Turning around and not going to see his daughter is perfectly in line with Gi-hun's character though. It's the exact same thing he did when he stayed with his striking employees at the factory instead of being present at her birth. If he finds something worth fighting for, he'll put that above even his own personal interests. The red hair also threw me but I also ended up liking it lol
Some theories say that the red colour foreshadows that he may enter the games again, but this time as a worker…don’t really think that’s exactly what is gonna happen, but cool theory.
@@raec5426 That. It's also the same color on the staff of the game, who was in control of the players. It's a way of showing that he os in control of his own life now.
If you haven’t noticed, and something that really makes this show pretty amazing, is that all the characters deaths were foreshadowed in the beginning. Sae-Byeok with the knife to the throat, Sang-Woo failing to commit suicide, Deok-Su falling off a bridge, and Gi-Hun swearing on his mother’s life. Absolutely amazing storytelling in having details such as this tie in with each other.
There's also the part with the red and blue. These people watching it were laughing at his red hair. They forgot in the beginning he was wearing a blue cap. Red and blue, the colours the recruiter had. It's also the colours of the pills in the matrix. The blue keeps you in the fantasy. The red one brings you back out to reality, even if that is worse. In the beginning he was blue and was willing to go back to the game. Now that he's been through it, he turned red, fully red hair, not just a cap.
This symbolises that he's turned into another person, willing to fight the system, and not just be a naive participant in it. The whole series also is a reflection of the cut-throat nature of capitalism, where's there's so many rich people that do nothing about all the starving and indebted poor people. He's gone red, it symbolises fighting the capitalist system
There were a few hints that the old guy was the real Mastermind all along. But the one that really stood out to me was when he got up on the beds and demanded for things to stop when everyone was fighting. Now, at first glance, it seems like he was talking to the other players, but the fact that the Front Man and the others immediately stopped what they were doing too raised a lot of red flags for me. It was a double meaning, like a lot of things he said or did in the show.
I missed a lot of the hints they threw, the only one I caught was when the detective was searching through files. When he got to the current year, it started at player 2
Also in the beginning of Episode 7, when the frontman is on the phone, he says "I hope you enjoyed the game" the timing for that seemed off, but I didn't catch it off first watch
Gi hun kept fighting Sang Woo instead of trying to win the game because he was so angry over Sae Byeok, which is pretty in character for him. It was like when he finally won the ddakji game in episode 1. He wanted to get back at the guy for slapping him so much, he almost forgot he was playing for money
So something I learned recently was that the title of the episode alludes to an old Korean short story of the same name “One Lucky Day” in it a man and his family have been struggling. His wife is quite sick and starving and simply wishes to have some ox bone stew. But her husband just doesn’t have the funds to do so. On a rainy day, the husband heads out to his job and has the luckiest day ever as he gets customer after customer earning him quite a bit of money as the day goes on. The husband stays out late and drinks some of the money away, but still manages to bring enough money home to buy his wife that ox bone soup she’s been craving. Sadly as he walks into his house, he finds his baby crying and his wife dead from starvation. So pretty much anyone that was aware of that short story had a strong inkling what was awaiting Gi-hun at his home once they read that title.
Thank you so much for the explanation! I'm Korean and this is actually an old novel from 1920s, but it's in school textbooks so I'm sure most of Koreans have noticed the reference & knew what would happen to his mom 😭😭😭
I heard one that might amuse you then. I heard it over a decade ago but I never forgot any part of it. A poor single mother had three children that were constantly hungry and although she already worked three jobs she still couldn't provide for her family. Her children kept eating old food, and not much food at that. Christmas rolled around and the kids kept complaining about them never having tasted roast pork, so the mother after working her three jobs and taking care of her duties in the house, walked to the local butcher and begged for whatever scraps or dejected roast pork-like food he had. The butcher was vehement in that he was not a charity booth and that if she wanted something she should buy it. After more days of complaining from her children and the grief and shame she felt in not being able to provide for them seemed to finally pay off. All of a sudden there was a bountiful pork roast at the dinner table. The children wolfed it down and the mother was pleased and filled with pride. The next day too there was roast pork, but this time it took the mother longer to prepare it than the day before. Nevertheless, the children were happy as could be and thanked the mother for the feast. A few more days of this went by and one day the children couldn't find the mother anywhere, but no worries they thought. See! She's already made roast pork. As always the children wolfed it down happily and the mother was never seen again. I've loved this tale ever since I first heard it. Especially since my mother was a single mother of three and I know the toll it takes on the mind and body.
I get you guys being upset about Gi-hun leaving Cheol alone for a year, but considering the place he was in and his mental state at the time, I don't think it would be realistic to expect something from Gi-hun before he started healing. As soon as he did, he went to get Cheol and fulfilled his promise to Sae-byeok.
Exactly. And Cheol wasn't in danger or anything, plus as you say he'd have been hard to find without more info than 'oh, I knew his sister for a few days before she died' honestly I'm surprised he was released to Gi-hun at all
I didn't think the 001 twist was out of no where or just for the sake of a "twist." There was an endless amount of hints. I guessed when he put down the rabbit mask in an earlier episode and the hand was wrinkly/old. There's also the missing 001 file, and the old man saying he used to live in that house in ep 6. Also when they ended the overnight fight when the old man began yelling to stop.
This and, if you look closely, he is the only person without a green (standing still) or red (moving) overlay on the Green Light Red Light game, the computer wasn't even considering him a possible target at all
@@YourBlackLocal I agree. It's like okay there are hints to see it was coming. But it's also like, so what? We find out the fan-favorite old man is actually an asshole? Wipes out so much of the feelings and re-watchability of the previous episodes.
I feel like Oh Il Nam's description of the very rich being bored of their lives, is the reason that the cops brother came back to Front Man for the games. He realized he had nothing to live for after winning the money and he came back to the games like an addiction. I also think this is why they were upset Gi Hun didnt use the money. He had escaped the fate of all the mega rich VIPs and past winners.
Yeah, just like vips being confused when he didn't want to win in a final game, or when Il Nahm wanted to prove him that there is no human kindness. He brakes their worldview
The cop was only there to start with because his brother mysteriously disappeared and he found the gold card at his apartment. We always knew from jump that the brother had some kind of ties to the games in some way we just didn't know how. So imo it wasn't really an unrealistic coincidence that the twist was he was the frontman. It would have been unrealistic if his brother was missing with no real leads on his whereabouts but then the cop got sent off to investigate the Squid Games on official assignment only to discover that his brother just so happened to be involved and was also the frontman, now THAT would have been hard to swallow.
my thing though is - his brother won in 2015. he presumably started working with the games not long after. did they really keep his apartment and his stuff for years? or did he start working for the games, AND still lived there?
The one plothole is why his brother didn't pay his rent. If he is away for a few months every year managing the games every year you would still think he wouldn't let his rent lapse... if he'd taken care of that his police officer brother probably would have halted his search under the assumption that he was fine and just away traveling. Remember the police officer told their mom that his brother would often disappear for a week or two at a time but that he was always ok, it was only the fact that he didn't pay his rent that pushed him to look deeper and thus find the game card.
@@Basch152 My guess is he either wasn’t using his money like Gi Hun, or because he wasn’t used to being rich, he blew all his money away during the 5 years since his victory. So that’s why he was living in a tiny space and not paying rent and that’s why he was given a squid game card to come back and host the games for a good income. Because he only went missing when the 2020 games began.
@@Basch152 He could have kept the apartment to remain under the radar, to stop suspicion why he suddenly had so much money, but then lived somewhere else. Or another thought I had was that he had a messed up mental state like Gi Hun and struggle to move on with his life as well- until 2020 when was given the chance to be the Front man, and after all this time of rationalizing how he did what he did, he goes back. That's why he is so fanatical about it 'being fair' while there seem to be so many instances where it's not really fair. Because it's the narrative he tells himself.
He couldn't have gone to see his daughter and also end the next squid games. With the recruitment happening, he knows that the next set of games would be happening in a few days. And if he went to America, he would have completely missed out on the games and even more people would have needlessly died. I think Gi-Hun's biggest weakness is that he places the well-being of other people at the expense of his family. He stayed at the labor strike instead of being with his wife for the birth of his daughter, he wanted to end the game instead of fighting for the money for his family. And now he's determined to end the game over seeing his daughter. Edit: just because something is a character weakness, doesn't mean that I'm criticizing the character! From a writing perspective I actually love how well-defined and consistent Gi-Hun's moral code is. But I think that that trait will ultimately lead to his downfall
@@maycherryblossoms I mean it is admirable in some regards but also it is still a character flaw. Some people will protect their families no matter what, even at the cost of others, others don't focus enough on their families leaving them disappointed (like his ex wife and daughter) or even dead and abandoned like his mother. Neither way is completely right. I think that's why I like him so much, it's because his character traits and moral code are so well fleshed out
uh what? that's literally the strongest strength a human could have. The amount of suffering that has been caused on a global scale because almost everyone places their families above everyone else is incalculable. Gi-Hun is literally a better person than all of us.
The creator of the show has said that if they do a season 2, it will be about The Front Man. So we'll most likely get all the brother stuff. I'm hoping we get to see the 2005 games and how the brother won.
@@zupyta3593 yeah this is exactly what season 2 is going to be, showing the 2015 games and how the brother became the front man. We may also get some present day stuff but wont expect that to be finished until a final season3.
@@beck99o season 3 continuing from season 1 does make sense just to milk in that extra cash but I really want to see the 1999 squid game but probably till season 5 lol
@@toofargone6858 3 season arc, 2nd season is the 2015 games as the A plot and Gi-Hun's out-of-game progress as B plot (working with the cop who survives), 3rd season epic conclusion of this arc. If the franchise survives through this, other content can be spun off, like 1999. If we wanted to potentially run this concept into the ground.
I think he was a cruel participant, OR NOT but turned to be a cruel person because at the end of the day instead of finding enjoyment from the money he won, he found enjoyment from watching the game just like the 1% people. OOOORRRRR, he actually a good guy and in a process to break the system just like Gi Han wants to do, but he knows cops/police isnt enough because people behind this game are too powerfull. Man there are so many posibilities. Cant wait.
I understand Chris' logic about the ending, but I would disagree with his opinion. Sure, Gi-Hun could spend some time with his daughter and then decide to go be a hero and save everyone at the Squid Games...but he couldn't. It's why he walked away from the plane in the first place. How can he enjoy spending time with his daughter, being happy with his family, knowing that back hundreds of people are suffering through the same exact hell he just went through? He's the only person alive in a position to actually do something and choosing to run away from it, even for a moment, wasn't an option. Because, like Sae-byeok said, he's a good person. His conscience wouldn't allow it.
how is he a good man, the guy stole his mom's money several times and if he really did it for the greater good, he would have taken that money from the stepdad to save his mom but nope.
I mean this is just a matter of opinion but realistically what hope does he have of bringing down a system thats in place by what could possibly billionaires? I get they wanted to make him be some sort of person out for revenge or whatever but at the end of the show he was still a pretty bad father, he still ends up choosing to try and bring down a system that doesnt even force participants and even gives them second chances to leave and by this process lose even more time with his daughter. The path he chose isnt going to resonate with everyone because of where it leads.
Also, it seems like the games started 1 or 2 weeks after he got the invite, meaning if he does want to go after them, he would either miss the opportunity or have no prep time if he went to visit his daughter.
@@Drake00000010 Not everything is always black and white especially when it comes to human nature. No one is perfect, just because you lied a couple of times in the past, doesn't mean you can't change and be considered "good".
I think a lot of people don't understand the end because they are putting their own morality into it rather than the character's. Also, I feel like people who crititisize Gi-hun have never been or had a bad parent growing up. It's so much more traumatic for the kid if a parent comes back and everything is suddenly perfect. You think why couldn't this person have been this way when we were together before. His daughter is in a safe loving family and there's people being slautered. Who needs him more?
I get what you r saying but it's the fact that he keeps trying to get into good terms with his daughter only to fuck it up that annoys me. Before he even gets on the plane he is talking to his daughter about coming to see her and give her presents only to back out at the last minute to be a hero. Yeah she has a loving family so why does he keep giving her hope only to crush it for his own selfish ideals. If he isn't going to be a part of her life he needs to stop leading her on.
@@kenny33247 I mean he clearly WANTS to be a part of her life, he just prioritizes what he considers "the greater good" its not like he goes into it planning to be a disappointment. You're not supposed to LIKE that he's a bad father so i'd say your feelings are exactly where the show wants you. In my opinion going to his daughter vs trying to stop the games both have selfish aspects to them depending on what you value more, and Gi Hun seems to value helping the many over the few, so he'd probably consider it MORE selfish to do what he wants and go see his daughter instead of helping stop the games (and im personally inclined to agree with him).
It’s worse than both options if your father promises to return and doesn’t. Also, he keeps saying he loves you. This is your definition of love now: broken promises, abandonment, steak dinners. ok the food improvement doesn’t count. That fried chicken would have trumped a steakhouse any day, to her. The future, as represented by the children, are raised now with enough money, but without the family connections. There. There’s my interpretation, with admittedly my story of the father who made promises and didn’t fulfill them.
That line by Il Nam is true though. Why you think all these rich celebrities do drugs and all this illegal stuff? All the money in the world and they're still bored. I feel it is realistic, he wanted to relive his childhood cause that's when he was most happiest, like most of us when we grow up. Thats why we buy all the stuff that made us happy as kids when we have our own money to spend.
@@jonttul We have billionaires that would rather go to space than help out during the pandemic. Bored rich people playing with human lives is just one level of exaggeration of that
@@jonttul No I totally agree that the murdering thing is too far. I just mean the concept of being so rich you’ve experienced everything so you’re as bored as a broke person
“He should’ve gone on that plane” Why are all reactors on the same side as he villains. He probably would’ve gone if the front man didn’t tell him the was being watched
They either don’t understand PTSD or actually pay attention to the character they are following. I go with the latter since they miss things a lot with the cross talk.
@@Ladmia I'll go with the former since they made several comments after gi-hun won about how he should be over all this (his trauma) right after (with suraj saying that Gi-hun would forget it all within a year or two)
The encounter of the policeman with his brother isn't a coincidence. After all, he goes to the island in search of his brother. It was a huge coincidence if he went to the island on some other matter and then meets his brother as the frontman. But if you are wondering why he decided to be the frontman after he won, you should wait for the next season
For me personally, I wouldn't go on that plane knowing I'm still being watched, potentially putting me and my DAUGHTER in jeopardy, he already sold his freedom by playing the game in the first place.
I agree, I would be terrified to get near anyone I loved for fear of the game runners hurting them. Especially if I was trying to shut their operation down.
And the new game wil start shortly if the are recruiting at this moment so if he wants to stop it all from happening there is no time to go to the us you need to do something right now
@@TopGunZero not very realistic but makes for an ok plot I guess. I would prefer a story with new characters from another year tho, maybe the backstory of the game with a young Il-nam.
I liked the ending. It was never going to be a perfect fairy tale ending because it's an allegory about the system we're all stuck in, and there are multiple massive hints that the old man is behind everything. His motive and constant mentions of enjoying the games throughout the first 6 eps explains why the games are kids' games, and his mindset is what the writer/director is critiquing.
How is that twist "out of nowhere" when the clues are literally screaming in front of us? I think people are simply upset because the rug was pulled under them
If Gi-Hun went to see his daughter, he would have to live knowing he let another 455 people died without him doing anything to try and prevent it. His decision is entirely in character for him.
Every single reaction I've seen, time after time they tell Sang Woo's mum to close the suit case or something along those lines regarding the money but no one realizes that she is missing her son and that the whereabouts of her son is more important that a suitcase full of money.
No one ever mentions the fact that in episode 2, the old man “runs” into GI-hun at the shop where he’s sitting drinking and says “It’s like we were meant to meet” as a quip. Knowing damn well he was there to persuade GI-him to return because he liked him.
I watched so many korean series that i know too well how much humanity, morality and justice weighs on their main character than just choosing a win or money. Yes he got money but can you really live with all of that.
To be fair, I think that subplot only served as an alternative way to world build a little and give us a way to see what’s going on behind the masks that the players couldn’t see as much on their end.
I love that subplot. Because it shows that even though the organization's security is tough, it's not invincible. Because if a lone detective and handful of organ smugglers can get inside their ranks, what more can a man with vendetta and lots of money can do. Granted Gi-hun is not as smart as Sang Woo, and I still think Front Man is the key to bringing the whole thing down, Gi-hun would at least be the spark to start the whole thing off
He definitely spilled the water bottle on himself to pretend that he peed himself to make sure he repelled people from teaming with him because then he could just pretend he died and gone to join the rest of the vips
They’re too busy looking for social commentary to watch the show. Not everything is an allegory. Jesus I would hate to watch their LotR videos because Tolkien hated allegory and I’m sure they’re just throwing out guesses for what each person means, when they’re just a character in a story. They represent themselves, as a character. Not everything is Edgar Allen Poe
@@mrdavman13 And they still miss blatantly obvious shit like the cop investigating the island because he was searvhing for his brother in the first place. Or that sang woo was looking out only for himself since he was withholding information in the honeycomb game.
The end discussion looks like a lot of the Normies couldn't understand the story and accept that the twist proved them wrong about Oh Il-nam, that they decided to negatively criticize the ending to downplay the series' quality as a whole to save face and not look dumb.
I get being "salty" about the twist, they'll get over that when they think about it more. But the discussion about Gi-hun turning around is even more ridiculous. If he went on the plane it would make no sense for him character wise and go against how he has been built up throughout the story. That's where I think it shows they couldn't understand the story, more than the reaction to the old man.
Against Chris' point that Gi-Hun can see his daughter and then come back, remember that since he saw the recruiter again, it means the games are about to begin again and they last for what, a week? 2 tops? That's another 500 people's lives while he's in the US. Also I don't see why Suraj has to suspend his disbelief about the cop's brother given that he was only looking into the games specifically bc his brother was missing. Sure running into Gi-hun was a coincidence that led him to the location, but for the rest of the games the cop is undercover solo, and at that point you can even argue that it's hard to believe he ran into Sae-byeok before the games started or that his childhood friend happened to join the games too. When it comes to ppl just knowing each other or seeing each other, especially in TV, that's just pretty standard. It's a small world. That's just my take. Great reaction nonetheless!
the way I see it, 001's character reflects how elderly people are both shunned and cast aside in society (reflected how no one wanted to be on a team or paired with an old man) BUT also it can be old people who are the most detatched from irl issues either because they have been able to make so much money OR even if they haven't, don't have much longer to live, so it's easier to not feel as bad about subjecting people to harm for selfish reasons. I didn't feel like the twist cheapened his character at all, since it is an interesting real life contradiction. Il-nam got to witness how other people treated him cruelly for his age and health during the game, but still continued with everything
I've heard people say that all time, about rich people getting bored because they have too much money, it's f***ed up, but sometimes those people prefer to not go and help others because they think that us the poor ones don't deserve money unless we go out there and work our butts off and basically sell our lives and souls, I see the show as a metaphor for that
The only thing that bugged me about the Frontman was all he had to do was tell his family he was on vacation for a week and his brother wouldn’t be involved at all.
Why? He got somethin that could help he and his friends families (despite at a cost). I dont think theres an inherent problem with being happy about that
@@dopeanimemind7049 That's the thing that bothers me with some viewers, what you said, "he could get something that could help him and his friends families at all cost" they dislike Sang woo because he eliminated some members (that's what at all cost means) I mean he even had to finish the squid game himself. He played the game perfectly
@새벽 @새벽 You said one of the normies said they were happy for him being rich that's what i was responding to. Also, he needed money to get to his daughter when she moved to America. Then he had money to help tha Mom and Brother of his friends. Without that money they would also be in the same situation. Nothing would've changed if they hadn't played tha game. His mom would've still died because he would have been in tha same situation. They were barely surviving to begin with. I don't think many people realize how dark and deadly being in that much debt can bring.
If every single question was given a definitive answer, there wouldn't be the same discussions and sharing of theories between fans that happens now. Sometimes leaving a story open ended is the best thing you can do for a fanbase.
@@BangTanPrettiNikki Eh, the whole cop arc thing and front man I think is not something you can leave open ended like that. It spent more of the series developing and it didn't really get anywhere, nor did it make more sense as it went along. You can leave a moral question open, but not a "How does this make sense and relate to the story you have been trying to tell us in the first place" question. There's not enough information to deduce anything concrete to theorize about, except crazy wild theories with no substance or foundation.
I agree, but the problem with open endings is that they can be very lazy at times. What if the reason some of the mysteries weren't explained was because the writer himself doesn't know the answer? What if they're just mysteries for the sake of mysteries? There's also not enough information to theorize in regards to the cop's brother, the front man, so it's pretty hard to speculate anyway. I think Inception does it best tbh. There's only really one main mystery at the end, and regardless of what actually happened, the main meat of the story remains intact, so the solution to the mystery doesn't actually impact the story too heavily.
@새벽 It's not about thinking, it's about being lazy. When people give open endings, that usually signals to me that the writer couldn't come up with the answers himself so he decided to "leave it to the imagination". FOH with that nonsense.
I don't think the show is perfect, but I'm happy-ish with the ending, the boring answer that it's just "rich people bored" works for me. But goddamn I want my tears back from that old man
I mean, the entire show is a critique of capitalism. If the games were made for a reason that actually made logical sense, that would go against the whole message the show is trying to tell you.
Lol Suraj seems to get in complete denial whenever the mastermind is revealed of the show. Last time it was Tobi revealing to be “Madara” during epic turning around and unavailing sharingan. And now in this show with the old man. Denial to the very end.
26:27 Actually, no. If the dude was already recruiting, the game was starting in just days. Not enough to go on a trip to America and play with your kid and then race back to try to infiltrate some Eyes Wide Shut game with the preparations necessary to get the revenge you want and come out alive.
I think they misunderstood and thought he wanted to play the game again that's why they were like go be with your daughter the game will be waiting for you when you get back..
@@BhBc8f8 There's a lot of people with this misunderstanding. While one could do a character analysis that Gi-Hun is still an addict to the thrill of winning in the abstracted sense, it doesn't mean that he's consciously just rejoining the game to play/win it. He's very clearly *intending* to *end* this whole thing, even if he has no clue how (unless a future season retcons in some secret planning, which I hope they don't do unless it is through genius writing).
Idk if he could have waited and gone to see his daughter first. I think that year’s Squid Game was about to start, if he wants to stop it he kind of has to leave.
Normies “where are the answers ! “ It’s the first season…. Relax. You got answers for attack on titan Season 3 episode 20. Jesus . Everyone just wants all questions answered, no mystery, no theory crafting.
Honestly if someone said “get on the plane”, I wouldn’t either not to hunt them down but damn I’d be thinking they’re going to make the plane crash lmao
I knew that the old man was involved when the Front Man stopped the night fight and when the detective went through the list of players and the old man wasn’t in it. I thought it was pretty obvious. At the same time I thought the dementia and brain tumor was real so my theory was that he was the Front Man’s father and he created this game for his father to remember his childhood before he died. It didn’t take away the emotional turmoil for me because it was real to Gi-hun.
Yeah it’s pretty sad. I respect their opinions and don’t want to be rude but I couldn’t agree more that they missed a lot of meaning behind the characters actions.
Everyone watching the show is disgusted by the VIPs, and rightfully so. But we never realize how easily a different perspective and a different set of circumstances can make us suddenly feel entitled and can put us in the role of a VIP, without us even noticing or having reservations about it. In the scene with Il-nam, Gi-hun, who obviously isn't a fan of the games, doesn't even consider helping the homeless man himself. Chris touched on that in the reaction. Instead he's literally betting on the man's life with Il-nam. In an instance, the life of a human being is degraded to something that you're entitled to play with, sonething you can use to prove some kind of point to someone else. Gi-hun has become a VIP, Il-nam has won the game.
19:22 Yes marketta there’s no other reason then sheer boredom idk what you expected but there isn’t some evil supreme being with a master plan that’s gonna give you the answer you’re looking for lmao
We live in a world where billionaires would rather go to space for a few hours than help out during a pandemic. Having crazy bored rich people is not an impossible scenario lol.
I really like him going back. The entire show he was ALWAYS seen prioritizing other people and the wellbeing of others. He can see his daughter anytime, another 500 people are about to be slaughtered in like, three days. He doesn’t want those people to go through what he went too.
I swear, sometimes you guys seem hopeless with you strange ass takes. 9 episodes with these characters, and you still can't get their personalities and motivations right. The ending made sense based on what we've seen, I hate it when you start criticising a show when you haven't made the effort to understand what they are building up to and what they've been showing you. How can you not grasp your main character's crucial flaw by the finale? He has a good heart, that's why he's likable, but that's also the reason he can't let things go, he has too much "fight the power" in him. He fucked his life up once because of it, and despite that he's willing to do it again for a chance to stop the games. You can have a different opinion on what's "right" I guess. But being completely dismissive of his choice is just... well dumb. It's like we've been watching different stories.
@@bigpictureguys8415 It happens, the reactions were still entertaining. I just thought they'd put a little more thought for the discussion, instead of outright being dismissive.
As soon as I finished the series I had a feeling they're going to have a bad take about the ending. It's not even clear if Gi-hun will actually be successful in bringing the organization down, if anything it might be down to Front Man himself because of his guilt. But Gi-hun might at least be the spark to start the whole thing off.
So many versions of "why isn't Gi-Hun being coldly rational and just going to live his life? Why is he risking everything? It doesn't make sense." Idiots saying this after the show spends the entire season showing us that Gi-Hun always looks out for those he considers weaker and isn't able to turn away someone in need, from his days on the picket line to how he looked after the old man all the way up to offering to spare Sang-Woo when the coldly rational thing would be to win the game.
I do believe that Il Nam peed himself for real tho. I do believe he was genuinely scared because he didn't know what was going on in that moment and yeah he was basically dying and had the tumor already in his head but he still was the host of the game. He still knew what games were to be played but in that instance he just didn't know what was goin on because it just wasn't scripted. The sirens started ringing because of the cop that was literally playing Among us with the rest of the staff and that was something no one could have predicted.
A little explanation on Gihun's mom dying and the title of the episode; One lucky day(운수 좋은 날) is a title of famous Korean novel written by Jingeon Hyun. A story about one guy who cannot catch a break and struggling with his poverty but one day, suddenly everything works out for him and he was in such a good mood till he came back home only to find that his wife was dead from her long illness. He mumbles to her crying, "I brought home food, why can't you open your eyes..."
@@isaiahcox9787 I don't think the Old Man being a player was unnecessary tbh, if anything it made sense lol, no way would any normal old man with a fucking brain tumour live that long in the game, that would make less sense. But with him being the game master it explains why he managed to live that long lol. At the end of the day, it's a TV show they would need a twist ending to surprise viewers and then they would obviously leave a lot unexplained to make S2 seems more appealing just to get answers, pretty standard. Still a solid series imo, though nothing unique enough for me to be mind blown. The set design and acting carried the show for me, still solid overall though.
@@AlexRight If you look at the acting performances, music and video work done, the sets...it's pretty worthy of awe even if it can't be said that it blows minds. (Although, for many it did, that's just fact.)
@@isaiahcox9787 so what have you prefered the host stayed unknown ? or be some random person we never got to see ? the old man being the host its fine. and the twist was ok
This comment is so true lol. They themselves fell victims of the shows purpose being happy for Gi-Hun’s newfound wealth is so ironic considering the shows focus is on the failure of money in bringing about happiness. Also they’re the first ones to have a problem with the ending when it almost perfectly encapsulates his character growth. But yeah it’s still their thoughts.
All The Normies were watching also like the VIP’s, for fun. They were excited just like the VIPs. We all were just like the VIPs, anonymously watching from our own couches.
The title "One Lucky Day(운수 좋은 날)" is a reference to a famous Korean novel of the same title. In the novel the main protagonist is a down on luck individual who lives with his sick wife and infant daughter working as a rickshaw rider. He had such a bad luck as of late but at the time of the story he has an unbelievable luck having multiple well-paying customers. He spends extra hours working instead of coming home early(which his wife pleaded him to). So he comes home late with his wife's favorite meal only to find out that she passed away. The realization that he could have spent the time with the last moment of his wife is what makes the novel a classic tragedy in Korea. Squid Game's ending is an obvious homage to the novel.
I didn’t like the twist in my first watch but I’m fine with it now. I just realized I was just salty for crying over his farewell scene in episode 6. it hit me, I felt betrayed
I may be in the minority, but I really like the ending. I like both answered and unanswered questions for an ending because that's life. Unanswered questions, and the characters actions at the end create thought, and debate. I think the red hair is symbolic of his anger, and I have to admit - I had doubts about the old man from the beginning, and I caught some (not all) of the hints he was in on it - so no broken heart for me, just a feeling of happy confirmation. Just found your channel and subscribed, really enjoyed all of your reactions. 😄
Gi-hun's hair symbolizes the internal anger and rage he has after the game. Also, Gi-hun wouldn't of had enough time to go to America and spend time with his daughter as well as go to the games and stop them. They were already in a recruitment phase for the next game, if you remember from episode one, the games only started a few days after recruitment.
Il-nam was on the same playing field as all the other contestants the entire time, that's why he backed out during the marbles though was because it was the last round where he actually could compete with a chance. If he moved during Red Light Green Light then he gets shot, if he doesn't finish the shape then he gets shot, if he gets pulled off the ledge in tug-of-war then he falls to death. Il-nam was a complete player like all the other players, so he could have been killed at any given time. Marbles was simply as far as he planned to go, so if he made it that far then that would be his exit. BTW, all of the games were on the walls of the bunks, so every single player had access to what all of the games were ahead of time.
Gi-hun doesn't have enough time to go see his daughter. They're already recruiting for the next game, which means that they could be starting any day now. Not much time passed between Gi-hun getting recruiting and the games starting. If he goes to America to visit his daughter, hundreds of people could be dead.
The thing with the ending is, that’s totally in character. He is a gambler, he‘s taking risks (and regrets them later on but doesn’t learn from them) and the most important, he doesn‘t think things through. During the cookie game his explanation for example was not tactical or strategic. He chose the umbrella (the hardest shape on the cookies) because of a fond memory of his childhood. He is fighting for his life and instead of planing and thinking strategically he is just making a decision. It‘s totally in character that he doesn‘t think about the future, the consequences of his decisions and what he has to loose. Him flying to America would have been a nice sweet father daughter ending, but also the most unnatural ending.
Exactly, he even cancelled his mother's health insurance to use the money because he likely assumed that she's going to be fine and won't need it for a while. He's very impulsive. Also, the fact that his daughter was living in the US means she's okay living with her new life there. Because if she was miserable living with her stepdad, why didn't she tell Gi-hun that she's leaving? She could've said "I don't want to go, please do something, Dad!", not that there's anything she can do about it anyway. Sure maybe Gi-hun was just about to start to try to claim custody of her daughter but in the end does she even want to be him again? I'm sure she loves Gi-hun but maybe she's just being nice to him because she's her real father but she's also fully aware that he is a mess of a person that can't get his life together before.
Gi-hun never saw VIPs. So maybe he thought the game is over after Il-nam died. That's why he came back to his normal life leaving all the guilty feeling. But when he saw the salesman at the station and witnessed the game is still running, he had to do come back to take the game down.
people too used to Hollywood fary tales won't be happy with this ending ? FUCKING GREAT ! This show is about what humanity is, not about what it should be
I feel like Il-Nam is related to Gi-Hun in some way. Maybe it’s their father and son because there were a couple of hints during the first and second to last episode.
I tend to enjoy your reactions a lot but I might just skip the discussions from now on. Your opinions are your opinions but I guess I just expected a bit more insightful reading of the show, especially since it was full of such smart and purposeful writing.
@@derekmeade1741 you’re like responding to every comment just to let everyone know how much you hate the show but here you go watching reactions for it
I usually skip the end discussions tbh. I like their reactions but their views are often not deep enough for me to sit through 10 or 20 minutes of discussion. If I am curious about their opinion on a specific thing, i usually just set the discussion part to 1.75
The old guy wouldn't have died in any of the games. First game the doll wasn't scanning him so it wouldn't shoot him. In tug of war everyone was chained to the rope but the old man was only chained to his hands not the rope.
ok, yes people say he should go on the plane, but, if you heard that, and realized that their keeping tabs on you at all times, would you want them to know where your daughter lives? (granted the possibility of his phone being tapped already) Also, i agree with everyone saying that it goes with his character, because it seems like he has a bit of a complex about it and definately PTSD. Hopefully inf theres a second season he *might* find Joon-ho and team up with him? Who knows.
I thought the red hair looked stupid, but it works as a symbol for Gihun becoming the aggressor like the people dressed in red. Red seems to represent the proactive and green represents the passive in society.
that's why it's so annoying every time someone goes "Hell yeah, I would've done the same thing as Sang Woo did". I sincerely doubt any of them would be like that if they were actually there
@@Adriangabs They never would have done the same thing as Sang Woo. He was intelligent and was very quick to analyze things on the spot. I doubt most of the reactors are even capable of going past 2nd round.
@@kgpgotenks Not even the first game, they don't feel the panic of being in that situation because they're just watching. Hell, even Sang Woo got lucky in Game 2. If it wasn't for him overhearing Sae-byeok and her actually sneaking around trying to figure out what was going on I doubt even he could've deduced in time that they're gonna play Dalgona
That is very true. We, the audience, don't really understand every single thing about the characters' backgrounds. Even though the show showed us how poor they are. Some characters in this game probably don't even have their own chair to sit in.
Guys, this is the first show I’ve watched along with you as it happened and I want to thank you for sharing it with me. It was great to hear other opinions and theories, and even better to hear people agree with my thoughts and guesses. I hope to watch another show with you all! Also, thanks for posting this almost every day! I watched one a day so it was perfect to keep up with me.
I really hope that Blind Wave understands Gi-Hun's final decision when they get to the final episode of the show instead of trashing it and taking it at face value.
😂 we’ll see. The Normies are the only ones I’ve seen so far who hadn’t really picked up on that we didn’t see Il-Nam’s body. They miss things ALOT. Character analyzation isn’t a strong suit among them.
TH-camr who understand the deeper story usually aren't just reactors, they usually do overall review too as a separate videos where they already calmed down and looked further into the stories. While reactors reacts to what's shown at the moments and sometimes with their judgment clouded by emotions.
Everyone wants him to go spend time with his daughter and live a normal life and don't realize that life ain't ever gonna be normal for him. Like, okay, let me go to the US. Call these Squid Game guys a couple weeks later. Get a message that the number is disconnected. Descend back into his old life. Spend his time in subways looking for the recruiter again. Come on, people. I know it's because they aren't the ones who went through what he had to go through so they think just because he secured the bag now he can be a big shot millionaire now and live it up. I am willing to bet this is what determined Front Man's involvement with that organization despite winning the prize in 2015. Tried to go back to living normally and couldn't. Then they offered him the chance to be Front Man in 2020's games since it was being hosted in Korea and that's why he went 'missing'.
Please react to Kingdom!! It's a series about zombies in medieval Korea. I know, it sounds ridiculous, I started watching it thinking I was going to juts have a laugh but I ended up watching one of the best doramas ever!
Turning around and not going to see his daughter is perfectly in line with Gi-hun's character though. It's the exact same thing he did when he stayed with his striking employees at the factory instead of being present at her birth. If he finds something worth fighting for, he'll put that above even his own personal interests. The red hair also threw me but I also ended up liking it lol
The red hair I guess was him taking ownship of his life again in a very noticeable way by being spontaneous. lol
Also bc they were tracking him and they didn’t know where his daughter was so if he went to the US to see her they would know
Some theories say that the red colour foreshadows that he may enter the games again, but this time as a worker…don’t really think that’s exactly what is gonna happen, but cool theory.
@@raec5426 That. It's also the same color on the staff of the game, who was in control of the players. It's a way of showing that he os in control of his own life now.
Throughout they showed how Gi-Hun had a kind heart and always had the drive to help other people, even when he's in a bad situation himself.
If you haven’t noticed, and something that really makes this show pretty amazing, is that all the characters deaths were foreshadowed in the beginning. Sae-Byeok with the knife to the throat, Sang-Woo failing to commit suicide, Deok-Su falling off a bridge, and Gi-Hun swearing on his mother’s life. Absolutely amazing storytelling in having details such as this tie in with each other.
I like that foreshadowing
There's also the part with the red and blue. These people watching it were laughing at his red hair. They forgot in the beginning he was wearing a blue cap. Red and blue, the colours the recruiter had.
It's also the colours of the pills in the matrix. The blue keeps you in the fantasy. The red one brings you back out to reality, even if that is worse. In the beginning he was blue and was willing to go back to the game. Now that he's been through it, he turned red, fully red hair, not just a cap.
This symbolises that he's turned into another person, willing to fight the system, and not just be a naive participant in it.
The whole series also is a reflection of the cut-throat nature of capitalism, where's there's so many rich people that do nothing about all the starving and indebted poor people. He's gone red, it symbolises fighting the capitalist system
@@marioluigi9599 omg this is a fantastic catch
*Oh wow.*
Does someone know a good tattoo removal place? Chris wants to remove a 001 tattoo off his neck that he got in Episode 6. LOL
Rip🤣
Why? I wanted to get one after this episode.
😂😂
Nah he is a badass villan
@@John_Locke_108 Please go to therapy :D
There were a few hints that the old guy was the real Mastermind all along. But the one that really stood out to me was when he got up on the beds and demanded for things to stop when everyone was fighting. Now, at first glance, it seems like he was talking to the other players, but the fact that the Front Man and the others immediately stopped what they were doing too raised a lot of red flags for me. It was a double meaning, like a lot of things he said or did in the show.
Plus his bunk bed wasn't pushed over by the Front Man's workers
@@goro123451 on top of that, Oh Il-Nam legit means “the First Man,” in Korean
I missed a lot of the hints they threw, the only one I caught was when the detective was searching through files. When he got to the current year, it started at player 2
Saaaammme
Also in the beginning of Episode 7, when the frontman is on the phone, he says "I hope you enjoyed the game" the timing for that seemed off, but I didn't catch it off first watch
Gi hun kept fighting Sang Woo instead of trying to win the game because he was so angry over Sae Byeok, which is pretty in character for him. It was like when he finally won the ddakji game in episode 1. He wanted to get back at the guy for slapping him so much, he almost forgot he was playing for money
An underrated comment.
So something I learned recently was that the title of the episode alludes to an old Korean short story of the same name “One Lucky Day” in it a man and his family have been struggling. His wife is quite sick and starving and simply wishes to have some ox bone stew. But her husband just doesn’t have the funds to do so. On a rainy day, the husband heads out to his job and has the luckiest day ever as he gets customer after customer earning him quite a bit of money as the day goes on. The husband stays out late and drinks some of the money away, but still manages to bring enough money home to buy his wife that ox bone soup she’s been craving. Sadly as he walks into his house, he finds his baby crying and his wife dead from starvation. So pretty much anyone that was aware of that short story had a strong inkling what was awaiting Gi-hun at his home once they read that title.
Damn
Wow, thanks for the explanation. Is there a collection of Korean short stories like this you can recommend?
Yeah my gf is korean and she told me about it while we were watching the show
Thank you so much for the explanation! I'm Korean and this is actually an old novel from 1920s, but it's in school textbooks so I'm sure most of Koreans have noticed the reference & knew what would happen to his mom 😭😭😭
I heard one that might amuse you then. I heard it over a decade ago but I never forgot any part of it.
A poor single mother had three children that were constantly hungry and although she already worked three jobs she still couldn't provide for her family. Her children kept eating old food, and not much food at that.
Christmas rolled around and the kids kept complaining about them never having tasted roast pork, so the mother after working her three jobs and taking care of her duties in the house, walked to the local butcher and begged for whatever scraps or dejected roast pork-like food he had.
The butcher was vehement in that he was not a charity booth and that if she wanted something she should buy it. After more days of complaining from her children and the grief and shame she felt in not being able to provide for them seemed to finally pay off. All of a sudden there was a bountiful pork roast at the dinner table.
The children wolfed it down and the mother was pleased and filled with pride.
The next day too there was roast pork, but this time it took the mother longer to prepare it than the day before. Nevertheless, the children were happy as could be and thanked the mother for the feast.
A few more days of this went by and one day the children couldn't find the mother anywhere, but no worries they thought. See! She's already made roast pork. As always the children wolfed it down happily and the mother was never seen again.
I've loved this tale ever since I first heard it. Especially since my mother was a single mother of three and I know the toll it takes on the mind and body.
I get you guys being upset about Gi-hun leaving Cheol alone for a year, but considering the place he was in and his mental state at the time, I don't think it would be realistic to expect something from Gi-hun before he started healing. As soon as he did, he went to get Cheol and fulfilled his promise to Sae-byeok.
and plus you can't just go to an orphanage and bring a kid just cause you have money... it takes time to do it 😂
@새벽 yeah i think she only told him cheol's age
Exactly. And Cheol wasn't in danger or anything, plus as you say he'd have been hard to find without more info than 'oh, I knew his sister for a few days before she died' honestly I'm surprised he was released to Gi-hun at all
I didn't think the 001 twist was out of no where or just for the sake of a "twist." There was an endless amount of hints. I guessed when he put down the rabbit mask in an earlier episode and the hand was wrinkly/old. There's also the missing 001 file, and the old man saying he used to live in that house in ep 6. Also when they ended the overnight fight when the old man began yelling to stop.
This and, if you look closely, he is the only person without a green (standing still) or red (moving) overlay on the Green Light Red Light game, the computer wasn't even considering him a possible target at all
There are hints but it doesn’t add anything to the show. If the old man wasn’t the Host it’d change nothing.
@@YourBlackLocal that doesn't make the twist bad
@@YourBlackLocal I agree. It's like okay there are hints to see it was coming. But it's also like, so what? We find out the fan-favorite old man is actually an asshole? Wipes out so much of the feelings and re-watchability of the previous episodes.
@@ek3241 The twist removes the emotional impact of him and Gi-hun and adds nothing additionally to the narrative. That’s why I’d say it’s bad
I feel like Oh Il Nam's description of the very rich being bored of their lives, is the reason that the cops brother came back to Front Man for the games. He realized he had nothing to live for after winning the money and he came back to the games like an addiction. I also think this is why they were upset Gi Hun didnt use the money. He had escaped the fate of all the mega rich VIPs and past winners.
Yeah, just like vips being confused when he didn't want to win in a final game, or when Il Nahm wanted to prove him that there is no human kindness. He brakes their worldview
The Front Man was a fulcrum. I can see why he might have chosen that position.
The cop was only there to start with because his brother mysteriously disappeared and he found the gold card at his apartment. We always knew from jump that the brother had some kind of ties to the games in some way we just didn't know how. So imo it wasn't really an unrealistic coincidence that the twist was he was the frontman.
It would have been unrealistic if his brother was missing with no real leads on his whereabouts but then the cop got sent off to investigate the Squid Games on official assignment only to discover that his brother just so happened to be involved and was also the frontman, now THAT would have been hard to swallow.
my thing though is - his brother won in 2015. he presumably started working with the games not long after. did they really keep his apartment and his stuff for years?
or did he start working for the games, AND still lived there?
Exactly. Dude doesn't know what a coincidence is.
The one plothole is why his brother didn't pay his rent. If he is away for a few months every year managing the games every year you would still think he wouldn't let his rent lapse... if he'd taken care of that his police officer brother probably would have halted his search under the assumption that he was fine and just away traveling. Remember the police officer told their mom that his brother would often disappear for a week or two at a time but that he was always ok, it was only the fact that he didn't pay his rent that pushed him to look deeper and thus find the game card.
@@Basch152 My guess is he either wasn’t using his money like Gi Hun, or because he wasn’t used to being rich, he blew all his money away during the 5 years since his victory. So that’s why he was living in a tiny space and not paying rent and that’s why he was given a squid game card to come back and host the games for a good income. Because he only went missing when the 2020 games began.
@@Basch152 He could have kept the apartment to remain under the radar, to stop suspicion why he suddenly had so much money, but then lived somewhere else. Or another thought I had was that he had a messed up mental state like Gi Hun and struggle to move on with his life as well- until 2020 when was given the chance to be the Front man, and after all this time of rationalizing how he did what he did, he goes back. That's why he is so fanatical about it 'being fair' while there seem to be so many instances where it's not really fair. Because it's the narrative he tells himself.
He couldn't have gone to see his daughter and also end the next squid games. With the recruitment happening, he knows that the next set of games would be happening in a few days. And if he went to America, he would have completely missed out on the games and even more people would have needlessly died.
I think Gi-Hun's biggest weakness is that he places the well-being of other people at the expense of his family. He stayed at the labor strike instead of being with his wife for the birth of his daughter, he wanted to end the game instead of fighting for the money for his family. And now he's determined to end the game over seeing his daughter.
Edit: just because something is a character weakness, doesn't mean that I'm criticizing the character! From a writing perspective I actually love how well-defined and consistent Gi-Hun's moral code is. But I think that that trait will ultimately lead to his downfall
I do not see that as much of a weakness, really...
In short: he didn’t know his fuckin priorities. He got on my nerves the most.
@@maycherryblossoms I mean it is admirable in some regards but also it is still a character flaw. Some people will protect their families no matter what, even at the cost of others, others don't focus enough on their families leaving them disappointed (like his ex wife and daughter) or even dead and abandoned like his mother. Neither way is completely right. I think that's why I like him so much, it's because his character traits and moral code are so well fleshed out
uh what? that's literally the strongest strength a human could have. The amount of suffering that has been caused on a global scale because almost everyone places their families above everyone else is incalculable. Gi-Hun is literally a better person than all of us.
@@LMarti13 A double-edge sword, I'd say. To find a balance between the two. lol
The creator of the show has said that if they do a season 2, it will be about The Front Man. So we'll most likely get all the brother stuff. I'm hoping we get to see the 2005 games and how the brother won.
2015* but yeah that would be pretty cool. Like a little backstory
@@zupyta3593 yeah this is exactly what season 2 is going to be, showing the 2015 games and how the brother became the front man. We may also get some present day stuff but wont expect that to be finished until a final season3.
@@beck99o season 3 continuing from season 1 does make sense just to milk in that extra cash but I really want to see the 1999 squid game but probably till season 5 lol
@@toofargone6858 3 season arc, 2nd season is the 2015 games as the A plot and Gi-Hun's out-of-game progress as B plot (working with the cop who survives), 3rd season epic conclusion of this arc. If the franchise survives through this, other content can be spun off, like 1999.
If we wanted to potentially run this concept into the ground.
I think he was a cruel participant, OR NOT but turned to be a cruel person because at the end of the day instead of finding enjoyment from the money he won, he found enjoyment from watching the game just like the 1% people.
OOOORRRRR, he actually a good guy and in a process to break the system just like Gi Han wants to do, but he knows cops/police isnt enough because people behind this game are too powerfull.
Man there are so many posibilities. Cant wait.
I understand Chris' logic about the ending, but I would disagree with his opinion. Sure, Gi-Hun could spend some time with his daughter and then decide to go be a hero and save everyone at the Squid Games...but he couldn't. It's why he walked away from the plane in the first place. How can he enjoy spending time with his daughter, being happy with his family, knowing that back hundreds of people are suffering through the same exact hell he just went through? He's the only person alive in a position to actually do something and choosing to run away from it, even for a moment, wasn't an option.
Because, like Sae-byeok said, he's a good person. His conscience wouldn't allow it.
how is he a good man, the guy stole his mom's money several times and if he really did it for the greater good, he would have taken that money from the stepdad to save his mom but nope.
@@Drake00000010 He's not Ali. He's a pretty good person as a whole, but not without flaws.
I mean this is just a matter of opinion but realistically what hope does he have of bringing down a system thats in place by what could possibly billionaires? I get they wanted to make him be some sort of person out for revenge or whatever but at the end of the show he was still a pretty bad father, he still ends up choosing to try and bring down a system that doesnt even force participants and even gives them second chances to leave and by this process lose even more time with his daughter. The path he chose isnt going to resonate with everyone because of where it leads.
Also, it seems like the games started 1 or 2 weeks after he got the invite, meaning if he does want to go after them, he would either miss the opportunity or have no prep time if he went to visit his daughter.
@@Drake00000010 Not everything is always black and white especially when it comes to human nature. No one is perfect, just because you lied a couple of times in the past, doesn't mean you can't change and be considered "good".
I heard that "old guy was a villain all along" / "old guy was behind everything" tv trope is pretty common in asian shows
Yeah, wise old men many times shown to be powerful in anime. lol
it's a heavy anime thing for sure
Fancy seeing you here Gelt.
@@jwizdum2103 like in which anime?
Yaboyroshi mentioned in an earlier episode in his watch, that watch the old man be Aizen. He was right.
I think a lot of people don't understand the end because they are putting their own morality into it rather than the character's. Also, I feel like people who crititisize Gi-hun have never been or had a bad parent growing up. It's so much more traumatic for the kid if a parent comes back and everything is suddenly perfect. You think why couldn't this person have been this way when we were together before. His daughter is in a safe loving family and there's people being slautered. Who needs him more?
its funny that this is like the one comment that doesn't have a massive amount of people arguing in the response, cos it makes a lot of sense
I get what you r saying but it's the fact that he keeps trying to get into good terms with his daughter only to fuck it up that annoys me. Before he even gets on the plane he is talking to his daughter about coming to see her and give her presents only to back out at the last minute to be a hero. Yeah she has a loving family so why does he keep giving her hope only to crush it for his own selfish ideals. If he isn't going to be a part of her life he needs to stop leading her on.
@@kenny33247 I mean he clearly WANTS to be a part of her life, he just prioritizes what he considers "the greater good" its not like he goes into it planning to be a disappointment. You're not supposed to LIKE that he's a bad father so i'd say your feelings are exactly where the show wants you. In my opinion going to his daughter vs trying to stop the games both have selfish aspects to them depending on what you value more, and Gi Hun seems to value helping the many over the few, so he'd probably consider it MORE selfish to do what he wants and go see his daughter instead of helping stop the games (and im personally inclined to agree with him).
It’s worse than both options if your father promises to return and doesn’t. Also, he keeps saying he loves you. This is your definition of love now: broken promises, abandonment, steak dinners. ok the food improvement doesn’t count. That fried chicken would have trumped a steakhouse any day, to her. The future, as represented by the children, are raised now with enough money, but without the family connections. There. There’s my interpretation, with admittedly my story of the father who made promises and didn’t fulfill them.
That line by Il Nam is true though. Why you think all these rich celebrities do drugs and all this illegal stuff? All the money in the world and they're still bored. I feel it is realistic, he wanted to relive his childhood cause that's when he was most happiest, like most of us when we grow up. Thats why we buy all the stuff that made us happy as kids when we have our own money to spend.
Yeah most of the people that call bs on that haven’t had enough money to actually be bored, so it seems ridiculous to them.
@@christianacosta3945 A not psychotic person can think of enough things to do that they don't have to resort to murdering people.
@@jonttul you know how hou can get bored of a hobby you do if you do it too much enough? Imagine that but for everything.
@@jonttul We have billionaires that would rather go to space than help out during the pandemic. Bored rich people playing with human lives is just one level of exaggeration of that
@@jonttul No I totally agree that the murdering thing is too far. I just mean the concept of being so rich you’ve experienced everything so you’re as bored as a broke person
“He should’ve gone on that plane”
Why are all reactors on the same side as he villains.
He probably would’ve gone if the front man didn’t tell him the was being watched
Same how they don’t understand how Gi hun slapped the step dad after he tried to bribe him not to see his own daughter. They’re slow
They either don’t understand PTSD or actually pay attention to the character they are following. I go with the latter since they miss things a lot with the cross talk.
that tells alot to their characters
@@Ladmia I'll go with the former since they made several comments after gi-hun won about how he should be over all this (his trauma) right after (with suraj saying that Gi-hun would forget it all within a year or two)
The encounter of the policeman with his brother isn't a coincidence. After all, he goes to the island in search of his brother. It was a huge coincidence if he went to the island on some other matter and then meets his brother as the frontman. But if you are wondering why he decided to be the frontman after he won, you should wait for the next season
The reactor clearly doesn't know what the word "coincidence" means lmao
For me personally, I wouldn't go on that plane knowing I'm still being watched, potentially putting me and my DAUGHTER in jeopardy, he already sold his freedom by playing the game in the first place.
I agree, I would be terrified to get near anyone I loved for fear of the game runners hurting them. Especially if I was trying to shut their operation down.
They know where the daughter lives. Why the hell wouldn’t they.
And the new game wil start shortly if the are recruiting at this moment so if he wants to stop it all from happening there is no time to go to the us you need to do something right now
@@dboff Even more reason to put an end to them...
@@TopGunZero not very realistic but makes for an ok plot I guess. I would prefer a story with new characters from another year tho, maybe the backstory of the game with a young Il-nam.
I liked the ending. It was never going to be a perfect fairy tale ending because it's an allegory about the system we're all stuck in, and there are multiple massive hints that the old man is behind everything. His motive and constant mentions of enjoying the games throughout the first 6 eps explains why the games are kids' games, and his mindset is what the writer/director is critiquing.
yes beacause when you get old ur brain works like a kid,so that why he whats to experince as a kid
Ending is cliche, really rushed, and badly written. First 6 ep were the peak of this show
How is that twist "out of nowhere" when the clues are literally screaming in front of us? I think people are simply upset because the rug was pulled under them
"we're on the fence about who's the good guy"
bro is this like a litmus test for psychopathy or what?
If Gi-Hun went to see his daughter, he would have to live knowing he let another 455 people died without him doing anything to try and prevent it. His decision is entirely in character for him.
@@muhammedlee1627I’m a year late but if he’s dumb then he wouldn’t of won out of 456 people
Every single reaction I've seen, time after time they tell Sang Woo's mum to close the suit case or something along those lines regarding the money but no one realizes that she is missing her son and that the whereabouts of her son is more important that a suitcase full of money.
No one ever mentions the fact that in episode 2, the old man “runs” into GI-hun at the shop where he’s sitting drinking and says “It’s like we were meant to meet” as a quip. Knowing damn well he was there to persuade GI-him to return because he liked him.
When he lays with his mom on the floor it’s so sad. There r no happy endings in a show like this.
I watched so many korean series that i know too well how much humanity, morality and justice weighs on their main character than just choosing a win or money. Yes he got money but can you really live with all of that.
This series showed that people don’t watch enough Korean dramas 😂. I was like ‘when do we ever get a completely happy ending with Kdramas?’
@@Ladmia 😭 true as a regular watcher of korean movies and series, a happy ending??? Why would they do that when they can torture me emotionally.
@@zinnia5659 Exactly, I think k-dramas don't believe in the american happy ending formula....LOL
@@NaFran49 fr now watching American series and movies can be so predictable bc of that , k cinema you don’t know what you’ll get
The cop's brother being involved in the games is such a plothole, despite the cop investigating the game to find his brother - The Normies.
To be fair, I think that subplot only served as an alternative way to world build a little and give us a way to see what’s going on behind the masks that the players couldn’t see as much on their end.
@@AaronJIMusic yeah, that’s kind of the point.
I love that subplot. Because it shows that even though the organization's security is tough, it's not invincible. Because if a lone detective and handful of organ smugglers can get inside their ranks, what more can a man with vendetta and lots of money can do. Granted Gi-hun is not as smart as Sang Woo, and I still think Front Man is the key to bringing the whole thing down, Gi-hun would at least be the spark to start the whole thing off
It was pretty much just Suraj, who constantly gets things wrong lol
This dude also said it was coincidence that the cop's brother was the frontman, when he was revealed, this guy doesn't know what words mean lol
He definitely spilled the water bottle on himself to pretend that he peed himself to make sure he repelled people from teaming with him because then he could just pretend he died and gone to join the rest of the vips
Yep, he would been the one left out of the marble game instead of the crazy lady, if Gi-han didn't pair up with him. lol
They’re too busy looking for social commentary to watch the show. Not everything is an allegory. Jesus I would hate to watch their LotR videos because Tolkien hated allegory and I’m sure they’re just throwing out guesses for what each person means, when they’re just a character in a story. They represent themselves, as a character. Not everything is Edgar Allen Poe
@@mrdavman13 And they still miss blatantly obvious shit like the cop investigating the island because he was searvhing for his brother in the first place. Or that sang woo was looking out only for himself since he was withholding information in the honeycomb game.
@@raec5426 And that’s why they kept her alive
A guy who loves Lost, says this show has too many coincidences.. okay.. 😀
😂😂😂
Didnt thought of that 🤣
The end discussion looks like a lot of the Normies couldn't understand the story and accept that the twist proved them wrong about Oh Il-nam, that they decided to negatively criticize the ending to downplay the series' quality as a whole to save face and not look dumb.
Fr lol I thought old man was creepy when he was laughing in red light green light game while everyone was dying
@Macho Manstud so youre a leftist then? by judging these people without knowing them personally?
I get being "salty" about the twist, they'll get over that when they think about it more. But the discussion about Gi-hun turning around is even more ridiculous. If he went on the plane it would make no sense for him character wise and go against how he has been built up throughout the story. That's where I think it shows they couldn't understand the story, more than the reaction to the old man.
They’re always pretty stupid though.
@@Loedelio And so is the OC apparently
Against Chris' point that Gi-Hun can see his daughter and then come back, remember that since he saw the recruiter again, it means the games are about to begin again and they last for what, a week? 2 tops? That's another 500 people's lives while he's in the US. Also I don't see why Suraj has to suspend his disbelief about the cop's brother given that he was only looking into the games specifically bc his brother was missing. Sure running into Gi-hun was a coincidence that led him to the location, but for the rest of the games the cop is undercover solo, and at that point you can even argue that it's hard to believe he ran into Sae-byeok before the games started or that his childhood friend happened to join the games too. When it comes to ppl just knowing each other or seeing each other, especially in TV, that's just pretty standard. It's a small world. That's just my take. Great reaction nonetheless!
They don't have the mental capacity to understand that, sadly.
The recruiter was working a specific area. Makes sense that Gihun would see someone in his neighborhood. Poor folks live in poor areas.
The twist with the host was seen coming by a lot of viewers. It wasn't just out of the air. There were plenty of clues. Same with the brother.
Point is their cheap twists that don’t really add anything to the plot
the way I see it, 001's character reflects how elderly people are both shunned and cast aside in society (reflected how no one wanted to be on a team or paired with an old man) BUT also it can be old people who are the most detatched from irl issues either because they have been able to make so much money OR even if they haven't, don't have much longer to live, so it's easier to not feel as bad about subjecting people to harm for selfish reasons. I didn't feel like the twist cheapened his character at all, since it is an interesting real life contradiction. Il-nam got to witness how other people treated him cruelly for his age and health during the game, but still continued with everything
I've heard people say that all time, about rich people getting bored because they have too much money, it's f***ed up, but sometimes those people prefer to not go and help others because they think that us the poor ones don't deserve money unless we go out there and work our butts off and basically sell our lives and souls, I see the show as a metaphor for that
The only thing that bugged me about the Frontman was all he had to do was tell his family he was on vacation for a week and his brother wouldn’t be involved at all.
"I'm so happy, he is rich!" ...
This dude is the clear example why this show exists.
Why? He got somethin that could help he and his friends families (despite at a cost). I dont think theres an inherent problem with being happy about that
@@dopeanimemind7049 That's the thing that bothers me with some viewers, what you said, "he could get something that could help him and his friends families at all cost" they dislike Sang woo because he eliminated some members (that's what at all cost means) I mean he even had to finish the squid game himself. He played the game perfectly
@@ethelann yeah. those people just don't understand this show's theme.
and they just "you got the money! go to your daughter" god..so stupid.
@새벽 @새벽 You said one of the normies said they were happy for him being rich that's what i was responding to. Also, he needed money to get to his daughter when she moved to America. Then he had money to help tha Mom and Brother of his friends. Without that money they would also be in the same situation. Nothing would've changed if they hadn't played tha game. His mom would've still died because he would have been in tha same situation. They were barely surviving to begin with. I don't think many people realize how dark and deadly being in that much debt can bring.
@@jeremyrobot true
If every single question was given a definitive answer, there wouldn't be the same discussions and sharing of theories between fans that happens now. Sometimes leaving a story open ended is the best thing you can do for a fanbase.
Thank you!! Everyone feel like every show/movie has to give them all the answers. That to me gets so boring.
@@BangTanPrettiNikki Eh, the whole cop arc thing and front man I think is not something you can leave open ended like that. It spent more of the series developing and it didn't really get anywhere, nor did it make more sense as it went along. You can leave a moral question open, but not a "How does this make sense and relate to the story you have been trying to tell us in the first place" question. There's not enough information to deduce anything concrete to theorize about, except crazy wild theories with no substance or foundation.
Nah, open endings are garbage. The fuck did I watch a series for if I can't get any answers?
I agree, but the problem with open endings is that they can be very lazy at times. What if the reason some of the mysteries weren't explained was because the writer himself doesn't know the answer? What if they're just mysteries for the sake of mysteries? There's also not enough information to theorize in regards to the cop's brother, the front man, so it's pretty hard to speculate anyway.
I think Inception does it best tbh. There's only really one main mystery at the end, and regardless of what actually happened, the main meat of the story remains intact, so the solution to the mystery doesn't actually impact the story too heavily.
@새벽 It's not about thinking, it's about being lazy. When people give open endings, that usually signals to me that the writer couldn't come up with the answers himself so he decided to "leave it to the imagination". FOH with that nonsense.
I don't think the show is perfect, but I'm happy-ish with the ending, the boring answer that it's just "rich people bored" works for me. But goddamn I want my tears back from that old man
I'm happy with the ending, seems like season 2 will be about him trying to end the Squid Games once and for all.
I like how your last sentence is a great lesson in life of how we should be careful who we let in, and also be careful how we treat them once we do.
@@Raffalius This^. I'm thinking that Gi Hun and the detective are going to team up in season 2 to end the Games
@@Raffalius i can see him partnering up with the detective in season 2, he was only shot in shoulder hes problay alive.
I mean, the entire show is a critique of capitalism. If the games were made for a reason that actually made logical sense, that would go against the whole message the show is trying to tell you.
Lol Suraj seems to get in complete denial whenever the mastermind is revealed of the show. Last time it was Tobi revealing to be “Madara” during epic turning around and unavailing sharingan. And now in this show with the old man. Denial to the very end.
26:27 Actually, no. If the dude was already recruiting, the game was starting in just days. Not enough to go on a trip to America and play with your kid and then race back to try to infiltrate some Eyes Wide Shut game with the preparations necessary to get the revenge you want and come out alive.
Good call
I think they misunderstood and thought he wanted to play the game again that's why they were like go be with your daughter the game will be waiting for you when you get back..
@@BhBc8f8 There's a lot of people with this misunderstanding. While one could do a character analysis that Gi-Hun is still an addict to the thrill of winning in the abstracted sense, it doesn't mean that he's consciously just rejoining the game to play/win it. He's very clearly *intending* to *end* this whole thing, even if he has no clue how (unless a future season retcons in some secret planning, which I hope they don't do unless it is through genius writing).
He pulled a Naruto by stoping the knife with the palm of his hand
Whole fight was naruto, the rain, their relation and personality, the muddy floor, the rain...
Idk if he could have waited and gone to see his daughter first. I think that year’s Squid Game was about to start, if he wants to stop it he kind of has to leave.
Normies “where are the answers ! “ It’s the first season…. Relax. You got answers for attack on titan Season 3 episode 20. Jesus . Everyone just wants all questions answered, no mystery, no theory crafting.
Omg you just reminded me of the constant anticipation of waiting for answers in AOT
Honestly if someone said “get on the plane”, I wouldn’t either not to hunt them down but damn I’d be thinking they’re going to make the plane crash lmao
I knew that the old man was involved when the Front Man stopped the night fight and when the detective went through the list of players and the old man wasn’t in it. I thought it was pretty obvious. At the same time I thought the dementia and brain tumor was real so my theory was that he was the Front Man’s father and he created this game for his father to remember his childhood before he died. It didn’t take away the emotional turmoil for me because it was real to Gi-hun.
Just makes it more perverse. It adds another layer it does not take it away.
My parent's suspected him since the beginning.....I was completely fooled....LOL
I really liked the ending tbh. It was consistent to the rest of the show. I liked Gi Huns ending as well
No ending was bad
"well that was a mindfuck" is the best description for this show
The fact that they actually think that the sole reason il-nam did what he did was because he was bored, shows that they were not listening
Yeah it’s pretty sad. I respect their opinions and don’t want to be rude but I couldn’t agree more that they missed a lot of meaning behind the characters actions.
I mean that was his ultimate reason but you can't really justify genocide
I mean regardless of reason, that's some psychotic shit. But still disappointed that they didn't pick up on it
@새벽 yeah plz expand
I love how Sang-Woo's mom sometimes treat Gi-Hun like a child he was used to be. It's heart-breaking how she doesn't know that her son died in a game.
Everyone watching the show is disgusted by the VIPs, and rightfully so. But we never realize how easily a different perspective and a different set of circumstances can make us suddenly feel entitled and can put us in the role of a VIP, without us even noticing or having reservations about it. In the scene with Il-nam, Gi-hun, who obviously isn't a fan of the games, doesn't even consider helping the homeless man himself. Chris touched on that in the reaction. Instead he's literally betting on the man's life with Il-nam. In an instance, the life of a human being is degraded to something that you're entitled to play with, sonething you can use to prove some kind of point to someone else. Gi-hun has become a VIP, Il-nam has won the game.
Old man was right he never forced anyone to join the game
19:22 Yes marketta there’s no other reason then sheer boredom idk what you expected but there isn’t some evil supreme being with a master plan that’s gonna give you the answer you’re looking for lmao
We live in a world where billionaires would rather go to space for a few hours than help out during a pandemic. Having crazy bored rich people is not an impossible scenario lol.
@@Adriangabs exactlyyyy
@@Adriangabs THIS
I really like him going back. The entire show he was ALWAYS seen prioritizing other people and the wellbeing of others. He can see his daughter anytime, another 500 people are about to be slaughtered in like, three days. He doesn’t want those people to go through what he went too.
Chris after episode 6: "I'm getting a 001 tattoo right after this"
Chris after episode 9: "You gooooot plaaayed, fools"
moment when you know that it's grandpa's game not squid game😂
Funny thing is that I never trusted 001 from the get go until he "died" in episode 6. That' s how they got me
I swear, sometimes you guys seem hopeless with you strange ass takes. 9 episodes with these characters, and you still can't get their personalities and motivations right. The ending made sense based on what we've seen, I hate it when you start criticising a show when you haven't made the effort to understand what they are building up to and what they've been showing you. How can you not grasp your main character's crucial flaw by the finale? He has a good heart, that's why he's likable, but that's also the reason he can't let things go, he has too much "fight the power" in him. He fucked his life up once because of it, and despite that he's willing to do it again for a chance to stop the games.
You can have a different opinion on what's "right" I guess. But being completely dismissive of his choice is just... well dumb. It's like we've been watching different stories.
I love the normies but they super missed the mark on this series
@@bigpictureguys8415 It happens, the reactions were still entertaining. I just thought they'd put a little more thought for the discussion, instead of outright being dismissive.
As soon as I finished the series I had a feeling they're going to have a bad take about the ending. It's not even clear if Gi-hun will actually be successful in bringing the organization down, if anything it might be down to Front Man himself because of his guilt. But Gi-hun might at least be the spark to start the whole thing off.
So many versions of "why isn't Gi-Hun being coldly rational and just going to live his life? Why is he risking everything? It doesn't make sense."
Idiots saying this after the show spends the entire season showing us that Gi-Hun always looks out for those he considers weaker and isn't able to turn away someone in need, from his days on the picket line to how he looked after the old man all the way up to offering to spare Sang-Woo when the coldly rational thing would be to win the game.
They're too busy trying to guess what's gonna happen. Always the same thing...
I do believe that Il Nam peed himself for real tho. I do believe he was genuinely scared because he didn't know what was going on in that moment and yeah he was basically dying and had the tumor already in his head but he still was the host of the game. He still knew what games were to be played but in that instance he just didn't know what was goin on because it just wasn't scripted. The sirens started ringing because of the cop that was literally playing Among us with the rest of the staff and that was something no one could have predicted.
A little explanation on Gihun's mom dying and the title of the episode;
One lucky day(운수 좋은 날) is a title of famous Korean novel written by Jingeon Hyun. A story about one guy who cannot catch a break and struggling with his poverty but one day, suddenly everything works out for him and he was in such a good mood till he came back home only to find that his wife was dead from her long illness. He mumbles to her crying, "I brought home food, why can't you open your eyes..."
Thanks for the info!
Y’all can’t say out of no where there were a lot of hints and other channels actually caught on to it since episode 6 like roshi
I mean if you look closely yeah there was some hints but that doesn’t mean it was a good twist very unnecessary in my opinion.
@@isaiahcox9787 I don't think the Old Man being a player was unnecessary tbh, if anything it made sense lol, no way would any normal old man with a fucking brain tumour live that long in the game, that would make less sense. But with him being the game master it explains why he managed to live that long lol.
At the end of the day, it's a TV show they would need a twist ending to surprise viewers and then they would obviously leave a lot unexplained to make S2 seems more appealing just to get answers, pretty standard.
Still a solid series imo, though nothing unique enough for me to be mind blown. The set design and acting carried the show for me, still solid overall though.
@@AlexRight If you look at the acting performances, music and video work done, the sets...it's pretty worthy of awe even if it can't be said that it blows minds. (Although, for many it did, that's just fact.)
@@isaiahcox9787 so what have you prefered the host stayed unknown ? or be some random person we never got to see ? the old man being the host its fine. and the twist was ok
@@25thRev I don’t think we needed a main host we could’ve just had the front man and the VIPs running the game
Everyone please remember The Normies are entitled to their opinions. They're absolutely 100 % wrong as usual but they have their right to that.
This comment is so true lol. They themselves fell victims of the shows purpose being happy for Gi-Hun’s newfound wealth is so ironic considering the shows focus is on the failure of money in bringing about happiness. Also they’re the first ones to have a problem with the ending when it almost perfectly encapsulates his character growth. But yeah it’s still their thoughts.
All The Normies were watching also like the VIP’s, for fun. They were excited just like the VIPs. We all were just like the VIPs, anonymously watching from our own couches.
Clearly you don’t know the difference between fiction and reality...
The title "One Lucky Day(운수 좋은 날)" is a reference to a famous Korean novel of the same title. In the novel the main protagonist is a down on luck individual who lives with his sick wife and infant daughter working as a rickshaw rider. He had such a bad luck as of late but at the time of the story he has an unbelievable luck having multiple well-paying customers. He spends extra hours working instead of coming home early(which his wife pleaded him to). So he comes home late with his wife's favorite meal only to find out that she passed away. The realization that he could have spent the time with the last moment of his wife is what makes the novel a classic tragedy in Korea.
Squid Game's ending is an obvious homage to the novel.
I didn’t like the twist in my first watch but I’m fine with it now. I just realized I was just salty for crying over his farewell scene in episode 6. it hit me, I felt betrayed
It may not be the best twist, but i think it makes perfect sense. But there are a lot of things they will need to clarify in Season 2.
@@PuffySofty like what?
I really, REALLY dislike the twist. For me it was obvious, unneeded and heavily took away from the impact of ep 6
@@PuffySofty I hope it’s a one season series tbh season 2 would feels weird and it would be extremely hard to be as good as season 1
@@jakew6076 that's the whole idea, this show is so good at playing with viewer's emotions that they felt so betrayed just like Gi-hun was.
I may be in the minority, but I really like the ending. I like both answered and unanswered questions for an ending because that's life. Unanswered questions, and the characters actions at the end create thought, and debate. I think the red hair is symbolic of his anger, and I have to admit - I had doubts about the old man from the beginning, and I caught some (not all) of the hints he was in on it - so no broken heart for me, just a feeling of happy confirmation. Just found your channel and subscribed, really enjoyed all of your reactions. 😄
I don't think you're in the minority actually, I think it was a pretty good ending.
Nah it was bad
In my opinion, the ending is perfect assuming there will be a season 2.
Wow these are some rough takes at the end. They did miss some key moments throughout imo with talking to each other. It happens though. I get it.
It happens but it’s disappointing. They really missed the point multiple times
You don’t watch a Normie reaction expecting intelligent analysis.
@@VDA19 I could not disagree more.
it confused me when most of them said they'd do what sang woo did but then commended the girl for sacrificing herself for 067
@@lalalarose8197 Squid Game isn't intelligent stuff anyways.
Gi-hun's hair symbolizes the internal anger and rage he has after the game. Also, Gi-hun wouldn't of had enough time to go to America and spend time with his daughter as well as go to the games and stop them. They were already in a recruitment phase for the next game, if you remember from episode one, the games only started a few days after recruitment.
Il-nam was on the same playing field as all the other contestants the entire time, that's why he backed out during the marbles though was because it was the last round where he actually could compete with a chance. If he moved during Red Light Green Light then he gets shot, if he doesn't finish the shape then he gets shot, if he gets pulled off the ledge in tug-of-war then he falls to death. Il-nam was a complete player like all the other players, so he could have been killed at any given time. Marbles was simply as far as he planned to go, so if he made it that far then that would be his exit.
BTW, all of the games were on the walls of the bunks, so every single player had access to what all of the games were ahead of time.
"He has billions of dollars" - nine episodes in and you STILL haven't looked up the conversion rate?
they have looked it up. probably forgot it
dont forget he gave away half of it or how ever much a giant suitcase can hold
@@furydeath you think 15 million usd can fit in a suitcase?
@@hypnogri5457 how many 1000 bill can you fit in a suitcase
@@furydeath highest won bills have 50000 won. About 40$.
Gi-hun was like" dont tell me to get on the fucking plane."
Gi-hun doesn't have enough time to go see his daughter. They're already recruiting for the next game, which means that they could be starting any day now. Not much time passed between Gi-hun getting recruiting and the games starting. If he goes to America to visit his daughter, hundreds of people could be dead.
Viewers seeing the old man alive
Thor to loki be like:
'I saw you died, I mourn, I cried for you'
Suraj doesn't know what a coincidence is..
The squid game is a philosophical content...
No
16:01 "It was his game, Seong Gi-hun! *He was Number 1* !"
The thing with the ending is, that’s totally in character. He is a gambler, he‘s taking risks (and regrets them later on but doesn’t learn from them) and the most important, he doesn‘t think things through.
During the cookie game his explanation for example was not tactical or strategic. He chose the umbrella (the hardest shape on the cookies) because of a fond memory of his childhood. He is fighting for his life and instead of planing and thinking strategically he is just making a decision. It‘s totally in character that he doesn‘t think about the future, the consequences of his decisions and what he has to loose. Him flying to America would have been a nice sweet father daughter ending, but also the most unnatural ending.
Exactly, he even cancelled his mother's health insurance to use the money because he likely assumed that she's going to be fine and won't need it for a while. He's very impulsive.
Also, the fact that his daughter was living in the US means she's okay living with her new life there. Because if she was miserable living with her stepdad, why didn't she tell Gi-hun that she's leaving? She could've said "I don't want to go, please do something, Dad!", not that there's anything she can do about it anyway. Sure maybe Gi-hun was just about to start to try to claim custody of her daughter but in the end does she even want to be him again?
I'm sure she loves Gi-hun but maybe she's just being nice to him because she's her real father but she's also fully aware that he is a mess of a person that can't get his life together before.
Gi-hun never saw VIPs. So maybe he thought the game is over after Il-nam died.
That's why he came back to his normal life leaving all the guilty feeling.
But when he saw the salesman at the station and witnessed the game is still running, he had to do come back to take the game down.
people too used to Hollywood fary tales won't be happy with this ending ? FUCKING GREAT !
This show is about what humanity is, not about what it should be
I feel like Il-Nam is related to Gi-Hun in some way. Maybe it’s their father and son because there were a couple of hints during the first and second to last episode.
I tend to enjoy your reactions a lot but I might just skip the discussions from now on. Your opinions are your opinions but I guess I just expected a bit more insightful reading of the show, especially since it was full of such smart and purposeful writing.
Smart and purposeful writing? This show is very basic and easy to understand. Writing is also pretty bad, especially in the last 3 episodes
@@derekmeade1741 you’re like responding to every comment just to let everyone know how much you hate the show but here you go watching reactions for it
I usually skip the end discussions tbh. I like their reactions but their views are often not deep enough for me to sit through 10 or 20 minutes of discussion. If I am curious about their opinion on a specific thing, i usually just set the discussion part to 1.75
go cry a river. Imagine not handling people's opinions.
@@Drake00000010 imagine getting incensed over the most benign criticism of public-facing people, good lord
The old guy wouldn't have died in any of the games. First game the doll wasn't scanning him so it wouldn't shoot him. In tug of war everyone was chained to the rope but the old man was only chained to his hands not the rope.
The fact that they saying why Gi-hun going back and not see the daughter, proving they didn't understand his Character at all...
Sorry that some people like character growth, which he had zero of in the end.
Agreed..... Gi-hun is like Walter White if he had a soul, lol
And the others in the comment section.
ok, yes people say he should go on the plane, but, if you heard that, and realized that their keeping tabs on you at all times, would you want them to know where your daughter lives? (granted the possibility of his phone being tapped already)
Also, i agree with everyone saying that it goes with his character, because it seems like he has a bit of a complex about it and definately PTSD.
Hopefully inf theres a second season he *might* find Joon-ho and team up with him?
Who knows.
I thought the red hair looked stupid, but it works as a symbol for Gihun becoming the aggressor like the people dressed in red. Red seems to represent the proactive and green represents the passive in society.
He wants revenge because he couldn't be there when his mother died. His daughter is in better hands. So there is your simple answer 😂
What if 001 represents the first person to start all this and 456 represents being the one to end it?
I hope so..
Going into the plane would be out of Gi-hun's character. An ending like that would be weird if one would actually think about it.
Why am I not surprised at their reaction?!? Lmao. Reading the comments, seems a few people are a bit pissed off at them.
It’s so easy to say “Well if it was me I would…” how you gonna criticize how a character deals and handles the situation sitting on a couch? 🤔
that's why it's so annoying every time someone goes "Hell yeah, I would've done the same thing as Sang Woo did". I sincerely doubt any of them would be like that if they were actually there
@@Adriangabs They never would have done the same thing as Sang Woo. He was intelligent and was very quick to analyze things on the spot. I doubt most of the reactors are even capable of going past 2nd round.
@@kgpgotenks Not even the first game, they don't feel the panic of being in that situation because they're just watching. Hell, even Sang Woo got lucky in Game 2. If it wasn't for him overhearing Sae-byeok and her actually sneaking around trying to figure out what was going on I doubt even he could've deduced in time that they're gonna play Dalgona
That is very true. We, the audience, don't really understand every single thing about the characters' backgrounds. Even though the show showed us how poor they are. Some characters in this game probably don't even have their own chair to sit in.
I love how complex these antagonists are.
Guys, this is the first show I’ve watched along with you as it happened and I want to thank you for sharing it with me. It was great to hear other opinions and theories, and even better to hear people agree with my thoughts and guesses. I hope to watch another show with you all!
Also, thanks for posting this almost every day! I watched one a day so it was perfect to keep up with me.
I really hope that Blind Wave understands Gi-Hun's final decision when they get to the final episode of the show instead of trashing it and taking it at face value.
😂 we’ll see. The Normies are the only ones I’ve seen so far who hadn’t really picked up on that we didn’t see Il-Nam’s body. They miss things ALOT. Character analyzation isn’t a strong suit among them.
is there any reactors who understand gi-hun's decision? if you know gave me link plz? i really need right now. i'm so disappointed..geez.
@@jeremyrobot Shawn Cee's commentary and analysis of gi huns decision had me feeling very impressed and was very very thought out imo.
TH-camr who understand the deeper story usually aren't just reactors, they usually do overall review too as a separate videos where they already calmed down and looked further into the stories. While reactors reacts to what's shown at the moments and sometimes with their judgment clouded by emotions.
Almost every reactor has better analysis skills than the Normies lol
I'm unsatisfied with the reasons a crazy old man gives for creating a game where hundreds of people are murdered - The Normies.
Everyone wants him to go spend time with his daughter and live a normal life and don't realize that life ain't ever gonna be normal for him. Like, okay, let me go to the US. Call these Squid Game guys a couple weeks later. Get a message that the number is disconnected. Descend back into his old life. Spend his time in subways looking for the recruiter again. Come on, people. I know it's because they aren't the ones who went through what he had to go through so they think just because he secured the bag now he can be a big shot millionaire now and live it up.
I am willing to bet this is what determined Front Man's involvement with that organization despite winning the prize in 2015. Tried to go back to living normally and couldn't. Then they offered him the chance to be Front Man in 2020's games since it was being hosted in Korea and that's why he went 'missing'.
Old School didn’t actually pee his pants. If you watch the scene, he has an empty water bottle right next to him.
When the cop was looking through the records, they started with number 002. Big hint right there.
Please react to Kingdom!! It's a series about zombies in medieval Korea. I know, it sounds ridiculous, I started watching it thinking I was going to juts have a laugh but I ended up watching one of the best doramas ever!
I second this.