‘Squid Game’ Creator Was Not Inspired By ‘The Challenge’ Reality Show

In Squid Game: The Challenge, viewers were introduced to (and quickly became enamored with) the mother/son duo of Player 302/LeAnn Wilcox Plutnicki and Player 301/Trey Plutnicki. So it feels natural to wonder if they were the inspiration for Squid Game‘s fictional mother/son duo featured in season two of the Netflix series.

Well, wonder no more, because — apparently — it is little more than coincidence. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk put to bed any speculation about that notion, explaining it all away thanks to the timing of his own writing process. Not only that, but he also pointed to a pair of players in season one as the impetus to drive a deeper stake into the heart of the audience in season two with Geum-ja, a.k.a. Player 149 (played by Kang Ae-sim), and her son Yong-sik, a.k.a. Player 007 (played by Yang Dong-geun).

Please note: there will be major spoilers ahead for what happens in Squid Game season two if you read on — you have been warned!

What Inspired The Mother/Son Storyline in ‘Squid Game’ Season Two?

According to Hwang, when it comes to the inclusion of Geum-ja and her son Yong-sik in season two, the parallel with the reality show is merely coincidental. “I wrote the script earlier than when the show The Challenge came out,” he said, “so it wouldn’t make sense even chronologically to be inspired by that.”

The creator and director then pointed to a season one character dynamic that he wanted to make even more intense: that of the husband-and-wife duo who played marbles together. “Those of you who watched closely will know there’s a married couple that appeared in season 1 where the couple plays marbles together,” Hwang explained, “and then the husband survives and then ends up taking his own life. I thought that the Host [played by O Yeong-su] and the Front Man [played by Lee Byung-hun] would be the type of people who would deliberately bring close people together within the same game to put them in a test and see what happens to them in these extreme circumstances.”

He went on to add:

“This time around, I wanted to bring in an even closer pair. And just having the Host look and observe, ‘How will they survive? How will they move on to each game?’ I thought that would be a very intriguing addition.”

And anyone who has watched season two thus far will likely agree: the inclusion of Geum-ja and Yong-sik has definitely ratcheted up the tension of that cliffhanger ending. And given that Geum-ja was ready to sacrifice her life to save her son (something that he was not-at-all willing to do in return, as we saw in the Mingle game), their dual survival at the end of all of this feels like an impossible-to-achieve happy ending for a series that has never really been about that. We all remember when Seong Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae) decided not to reunite with his daughter at the end of season one and instead re-join the game? That would have been a happy ending.

Of course, maybe season three will provide us with a happy ending we so crave. But that might also mean the death and dismantling of our society’s capitalistic, oligopoly-inclined tendencies — and, well! It’s certainly a nice thought; we’ll say that.

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Squid Game – Season 2

The second season of the hit South Korean thriller on Netflix. Hundreds of cash-strapped contestants accept an invitation to compete in children’s games for a tempting prize, but the stakes are deadly.

Release Date

December 26, 2024

Main Genre

Thriller

Network

Netflix

Writers

Hwang Dong-hyuk

Directors

Hwang Dong-hyuk

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