouldn't be much good . Let's hope I have a good team!

Marbles - I might actually be better at this one. As a mathematician, I might be able to trick my opponent by inventing a game based on something like the Monty Hall problem... if I set it up correctly, I could give myself a 2/3 chance of winning each round .

Glass Bridge - Probably the one I'd be the most confident of beating. Without knowing the game in advance, I would've picked number 13 (since it's my favourite number: it's the day I was born ). According to this graph (from this page), player 13 has a 95.2% chance of surviving the game (assuming, of course, that you don't run out of time, and no players ahead of you waste their lives by getting pushed off without going through a panel!)

Squid Game - I might have a decent chance of this . Most Westerners don't seem to know the rules of this game (even if they've watched the show) - but I at least have a vague idea of how it's supposed to work. If my opponent was another Westerner (who didn't know the rules), then I'd have an advantage... but, if I was playing a Korean who grew up with the game, then I'd be in trouble .

(Although, in reality, I would've voted to leave if I got the chance, and then not come back!!!)