It’s been three long years since Squid Game first premiered on Netflix to become the streamer’s most-watched TV series, ever. The Korean-language drama was an unexpected cultural phenomenon, drawing one in four Americans into its tale of deadly competition.
That being said, you would be forgiven for not remembering all of what happened in Season 1 ahead of the second season, which begins streaming on Dec. 26. For those who are a bit fuzzy on where we left protagonist Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) is, and the basic rules of the titular game, here is a recap with everything you need to know heading into Season 2.
What to remember about the protagonist Gi-hun, aka Player 456
While Squid Game is an ensemble drama, the story thus far has centered around Seong Gi-hun, aka Player 456. When we meet Gi-hun in Season 1, he is an affable deadbeat dad who has to borrow money from his elderly mom to take his daughter out for her birthday. While he struggles with a gambling addiction and the debt he has accumulated as a result, he is a good guy who tries his best to be there for his mom, daughter, and friends—but he often fails. When Gi-hun is approached by The Recruiter (The Trunk’s Gong Yoo) to take part in a game with the chance to win billions of won, he sees it as an opportunity to finally set his life right.
What is the Squid Game?
The Squid Game competition is a six-round competition that pits hundreds of contestants against one another in a series of simple children’s games—all for a 45.6 billion won prize (about $32.45 million, at the time of this writing). If the players win, they continue onto the next round. If they lose, they die. The game takes place annually and is implied to be held in various places around the world. Gi-hun’s Season 1 experience is the 33rd Squid Game.
Who are the Squid Game pink suit workers?
The games are held in a massive compound on a deserted island somewhere off of the Korean peninsula. They are an elaborate operation that requires bringing in workers as well as contestants. Workers wear pink jumpsuits with masks that conceal both their identity and their status as a worker.From lowest to highest tier: Circles are maintenance workers. Triangles are soldiers. Squares are managers. Some of the workers have a side hustle, harvesting the organs from deceased or dying contestants for sale on the black market.
Who is the Front Man, aka Hwang In-ho?
The Front Man oversees all of the Squid Game workers, making sure everything runs smoothly in what is essentially a series of massacres. He also plays host to the rich men who come to watch the game in person, betting on the outcomes.
The Front Man begins the series as a mysterious figure, but we eventually learn he is the winner of the 28th Squid Game which took place in 2015. After winning, he was recruited to become a part of the operation. His name is Hwang In-ho, and he is the brother of Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon).
Who is detective Hwang Jun-ho?
Jun-ho is a good-natured and determined detective who spends Season 1 looking for his missing brother, In-ho. When Jun-ho discovers In-ho was a competitor in the mysterious game, he goes undercover as a worker to find out more.
Jun-ho is horrified by what he finds, and manages to escape from the Squid Game compound with evidence of the horrific competition. Ironically, this is what allows a reunion with his brother, who hunts him down as the Front Man. When Jun-ho refuses to surrender to his brother, In-ho shoots him, and Jun-ho falls off a cliff, seemingly to his death. However, as promo for Season 2 has shown, Jun-ho survived and will be back.
Read more: Behind the High-Stakes Creation of Squid Game 2
Who runs the games?
The Squid Game was created by a group of uber rich, bored friends, probably around 1988. This group included Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su), an older Korean man who pretended to be a contestant alongside Gi-hun and the others in Season 1. Gi-hun befriends Il-nam, and grieves when the old man loses a round. Later, he discovers Il-nam did not die in the game because he controls the game.
While Il-nam dies from a brain tumor in the Season 1 finale, some of his Squid Game co-creators are presumably still alive. Whoever the people pulling the strings are, the Front Man usually acts as their in-person representative.
How does Squid Game Season 1 end?
When Gi-hun returns home after winning the Squid Game in the Season 1 finale, he finds his mother, who suffers from diabetes, dead. A year later, Il-nam, who is on his deathbed, contacts Gi-hun, asking to meet. Gi-hun has a chance to confront the man he thought had been his friend, but Il-nam shows no remorse for having created the game, as he sees humans as inherently selfish and unworthy. They make a bet about the inherent goodness of humanity, which Il-nam loses, dying moments later.
The experience spurs a lethargic Gi-hun into action. He remembers the promises he made to two of his fellow contestants: Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon), a North Korean defector who left behind her little brother, and Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), Gi-hun’s neighborhood friend who left behind his mother. Gi-hun drops off Sae-byeok’s brother with Sang-woo’s mom, and leaves them half of his prize money.
Then, Gi-hun makes plans to visit his daughter in Los Angeles. However, on his way to the airport to visit his daughter in the U.S., he spots The Recruiter playing ddjaki with someone in a Seoul subway station. While The Recruiter evades him, Gi-hun manages to snatch the Squid Game calling card from the would-be contestant.
Gi-hun continues to the airport but, as he is walking down the skybridge to board the plane, he changes his mind. He turns back towards Seoul, and back toward the Squid Game. He calls the number on the card and tells whoever picks up: “Listen carefully. I’m not a horse. I’m a person. That’s why I want to know who you people are, and how you can do these horrible things to people … It wasn’t a dream. I can’t forgive you for everything you’re doing.” This is where Squid Game Season 2 picks up.
