What Happened to In-Ho’s Wife in Squid Game?

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 9, 2025 8 Views 6 Min Read
What Happened to In-Ho's Wife in Squid Game?



Summary

  • The Front Man is Hwang In-Ho, masquerading as Oh Young-il in the 2024 Squid Games.
  • In-ho fabricates a sob story to deceive Gi-hun, concealing ulterior motives.
  • In-ho’s fate echoes Gi-hun’s backstory, highlighting their divergent paths.

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from Squid Game seasons 1 and 2, now streaming on Netflix.

One of Squid Game season 1’s biggest twists occurred in its finale, when player 001, Oh Il-nam (played by O Yeong-su), revealed himself as the mastermind behind the twisted competition. Squid Game season 2 continues this tradition, except player 001 is Oh Young-il, the notorious Front Man in disguise. Like Oh Il-nam, he quickly gains his fellow players’ trust.

The Front Man, whose real name is Hwang In-ho (played by Lee Byung-hun), is undercover cop Jun-ho’s (Wi Ha-joon) stepbrother. Unbeknownst to his stepbrother, In-ho is a former Squid Game winner and future employee of Oh Il-nam. But what led In-Ho to compete in the Squid Games, and why did he stay?

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In-ho Tells Gi-hun a Half-Truth

After Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) coaches his fellow players through Squid Game 2024’s first competition, “Red Light, Green Light,” In-ho inserts himself into the game in disguise to thwart Gi-hun’s efforts. His first interference is granting the deciding vote to continue the game. However, In-ho’s following actions are more manipulative, tugging at the emotions of his fellow players.

In season 2, episode 4, “Six Legs,” In-ho confides in Gi-hun by sharing why he decided to join the games. Under the guise of Oh Young-il, In-ho explains to Gi-hun that his wife is acutely ill due to cirrhosis of the liver. Additionally, she is pregnant with the pair’s child. While doctors recommend she get an abortion, Young-il’s wife is too stubborn to go through with one.

While tirelessly searching for a liver donor, Young-il borrowed money from a former client. Unfortunately, his superiors considered the exchange a bribe and fired him. Thus, joining the Squid Game was his last option.

In-ho’s Wife Already Passed

Viewers who watched Young-il’s monologue (played exquisitely by Byung-hun) may quickly believe his story is true. To some degree, the planted player is being honest. However, those beguiled by In-ho’s story must review two prior scenes from season 2, episode 2, “Halloween Party.”

First, Jun-ho visits a mausoleum while on the phone with his mother. During their conversation, she asks Jun-ho to check for signs that his brother visited. In a later shot, viewers see a close-up of a crypt featuring a black-and-white photo of In-ho and an unknown woman (likely In-ho’s departed wife). The flowers next to the image are withered and dry.

In the following scene, Jun-ho visits his mother, Park Mal-soon, for dinner, and she shares her worries with him. Jun-ho’s mother believes that In-ho wants nothing to do with her and her biological son. She fears In-ho assumes she cares less for him because he’s only her stepson.

Are Park Mal-soon’s fears warranted? Realistically, no. However, she has plenty of reasons to believe her stepson despises her. When Jun-ho was sick, In-ho donated his kidney to him and saved his stepbrother’s life. However, when In-ho’s wife fell ill, there was nothing Park Mal-soon could do to help.

Jun-ho rebuffs his mother’s conclusions. After all, In-ho was a successful cop before his wife fell ill. He did indeed accept bribes from criminals to pay for his wife’s treatments (although he had a clean record prior). These decisions led to his involvement in the Squid Games and subsequent estrangement.

How In-ho’s Fate Mirrors Gi-hun’s

Audience members with sharp memories may recall that In-ho’s backstory parallels Gi-hun’s, albeit with different results. In season 1, Gi-hun joins the Squid Games to raise money for his ailing mother’s diabetes treatment. Unfortunately, his mother passes before he returns home a winner. The same is true for In-ho.

The similarities between Gi-hun and In-ho, two former Squid Game winners who chose drastically different paths, is a significant theme of season 2. In-ho wishes to punish Gi-hun for his compassionate instincts, which results in the tragic results of season 2’s finale. But will the Front Man ultimately succeed? Viewers will have to wait to find out in Squid Game season 3.

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