Squid Game – Season 2 Episode 7 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Friend or Foe

Episode 7 of Squid Game season 2 starts this finale with Thanos stabbed in the neck with a fork. Blood gushes over Myung-gi’s face, and unfortunately, this results in several different individuals killed with that very same fork in the bathroom. Soldiers stand outside the door and do absolutely nothing to stop it, and eventually 5 people lose their lives in the brawl.

These deaths causes an even bigger rift between the two teams when they arrive back at the dorms. Time is very much of the essence here and while luck seems to be on Gi-hun and the other Xer sides, it remains to be seen if anybody changes their minds or not in the upcoming vote. If they even make it that far of course.

What happens with Jun-ho?

Meanwhile, out at sea, the Captain is found messing about with the drone and unfortunately, he stabs the drone pilot several times and then throws him overboard to hide the evidence. It turns out the Captain is actually crooked and working against them, but for now Woo-seok and Jun-ho are none the wiser to what’s going on.

Is there a brawl at night?

Back in the game, No-eul is subdued and the Officer learns that she’s playing by their rules. At least for now anyway. The soldiers are briefed and told to get ready, as there’s about to be a special game underway shortly. Of course, this is going to be an assault as soon as it hits dark, but Gi-hun believes they should direct their anger at those on the upper-levels and in control rather than their fellow contestants. Of course, all of these guys are unaware that In-ho is working against them,

As soon as it hits lights out, Gi-hun organizes the troops to get under the beds and not attract any attention to themselves. Of course, all those on the O team stab as many of their “enemies” as possible, causing chaos. Gi-hun decides to take a small sacrifice in order to end the game, not telling everybody to get under the bunks to try and keep their plan a surprise. In the wake of this drama, Min-su tries to kill Nam-gyu but he misses after throwing a glass off the top bunk, and eventually the guards head in and settle the situation.

This is precisely what Gi-hun is waiting for. With the attention diverted, the group work together to take control of the soldiers, pouncing on them and taking the guns for themselves. A shootout ensues in the dorms, and the soldiers are eventually forced to flee.

What happens during the shootout?

This is just so the guards can get reinforcements though, and after shooting out the cameras and seizing as much ammo and guns as they can, the group attempt to recruit more reinforcements to storm the Control Room and stop the game. A lot of people are reluctant, but Jung-bae manages to help sway some of them to their side. They each have radios and with a soldier held captive, they get out the dorms and prepare to head for the HQ.

Of course, they come under heavy fire the entire way on the hallway, and their hostage ends up being killed too. The shootout is intense as it takes place in the hallway, but Gi-hun grabs the mask needed to pass security and goes on ahead, away from the other soldiers.

Jung-bae and Gi-hun manage to pass security and make it into the management area, working together to divert attention and snatching up ammunition from any guards they kill on the way. While they fight up to the control room, Dae-ho heads back from the group to try and find some more magazines as the group are running dangerously low on ammunition.

Despite getting the magazines back, Gi-hun hands over his clip to In-ho, who catches up and believes there’s a way out. Unfortunately, Dae-ho has a change of heart and abandons his comrades in all this chaos, unwilling to go through with this any more. Hyun-ju susses something is up and decides to head back to the dorms as well.

Is the rebellion a success?

Back at the purple hallway, the groups fight and In-ho inevitably makes his move, betraying the rebels and shooting them in the back. He radios through to Gi-hun and claims that they’ve been killed, but of course the reality is very different. Gi-gun falls for it once more, believing his “friend” is dead, before he fires one more shot and switches the radio channel. Next, In-ho radios through to the soldiers, telling them to “wrap it up”.

Soldiers storm the dorms, where Hyun-ju is encouraged by Yong-sik’s mum not to move and get involved. She complies, while the rest of the rebels find themselves killed (even those who surrender) in the wake of overwhelming odds. The exception here is, of course, Gi-hun given he has massive plot armour.

How does Squid Game season 2 end?

The Front Man  faces Gi-hun and kills Jung-bae right in front of him. As he screams to the heavens, the season comes to an end. However, there is a mid-credit sequence though, showing the players left facing a new game, which appears to be a variation of Red Light, Green Light. However, there are two dolls this time.

The Episode Review

Deary me, what a mess. So Squid Game season 2 wraps up with a conclusion that solves absolutely nothing and really, feels like a pale imitation of wat we got in the first season. It’s a shame too because the first episode definitely has that thematic weight, with Gi-hun using his money to try and fight back but doing so by reinforcing the same capitalist system the show worked so hard to criticize.

It set up a really interesting dynamic going forward, but instead we get no VIPs, no deeper lore around the games or how to stop them, along with zero closure or drama involving Jun-ho, other than finding out the captain is working within the game.

The trouble with all of this, is that it basically renders the detective’s story completely moot as all those shots of him off galivanting around with this investigation, were for nothing.

Meanwhile, the action inside the games is nowhere near the level of the first season and so many of the characters here just feel like pale imitations of the people we followed in season 1. If that wasn’t enough, Gi-hun isn’t smart enough to actually question if there’s another mole inside the game. I mean, the Front Man is Player 001 again so why does Gi-hun trust him so much despite spending years in the motel working to take the system down?

I appreciate all of this is to bait for the third season but compared to what we receive the first time around, the drop in quality is pretty drastic here, which is a real shame.