Squid Game Season 2 Star Initially Questioned The ‘Bold’ Cliffhanger Ending

Squid Game fans were surprised by the way the second season ended. It turned out that one of the stars felt the same and they initially wondered why the creator ended it with a major cliffhanger.

Squid Game Season 2 finally arrived a day after Christmas on Netflix. Fans who had been waiting for the second season for three years did not wait long to watch the continuation of Seong Gi-hun’s (Lee Jung-Jae) adventures in the deadly tournament. However, there were mixed opinions about its ending because many felt it ended abruptly. They also realized it was shorter than the first season because it only had seven episodes. One of the lead stars shared their reaction and they somewhat predicted how the ending would impact the audience.

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Jung-jae, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk and other cast members sat down for an interview with Entertainment Weekly about Squid Game Season 2. Dong-hyuk explained why he ended the second season after episode 7 when Gi-hun had seemingly lost everything, including his best friend Jung-bae (Lee See-hwan), in his desire to end the fatal game. Jung-jae admitted that he was as surprised as everyone when he learned how the director decided to end Season 2. “My first reaction was, ‘how could you end the season at that point?'” Jung-jae shared. “I think the audience would be dying to know what’s going to happen next and some may be very angry, actually. Some may even curse that it’s ending on such a cliffhanger. But I realized that a lot of people nowadays actually love bold cliffhangers.” Seo-hwan, who first appeared in Season 1 as Gi-hun’s pal, Jung-bae, and reprised his role in the second season, but died in the finale, approved of the ending. “I actually really, really love that cliffhanger ending,” Seo-hwan said while laughing.

Dong-hyuk had a good reason for ending Season 2 in such a way. Apparently, he wanted to leave an impression so fans would want more. And that’s precisely the case because those who watched Squid Game Season 2 couldn’t wait for the third and final season. “I thought that that would be just the right moment to end the story,” Dong-hyuk told EW. “Of course, those watching would feel like, ‘Oh, no. What’s going to happen next? Give us the next episode right now.'” Aside from that, the director felt that it was “the best place to end the season” because, at that point, Gi-hun lost everything — the rebellion he started and his close friend. So, his character will go through a “transition” that fans will witness in Season 3.

Fans had mixed emotions when they realized that Squid Game Season 2 ended after just seven episodes with the Front Man shooting Jung-bae in front of Gi-hun to show the latter the consequences of what he called Gi-hun’s “little game.” Many were shocked that the series ended abruptly because they thought there were more episodes since the first season had nine episodes. Several were also having difficulty moving on from the sight of Gi-hun grieving the death of his pal, who had been his trusted partner for the entire season.

Dong-hyuk succeeded in getting the audience’s attention with how he ended the second season. With the lead character facing major losses, many can’t wait to see what will happen next to Gi-hun. How will he retaliate, and what will he feel if he realizes later on that the Front Man who shot his best friend is also Player 001, who has been part of their close circle in the tournament? There are many lingering questions after Season 2 ended and hopefully, Squid Game Season 3 will answer all of them.

Squid Game Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix and Season 3 will be released this year.

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Source: Entertainment Weekly