Squid Game Creator Explains Why Gi-hun Didn’t Board The Plane

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Squid Game.

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk explains why Gi-hun didn’t get on the plane in the finale. In addition to creating the series, Hwang serves as the writer and director of the South Korean survival series. It follows a group of characters that are deeply in deb  as they are enticed by a mysterious organization into playing deadly variations on children’s games for a considerable cash prize. Squid Game stars Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, Jung Ho-yeon, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung, alongside a number of actors from the South Korean scene.

Since premiering on Netflix in September, Squid Game has become Netflix’s most popular show. With that popularity, a number of questions have popped up about the thriller and its potential future. In the finale, after winning the game and having a chance to start fresh in America, Gi-hun (Lee) decides to stay back in Seoul with the goal of exposing the mysterious organization behind the titular competition.

In an interview with THR, Hwang spoke about the origins of Squid Game, the potential for season 2, and the show’s real-life inspirations. In particular, as it related to the thriller’s ambiguous conclusion and the question of why Gi-hun didn’t get on the plane in the finale, the creator said that the decision isn’t necessarily about the character going back to get revenge. As expressed by Hwang, the closing scene could represent Gi-hun’s desire to face the system rather than go back to being one member of a competitive society. Hwang’s full quote is included below.

It’s true that season one ended in an open-ended way, but I actually thought that this could be good closure for the whole story too. season one ends with Gi-hun turning back and not getting on the plane to the States. And that was, in fact, my way of communicating the message that you should not be dragged along by the competitive flow of society, but that you should start thinking about who has created the whole system — and whether there is some potential for you to turn back and face it. So it’s not necessarily Gi-hun turning back to get revenge. It could actually be interpreted as him making a very on the spot eye contact with what is truly going on in the bigger picture. So I thought that might be a good simple, but ambiguous, way to end the story for Gi-hun.

The last moments of Squid Game are set up by several scenes in “One Lucky Day.” It’s most evident during his final confrontation with Il-nam (The Old Man). In that hospital room, as the two make a bet to see if kindness and humanity outweigh more selfish and villainous instincts, Gi-hun is desperate to prove The Old Man wrong. He’s desperate, in other words, to prove something to one of the architects of such a cruel and fatal competition. And though he might have gotten on his flight to the U.S., Gi-hun’s perspective shifts when he sees The Recruiter again. It’s a harsh reminder that the games will continue and that others will suffer and die for no other reason than the fact they struggle financially.

It is, in a sense, an optimistic ending. While there have been some complaints from viewers that Squid Game would be better as a standalone series, and without a finale that leaves the door open for season 2, it would have been bleak if Gi-hun got on the plane. By the time he wins, the character is a shell of his former self. He’s quiet, dejected, and aimless. Refusing to return to society is hopeful in its own way.

Source: THR

About The Author

Abdullah Al-Ghamdi
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Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019, focusing on movie and television news. In January of the same year, he wrote a 3500+ word piece on why Primo Colón is underrated. He considers it his finest work. When he’s not arguing for the merits of his favorite wrestler, he can be reached at: [email protected].

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