Summary
Squid Gameis known for many things, notably its distinctive visuals and the brutality of the games. Throughout the show, there arenumeroussubtle hints and interesting inclusions that many viewers may have missed, andseason three provides even more secretsfor them to uncoverand discover.
Some are subtle foreshadowings that give insight into what’s to come next, while others are far more obscure and require a bit more outside knowledge to fully understand. With so much going on, it is hard to pick up everything in a single viewing, but it’s always nice to see the community come together to put the pieces together and fill in the gaps that would otherwise be overlooked.
Spoilers Ahead forSquid GameSeason 3 and the Finale
7The Masks
More Than Just A Set Of Animals
One of the more interesting sets of charactersare the VIPs, who stand as outsiders watching the games from afar and using their status and wealth to look down upon the players. In both seasons one and three, they are seen sporting golden animal masks to disguise their appearances and maintain a sense of ambiguity, even though, in season three, their faces are actually shown.
What’s interesting is the animals themselves, each representing key images in Korean culture, which range from power to courage and make each member of the VIPs represent a different aspect of high society. Their backgrounds and positions within the world are directly tied to the masks, but at the end of the day, they are all animals watching humans in a cage, a clever piece of irony that many will have overlooked.
6The Walls
Foreshadowing The Future
Throughout the seasons ofSquid Game, the sets undergo several changes, and season three brings with it some of the most interesting additions to the main room. Right from the start, small images of people can be seen at the top, representing the final game that involves plenty of falling, which somehow none ofthe players managed to pick up on.
Even more interesting is the text that appears in the later episodes, which reads “HODIE MIHI CRAS TIBI”. It is a Latin phrase that translates to “Today it is me, tomorrow it will be you,” something which often appears on graves and serves as a constant reminder that life is temporary and that any player could be next in the games.
5Captain Park And In-Ho
Connections To Everyone Involved
Outside in the real world, Woo-seok and the others are busy investigating the games in a race against time to take downthe people in charge. At season 3’s mid-way point, Woo-seok suspects something is up with Captain Park and decides to investigate his house to find any evidence related to his involvement with the games.
His suspicions turn out to be correct, with an obvious giveaway in the form of photographs of Park and the Recruiter. However, on that same wall is an image of Captain Park and In-ho standing on a boat, indicating that not only were the two working together, but that they were much closer than just simple colleagues in their lives off of the island.
4Train Tracks
Not Just For Looks
During the second game of the season, players are greeted with yet another gigantic pit for them to fall into. Only this time, instead of a glass bridge or a tug-of-war, there is a large mechanical rope swinging above a narrow bridge that the players have to cross. The set itself is very simple, but certain choices represent far more than just a children’s game.
The inclusion of train tracks seems like a simple stylistic choice, but the real reason lies in the proximity that the tracks often have to areas of low poverty. Train tracks are often used as both symbols of poverty and the continuation of time, combined with the nostalgia and innocence of the game itself, and the whole scene delivers a perfect image to represent the disconnect between the players and their past.
3Faith
Symbol After Symbol
Throughout the games, many players make pleas to God or at least demonstrate some level of religious or personal faith in a higher power. However, after examining the scenes more closely, the number of crosses and religious-related images extends far beyond mere cries to the Lord.
From crosses lining the walls to biblical references in the dialogue, there are too many instances to count. Perhaps the most notable symbol of all is Thanos' cross, which he used to store his drugs. The cross acts as an escape from reality for several players, but once the drugs run out, all faith is gone, and they are left in darkness and facing eventual death.
2Owl/Oh Il-Nam
The Creator Returns In A New Light
Oh Il-nam served as both an interesting playerin the original gamesand the ruthless creator who conceived the entire concept as a means of providing entertainment for the wealthy. In the penultimate episode of the show, No-eul manages to make her way into the Front Man’s room, discovering more than a few surprises after a close encounter with the Manager.
Inside an adjacent room stand two mannequins: one is an owl-headed figure in a suit, and the other is a recreation of Il-nam, presumably used to simulate his death. The important key is the owl, a symbol of many things, including death, misfortune, and the spirit world. In a way, Il-nam was a harbinger of death, and the continuation of the games after his death demonstrates how he remains connected between worlds even after life.
1Blacklist
A Whole Other Group Of People
A particularly interesting area, only glimpsed a few times throughout the show, is the records room, which houses all the information about every contestant and guard who has been involved with the games. Within that room is file after file for each game, and amid the countless records lies a particularly interesting one that is intentionally placed just to the side of the frame.
A single file titled “Blacklist” is located next to the rest of the files for the 2024 games. It’s a simple inclusion that says a lot about the games and how they select individuals to participate in them. The selection process is far more rigorous than simply targeting vulnerable individuals, and clearly, some people must be excluded from the selection process or are not allowed to return to the games. Perhaps some individuals on the Blacklist are even VIPs who have run afoul of the organizers. Only time will tell if the names in that file are revealed, which will expose the world to even more about the twisted behind-the-scenes workings of the games.
