Squid Game creator explains the Salesman's hateful Bread or Lottery game

The story picks up years after the events of the first season, with Squid Game champion Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) desperately trying to find a way back to the deadly tournament in the hopes of shutting it down.

He hires a small army of workers to scour the Seoul subway in search of the smartly dressed salesman (played by Train to Busan's Gong Yoo) who first recruited him, identifiable by how he plays ddakji with strangers on the train platform.

Something that Gi-hun's hired help don't expect to see, however, is the Salesman approaching homeless people in a city park and presenting them with the option of taking either a bread roll or a lottery scratch card.

Most pick the scratch card, in the hope of securing a better life, but not one of them wins any money.

In an act of cruelty, the Salesman finishes the game by pouring the remaining bread rolls onto the ground and stamping on them maniacally in front of the hungry people. But what could drive him to do something so senseless?

RadioTimes.com pitched that very question to Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk.

He explained: "I believe that Gong Yoo's character [the Salesman] is someone who lived a difficult, tough, rock-bottom life, just as much as those that are depicted as the homeless people in the series.

"And he is someone who is so filled with self-hatred, it is expressed in the hatred he harbours for other humans. And by hating these people, he believes that he is different from them."

Hwang added: "[He is] showing and expressing his hatred for the people who choose lottery tickets instead of bread, almost as if he's trying to escape his own self-loathing nature."

Later in the episode, the Salesman proves himself to be someone with little fear or remorse for his actions, admitting that he has felt no moral objection to his role orchestrating the Squid Game since he joined the organisation as a teenager.

Of the climactic scene between Gi-hun and the Salesman, Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae said: "While Gong Yoo has a brief appearance in Squid Game, I think it was very impactful and I was very much in awe of his performance.

"For the story of season 2, Gong Yoo does a great job kind of starting off the story and leading the story and letting people learn about what's going to happen."

Squid Game season 2 finally landed on Netflix today, with many fans sure to binge the series during any festive downtime they might have.

Squid Game is available to stream on Netflix. Season 3 coming soon.

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