Squid Game Recap: Inner Circle
Now that we’re more than halfway (!!) through the season, it seems safe to say that we’re working with the POVs of three types of people: the players who are competing in the game, the soldiers/staff who are running the game, and the rescue-team members who are trying to figure out where the hell the game is happening. However, if this show is a group project, then not every storyline is carrying equal weight.
The rescue crew doesn’t do much in this episode. The key takeaway is that Gi-hun’s not getting help any time soon: Jun-ho still can’t convince the police to get involved, and the search can’t immediately continue due to bad weather. I think the only other notable moment is a chat between Woo-seok and Captain Park. For someone who recently accused other people of drunkenly blabbing about this mission, Woo-seok speaks pretty freely over alcohol, especially after Captain Park vaguely says he already has a “rough idea” of what’s going on. I can’t tell whether we’re supposed to side-eye Woo-seok or Captain Park … so to steal Woo-seok’s pun, I’ll just put them in the same boat and not trust either of them.
What’s happening with the workers is more interesting to me. Once again, a group of soldiers has an organ-selling side hustle. They’re intentionally not shooting to kill because the external doctor they’ve hired says corpses aren’t as viable. So when No-eul makes sure to finish players off, she knows she’s saving them from live organ harvesting. Even when a masked officer who’s in on the scheme (and who gave her this job) tells her to stop, she refuses. We learn that she singlehandedly took out an entire pursuit unit when defecting from North Korea, so maybe she just doesn’t fear retaliation. The officer says these people are going to die; why not use their bodies to save others? No-eul disagrees, but her own explanation for why she’s here — these people are feeling hopeless, so I’m putting them out of their misery — doesn’t exactly impress me with its consideration for player agency, either. While I do think we’ve gotten a more nuanced understanding of No-eul’s actions, I can’t see her as any sort of #girlboss as long as she’s still putting bullets through this many people’s heads. Sorry!
As for our players, the X and O badges serve as a helpful visual reminder of their division. But since the second game is happening either way, everyone is united in wanting to survive. To Jeong-dae’s irritation, Gi-hun doesn’t want to gatekeep any of his intel and give anyone a competitive advantage. He’s trying to keep the body count (and, as a result, everyone’s individual cut of prize money) as low as possible.
Gi-hun wants people to trust that, as a former winner, he’s most qualified to make an informed decision about what it’s like to play this game and whether it’s worth it. At the same time, as evidenced by his nightmare about screwing everyone over with bad dalgona advice, trust can be a heavy burden. And In-ho definitely isn’t making it any lighter. He says that he specifically cast his deciding vote to continue the game because Gi-hun gave him the confidence to do so. When he was Front Man, he suggested that Gi-hun was a racehorse; now, he respectfully addresses him as seonsaengnim (Netflix’s subtitles say “sir,” but the honorific can also carry the connotation that In-ho is treating Gi-hun like an expert or leader; someone he can learn from).
After easily stopping Thanos and Nam-gyu from curb-stomping Ming-gyu at lunch, In-ho earns a lot of people’s respect. He’s also the first to approach Gi-hun and say he crossed the line when sharing his views about the game to continue, which prompts Gi-hun to also apologize for blaming him for the outcome of the vote. In-ho then tells Gi-hun that he’s here because his wife is very sick but also determined to carry her pregnancy to term. We’ve heard part of this story from Jun-ho, so we know that his story and feelings are real, even though he’s recalling events from 2015 and his wife is already dead. According to In-ho, he accepted money from a longtime vendor who said they wanted to help, but was fired because that was seen as a bribe. In-ho’s eyes well up as he concludes that he’s willing to use even “blood money” to save his wife and child. Gi-hun listens without interruption. From then on, In-ho remains loyal to Gi-hun, asking to team up with him even when it turns out that he doesn’t know what’s coming next; players are placed on a “playground” and instructed to get into groups of five before the second game, which rules out an individual dalgona challenge.
Of course, finding a team is a struggle for anyone who is marginalized in some way. People look Hyun-ju up and down and scoff when she asks to join them, for example. Player 95, a nervous-looking girl, eventually asks if she wants to team up. They, in turn, join Yong-sik and his mom, who have had bad luck as a package deal due to her age. (She tried to ditch him so he could find a better team, but he refused.) Player 44, the shaman, finally completes this team of outcasts by haughtily chastising them for not coming to her first.
Gi-hun’s team is only missing one person. In addition to In-ho and Jung-bae, Gi-hun’s circle now includes Player 388, Dae-ho. Back in the sleeping area, Dae-ho confessed to being Gi-hun’s fan and was extra deferential to his fellow ex-Marine, Jung-bae. He offers to go find the strongest possible fifth member to complete the team, but when he returns with another ex-Marine, Jun-hee asks to be the final teammate instead. Somehow, only her ex and Yong-sik’s mom have clocked that she’s pregnant. She calls attention to her stomach in a bid to get Gi-hun’s group to take her in, and it works.
Meanwhile, Thanos has found a new señorita to try to charm: Player 380, who has short hair and several piercings. She’s already asked Player 125, a clueless-looking guy named Min-su, to join her. Thanos says that’s fine, calling Min-su cute and welcoming him to “the Thanos world.” Nam-gyu is not thrilled about these two final additions to the team but is especially rude to Min-su. And I guess there’s a secret sixth member: Thanos’s cross-necklace stash of a “fucking crazy” new drug. After Nam-gyu reveals that he’s done his fair share of illicit substances, he’s rewarded with a pill to calm his nerves.
The game is a six-legged pentathlon that takes place on a rainbow track. While tied together, players must complete one of five minigames — ddakji, flying stone, gong-gi, spinning top, and jegi — every ten meters. If they can’t get to the finish line in five minutes, the entire team gets shot. Assigning mini-games goes smoothly on Gi-hun’s team, though, of course, In-ho gives Gi-hun the responsibility and pressure of letting him choose on his behalf.
Neither of the first two teams survive, and one grown man even ends up peeing his pants. It’s not looking great when the team of less popular players is next up. Hyun-ju has everyone exchange names, and gives a short pep talk. Geum-ja hypes herself up by declaring that she survived the Korean War, and Yong-sik hypes himself up because he’s her son, which is pretty cute. Player 95 (Young-mi) still seems nervous, but she’s doing better than Player 44 (Seon-nyeo), who has to have her arms pulled out of prayer so they can start. After the gun goes off, the camera lingers on a chalkboard illustration of five people. We’ll have to wait until the next episode to see if the links between their legs will feel like lifelines or chains.
Parting Shots
• Gi-hun is shook when In-ho calls him by his name, but In-ho plays it off by pretending he was following Jung-bae. Gi-hun moves past it. I feel like it was a bit rude not to ask for his name back? Or maybe I’m just too curious to know what name In-ho would say.
• We haven’t seen any trace of the VIPs and their, um … interesting English at all yet. Granted, I didn’t love their scenes last season, but I am wondering if there’s any significance to their absence.
• Damn, the organ-harvesting economy is booming, huh? While I don’t think any player would want to have their organs harvested without their consent while still alive, Squid Game participants might be more understanding of this system than the average person. I doubt In-ho is the only one who’s had a loved one in need of an organ transplant.
• Winner of the episode: Jun-hee, for correctly identifying the group of people who would view her pregnancy as a reason they had to take her instead of a reason they had to turn her down.
• Loser of the episode: Myung-gi. He can’t even eat in peace anymore. Even if he ultimately gets any prize money, law enforcement and Thanos may come looking for him. Plus, now his ex thinks he deserved to be beaten up, says he’s dead to her, and would rather team up with complete strangers than him.