There's a new face in the world of "Squid Game," but it's actually older than you think. Here's the backstory for that creepy new doll.
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00:00There's a new face in the world of Squid Game, but it's actually older than you think.
00:04Here's the backstory for that creepy new doll.
00:07A hallmark of any successful show is an instantly identifiable character,
00:11and Squid Game has those in spades. The pink jumpsuits and ominous masks worn by the game's
00:16guards make for excellent Halloween costumes. But the show is also defined by Yong Hee,
00:21the giant girl doll featured during the Red Light, Green Light games in both Seasons 1 and 2.
00:26And the mid-credits scene of Season 2 hints that she's about to get a friend.
00:30The brief sequence shows some players entering an arena with Yong Hee,
00:33as well as a giant boy doll named Chulsu. His inclusion in the show has been a long time coming.
00:40The show's creator, Hwan Dong-hyuk, teased the doll back in 2022 and revealed that Chulsu is
00:45Yong Hee's boyfriend. In the context of Squid Game, it's hard to say how relevant that
00:50information is going to be. Yong Hee became utterly terrifying in Red Light, Green Light,
00:54tracking every player's movements to determine who should be eliminated.
01:03Maybe Chulsu has been saved for the third and final season for something even more horrific.
01:08That seems likely, but there's actually a deeper history between these two dolls that you probably
01:12don't know about. Yong Hee and Chulsu aren't just a random girl and boy. Their names are
01:17actually derived from traditional South Korean childhood stories, with the pair frequently being
01:22found in school textbooks to teach kids how to read or impart basic moral lessons — sort of
01:27similar to how a lot of kids' stories in the United States will use the names Jack and Jill or Dick
01:31and Jane. So in that light, their inclusion in the games make total sense. Yong Hee and Chulsu
01:37harken back to the players' childhoods, which is the entire framing device surrounding the games.
01:41Every competition, whether it's Red Light, Green Light, or Tug of War, is rooted in the things the
01:46players would have done when they were kids, creating an instant juxtaposition between the
01:50innocent nature of the games and the deadly outcome for most of the participants.
01:54Given that Yong Hee and Chulsu are often compared to Jack and Jill,
01:57a popular fan theory online is that the first game in Squid Game Season 3 will be some version
02:02of the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme, where players have to get a pail of water up a hill. Elements of
02:08Red Light, Green Light might be thrown in as well, with players only able to move when one of the
02:12dolls says Green Light. But we've got to go ahead and call Red Light on that theory, since the
02:16challenges in Squid Game are based in Korean culture. Drawing from a Western nursery rhyme
02:20doesn't make one bit of sense. Besides, Hwang Dong-hyuk has already hinted that there'd be
02:25something really big in store for viewers once Chulsu shows up on screen. He told Entertainment
02:30Weekly that the new doll would be part of, in his words, the most exciting game in the third season.
02:35If he's hyping it up that much, it must be pretty special. The only other hint we get
02:39in the post-credits scene is a train crossing sign switching from red to green. Previously,
02:43the doll would just say the words Red Light or Green Light, so the signal suggests something else
02:48will trigger the game's events. It's possible the players will participate in an even more
02:52messed-up version of Red Light, Green Light that incorporates new elements, but we'd expect them
02:56to come up with something totally new, rather than dip back into the same well for the third time.
03:01Is that all they want us to play? Red Light, Green Light?
03:04But of course, this is all just speculation for the time being. Until we get Season 3,
03:08Chulsu will remain one of the most intriguing, unanswered questions of Squid Game Season 2.