Creator-writer-directorHwang Dong-hyukcontinues to highlight the dystopian nature of humanity inSquid GameSeason 2 by addinga twist that rings true to life in the real world. The first season is highly regarded for showing just how far greed will lead people to do heinous acts, and how the rich and powerful are more than happy to take advantage of that for their entertainment. As shown by Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su),the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), and the Salesman (Gong Yoo), they find pleasure in watching the less fortunate suffer in their pursuit of a better life. As they all note throughout Seasons 1 and 2, no one is forced to engage in their games. The choice is left entirely up to the players to continue, yetthese people are so down on their luck that they feel like the only option is to competein these games. It’s a chilling perspective that left me questioning ifI would compete in the Squid Game challengesif life dealt me a bad hand.
This theme plays a big part inSquid GameSeason 2’s tournament as the facilitators introduce a mandatory voting system after each challenge that allows players to vote if they want to keep playing more games or leave with an equal share of the prize money. It follows a democratic system where the majority of the votes determine the outcome.InSquid GameSeason 1, only one vote was held to determine if the players wanted to continue or not. The difference is that if they left, no one would get any portion of the prize money. Considering how much nicer the voting system is in Season 2, I had faith that the players would exit the game as soon as possible and leave with the additional cash they earned. I couldn’t have been more wrong, if not more stressed, to see justhow far these contestants were willing to risk their lives for thepotentialof leavingwith a large sum of money.
‘Squid Game’ Season 2’s Voting System Is As Fair As Its Players
In aninterview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Hwang explains what inspired him to introduce this type of voting system inSquid GameSeason 2: “We live in a democratic society, and everyone has their own right to vote, but the dominant side rules. So I also wanted to pose the question:Is the majority always right?” Every voting session inSquid GameSeason 2 had me saying “No” to Hwang’s question (while also yelling at every player who voted to stay). In addition to having this very public vote, the players wore their decisions on their jumpsuits, marked with an “X” for “No” or an “O” for “Yes” so everyone would know how they voted. These essentially painted a target on which players to side with or eliminate. The series shows how villainous people like Choi Su-bong/Thanos (Choi Seung-hyun) will threaten meek contestants to vote in their favor. I had a sense of dread thatat some point the players would start getting violent with each other to sway the votesfor their personal gain, andit unfortunately came true inSquid GameSeason 2, Episode 6.
Even though I had a feeling that the majority would choose to stay rather than leave, each voting session was tense. The shocking part was seeing which players would switch over from “X” to “O”. As expected, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) would always vote “X”, but when his best friend, Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), changed from “X” to “O”,my jaw dropped. He was someone to ground Gi-hun and remind him of the good parts of his past, so to see Jung-bae be swayed by the potential prize money he’d leave with showed me that anyone can be bought for the right price. But I can’t judge him and some of the players for their decisions becausetheir place in society is so low that they’ll face deathin the hopes of a better life.
While it’s frustrating to see the majority of the players willingly choose to keep playing, it’s not surprising for two reasons. First,the games are the big audience draws toSquid Game. Viewers want to see how these children’s games can turn deadly and are excited to see who comes out on top. Netflix wants to spend as much time on this competition as they can. Two, Hwang is holding a mirror to the world and showing howthe loud and more aggressive party uses their skills to sway people to their sideand essentially overpower those who oppose them.
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The Villains Win No Matter How The Players Vote In ‘Squid Game’
While this voting system may be new,the Front Man has been at this long enoughto know that most players want to have the 45.6 billion won for themselves. No matter how much Gi-hun and his like-minded voters attempt to appeal to the other side’s humanity, the “O” voters feel invincible after each game they survive, which made me despise them even more.The Salesman foreshadows this voting concept inSquid GameSeason 2, Episode 1,when he conducts a low-stakes social experiment with homeless people. He offers them a piece of bread or a lottery ticket. They can only choose one of these options without any chance of taking it back or playing again. When he’s done, he takes all the bread not chosen and stomps on it in front of the homeless people to show that they wasted their chance to have food because they would rather risk a shot of making money. I was curious to learn more about The Salesman after his brief appearances in Season 1, and this was not what I expected. But I completely understand why he’s the one recruiting people for the games. He can read the desperation of people ashe relishes in their suffering.
Even when the Front Man puts on a great performance trying to convince the other players to vote “X,” he knows he’s speaking on deaf ears. He’s not even stressed when the third vote is close to being in favor of the “X” side because he understands how desperate people are. When the guard said that a tie would result in a second vote the next day, I had a feeling that that night would result in an all-out brawl between both sides, similar to Season 1. As stressful as it was to watch these scenes,the voting system was a welcome change to theSquid Gameformat. It allowed Hwang to highlight that just because more people vote one way doesn’t mean that they’re right in their decision. Consideringthe “X” side had more casualties by theSquid GameSeason 2 finale, it doesn’t look like the games are going to be ending anytime soon. But it’ll be interesting to see how many of the “O” side switch their votes as the challenges start winding down and they become content with the prize money they’ll walk away with.I’m curious to see what contingencies the Front Man hasto make sure the games go on until there’s only one winner. I couldn’t be more excited forSquid GameSeason 3.
Squid GameSeasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Netflix.
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Squid Game
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children’s games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes: a survival game that has a whopping 45.6 billion-won prize at stake.
