This article contains spoilers for the second season of Squid Game.
A last-minute twist in Squid Game Season 2 might surprise some viewers, but there are a few hints and hints that it’s coming.
The titular deadly playground games of “Squid Game” are as surprising as they are dangerous, but arguably the biggest murderous twist in Season 2 has nothing to do with Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) and the other players. In fact, it doesn’t even happen The most exciting competition on television at all, but during the seafaring B-plot of the show.
The honor for the most surprising kill of the season may go to Captain Park, the seemingly inconspicuous boat captain who assists Gi-hun’s colleagues recurring “Squid Game” character Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) and his squad of Gi-hun’s hired henchmen try unsuccessfully to find the game organizers’ base on the island. In “Squid Game” Season 2 Episode 7 titled “Friend Or Foe,” one of Gi-hun’s mercenaries sees Park tinkering with his tracking drones, and the captain reveals his true nature by stabbing the rented weapon . As it turns out, Park is a villain who has apparently been working with the Squid Game people the entire time.
However, only a particularly attentive observer would have noticed anything strange about the captain at this point. When one of Gi-hun’s men meets the captain and discusses their mission with him, Park makes it clear that he knows far more than he should. Damningly, he actually seems to know Gi-hun’s name during the restaurant meeting – a surefire sign that something is wrong, since Gi-hun isn’t a public figure and tends to keep a low profile when he’s not attending the games . Additionally, Park’s behavior is clearly shady at certain points during the sea mission before the mercenary reveals his cover to viewers – particularly when the drones stop functioning properly.
The characters are just as bad at noticing Park’s shady antics as the viewers
One would expect the mercenary who meets Captain Park to perk up when the guy clearly recognizes his boss. However, Gi-hun obviously didn’t recruit his mercenaries for their gray matter, and the idiot misses the suspicious subtext that Park brings into the conversation. As such, he is seen as a common, shady boatman willing to perform strange tasks for money, which is exactly what the island search team is looking for. This, in turn, allows him to sabotage Jun-ho and the mercenaries’ mission from within.
In fact, Park may be significantly more dangerous than season two suggests. Not only is he skilled enough to easily sabotage the drones in rough seas, but he’s also ruthless enough to skillfully kill the mercenary who catches him in the act in the season finale and throw the poor guy’s body overboard . That’s black ops stuff right there. Furthermore, it is unclear whether he works alone or whether there are other Squid Game agents with whom he keeps in touch. Because of this, Jun-ho’s crew could be in for a fight of their lives “Squid Game” Season 2 …assuming Park doesn’t just take them down one by one.
Captain Park will be a practical antagonist for Jun-ho’s story arc
Much of the Jun-ho storyline in Squid Game Season 2 is separate from the main plot in the game. In Season 1, he sneaks around the island James Bond-style, collecting evidence of the evils that occur during the games. Season 2 takes it even further away from the meat and potatoes of the season, as its plot has no antagonists to fight and has no real connection to this year’s game. In fact, throughout his entire second season he tries to find the more interesting events in the series – which unfortunately makes him a part of the less interesting events by default.
This is where Captain Park comes into play. Although Jun-ho is not yet fully aware of his true nature, the saboteur significantly increases the risk of the island-hopping mission and gives the police officer a real opponent to overcome. Yes, Season 3 will likely see him face off against his frontman stepbrother (Lee Byung-hun) – but honestly? The game organizer is busy with a far more exciting and immediate storyline with Gi-hun, so Jun-ho’s role in the proceedings may prove to be a comparatively brief and disappointing experience. Therefore, Park seems to be a suitably dangerous opponent for Jun-ho to focus on, even if the inevitable step-sibling meeting goes wrong.
“Squid Game” Season 2 is now available to stream on Netflix.
