Gi-Hun had very good character development. He went from disliking the pick pocketer to begging for the guards to treat her injuries.

Every reaction to Sae-Byeok's murder was appropriate. First anxiety that Gi-Hun would get stabbed in the back, then a little hope when the lights came on that the guards might save her, followed by despair that they came in carrying the box of death, then absolute anger and rage at the realization of what Sang-woo had just done.

The saddest thing about Sang Woo is the more we watch him, the less he hesitates about resorting to violence and deception. The first few episodes, it’s clear he does feel bad and has that hesitation. But as we go on, the more he loses more of himself and the more he gives into that darkness that we were warned about in the first episode. His descent into darkness is one of the best things of this season.

Lee Jung Jae's (Gi-hun) acting here is superb. The rage, anger and sadness are mixed in one. I hope he gets an award for this. Edit: so happy to see JJ won Sag and critics choice awards. I am so happy for him. 😃

Sang woo was playing the game using his head. Gi-hun was using his heart.

Sangwoo was FUCKED UP but one thing I’ll give him credit for was that he knew how to play the game and boy did he PLAY it

The scariest part about Sang Woo is, if we were the one's put in the game, you'd think you would be someone like Gi-hun, but Sang Woo is what you'd actually be.

It was at that moment, Sang-Woo, as realistic as the situation(s) is, became a really despicable character. Props to the actor who played Sang-Woo in this series. Massive props.

Everyone: "SAVE HER! SAVE HER! SAVE HER!" Sang-Woo: "So anyway, I started stabbing."

I think the most depressing thing someone pointed out to me in this episode is that Sang-woo has blood on his face and shoulder. You'd think it would only be on his sleeve, but the blood on his upper torso probably meant Sae-Byeok with her last bit of strength tried to stop him. Could be wrong, but his entire outfit was clean prior to this during the entire dinner scene, so... yeah.

Sang Woo's descent into madness is one of my favorite parts of the show.

Also "is he a villain or is he just playing the game" is exactly the question we ask about capitalism. We accept the rules because that's the world we live in, but we are numb to the brutality of it and villainous actions are blurred by the "you're first or you're last" mentality. Remember Sang-woo did some kind of massive scale financial fraud back in his old life, so he was already basically this venture capitalist dude and willing to fuck people over to win. I think the show does a good job of using his character to show who wins and who loses and what the stakes are in a world where no one cares about anyone else.

Sang-Woo effectively won the game right then and there when he killed Sae-Byeok. With that single kill, he ensured that the last man standing was going to be someone who cared about his mother.

The more I watch this scene, I notice as soon as the lights turn back on, Gi-hun does a 180 and looks around but doesn't notice Sang-woo standing over Saebyeok. Still an amazing scene tho lol

Sangwoo just played the game, the real villains are the VIPs who really needs a lot of acting lessons.

Sang-woo is such a well fleshed out character. He was willing to betray his humanity to achieve his goal. A lot like Thanos. Sang-woo only got this far because he wanted it the most. More than anyone else. Thanos tossed his only thing that he saw was a daughter off a cliff to achieve his goal. He definitely has done some detestable and inhuman things but he really should have won at the end imo.

Sangwoo is so well written that when everyone see him standing there from afar after seeing the coffin. Their first reaction was that he kill her not him getting up to help her lol

You know he's a good actor if he managed to piss you off.

You know what crazy about this? There’s gonna be SG fans that straight up hate Sang-Woo and then there’s probably gonna be other SG fans that are like “Sang-Woo did nothing wrong”. 😂🤣

I love how when they see the casket they are like no(😭) but just a second later when they see sang-woo they go no!(😡)

Sang-Woo knew there couldn't be a Third Wheel to this family moment.

If Sang Woo doesn’t kill her then they could’ve ended the game with a majority vote. It’s brutal strategy but they have come too far for it to end.

The way they revealed Sang-Woo standing there with long shot is brilliant. Hollywood probably would've cut to close up of Sang-Woo opening his eyes and slow motion of him moving in to kill.

Bro this scene killed me. I wasn’t done simping 😭

That girl's acting is so on point that the planet has been hit hard by her exit!

Half of the girls sounded like they wanted to speak to Sang-Woo’s manager

The guitar though. The music is what makes this scene more emotional. You can feel the tragedy.

Sang Woo was my most favourite character even tho he killed other mains, simply because he was the only practical and logical character in the show. He knew there was no other way round

That part was inexpected but was shocking and amazing at the same time.

I fucking love mixed reactions. I only saw squid games last week, immediately watched pReview’d reactions, then was surprised mixed hadn’t put up any videos yet. Was anxiously waiting for this one, and it was worth it. Was hoping to see RT TV on there. Now if Struggle Nation can put that shit out, that’s the next one I’m waiting for.

This is the moment that truly solidified Sangwoo as a villain. I know many people are arguing over it being when he betrayed Ali, and as terrible as it was for him to take advantage of Ali’s kind and trusting nature, it was still during one of the games. It was an either he dies or I die moment. Still bad that he betrayed his friend but it was a means of survival. This moment here, however, was what made him a villain because he honestly did not have to do that to Saebyeok. She was already unconscious and bleeding out, she was going to die anyways, so there was zero reason for him to kill her.

I went through the full emotional spectrum in that few minutes man. Urgency, hope, despair and fury in quick succession. What a season. Already buzzing for Season 2!!

Recommended to everyone who hate Sangwoo to watch Prison Playbook, so that the guy who played Sangwoo can redeem himself....lol...

12:49 the disappointment in his voice made me laugh for a reason lol

Such a fantastic show and the actors absolutely blew me away, the only bad thing about this show is the actor who played Sang-Woo is gonna get so much hate focused at him just because some people cant seem to fathom that he isnt actually Sang-Woo.

As much as I hate Sung-woo for this, his logic is sound. The two of them (Gi-hun and Sae-byoek) could have voted to end the game to save her. He had to kill her to preserve his chance at the prize.

poor saebyeok...she did all of this to keep her family together, she tried hard

The one thing about the characters in this show that i have to realize and remember is that...ALL OF THEM CHOSE TO GO BACK! At that point, they had to know what they were getting into. How high of a price they had to and were going to pay. Even if they didn't, just the fact that you are making the conscious decision to go back into a game where if you lose you're going to die should be enough. Children's games or not, you're competing with your life at stake just to get some money. Yes, some had issues with gangsters and loan sharks. Others needed to get out of debt for their own reasons. But this whole thing in it's entirety is about risking your very life to get MONEY and YOU'RE GUARANTEED DEATH if you don't pass. It's not like if you lost you get to go home. All these people were being sentenced to death the moment they went back in and as the saying goes, "Died trying". There's no way I would EVER go back in if I managed to survive and GET OUT. The series itself is compelling. We as the audience root for who we want to make it out. But as a whole, the whole thing is just dark. You mean to tell me death is the final option if someone loses? You can't just, silence them to a lifetime of secrecy? LOL. It's like the Hunger Games almost. Though children having to kill each other is JUST AS BAD and unlike the characters in Hunger games, where they didn't have a choice but to go, everyone in this show had a choice.

The acting from the lead really sells the grief!

Saebyeok's not dead. She's just acting. Lol

As someone who's favorite character was Sang Woo, this scene was the ultimate test to get me to dislike him. It failed, but man I was mad lol

If I'm the only one who likes sang woo Ill be surprised

Unpopular opinion: Sang Woo put Sae Byeok out of her misery. He basically helped her. Why would he not have just gone for Gi Hun for an easy victory? Clearly an act of mercy.

They are killing sangwoo by words🤣

my favorite is the one who was mad at Sang-woo and then his name showed up on the screen in really pretty script lol

Lol people mad but won't admit that they'll be doing the exact same thing in sang woo's position lol the most realistic character in the show and they're mad at him for it.😂

This show had my anxiety up the WHOLE time.😳

I like the changes from a sad 'nooo' to an angry 'NO!/WTF'

Sang-woo: I'm not a bad guy, am just playing to win. Everyone: POS!

the thing is, sang woo isnt exactly a villain. Hes us when given knives and theres money involved.

That blond girl is just too sweet for the show I think… poor thing was in tears the whole clip.

I understand how they hate sang-woo but in any situation like that you need to do everything in order to survive

The moment Sang-woo officially became the bad guy, in my opinion, was when he did Ali dirty in the Marble game. But considering that Saebyoek was losing a lot of blood from having a large piece of glass in her stomach, it was kind of a mercy kill.

People! The reason why Sangwoo had to kill her is that he feared that the two would make a deal to stop the game and get out of there.

The real villains remain the VIPs.

Just me respecting all reactor for not watching in dub..cuz the emotion is full when u watch in korean

S u n g woo was already awake he was just pretending to be asleep

She was defenseless, that makes me angry af. Homegirl would’ve punched Sang Woo in the face if she was not in the blink of death.

I actually didn't hate sang-woo until he killed her, I mean everything else was just him trynna survive like everyone else but killing the girl just upset me. We all knew that she was gonna die anyway so doing that just seem uncalled for not matter his reason

Sangwoo doesn't even have to do anything and just stand next to Saebyeok's lifeless body and everyone already knows what happened.

Why the thumb call him "the real villian?" He was just to survive like everyone else, with his strategies.

Gotta love how a lot of people comment on justifying Sae-Byeok's murder. Yeah, we get it, you were rooting for Sang-Woo all along because he "knew how to play the game". When all was said and done, the real reason she couldn't go on into the last episode was because she wasn't the main protagonist (nor his close friend). Not to mention she plays a North Korean. She was easily my favorite character BAR NONE. I honestly didn't have any significant emotional reaction to any other character's demise besides hers (and the girl she played the marbles game with). I didn't even understand the reasoning for blowing up the bridge at the end of Episode 7 just as the three players reached the platform. You knew it was inevitable that they'd be hit by the glass shards, and of course she got the worst of it. The game itself caused her injury, and put her at the immediate disadvantage for the next game.

Every self righteous person tells everyone they aren't sangwoo... Til they reveal they are exactly sang woo

I never actually really liked the girl, but holy hell I loved Sang Woo. This moment made me respect him even more, he’s desperate and you can tell he’s willing to do anything. And I actually admire his choice to attack the already injured person and not Gi Hun who he could’ve easily ambushed with his knife. She was already losing a lot of blood and wouldn’t have been able to participate in the final game well. Props to Sang Woo.

so much hate for Sang-Woo lmao greatest character in the show

Need more mixed reactions of squid game! 🙌🏾

Probably just me, but sangwoo seems the most realistic. He just wants to win, he’s selfish and will take anyone down if need to. That’s why I don’t believe people when the say they wouldn’t act like sangwoo. Because come on, humans are selfish and will act like animals for survival. It’s already been proven that humans will literally make themselves instinct by fighting each other.

This series was written brilliantly. The emotions it carried

"Sang woo you're a piece of" LMAOOOOO THAT TOOK ME OUT

This show is such a roller coaster.

i love watching people angry, maybe from now i'll start making people angry and watch them 😗

He did it to survive goddamn it.

he was not a villain he did what he had to do to survive

Sang Woo is who we all would be

I literally watched 20 mins same scene with different flavours

Sang-Woo should be thanked instead of hated because we all knew that all those characters had to die anyway, and who else could kill them and not be hated? Sang-Woo did all the dirty work so that Gi-Hun can stay as the good guy because without Sang-Woo, they would have all died at the hands of Gi-Hun.

Anyone notice that Saebyeok's death wasn't announced?

Imagine if Kang Saebyeok appeared in Season 2.

BRUH HOW CAN U BE MAD AT SANG WOO HE GRADUATED FROM SNU TOP OF HIS CLASS TOO

the most painful and hard to bear scene during all squid game

I like double shocks reactions here... hahaha

I really do feel sorry for Gi-hun in the show. 😭

Woo SHIESTY yuhhh

Gi Hun's rage at the end of the episode... 😢

Has anyone ever wondered if, because of how smart he is, already knew she was going to die, and instead of prolonging it did it himself so she wouldn’t suffer anymore? Or do you think it’s a reach?

-People: Shocked, sad &/or even crying. -Me: ..."Crystal generation"...

His reasoning for doing this is so cold blooded. He knew the others were onto him that he was a real POS so he felt he had better odds of winning in a 1v1 then a 2v1 or 1.5v1 rather.

I know they'll be people who are gonna be like, "It's the point of the game. To be the last one alive. It's kill or be killed." Very true. That's not wrong, one bit. The issue is that, even with that fact, Sang-Woo solidified himself as a monster. By this point, he just fully forfeited his soul to get the money, and the whole reason that he's in here is because of his own selfishness. He put himself and his mother into debt. And if he were to win, dude would've no doubt left worse than when he went in. Yeah, he's the most realistic character and doing what's required for the money. But the fact still remains he (and anyone that would do the same) are just pieces of shit. If you're willing to sink so low to get paid, requirement or not, you're still in the wrong. But guess it'll be up to you whether or not you're OK with that.

if a character makes you hate them to the bone, it just means that the actor is amazing. i often watch shows and movies that i don't care about the villain.

hottest of hot takes i guess but regardless of why he did it, sang-woo ultimately did the right thing here. the guards were never going to help sae-byeok and even if they wanted to, idk if they actually could have saved her at this point. she'd been bleeding internally for hours and hours. so whether he did it for selfish reasons or not, sang-woo did end her suffering.

Lupasan got covered by vid time on thumbnail lmao

Sang Woo was a villain from the moment he committed fraud but I think the was driven by the fact that he put up his mother's business and the shame it would bring had he been found out.

Number 7 is exactly how i reacted lol

All I can say if we was in the squid games call me Sang-Woo cause it’s over for y’all 😂 but naw foreal it’s over 😈.

I don't think Sang-woo isn't a bad person for what he did in the games. I think Sang-woo is a bad person for what he did before the games. In the games, all these actions, as heinous as they might be, can be understood, from bamboozling Ali to clapping Sae-byeok. You can tell from the beginning episodes Sang-woo isn't too keen to get familiar with even members of his own "team" because he realizes the gravity of the situation and that he would be responsible for killing other people by merely participating in the games. The tug of war for example, it wasn't as direct as stabbing someone in the throat but they did drag the other team off the ledge to their deaths. The first game was Red Light, Green Light. The players weren't playing against each other they were playing against time. Easy. Same with the second game, which was the honeycomb cut-out game. Players weren't really playing against each other but Sang-woo had flashbacks that indicated he predicted the game before it was announced and he withheld it from his teammates (he almost stopped Gi-Hun from going Umbrella but changed his mind at the last second and said nothing). I think the actor for Sang-woo did a really good job of portraying the internal conflict in the character. The third game was the tug of war, which yes, the players did not directly kill the other team but it was the first situation they got put in where it was a "us or them" type of deal. That's when players started to desensitize themselves from the situation I think. Sang-woo was pushed even further in the 4th game when Ali was going to beat him in the marble game. Again a "me or him" situation and his back was in a corner, so he did what he did and I think that desensitized him further. By the point of the 5th game, Sang-woo figures if he could betray one of the players he was closest to in the games, pushing some random guy into a tile to preserve himself was no real sweat. It still very clearly bothered him which is why he got pissed off at Gi-Hun for confronting him about it after the fact. Generally, if people do something terrible, and they KNOW they've done something terrible, they need to justify it to themselves somehow and when someone questions that justification, they get angry because they NEED that. Take for example, TWD. Any time Rick would do something morally questionable and people would question him about it and say something like "you're not the same cop from S1", he would get pissed off and basically say he was in charge and the situation called for it because he needed to justify to himself what he'd done. Anyway, so all these things lead to that moment where he kills Sae-byeok. He's so desensitized to his own actions because he's clinging to the justification that it's every man for himself and he doesn't want to die that killing an already dying contestant is the only logical solution within the frame of his own justification, which doesn't mean he isn't fazed by it. Notice how he has the "thousand yard stare" when Gi-Hun looks up at him, not looking at Gi-Hun or Sae-byeok or even the game facilitators or the coffin. Again, the actor does a really good job of portraying Sang-woo in a state of shock (knife hand shaking) while likely working out the justification in his own head as to why he HAD to do it and had no other choice. So that's why he isn't a bad person for what he did in the games. Before the games though, when he put his mom's business up as collateral for his embezzlement and fraudulent dealings... that's why he's a bad person. TL:DR, Sang-woo is justifying what he's doing because he has to to keep his sanity and do the things he's doing to survive which is causing him to do worse and worse things but he's really a POS because of what he did to wind up in the games in the first place.

Everyone pissed off at Sang woo for doing that BUT I wonder when your life is at stake you do anything and everything to survive Can't blame Sang woo You don't win a Battle Royale by Friendship love trust emotions But by master strategy and grabbing opportunities

Even if Sang-Woo went ahead and kill Sae-Byeok off, she's never gonna last till the last round in the first place, seeing that she's been losing a lot of blood prior.

Hate him all you want but he played the game. Completely emotionless.

Sae-byeok was my favourite 😢😭💔

Calm down guys. Sang Woo is just going over to help................Oh wait sorry never-mind. lol