Warning: The article contains major spoilers for squid game 2nd season.
One key squid game actor clarifies Front Man's intentions in squid game season 2. Given the high number of deaths in the debut season, squid game season 2 features a largely new cast. Returning for Season 2, however, are Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-Hun, Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho, and Lee Byung-hun as Front Man/In-Ho. The role of the Front Man looks very different in squid game season 2, however, when he chooses to disguise himself as a player, becoming the new player 001.
Talking to Netflix K ContentLee Byung-hun provides details on In-Ho's involvement in the games. The actor spoke for the first time about the Six-Legged Race game, saying that In-Ho "find yourself having genuine fun"making his reactions to feeling part of the team legitimate. In terms of why the character enters the games, Lee Byung-hun guesses that Front Man"wants to destroy Gi-hun's belief”, but at the same time he uses Gi-hun to reflect on himself. Check out Lee Byung-hun's full quote below:
The character of In-Ho coming in and wanting to destroy everything is what you could say is the big picture. When the game is on the line, and In-Ho is actually a real part of the team, he genuinely enjoys it, and that's how the director and I decided this should be done. So for me as an actor, I think it was challenging and fun.
Front Man believes that Gi-hun is wrong in his way of thinking, but perhaps he reflects on himself through Gi-hun. He wants to destroy Gi-hun's belief. I felt like a small part of him, unknowingly, might be hoping that Gi-hun's thoughts were right. And rooting for him in some way.
What this means for In-Ho's six-legged race performance
In-Ho is more genuine than he might seem
The Six-Legged Race is the first opportunity for the public to see In-Ho actively participating in the games in squid game season 2. In this, the character has to make a distinct choice. In fact, he can't play the game, as In-Ho himself can't get shot and killed, as he's one of the bigwigs behind the games themselves. However, it struggles with the spinning part of the games, but the show never explains whether these challenges are genuine or a piece of manufactured drama to keep the games interesting.
From the looks of Lee Byung-hun's quote, it seems that he and the director decided that In-Ho's reaction would be completely genuine in these games. While this could be referring to the outburst In-Ho experiences when struggling with his game, the fact that In-Ho feels part of the team probably also means that he genuinely participated. This interpretation, in a way, makes the scene even darker and more comical, because it means that In-Ho himself is not very good at children's games, even though he is a Squid Game genius.
Our opinion on this version of the frontman entering the games
In-Ho is completely sinister
It's interesting to hear Lee Byung-hun's explanation of these events, as the season keeps us distant from In-Ho's motivations throughout the games. In other words, once In-Ho takes action, he stays with our main characters until the final episode. The fact that squid game The team intended for In-Ho to have fun with the games casts an even more sinister light on the character, as his mentality is warped enough for him to be overtaken by the games.
Source: Netflix/YouTube K Content