Season 3 ofSquid Gameended with a bang — or, more accurately, a stare. And now,Lee Byung-hun, who plays the show’s icy overseerknown only as the Front Man, is revealing exactly what was going through his character’s head in that devastating final stretch. After three seasons of calculated cruelty and emotional detachment,the Front Man finally cracked. Or at least, he came close.
In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Lee opened up about the climactic moments between his character andLee Jung-jae’sGi-hun, including the infamous knife scene and the ambiguous, deeply debated finale.
“I believe the Front Man wanted Gi-hun to live. Gi-hun is someone he feels differently about compared to the other players, because of the time they spent together inside the Game. So if Gi-hun had killed everyone just as the Front Man did, the Front Man would have felt a sense of victory. He could say, ‘See? You’ve ended up just like me.’”
But that’s not what happened. Gi-hun held onto his morals. And for the Front Man, that hit harder than any bullet.
“If Gi-hun doesn’t go through with it — which is what happens — the Front Man will feel a sense of defeat. He would also feel a form of self-reproach, or even envy,” Lee continued. “But the deepest part of him wanted to see Gi-hun not give in and continue to hold onto hope for the world and for humanity.” In short:he wanted Gi-hun to win.
The Front Man Believed in Gi-hun
That sentiment might surpriselongtime viewers who’ve seen the Front Manspend years brutally enforcing the rules of the Game, all while sipping whiskey and watching people die. But Lee insists that Season 3 wasn’t about a villain being redeemed — it was about a villain being challenged. “He’s an extremely pessimistic and cynical person who believes that there is no hope left for the world,” Lee said. “And so, as he watches Gi-hun, he thinks that Gi-hun is too naive. But deep down, he’s rooting for him.
Nowhere was that inner conflict clearer than inthe finale’s quietly devastating coda. In a wordless scene, the Front Man hands Gi-hun’s daughter a suitcase and disappears into the distance. Is it closure? A warning? Or a gesture of something like mercy?
“At the end of the day, I would have to say it’s closer to the latter,” Lee explained. “He’s had a little bit of humanity restored. But his strongest feeling is still to verify everything is done fairly and by the rules of the Game. That scene is open to interpretation — and it’s meant to be.”
So too is the series’ final twist: the moment when the Front Man spots another recruiter (played byCate Blanchett) pulling in new contestants on the streets of Los Angeles. The expression on his face said everything — and nothing.
“I thought the Front Man had already known that there was another Game,” Lee revealed. “But the director told me, ‘Please play the scene by imagining that you didn’t know she was there.’ So the way I approached that moment was this: he’s trying to reach a sense of closure. He’s thinking, ‘Maybe Gi-hun was right. Maybe there’s something still there.’ And then… he sees this other recruiter. And now he realizes this never ends. It’s all going to just keep going.The Game might go on, but Gi-hun didn’t lose himself. That means something.”
Squid Gameis on Netflix now.
Squid Game
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children’s games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes: a survival game that has a whopping 45.6 billion-won prize at stake.
