1x08 Front Man

[7.4/10] This episode is more of a prelude than anything, despite the deaths of Hwang and Sae-Byeok. Regardless of the fact that both were major characters, the deaths each seems mostly to serve as a springboard to the undoubtedly momentous finale to come, rather than something in and of itself.

I’m most sanguine about the loss of Hwang. For what it’s worth, I’d guessed that the Front Man was his brother from the time Hwang found him in the logs, so that might have been more anticlimactic for me than some viewers. Nonetheless, the whole infiltration/spycraft thing has been a weaker element in the show for a little while now, so the climax isn’t as involving as it could be. Sure, it’s a big deal to see the Front Man shoot his brother when Hwang remains intransigent about cooperating, but the shock has diminished for a while, and it’s not as though we’ve gotten to know much of the Front Man’s personality to this point, to where him making that choice is significant.

It does speak to the fact that he’s been fully coopted by this system. Once, he was a competitor, someone as abused by these games as Gi-hun and the like. Now, he’s in so deep that he’s not only overseeing the games, but willing to kill the family member devoted enough to come looking for him rather than spare him and break the rules that have been imposed on him. The only thing that makes this truly significant is not the confirmation that the Front Man is Hwang’s brother, but rather his willingness to expose his face, a major taboo and potentially deadly move, showing how much the Front Man is torn here. I don’t mind the idea, or the haunting vision of a dead sibling in the mirror that communicates his guilt, but I wish we’d gotten more personality from the Front Man to this point to make it more meaningful.

That said, I can’t help but be intrigued by the plot bomb of Hwang maybe having communicated his lociatoon and the details of the game to the authorities. The show is laudably ambiguous about whether his good detective work made it through. You can see law enforcement showing up at the last minute of the finale or no signal ever reaching the mainland. It is, oddly enough, my favorite part of this confrontation.

The prelude for the final game for Gi-hun, Sae-byeok, and Sang-woo has its moments as well, though. There's something both comical and obscene about how these peons are dressed up in fancy clothes that nonetheless still reduce them to a number. They’re fed steak and poured wine, given a modest taste of the wealth their benefactors enjoy, as part of this charae. The fact that the managers leave them with steak knives that can be used to butcher one another shows how much of a farce this is, how the pageantry in all of this only masks the cruelty at its heart.

The final moments in the dorm shared between the main characters does give Sang-woo the chance to go full mask off at Gi-hun’s prodding. Who knows what the finale will bring, but for now at least, Sang-woo is the most compelling character on the show. Deok-su’s cruelty was out in the open. He was a one-note brute, unabashedly wiling to cheat, murder, and betray in order to work his way to the top of this cruel game.

Sang-woo is no better, though, just subtler, and more false in his demeanor. He pretends to be a friend -- to Gi-hun, to Ali, to the rest of their teammates -- but when push comes to shove (literally), he throws each of them under the bus in the name of his own survival and prosperity. He all but admits that despite their supposed friendship, he’d slay Gi-hun without thought to win the prize.

In a way, Deok-su is better. At least the mob captain is honest about who he is, up front in how he presents himself to the rest of the world. Sang-woo pretends to be something respectable. He views himself as better than the rest of those with whom he breaks bones and bread. There is something all the more insidious in that, a critique of how those with education or success drape themselves in a moral superiority, but who can, on Squid Game’s account, be that much more craven and awful as the debased criminals they hold themselves above.

His transgression is given that much more weight by the quiet moment Gi-hun and Sae-byeok share together before. Despite being down-on-her-luck and otherwise looked down upon by the fellow players for where she comes from, despite being a pickpocket, despite feigning the affect of a disinterested loner, she is the player who consistently helped others, looking out for their interests and not proceeding with pure selfishness.

I love the pact Gi-hun tries to offer her, a chance to work together to defeat the “psychopath” that is Sang-woo and split the money. Her corresponding pact is just a good, a promise that whoever makes it out will look after the other’s loved ones. They are a marked contrast to Sang-woo, competitors who could just as easily turn on one another, but who instead chose to cooperate, look out for each other, even offer to split the funds rather than selfishly kill and seek it for themselves.

When Sae-byeok tells Gi-hun not to try to kill Sang-woo when he’s sleeping, she says that it wouldn’t be him, that it would darken his soul in a way this place has done for so many. She may or may not save Gi-hun’s life, but she holds onto her humanity, and his, despite all that they’ve been through. The choice is inspiring, in a show with such darkness.

“Front Man” leaves us with darkness. THe contrast between Gi-hun begging the guards for help, and Sang-woo using the commotion to slit Sae-byeok’s throat when she’s wounded and Gi-hun’s distracted, makes the contrast between them that much more stark. It sets up a climactic final confrontation, one that not only has the stakes of fortune and escape, but a personal friendship betrayed and dead comrade to be avenged. The setup is a touch pulpy, but also moves the players on the board well, giving reasons both practical and emotional for the two to give it their all in whatever the sixth game has in store.

Overall, this is the calm before the storm, mainly cleaning up bits and pieces of the story before the climax of the story. The Hwang-focused material falls flat, but within the game, the balance between cruelty and kindness that infuses this prelude makes it a strong stepping stone to the finale.