Questions of survival vs. greed take hold in the return of ‘Squid Game’

It’s clear enough why Netflix would want to return to the nightmarish world of the South Korean “Squid Game,” with its life-or-death decisions, betrayals and humiliations among contestants desperate for the fortune offered the winner. After all, the series is the streamer’s biggest hit to date and has won three Screen Actors Guild Awards and six Emmys (including for drama series, lead actor for Lee Jung-jae and directing for creator Hwang Dong-hyuk).

But why would Hwang want to come back for more, and how could he justify putting Lee’s character, Gi-hun, back in that kind of jeopardy?

Turns out Hwang has plenty more to say about humanity through “Squid Game,” enough even for two more seasons (Season 2 drops on Dec. 26, and the team is working on Season 3 now). And in doing so, he’s made one important tweak — one that changed the central question of the show.

As to his protagonist: “At the end of Season 1, Gi-hun was already a different person,” says Hwang, through an interpreter, of what could drag this everyman back to that candy-colored hell. “After he came out of the game as a winner, he discovered his mom dead, and he dyed his hair. Even if he tries to go back to his normal life, the damage is already done. He cannot go back [to that life] because of the trauma.”

Lee Jung-jae, center, as Gi-hun in Season 2 of “Squid Game.”

(No Ju-han/Netflix)

Season 2’s Gi-hun is not the hapless loser viewers first encountered. It’s three years later, and he has dedicated his now-considerable fortune to finding the mysterious island on which he watched so many people die for the amusement of the games’ patrons. He’s on a mission to end the games once and for all. But his trauma runs deep, as encapsulated by a shocking scene in which he tries to leverage information out of someone — by playing Russian roulette with them.

“They’re playing this game in a confined space with only two of them, and it’s literally a death game,” says Lee, also through an interpreter, of the games’ lingering effects on Gi-hun. “There had to have been some type of explosive adrenaline rush. And I thought to myself, maybe Gi-hun, without even realizing it, is enjoying that rush. When I thought about the motivation behind it as an actor, I was also doubting myself. This scene is very cinematic, it’s very dramatic,” he says.

Hwang acknowledges it was inspired by “The Deer Hunter.” “So I had to think, ‘How do we bring that to the ground? How do we make it realistic?’ There are those two elements: [He’s obsessed with] finding those who are behind the game and putting a stop to it; and on the other hand, he’s inadvertently enjoying himself.”

But the main difference between the two seasons stems from the show’s investigation into human nature. In Season 1, contestants were given one opportunity to vote — to continue to try for the big money, or quit and go home with nothing but their lives. Those seeking to end the competition won … but most proved desperate enough to return anyway. In Season 2, that vote occurs after each game, and if the majority chooses to quit, the survivors split the pot — everyone gets a little richer and goes home alive.

But what happens if the majority decides it would rather try to get a lot richer, even if that means that most of those around them would have to die, including those who wanted to leave? The human question moves from being about survival — what would you give up of yourself to live? — to greed — are you willing to let others die for your chance at fabulous wealth?

And there’s a sociopolitical question too. It’s a binary system; a choice of extremes. And that’s exactly what Hwang wanted to address, beneath the twisted trappings of the world’s most popular thriller series.

“I tried to cast this question of, ‘What is the meaning of this voting system and this rule of the majority? Is the rule of the majority always correct?’” says director Hwang Dong-hyuk.

(Shayan Asgharnia / For The Times)

Hwang says, “In Season 2, I look to fully leverage the voting system. There are many issues regarding presidential elections, in Korea and the United States and across the world. [Factions] try to dominate through the rule of majority. And in Season 2 and Season 3 throughout, I tried to cast this question of, ‘What is the meaning of this voting system and this rule of the majority? Is the rule of the majority always correct?’ Looking at the political and social landscape across the globe, I thought that casting this question at this time would be very meaningful. Across the globe, economic and political polarization and extremism are rampant these days. So that was something that I wanted to deal with.”

Lee says, “Director Hwang has said if you look at how the votes go in the show, it’s almost always that the scale is tipped by one more vote or one more person. It’s nearly 50-50. Then one vote will make one side the winning side,” which strikes at Hwang’s question of majority rule when the choices are so polarized and the stakes so high.

“While that does reflect reality, as a performer, I was really focused more on human greed and desire,” Lee adds. “In the beginning, people think, ‘Oh, I’m good with this. I can leave the game with just this amount of money.’ But if you play one more round, you find yourself richer, and it’s very natural to think, ‘How about just one more?’ ”