By the end of Episode 9 of Squid Game, our protagonist, Gi Hun, has settled into his life as the final winner of the games. He has cleaned himself up, gotten a hair cut and dyed it red (which symbolizes his acceptance of his life as it is), and has reconnected with his daughter. He is, in many ways, ready to move on — a year after the death of Oh Il-Nam, the old man (also known as Player 001).
But why did Gi Hun stop right before he was about to enter his airplane to see his own daughter?
From a card he lifted off a future contestant-to-be whom he saw in the subway, it triggered within Gi Hun an outrage which never left him. You see, from the very beginning, we were introduced to Gi Hun’s wife who revealed that Gi Hun had missed the birth of his own daughter in order to stand side-by-side with his coworkers to strike at their factory. The fact of the matter is that Gi Hun is unable to let social injustices slide, even if it means he or his own family will suffer the consequences of his actions.
Consistently, during the Squid Games, we see Gi Hun sacrificing himself in ways for the good of others. If you know a Gi Hun-like person in your life, you might call him as someone having a soft heart.
For example, in Episode 5 (A Fair World) where teams are formed to play a game of tug-of-war, Gi Hun chooses to allow both the old man (Player 001) and Sae-Byeok (Player 067) join his team even though many of the other teams were primarily choosing men. We can see that even his childhood friend, Cho Sang-Woo, was visibly upset at Gi Hun’s unilateral decision as it would mean their team would be less attractive to others.
And again, in Episode 6 (Gganbu) where players needed to choose one other player, Gi Hun showed concern for the old man (Player 001) when he realized that there were only odd number of players. He was frightened by the idea that the remaining player (without a teammate) would be automatically killed. He knowingly chose the old man even though there was a possibility this would be worse off for him.
Sure enough, the casting of Lee Jung-jae as Gi Hun reinforces these vibes. He is someone the audience can both root for as well as feel a strong sense of sympathy. For most (normal) human beings, we’ve all shared in similar emotional conflicts (although less likely involving the life or death situations Gi Hun has faced) in our every day lives.
So this is Gi Hun as we’ve come to know him. So why did he not board his flight? He was a mere 12 hours flight away from seeing his own flesh-and-blood — his daughter — of whom he has likely not seen for a very, very long time. Why did his encounter with the Squid Game handler in the subway trigger him enough for him to call the number on the invitation card?
I think for most of us, we would have boarded the plane, tried to forget the whole thing ever happened, and moved on (with our 45 billion won). Honestly, that would be the wise thing to do.
But Gi Hun is no ordinary human being. As his good friend, Cho Sang-Woo, said in the last episode, Gi Hun has the propensity to say the wrong things at the wrong time. He just does not know how to keep his mouth shut. And we see again, right before Gi Hun boards the airplane that he felt an immense need to right the wrongs of the Squid Games.
Quite simply, Gi Hun has taken very little joy in being the last man standing. Yes, he knows he’s rich, but he also can’t forget the fact that he’s rich because 454 people died (minus the old man who never really died because of the games). He sees the prize money as blood money.
In the last episode during the scene right before Sae-Byeok dies but when Gi Hun sees that Cho Sang-Woo has fallen asleep, we see a momentarily lapse of Gi Hun. Like Luke Skywalker almost succumbing for the Dark Side, Gi Hun was very close to losing himself. It is only when Sae-Byeok calls out to him that Gi Hun stops: “You are not that person.”
And truly, it is right. He isn’t, but had he acted on his emotions and killed his friend in his sleep (whom at that point he was quite furious with), then the Gi Hun we know would be lost. The writers of the show clearly wanted to show that anyone — even the best of us — could falter. It is the difficult circumstances that truly tests how strong we are. Sometimes, even we ourselves are not strong enough and need a slight reminder from our friends or family.
So what does Gi Hun hope to achieve by calling Squid Game Co? Clearly, he was pissed off at them as he calmly tells the Front Man he’s done with Squid Games and hints at retribution for what they did to him and the others.
While watching, I cannot help but think that Gi Hun’s call is either a poor strategic move or just the writers using this as a plot device to wrap up the season in a hopeful way. After all, the entire series is a depressing social commentary on the inequalities of the world, and how the upper class creates a system (the games) to toy with the lower and middle classes for entertainment. I do have some theories on what Gi Hun might do should there be a season two.
Gi Hun is a type of character who — even under circumstances where he evolves — will remain a strong moral compass. To destroy that would be to destroy the central idea in the show that there is still good in the world, even amongst all the greed and nastiness which also exist in human nature.
There is also the police officer, Joon-ho, who we see at the end falling off a cliff while apparently shot. Of course, the show runners are hinting at the fact that he is (or will be) still alive. It is unlikely the Front Man is such a terrible shot that he would miss shooting him in a more vital organ than Joon-ho’s left shoulder. But I digress.
It is entirely likely that Gi Hun will go back to the Squid Game island in a foolhardy way, only to meet up with Joon-ho to team up as part of the staff — undercover of course. But Squid Games wouldn’t be what it is if we didn’t have a season where desperate human beings play for prize money that they really need back in their real lives.
At the time of writing, Netflix has not yet announced or confirmed any renewals for Squid Games. However, given the popularity of the show, I think it is only a matter of time before this becomes official.
In season 2, the entire lore will be expanded with deeper discussions about the social implications of such a game. For example, the show runners may decide to explore ideas of social unrest. In the first season, the players mostly played against each other without any riots. It was only recently in 2020 we have seen social unrest play out in the United States. These very contemporary themes may serve as a backdrop if Squid Games Co successfully recruits another batch of participants. Their social experiment may very well end in a different manner should the 400+ participants decide to gang up on their captors. In this context, Gi Hun may be the one to spark this revolution.
Of course, the show could also go in a different direction. After all Gi Hun represents the good side of humanity. The one who consistently chooses, even under the most dire circumstances, the right choice. It is possible that Gi Hun may be forced to make difficult decisions once again, but this time between impossible decisions that affect the real world.
Squid Game Co is obviously run by a group of very powerful and rich individuals who see their social experiment as nothing more than entertainment. If killing human beings for fun doesn’t make them bat an eyelid, there is unlikely any line they won’t cross.
In this way, Gi Hun may be captured and forced to be a Front Man himself or suffer the consequences of his family being hurt in the real world. Indeed, this would mirror how in our world, we are sometimes forced to do things we don’t want in order to protect our family. The moral and ethical dilemmas that follows Gi Hun’s every step would certainly be consistent with this man’s luck.
Finally, I can’t help but wonder if someone like Gi Hun can ever be at peace. The words of his now deceased childhood friend still haunts me from the last episode. Yes, Gi Hun cannot keep his damn mouth shut. And as a result, this has — over the course of Gi Hun’s life — been the cause of many of his failures.
Oh Il-nam did say at the end how the rich and the poor have one thing in common. That is, they are both unable to find fulfillment in their lives due to their circumstances. Now that Gi Hun is rich, we see too he is unable to find fulfillment in his new wealth. Instead, he wants to seek out trouble because, perhaps on some unconscious level, that is all he knows.
If this is the case, our protagonist will never find peace. He is like a warrior who wants to right the world of a wrong that can never be corrected.
I don’t think it is far fetched to say that many of us watching Squid Games’ last episode as Gi Hun was about to board the plane hoping that he would just continue walking. The feeling that he would ultimately turn around seemed like a foregone conclusion, yes, but collectively we all wanted him to reconnect with his daughter, move on with his life, and to ultimately be happy.
After all, isn’t that what many of us want? Gi Hun has survived the worst, and with some luck, ended up as a very rich person. In our world, this would be like working hard your entire life and winning the lottery.
I don’t think Gi Hun will ever find peace on Squid Games. His conscience weighs on him too heavily. In each of the games, this part of his personality has come through time and time again. Indeed, it is also what makes him such a likeable character — even to a fault.
If and when Season 2 of Squid Games is confirmed, I am sure many of us will return to watch Gi Hun’s return and hoping that he completes his mission to either take down the Squid Game organization or to escape with his life (and live happily ever after). I doubt we will see this outcome though. He may indeed survive, but his life — no matter the size of his bank account — was designed for suffering.
Credits: Images are from Squid Game (Youngkyu Park / Netflix) 2021
