"Squid Game" is a worldwide sensation, but it's often the case when anything gets mega-popular that fans find some things in it that get their ire up. These are the times "Squid Game" stepped over the line.
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00:00Squid Game is a worldwide sensation, but it's often the case when anything gets mega-popular
00:05that fans find some things in it that get their ire up. These are the times Squid Game
00:10stepped over the line.
00:12The response to the ending of Squid Game Season 2 got so negative that even the show's creator
00:17had to speak up to defend it. The season ends on a major cliffhanger as Gi-hun leads an
00:22armed rebellion against the people running the game. The rebellion sadly fails, though,
00:26and the frontman has Jung-bae executed right in front of Gi-hun.
00:30Fans were especially frustrated that Gi-hun still didn't catch on that the frontman was
00:34Player One the whole time. The man Gi-hun knew as Oh Young-il faked his death to return
00:40to his behind-the-scenes role, killing the people who thought he was their ally along
00:44the way.
00:45I'm sorry, Gi-hun. It's over.
00:50Viewers flooded X to call the ending predictable and overhyped. One wrote,
00:54"[Squid Game Season 2 was so disappointing for me. The storytelling was lacking. They
00:59built up the characters and relationships but found them still lacking in complexity
01:02like the first season."
01:03They added that even the death scenes didn't impress, nor did the games. Indeed, the last
01:08episode of Season 2 has the lowest rating on IMDb, hinting that some viewers won't be
01:12coming back for a third round.
01:14Series creator, director, and writer Hong Dong-hyuk told Entertainment Weekly that he
01:19decided to have the season end on a cliffhanger for a good reason, though. He said,
01:22I thought that that would be just the right moment to end the story."
01:26He added that he felt it would stoke audience enthusiasm, not irritation. Time will tell
01:30if it pays off for him.
01:33Thanos has been quite the divisive character for Squid Game's fans. While other characters
01:37have been unpopular, he's definitely drawn the most vitriol in Season 2. This is mostly
01:42due to qualities that fans have called grating.
01:44Hope I get the green light. I like you.
01:51And for the Marvel character, Thanos is a rapper who lost all of his money in a cryptocurrency
01:55scheme. In the games, he serves mostly as a thorn in the side of Gi-hun and the other
01:59players who voted to end them. Thanos abandons his friends at will and regularly takes as
02:05yet unidentified pills kept in a crucifix he wears around his neck. When he's not getting
02:09high, he's goofing off.
02:10None of this behavior endeared him to fans, who challenged one another on the Squid Game
02:14subreddit to think of a quality that made Thanos bearable. The Korean media has also
02:19been particularly harsh, with one outlet demanding actor Choi Seong-hyun, quote, apologize
02:24to the international audience for his acting. Some fans have argued that the audience's
02:28hatred of the character means Seong-hyun did a good job playing an antagonist, but lots
02:33never warmed up to him.
02:35The death of Kang Sae-byeok is one of the most tragic, moving, and depressing deaths
02:39of the series. But that's not why many fans have come to loathe it. No, the loss of her
02:43character stands as a monument to the way women are treated on Squid Game. And the
02:47fact that her sudden death seems to come just to motivate the characters around her.
02:51Sae-byeok is stabbed to death by Choi Seong-woo after suffering an already severe wound from
02:56an explosion at the end of the Glass Bridge game. This has nothing to do with the thief
03:00she was before the games, or the loving friend and sister she's become. It happens simply
03:04to motivate Gi-hun to eventually rebel against the game.
03:07Yes, men in Squid Game die as violently as women, but most of them die due to their own
03:12hubris. Only one woman, Min-yo, is killed on her own terms in Season 1, in an act of
03:17revenge against her lover. But Min-ah, in Season 2, just has the bad luck to have a
03:22bee on her. Both Sae-mi, who is stabbed to death, and Young-mi, who is shot during the
03:26mingle game, both seem to die just to motivate the other players.
03:31This mistake is more of an apparent editing error, and many just got a laugh out of it,
03:35but some fans were mildly upset by it because it happened during the second season's climax.
03:40In Episode 7, as Gi-hun leads his rebellion, among the flying shrapnel and falling comrades,
03:45a cameraman can be seen among the carnage. It's possible to create an in-universe explanation
03:50for him being there — maybe the VIPs want an up-close look at the action — but it's
03:55definitely a mistake in reality. It's pretty inexcusably sloppy for a big Netflix hit,
04:00but if it somehow pays off during Season 3, we'll be glad to eat our words.
04:05Only someone watching a second time is likely to notice this one. In the second season's
04:09third episode, after Red Light, Green Light plays out, the surviving participants vote
04:13on whether to stay in the game. Player 388's number is called, and the man who stands up
04:18is older and has a potbelly. But the next time we see 388, he's Kang Dae-ho, a younger
04:23former Marine.
04:24Victory at all costs, sir! Cohort 1140, sir!
04:30Either this is a sloppy act of discontinuity, or it's a brilliant Easter egg that hints
04:34that Dae-ho is not who he appears to be. During the player revolt, he notably fails to provide
04:39needed ammo at a key moment. Some fans think he might have been planted in the game by
04:44the frontman to take care of him, since he shows up around the same time as Player 1.
04:48This is a minor detail to get steamed about, but it's pretty symbolic of the way Gi-hun's
04:52character development has been handled. At the close of Season 1, Gi-hun dyes his hair
04:56red to symbolically show he's following his rage against the people who run the games.
05:01But by the time he's living incognito and trying to dig up more information on the frontman
05:04and his games, his hair's dark again. Yes, it's easier to blend in if your hair isn't
05:09bright red, but eventually Gi-hun decides to make himself a target again. This is ironically
05:14reflected in Gi-hun's Season 2 character arc. While he's undeniably bolder and still kind,
05:20he remains a bit gullible, which nearly gets him killed and costs the lives of many of
05:24his allies.
05:25Gi-hun has a clear goal from the beginning of Season 2 — end the games by any means
05:30necessary. But for a guy who spent months plotting out his revenge, his actual attempt
05:35at a coup is so poorly thought out, it's no wonder it fails. Why do his friends agree
05:39to take part in what's an obvious suicide mission? Why does no one bother to check around
05:43for more ammo? Why doesn't Gi-hun consider the massive odds stacked against him? Why
05:48does Dae-ho only get war flashbacks during their gun battle with the Pink Soldiers and
05:52not during all the other shooting throughout the season? All of it reads like it's in-the-script
05:56style decision-making.
05:57Gi-hun is also willing to let the X and O players fight it out to the death so as not
06:02to interrupt his rebellion plan.
06:04So, what you're saying is, sacrifice a few for the good of the rest?
06:12Wouldn't he want to save everyone he could? Hopefully, Season 3 will resolve some of these
06:16issues.
06:18While this isn't part of Squid Game itself, Netflix went full-bore with Squid Game The
06:22Challenge, and the show's creator gave it his blessing. Many fans have already accused
06:26Netflix of not understanding the anti-capitalist message of the original show. And this reality
06:31game show, which replicates the experience of playing those frightening games without
06:35the risk to life and limb, is the biggest example.
06:38Contestants are killed when they fail their challenges, triggering an ink pack signaling
06:42their removal from the game. The Challenge was popular enough to snag a Season 2, but
06:47CriticSlam basted it, calling it dull. That was a point of view plenty of viewers came
06:51away with, too. They said it was disappointing and staged. On top of that, a group of former
06:56Season 1 contestants spoke to Rolling Stone about the inhumane treatment they say they
07:00were subjected to, while also claiming the show was rigged.