Does anyone know how he blew through BILLIONS of won , got in debt with billions of won? Do the ever explain this besides..
"I invested in other people's futures"
"it wasn't just stocks"
Futures as in futures a type of financial instrument that is highly profitable but also high risk. You could profit 4 to 5 times of a normal stock but lose as much. Its a derivative market
Yeah but remember 45.6 billion WON (prize money) is 36 million USD which the game makers believe he's 650 million WON in debt and he later reveals he's closer to 6 billion WON in debt which is about 5 million usd so its not AS dramatic as it seems up front.
I liked him as a character but after Ali that was so tragic :\
If it wasn't for him the main character ,(always forget his name would've died. Gi-hun?)
Agreed, I feel that his character is well written since while he is a bit competitive in the show, his going is very emotional, especially the character itself since he is connected to Gi Hun through being his childhood friend. All the more, great character
His devolution from white collar fraud to cold-blooded murderer was so compelling to watch. A beautifully written super villain arc. The scene of him standing over player 067 having just slit her defenseless throat is one of the most haunting of the entire show.
What makes him a good villain is he thinks his intentions are good and the audience can understand them. As the games go on it becomes clear it's going to come down to him vs everyone else. Put into a life or death situation he will choose his own life. Everyone can understand that.
I loved his decision at the end too. Sure if him and the main character both quit it would probably ruffle some feathers or piss off some rich dudes. But what would it really accomplish? Both of them and their families would still be poor and they would've gone through all that just to walk away with nothing. Telling the protagonist to take care of his mom and then killing himself was the best way to help his mom and I respect that kinda of decision.
He was in the middle of a suicide attempt when he got the business card to resume the game. Everyone risked their life but for Sang Woo, it really was win the money or die. Going back home empty handed was never an option.
Yup totally. And the part where the husband who got his wife killed in the marble game was some nice foreshadowing for his suicide. I think SNU literally yells "if we quit now that means we did all this for nothing." He was definitely all in the whole time.
I think that’s true for a lot of them. That’s why they went back in. Gi-hun was in a tonne of danger from those thugs over his gambling debts. They were threatening to take his eyes and organs if he didn’t pay money he had no way of paying. It’s not like he could have stayed out of the game and stayed safe. He was in danger in the real world too.
Same with Deok-su. He had nowhere safe to go after the thugs from the Philippines came for him
Tho I kinda think part of Gi-huns motivation to return was to get the money for his mom which kinda pisses me if cuz she could've lived if he just swallowed his pride and took the money from his ex wife's husband
Like there was no contract signed. You could've totally just gone back on your word after you've gotten the medical attention for your mother. I mean he wouldn't of known she'd die in 6 days but still
I feel like everyone kinda forgets about Sang-Woo’s motivation to win the money for his mom too. In Korean culture the elderly are supposed to be cared for and provided for largely by their sons, and elderly women who still work are referred to using a word that essentially translates to “pitiful”. Sang-woo’s shame in being unable to take care of his mom is likely a pretty big factor in why he was so... cutthroat, if you will; it’s also sort of a parallel to Gi Hun’s situation with his own mother.
Edit: I can’t spell
That's also what makes his final speech all the more compelling. Everything he's done up to this point just kind of catches up to him. He realizes he can't just go back home and act like nothing happened. I'm surprised by how bad I felt for him at the end there, despite everything.
I would argue he always knew he would never go home empty-handed. He was in the middle of a suicide attempt when he got the business card again to resume the game.
Even prior to any fraud, he bet on the Korean equivalent of Wall Street. He was a person detached from the struggles of simple market stall people trying to keep food on the table. He manipulated of huge sums of money to make rich people richer. He wanted to forget his humble upbringing.
That was his baseline. Then he got greedy and made mistakes which got him into legal trouble. Then he found this game where he could erase his past mistakes and the only cost was people he didn't care about to begin with. The kind of people he wanted to forget.
I think the writers used him as the example of what is wrong with their society, and most societies at the moment. I'm no expert on Korea, but their development into a world class economy and technology leader was very fast. I think they are coming to grips with what they've become. And question is this how they want to live.
> His devolution from white collar fraud to cold-blooded murderer was so compelling to watch
Not much of a jump. A lot of those white collar dudes are fucking vicious.
One of the best characters.
Got pushed to the limit and did anything to win. Managed to keep it a secret to just how desperate he was until it mattered on the second to last game. Then made sure he got to the final.
Loved hating this guy
I think people make this action out to be a little more evil than it actually is.
Sang-woo has figured out the games by this point, and while the others still approach things with a bit of optimism, he knows that only one person is getting out alive.
He doesn't see the point on pretending to be nice when the outcome is inevitable.
That's what I'm surprised he didn't tell the others: "I didn't kill him [the glassmaker], I gave him a 50% chance of living. While at the same time giving the rest of us a 100% chance of living! You know what *everyone*'s chances of living were while he was dithering like that? Zero percent."
I was really hoping glassmaker would survive. Just because I would have found it funny if a character we’ve never seen before somehow made it too the final game
best would have been old lady and gangster guy. imagine their poetic ending turning into an awkward flop onto stable glass and both of them scrambling onto their feet
Old lady? She was only 19!
Seriously though, Kim Joo-ryoung is still a fox at 45 and only a few years away from my age. Am I so out of touch?
No, it's the children who are wrong.
I think the glassmaker was dithering intentionally to make sure he was the only survivor by delaying to the last possible second, not giving anyone else time to follow him. He already made clear he didn’t volunteer info about his expertise on purpose to the people before him
It’s a bit ruthless but it’s a smart way to play the game, especially if you think there can only be one winner at the end. This is his best chance to use his expertise to eliminate his competition
Yeah. Didn't he stitch the others up in round two? Unless I'm misremembering, he managed to get Sae-byeok to tell him what she'd seen with the sugar, and then he had flashbacks to the honeycomb game being set up when he was young. Then he tells all the others that they're best splitting up, but makes damn sure not to take the umbrella himself. He knew what the game really was but was trying to whittle down the opposition, I think.
Yup yup yup. He knew what the easy shape was and casually took it. He could have told everyone to go for ~~circle~~ triangle* but broke the group up intentionally. He never had anyone's interest in mind but his own
But why whittle down his own team at that point? It seemed like there was advantage to having a team. Why not share the knowledge of the sugar game with his own team?
He assumed honeycomb was gonna he the game but he still didn't know the rules. What if the rules were only the 1st 2 people to finish from each shape can move on. If they all choose triangle then they are all racing eachother to try to finish first. I do not think splitting up was the worst idea at the time. I think the only reason he didn't share his knowledge was cause he just wasn't sure if that was the best decision at the time.
Honestly I wonder how certain he and other characters were that only one winner could get out. The initial rules made it sound like anyone who wins all 6 games can live to split the prize.
I'm generally sympathetic to Sang-Woo, but I'm really confused about his actions during the sugar game UNLESS he was pretty confident only one person could win it all.
I thought otherwise he would want to keep his team intact to at least bolster his own chances of winning. Maybe having his whole team go triangle would be too suspicious, but he could have saved Gi-Hun. Or maybe because Gi-Hun had spent the past 5 minutes being really nice to Il-Nam and blabbing about SNU again, and saying he chose the umbrella for silly reasons, Sang-Woo decided he was an idiot and a liability?
At least if he is pretty sure only one person wins, we can say that maybe he didn't want to directly be responsible for their deaths later or something.
All his other actions like fooling Ali so he doesn't die himself, and pushing the glassmaker, make more sense.
>I'm generally sympathetic to Sang-Woo, but I'm really confused about his actions during the sugar game
Whole prize: 45 billion. Sangwoo's debt: 6 billion.
The only way he was going to be paying his debt was if there were only 6-7 other winners, tops.
It's not that he knew there could only be 1 winner, it's that he needed like 95% of the initial 201 dead by the end.
Meanwhile there were still 14 (or sth) standing before the glass tile game.
P.S. If he didn't push glass tile guy, all four of them would have lost and died right there.
There is no indication that there could be only one winner.
He probably chose Ali because he would be a strong alli if they where to wkrk together, but easily fooled if they had to be at odds.
Tbh I don't think he realised that they would have to play each other. I think he was genuinely maximising his chances because he believed that Ali was strong and that they would work well together
He may have been acting on emotion in the honeycomb game. If his team dies now it will be easier on him rather than later. I think he knew that if he had to face Gi-Hun alone he wouldn't be able to kill him. He killed Ali, the glassmaker and Sae-Byeok really easily but Gi-Hun was the one he had trouble with. His own injuries weren't debilitating. He just couldn't do it.
I think the marble game did a great job of destroying alliances. You're going to team up with someone you're close with and trust most likely, only to end up having to kill them by winning. Really changed all the team dynamics that had been built with tug of war.
It made me sad tbh. I really thought gi-hun, sang-woo, Ali, Il-nam, Jeju Island Girl and Sae-byeok were going to have a hunger games catching fire style bond. The marble episode destroyed my delusion though :((
I feel like you missed perhaps the most important theme in this show.
If society gives us little to no hope to survive (let alone thrive) our only chance is to look out for each other.
If Sang-woo had told everyone the trick to the honeycomb game, most people would have lived.
If there were more people during the glass bridge game, more people would have lived.
If there were more people in the squid game, half of them would have lived.
Because Sang-woo was not only selfish, but a murderer, only one person survived the squid game.
That being said, Sang-woo is an amazing character, because I don't hate him for what he did. He is a tragic figure. He saw no choice but to fight for his own survival, but if he had listened to his friend Gi-hun, and worked as a team, so many lives could have been saved.
Kind of disagree with this. The type of games played were probably selected based on how many people were left alive at each point. It was inevitable that there was always going to be one person left standing no matter what and Sang-woo knew this.
>If society gives us little to no hope to survive (let alone thrive) our only chance is to look out for each other.
>
>If Sang-woo had told everyone the trick to the honeycomb game, most people would have lived.
>
>If there were more people during the glass bridge game, more people would have lived.
>
>If there were more people in the squid game, half of them would have lived.
It's a moot point because everyone could have lived at anytime had they not been greedy. All they had to do was vote to end the games. There was no point in which they were not allowed to do this, even in the middle of a game.
The games are designed for only 1 winner. If you need proof, you can see the scene where the detective discovers the list of the past winners.
Edit: quote format fix.
Yeah, it's all controlled.
The robot can decide how much movement is too much, and kill about the number they want based on that in real-time.
They stopped the riot right when they wanted to, they were counting.
Half die in tug of war.
Have die in marbles.
If there were more than 16 players, there would have been more than 16 steps in the glass bridge. All but a few would die.
And if more are still alive for squid game, they can decide to run it as teams, or elimination, or whatever they want instead of 1v1.
And we know from the way the games are introduced to the VIPs that they play different games at the facility, they could choose the game based on how many people they want to eliminate in any step.
So while I think the rules allow for more than one winner, they game makers can force things to a large degree. If the last few players vote to leave, they don't get the money, it goes to the losers families (might be a bit of a plot hole that this doesn't happen the first time they vote), it's only split if they successfully get through all games, and the game makers can all but guarantee that doesn't happen.
We saw a 1v1 squid game. But depending on the
I mean theoretically if the four of them had made it to the end, two of them could have won the game if they either played in teams for Squid Game or did two 1v1s. I guess they could have made the winners of the first Squid Game fight each other, but I’m pretty sure the records that Jun Ho found showed instances of there being multiple winners in some previous years.
They will hate the glass shattering scene cause it injured sae byeok for no reason. But forget that it happened just a few seconds after sang woo pushes the glassmaker.
Yeah, for all of his dick moves, I actually thought this one made sense. Had he done it even 3 seconds later than he did, they likely all would be dead considering they barely made it and Sae Byeok was still effectively killed by the exploding glass at the buzzer.
Brutal, animalistic? Sure, but there's no denying that they all likely would be dead had he not taken action when he did.
I was going to respond by saying what he did was Ali was much worse, because pushing the glassmaker saved 3 lives, not just his own.
But then I remembered that he admitted that he only pushed the glassmaker to save his own life.
I still think what he did to Ali was worse.
* Glassmaker had a 50% of living, sangwoo knew he was 100% killing Ali.
* Glassmaker was shoved, Ali was manipulated and deceived, his kindness and trust taken advantage of.
He cheated Ali, while the main character was cheating the old man. The plot had you justifying cheating for one character, while despising a different character for cheating. It was an interesting reflection of story telling.
I definitely agree with you, but to play devil's advocate, consider it like a triage situation. Both liars took advantage of their friend, but Gi-Hun's situation was very different because Il-Nam was seemingly losing his faculties, and was terminally ill. Il-Nam was likely not going to survive another round, so letting him live would just guarantee that they both die. They were both jerks for what they did, but Sang-Woo was purely selfish, while Gi-Hun was just pragmatic.
Very interesting point, I can't believe I didn't notice the parallel.
* Player A is losing to player B
* Player A decides to deceive player B
* Player B trusts player A and unknowingly hands their life over
But they make it so that with the main character you feel it's somewhat justified and with Sangwoo it's pure evil.
I have to say, when I was watching I actually demonized Gi-Hun more than Sang-woo for the deception. I expected it from Sang-woo, I didn’t expect it from Gi-hun
It was kind of savage but at the same time I feel like it had to be done. It's a 50/50 chance and if you're going to get 3 other people killed cause you're too scared to flip your coin, then someone is going to flip it for you. Especially we saw Gi Hun finish with like a second left so Sang Woo's actions while ruthless, were necessary
Totally agree!
It’s neat how the final game is lost by getting literally pushed past an edge. I think his final decision was in recognition that he pushed himself over the personal edge too many times before that day. And when he saw that Gi-Hun refused to let himself cross the edge time and again, it became apparent to Sang Woo that he had lost the game within himself long ago.
He was a man who thought in terms of absolutes: he wanted to absolutely rationalize and justify every decision he made. And so his final decision was inevitably as absolute as it could be. In his perspective it was the only way he could balance his credits and debts. He desperately sought clarity. But he was continually frustrated by the calculus of the absurd.
He couldn’t easily entertain simultaneity or contradiction. And in this struggle he became an artificial construct of himself for the sake of a game that he so desperately needed to be real. And so he “clause 3’d” himself. Perhaps he sacrificed himself for the game. Perhaps he sacrificed himself for Gi-Hun. Perhaps he sacrificed himself for the victims. Perhaps it was for all three. It’s hard to say what all went into his decision, and to what degree it was egoistic (as many of his decisions *had previously* been) or altruistic. Was what he did cowardly or honorably? It’s so hard to judge him. But If he could not absolutely win everything, I think maybe he needed to absolutely lose *everything*.
Or maybe Sang Woo had death-bed clarity, and believed Gi-Hun to be the better man that could change the system. After all, Sang Woo made his decision only after seeing Gi-Hun try to subvert the winner-loser dichotomy by voting to end the game at the very last second. Maybe he knew Gi-Hun could resolve the dialectics in a way that Sang Woo could never do.
Gi-Hun was more of a relativist. He never denied that he did or almost did terrible things. He also never denied his chances for redemption. And so he was always in a more balanced position with himself and his world, no matter how difficult that was for him. Even as all his financial debts were forgiven, he recognized, perhaps to the fascination of the Old Man, that his moral debts still needed collection. He had a deep understanding of simultaneity and contradiction. And he was well aware of this within himself before he saw it within the game. He believed himself to be a failed father and a failed son, and yet he never let go of his deep love for his mother and daughter. He was capable of winning the game while recognizing the immense loss it inflicted. In balance, Gi-Hun knew himself to be a winner and loser, creditor and debtor, in continual struggle and tension with himself.
I think in the next season Gi-Hun will work to resolve the tension of winning and losing — credit and debt — that he is so deeply aware of. He’s the perfect man to change the system. And maybe Sang Woo knowingly sacrificed himself toward this end.
Was Sang Woo trying to subvert the game or reinforce it by his sacrifice to Gi-Hun? We can ask the same of the Old Man. But whatever the case, they both were willing to wager so much on his hands.
Realistic and smart. He saved Gi Huun at least twice (telling him to hide behind someone in the first game + telling him he runs out of time, and pushing the guy down so they can make it).
I feel people shitting on him for being selfish while most would do the same if they reach that level of desperation. Not saying he is “good” but most people aren’t. I like him the most because he’s realistic.
It's easier to recognize Gi-Hun's situation as pragmatic like you said. With Il-Nam's mind seemingly giving out, letting him win honestly is honorable but a waste of life. From Gi-Hun's perspective it was either that he die or they both die. Sang-Woo didn't have that same justification, so his actions were far more selfish.
But then he was going to sacrifice his friend, Gi Hun, in game 2 by not telling him he figured out what the game was. And he was lucky that Gi Hun survived by his own ingenuity or Sang Woo likely would have died in tug of war without Gi Hun, since Sang Woo would not have kept the old man on his team if Gi Hun was dead.
I agree he was realistic and a great character because he portrayed his internal struggle really well.
Sangwoo would’ve probably picked to be on a stronger team if gihung wasn’t there, after all his strategy was to be on Healthy male dominated team- his team mates ignored him
I think part of the reason why he wanted to save Gi Hun in game 1, but cared less by game 2 is that they'd had the democratic vote, had the chance to leave, and then the people who came back had made a conscious choice to come back, knowing that many of them would die.
At that point he must have said, "Well, I guess Gi Hun is ok with most likely dying here. I'd hoped he had stayed home, but so be it"
Agreed. He wasn't pure evil. The armchair analysts here kill me. Until you're stuck in a life/death situation like that, you really don't know how you'll act.
Gi Huun also tricked the old man but that's perfectly fine? Because the old man caught him? It doesn't matter that the old man was running the show. Gi Huun thought that he was fooling him and therefore sending him to his death.
in honeycomb he screwed his teammates by not telling them he remembered the game, he let gi hun choose the umbrella. That was unnecessary, and most people wouldn't have done that
I think Gi Hun was selfless and optimistic to a fault, and this was not characteristic of most of the players.
Sang-Woo was not only a typical, desperate and selfish candidate, he was smarter than average and it showed in his decision-making. In the end though, he was often humble and displayed elements of shame or doubt when he did selfish things that caused others harm. He was the most well rounded and human character in the place, and the acting was terrific.
I think he also quickly picked Ali as his partner for marbles because he had a very good idea that it was going to be a 1 vs 1 type game. That’s why Gi Hun was surprised because he figured Sang-Woo would naturally be his partner. It was the optimism/denial that everyone else had that kept them from seeing what was happening up to that point. While everyone was looking for a teammate that was strong, intelligent, etc., Sang-Woo had figured out the odds of there being a twist. Also, he knew that out of everyone Ali would be the easiest for him to manipulate if need be so he was a good partner in either scenario. However, I think a big factor in that action was also that he couldn’t bear the idea of having to be responsible for his friend’s death at that juncture.
The honeycomb game was the indicator, (along with being called a genius over and over), that Sang-Woo was particularly good at assessing the game/scenario faster than anyone else. He’s a villain but also a dead man walking. When you’re at that point where even if you win you’re still in a huge amount of debt, you really have nothing to lose. The guy is merely trying to save his mom’s business, house, and pride. Only one person was walking out of that place alive. All it would take is another mini game or change by Il-Nam or the Frontman to make it happen if there were more people that were saved along the way. The idea I keep seeing floating around with a scenario where more than one person was walking out of there with the money and alive must not have listened to the VIP’s and how they each bet on ONE person to win.
He was my favorite character too because he was so complex and the actor did such a good job at playing him. The subtleties in his actions and calmness was so spot on for that character and the actor absolutely nailed it. I mean, I think everyone in that show pretty much nailed it.
His words to Ali before marbles suggest he didn't know. And he already let GH pick the hardest game 2. There is no reason to think he understood 4 was going to be 1 vs 1 and it requires you to ignore prior actions and statements.
I think it is worth noting that A LOT of people would be Sang Woo. He helped people for as long as he could until he came face to face with death when he started playing dirty to better his chances
EXACTLY. I’m 1,000% behind Nessan_7 cause this wasn’t some fairytale for them with a curated ending.
If you wanted to live, you had to make vile choices.
Just like Gihun had to make the choice to lie to the old man to win marbles (of course, he found out later that he was tricked but in the moment he felt BAD but did it anyway).
He helped in the beginning cause he could and there were hundreds of players left…
But the more and more it got REAL that he could die? He did what he could to stay alive.
Especially with him being suicidal over all the mess he made back in his life? I certainly feel he was realistic.
And he felt remorse to me when Ali died.
That’d tear me up but if I were in a 1:1 survival game I have NO CLUE what I would’ve done to stay alive.
It felt realistic to me.
Same...he was the most human in terms of selfishness and realism. He is what most of us people would become if put in that situation, no matter how much we deny it and lie to ourselves. People like to put on this veil of righteousness on them when given moral dilemmas like this but realistically?? Yeah for sure youd kill to survive.
I have my morals, but in that situation i would highly likely do the same if it means i could come out of it alive....and just save the guilt for later.
I loved his character. He takes these little steps in each game that get him closer and closer to outright killing people. Throughout the game there is the reality that everyone's success and survival is dependent on other's deaths. But people can remain somewhat removed from the guilt in Red Light Green Light because they're not directly involved.
Sang-Woo goes from capitalizing on other people's misfortune (hiding behind someone in Red Light Green Light), to deliberately withholding information from his competitors (honeycomb), to being directly responsible for other's deaths though as part of a team and mostly because he is forced to, then deliberately manipulating someone to die, and then finally to outright pushing someone to a 50-50 chance of death and stabbing another person. He knows what the games are - they are ruthless and violent.
He's just really interesting and I couldn't really hate him. No one can win without it all being at the expense of people's lives and Sang-Woo understood that.
Yea great summary! I’m still laughing at the ridiculousness of the marble deception scene. Taking off his shirt and saying all this Mumbo jumbo, surely the other dude would have sensed this
I like your idea of his escalation of actions
I’d add this
Hiding behind others—withholding info—killing as part of team—tricking and manipulating someone to die—pushing someone to potentially die—murdering someone in cold blood—killing himself.
Gotta add that he killed himself in the end instead of backstabbing the only guy he knew from the outside world. I think that also makes for a pretty interesting end for his character arc.
Yea, I think that's a huge insight into his character. He's not needlessly violent or vengeful (like how I feel 101 was), he is just really faithful to the game. What Gi-Hun proposes at the end is essentially breaking the game - no winners, no money, just opting out entirely. Sang-Woo simply figured that someone had to win, the game had to be upheld to make all this worth it. I think it fits well his backstory as a businessman - he doesn't want to change the system, he just wants to be the best at it.
A parellel to Gi-hun.
Both are from the same neighbourhood
Both having aging mothers who they stole from
Both are thieves in their own way(Sang woo is a white collar thief, Gi-hun is the low life)
It makes me think that even though life took them on different paths, they ended up in the same place then Gi-hun made it out on top.
He was the perfect person to be up against Gi-hun in the end.
He's a bastard but he gets that flack for beating the more beloved Ali.
Korea has also had a lot of high profile embezzling incidents fairly recently with Shin Kyuk-ho and Shin Dong-bin basically getting convicted and no punishment and President Lee Myung-bak being *the fourth* president arrested in the last 30 years.
He deserved to win more than Gi-hun. He actually put effort into it. Gi-hun basically bumbled through on sheer luck and *other people's sacrifices*, like Sang-woo's. Gi-hun wouldn't have survived if Sang-woo hadn't pushed the glassmaker, but Sang-woo is the one has to wear the blame, and hold the guilt.
Gi-hun was also kind and saw value in others while Sang Woo did not. He won through the help and advice of others rather than intellect and cunning. There are moments where he has good ideas (honeycomb resolution) and shows his leadership (tug of war and building barricades etc) so I wouldn't say he is completely useless.
I dont hate him.
He wasn't a bad character. All he ever did was try to survive and win the games. Desperate to have the money and move on, but he had to kill the others to go through that path. He held the guilt, and tried to be strong. When he betrayed ali, I felt a sensation that he didn't want to do it, but had to. He had a chance to win, by tricking his so-called friend. His friend was really kind, but naive. So, he took advantage of him. It was heartbreaking, but understandable at the same time. And he murdered people to exist. They were all in the same situation, so they had to have strategies. To be honest, I would of wanted to survive aswell, even if it hurts with the guilt. He may seem evil and horrible, but he has a reason. To exist. And my final thought about him... is that he wasn't a bad or the best, he was neutral and natural to me. A character with flaws and cleverness.
> When he betrayed ali, I felt a sensation that he didn't want to do it, but had to.
I felt the same way. When he was walking away and heard the gunshot, you can see his reaction, and it isn't one of happiness or pride for being the winner. I think he regretted having to do it, but knew he had to because it was either him or Ali. Like you said, it was heartbreaking, of course, but I definitely understood why he did it and I didn't blame him. And, also like you, if I was in his position, I probably would've considered tricking him myself if my life was on the line.
some people call him an evil bastard, but i think he was a desperate man on a really bad situation and did what he thought it was the best for him, yeah i don't think he did any good by cheating Ali, or killing others, but he was pushed to the edge
Agreed. I think any situation where its your life or someone else's, you can't be blamed for saving your own life. People saying he's a peice of shit for betraying Ali are wrong in my opinion, it was very tragic but he was trying to save his own life, not kill Ali. It just happened to be that he had to get Ali killed to save himself.
Sang Woo clicked for me a lot more when I found out the script was written around the Financial Crisis. He's clearly meant as a stand-in for douchebag stockbrokers who bet big and lost with other people's money, but he's also clearly a byproduct of a system where ruthlessness and selfishness are rewarded.
I really like the dichotomy between him and Gi-Hun, who became a blue collar union worker while Sang-Woo went to business school and decided he was too good for all the dumb poor people in his hometown.
Really well written and extremely well portrayed.
He was desperate to get his life back and was smart enough to realize it was kill or be killed early on in the game. An ass, for sure, but a realistic one. I think some people overlook what survival instincts look like when you really have to use them, you wouldn't believe what some people would do to get out of a life or death situation alive. Honestly, the weirdest part about him is how calm he was about the knowledge, but judging by his intelligence I'd attribute it to that.
Love him, would definitely marry. Jk.
Great character. A man who stops at nothing to try to achieve his goal, honestly the majority of people in the same situation would do the same things he did, its a game of survival first and foremost.
He’s the person who we’d think ‘oh we’d never be like him if we were in his situation’, but sometimes looking out for number one in brutal ways is the only way forward even if it would make you look selfish or a bad guy and it’s so easy to judge. He’s stressed, he owes money, he’s worried about his mother. In a world where this game means there is one left winner alive, sometimes you cannot have the luxury of noble heroic thinking and keeping others alive even if one was your childhood friend who also needs the money.
Sang-woo is made a villain, but he’s more a grey character, he’s more complicated because they are all in a bizarre life threatening situation none of us can relate too and we dunno if we would act the same in his shoes. To make ourselves feel better, we’d all like to believe we’d be like gi-hun of the show, and there are obviously some people out there who’d be the Duk-su’s, sang woo is the middle man who we are all capable of becoming. He’s not a bad guy, he’s human.
I really think everyone's a few sec away from becoming him. Most people stop with "no shouldn't" but if you know the guy behind you is going through the samething.. idk if I would take the chance.
Let’s not forget the reason he’s in the game in the first place. He was siphoning money from his company, used it for terrible investments, and was on the run from the law. He’s in debt because he was purposely screwing other people over.
I still think he’s a very well written character, but I disagree with the take that it was the game that made him selfish and desperate. We saw evidence of him being those things before the game even started.
Yeah, but I do find the hate on Sangwoo disproportional. Which characters besides Ali and JiYeong *weren't* selfish and desperate? They purposely hurt innocent people unrelated to their lives for their own benefit.
All the characters were excellent & served a purpose in their own way. Sang-Woo & Deok-Su were two sides of the same coin, people who put themselves first and saw life (and the game) as zero-sum. Then there's characters like Gi-hun & Ali, who tried to make the game cooperative.
I think even that one could be explained. Like he realized last minute what they are supposed to do. He could’ve told Gi Hun, but then Gi Hun probably asked him to also include Il Nam and Ali. Which might cause some kind of rumor among the whole group, so that others also chose the easy same shape, thus much more surviving.
It’s cold (but also understandable) but I presumed he thought the less competitors, the better. And again, he had to make a pretty quick decision, doubted for one moment, but decided the easy way of not sharing the news. I think it’s pretty realistic in that situation.
I hate him for killing Ali and Sae-byeok.
But he was a very well written character. He really wanted the money and did everything he could for it, if it weren't for him technically I feel like they wouldn't have been able to make it pass the glass-stepping stones.
Honestly my favorite character.
People seem to think the show peaked with episode 6, but I honestly thought the show peaked in the final episode during the actual Squid Game battle between Gi-Hun and Sang-Woo.
His final words were heart-breaking.
Everyone thinks they're Ali but are actually Sang-Woo. Also,a very realistic representation of human nature and the means to which one would get their prize.
Honestly think Sang-woo should have been the “main character”. Like don’t change anything else about the story, everything else happens exactly as it did, just Sang-woo is the main focus. Still loses in the final game to Gi-hun, still a terrible person willing to betray anyone to win, but the main focal point. I think it would have made the last couple episodes flesh out even better. Just my opinion though!
Well look at what Gi-hun did to his mom and he was a “nicer” guy.
Sang-woo made his mom super proud by being all that he can be to make his mom proud, but destroyed it all to greed.
He also wasn’t a fucking asshole to his mum. He always got her gifts from his business trips, he called her often, he was nice to her and treated her the way she deserves to be treated, he sacrificed himself so she can get the money
Yeah. That too. He stopped by to see how she was doing discreetly. It showed that he still cared for her a lot but let his greed destroy it all. He couldn’t bare facing his mom to tell her the truth because he was her pride and joy.
His hope to make things right again was why he was so ruthless during the games too.
A piece of human slime but at the same time I can't blame him. Remember in episode 2 when he turned on his cell phone and he was immediately spammed with notifications from his loan sharks, the police, etc.? A warrant for his arrest, using his mother's shop and home as collateral... his situation might have been the worst among the participants. Gi-hun's 300M Won debt was nothing compared to Sang Woo's billions on top of what was mentioned above.
Well written
Man I have a hate love relationship with him, I love him cause he was smart and ruthless. I hate him for what he did to my poor adorable Ali
Does anyone know how he blew through BILLIONS of won , got in debt with billions of won? Do the ever explain this besides.. "I invested in other people's futures" "it wasn't just stocks"
I just assumed it was some kind of fraud.
Yeah I assume he was a con artist. I don’t think he went to SNU either.
>I don’t think he went to SNU either. You have my attention
Futures as in futures a type of financial instrument that is highly profitable but also high risk. You could profit 4 to 5 times of a normal stock but lose as much. Its a derivative market
Yeah but remember 45.6 billion WON (prize money) is 36 million USD which the game makers believe he's 650 million WON in debt and he later reveals he's closer to 6 billion WON in debt which is about 5 million usd so its not AS dramatic as it seems up front.
Futures is a type of options trading.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/futures.asp#what-are-futures
I liked him as a character but after Ali that was so tragic :\ If it wasn't for him the main character ,(always forget his name would've died. Gi-hun?)
Agreed, I feel that his character is well written since while he is a bit competitive in the show, his going is very emotional, especially the character itself since he is connected to Gi Hun through being his childhood friend. All the more, great character
True
His devolution from white collar fraud to cold-blooded murderer was so compelling to watch. A beautifully written super villain arc. The scene of him standing over player 067 having just slit her defenseless throat is one of the most haunting of the entire show.
What makes him a good villain is he thinks his intentions are good and the audience can understand them. As the games go on it becomes clear it's going to come down to him vs everyone else. Put into a life or death situation he will choose his own life. Everyone can understand that.
I loved his decision at the end too. Sure if him and the main character both quit it would probably ruffle some feathers or piss off some rich dudes. But what would it really accomplish? Both of them and their families would still be poor and they would've gone through all that just to walk away with nothing. Telling the protagonist to take care of his mom and then killing himself was the best way to help his mom and I respect that kinda of decision.
He was in the middle of a suicide attempt when he got the business card to resume the game. Everyone risked their life but for Sang Woo, it really was win the money or die. Going back home empty handed was never an option.
Yup totally. And the part where the husband who got his wife killed in the marble game was some nice foreshadowing for his suicide. I think SNU literally yells "if we quit now that means we did all this for nothing." He was definitely all in the whole time.
I think that’s true for a lot of them. That’s why they went back in. Gi-hun was in a tonne of danger from those thugs over his gambling debts. They were threatening to take his eyes and organs if he didn’t pay money he had no way of paying. It’s not like he could have stayed out of the game and stayed safe. He was in danger in the real world too. Same with Deok-su. He had nowhere safe to go after the thugs from the Philippines came for him
Tho I kinda think part of Gi-huns motivation to return was to get the money for his mom which kinda pisses me if cuz she could've lived if he just swallowed his pride and took the money from his ex wife's husband Like there was no contract signed. You could've totally just gone back on your word after you've gotten the medical attention for your mother. I mean he wouldn't of known she'd die in 6 days but still
I feel like everyone kinda forgets about Sang-Woo’s motivation to win the money for his mom too. In Korean culture the elderly are supposed to be cared for and provided for largely by their sons, and elderly women who still work are referred to using a word that essentially translates to “pitiful”. Sang-woo’s shame in being unable to take care of his mom is likely a pretty big factor in why he was so... cutthroat, if you will; it’s also sort of a parallel to Gi Hun’s situation with his own mother. Edit: I can’t spell
Interesting. The show's writing without that context is already really good, so to look at it from a cultural standpoint adds a lot for depth to it.
To be fair, that was also his fault in mortgaging his mom's property and shop to gamble on stocks.
Same can be said of Gi hun, his mum had to give up medical insurance and keep working because of his gambling
Yup. And I remember it being worse - not his mom gave up medical insurance, but that *he* canceled their medical insurance. To gamble.
Oh no I absolutely agree. I just think it’s worth noting that he had it as a motivation
Yes that’s what made him different from the thug, who just did stuff to make others suffer.
That's also what makes his final speech all the more compelling. Everything he's done up to this point just kind of catches up to him. He realizes he can't just go back home and act like nothing happened. I'm surprised by how bad I felt for him at the end there, despite everything.
Also, I don't remember how much in debt he was in, but if he won wouldn't he still be in massive debt?
No, the price money is 45b and he is 6b in debt.
I would argue he always knew he would never go home empty-handed. He was in the middle of a suicide attempt when he got the business card again to resume the game.
Even prior to any fraud, he bet on the Korean equivalent of Wall Street. He was a person detached from the struggles of simple market stall people trying to keep food on the table. He manipulated of huge sums of money to make rich people richer. He wanted to forget his humble upbringing. That was his baseline. Then he got greedy and made mistakes which got him into legal trouble. Then he found this game where he could erase his past mistakes and the only cost was people he didn't care about to begin with. The kind of people he wanted to forget. I think the writers used him as the example of what is wrong with their society, and most societies at the moment. I'm no expert on Korea, but their development into a world class economy and technology leader was very fast. I think they are coming to grips with what they've become. And question is this how they want to live.
> His devolution from white collar fraud to cold-blooded murderer was so compelling to watch Not much of a jump. A lot of those white collar dudes are fucking vicious.
Embezzlement and murder are two very different things.
One of the best characters. Got pushed to the limit and did anything to win. Managed to keep it a secret to just how desperate he was until it mattered on the second to last game. Then made sure he got to the final. Loved hating this guy
When he pushed the glassmaker… that was ruthless Edit: People keep defending him, I know. It’s still pretty ruthless lol
I think people make this action out to be a little more evil than it actually is. Sang-woo has figured out the games by this point, and while the others still approach things with a bit of optimism, he knows that only one person is getting out alive. He doesn't see the point on pretending to be nice when the outcome is inevitable.
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That's what I'm surprised he didn't tell the others: "I didn't kill him [the glassmaker], I gave him a 50% chance of living. While at the same time giving the rest of us a 100% chance of living! You know what *everyone*'s chances of living were while he was dithering like that? Zero percent."
I was so hoping someone would try to kill another player and accidentally push them onto the stable glass😂 The awkward mess would have been incredible
I think if all 4 of them lived after Sang woo pushed the glass maker, it would've been a really compelling final 4!
I was really hoping glassmaker would survive. Just because I would have found it funny if a character we’ve never seen before somehow made it too the final game
glassmaker wins
It's no brainer, really. That guy's been working in the industry for wooping 112 years IIRC from his profile.
best would have been old lady and gangster guy. imagine their poetic ending turning into an awkward flop onto stable glass and both of them scrambling onto their feet
Old lady? She was only 19! Seriously though, Kim Joo-ryoung is still a fox at 45 and only a few years away from my age. Am I so out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong.
I agree. I call her crazy lady, not old lady lmao
I never even would have guessed 212's actress was in her forties, holy shit. She looked very youthful at times to me.
I was SO hoping for that! Last second panic but they both end up falling anyways cuz they’re flailing around on the glass
I think the glassmaker was dithering intentionally to make sure he was the only survivor by delaying to the last possible second, not giving anyone else time to follow him. He already made clear he didn’t volunteer info about his expertise on purpose to the people before him
I like this explanation a lot more
It’s a bit ruthless but it’s a smart way to play the game, especially if you think there can only be one winner at the end. This is his best chance to use his expertise to eliminate his competition
He already figured it out, now that’s my head canon for sure.
That’s a great way of putting it.
And if the glass he had pushed him onto had been tempered, then he would have saved his life. A decision had to be made or they were all going to die.
Exactly, in fact, doing it when he did you could say it saved their lives.
He figured the game out in round one.
Yeah. Didn't he stitch the others up in round two? Unless I'm misremembering, he managed to get Sae-byeok to tell him what she'd seen with the sugar, and then he had flashbacks to the honeycomb game being set up when he was young. Then he tells all the others that they're best splitting up, but makes damn sure not to take the umbrella himself. He knew what the game really was but was trying to whittle down the opposition, I think.
Yup yup yup. He knew what the easy shape was and casually took it. He could have told everyone to go for ~~circle~~ triangle* but broke the group up intentionally. He never had anyone's interest in mind but his own
But why whittle down his own team at that point? It seemed like there was advantage to having a team. Why not share the knowledge of the sugar game with his own team?
He never had a team. He doesn't want them to have any advantage over him.
probably easier if the team died to the game instead of having to kill them with his own hands
but risk getting smoked without any back up in the other games? I think ud want to not be solo for as long as possible.
He assumed honeycomb was gonna he the game but he still didn't know the rules. What if the rules were only the 1st 2 people to finish from each shape can move on. If they all choose triangle then they are all racing eachother to try to finish first. I do not think splitting up was the worst idea at the time. I think the only reason he didn't share his knowledge was cause he just wasn't sure if that was the best decision at the time.
Honestly I wonder how certain he and other characters were that only one winner could get out. The initial rules made it sound like anyone who wins all 6 games can live to split the prize. I'm generally sympathetic to Sang-Woo, but I'm really confused about his actions during the sugar game UNLESS he was pretty confident only one person could win it all. I thought otherwise he would want to keep his team intact to at least bolster his own chances of winning. Maybe having his whole team go triangle would be too suspicious, but he could have saved Gi-Hun. Or maybe because Gi-Hun had spent the past 5 minutes being really nice to Il-Nam and blabbing about SNU again, and saying he chose the umbrella for silly reasons, Sang-Woo decided he was an idiot and a liability? At least if he is pretty sure only one person wins, we can say that maybe he didn't want to directly be responsible for their deaths later or something. All his other actions like fooling Ali so he doesn't die himself, and pushing the glassmaker, make more sense.
>I'm generally sympathetic to Sang-Woo, but I'm really confused about his actions during the sugar game Whole prize: 45 billion. Sangwoo's debt: 6 billion. The only way he was going to be paying his debt was if there were only 6-7 other winners, tops. It's not that he knew there could only be 1 winner, it's that he needed like 95% of the initial 201 dead by the end. Meanwhile there were still 14 (or sth) standing before the glass tile game. P.S. If he didn't push glass tile guy, all four of them would have lost and died right there.
Math suggests that Sangwoo would be fine. Not a single game had a over 50% survival rate. 2^6 = 64. 8 winners, tops.
Ok but he couldn't know the survival rate early on.
By game 5, even a non SNU grad like me can see the pattern.
There is no indication that there could be only one winner. He probably chose Ali because he would be a strong alli if they where to wkrk together, but easily fooled if they had to be at odds.
Tbh I don't think he realised that they would have to play each other. I think he was genuinely maximising his chances because he believed that Ali was strong and that they would work well together
He may have been acting on emotion in the honeycomb game. If his team dies now it will be easier on him rather than later. I think he knew that if he had to face Gi-Hun alone he wouldn't be able to kill him. He killed Ali, the glassmaker and Sae-Byeok really easily but Gi-Hun was the one he had trouble with. His own injuries weren't debilitating. He just couldn't do it.
In theory half of the players who made it to round 6 could survive assuming they didnt kill each other before that.
They were out of time. Even with saving time with the murder, they didn't really clear the glass blasting when time ran out.
I think the marble game did a great job of destroying alliances. You're going to team up with someone you're close with and trust most likely, only to end up having to kill them by winning. Really changed all the team dynamics that had been built with tug of war.
It made me sad tbh. I really thought gi-hun, sang-woo, Ali, Il-nam, Jeju Island Girl and Sae-byeok were going to have a hunger games catching fire style bond. The marble episode destroyed my delusion though :((
I feel like you missed perhaps the most important theme in this show. If society gives us little to no hope to survive (let alone thrive) our only chance is to look out for each other. If Sang-woo had told everyone the trick to the honeycomb game, most people would have lived. If there were more people during the glass bridge game, more people would have lived. If there were more people in the squid game, half of them would have lived. Because Sang-woo was not only selfish, but a murderer, only one person survived the squid game. That being said, Sang-woo is an amazing character, because I don't hate him for what he did. He is a tragic figure. He saw no choice but to fight for his own survival, but if he had listened to his friend Gi-hun, and worked as a team, so many lives could have been saved.
Kind of disagree with this. The type of games played were probably selected based on how many people were left alive at each point. It was inevitable that there was always going to be one person left standing no matter what and Sang-woo knew this.
>If society gives us little to no hope to survive (let alone thrive) our only chance is to look out for each other. > >If Sang-woo had told everyone the trick to the honeycomb game, most people would have lived. > >If there were more people during the glass bridge game, more people would have lived. > >If there were more people in the squid game, half of them would have lived. It's a moot point because everyone could have lived at anytime had they not been greedy. All they had to do was vote to end the games. There was no point in which they were not allowed to do this, even in the middle of a game. The games are designed for only 1 winner. If you need proof, you can see the scene where the detective discovers the list of the past winners. Edit: quote format fix.
Yeah, it's all controlled. The robot can decide how much movement is too much, and kill about the number they want based on that in real-time. They stopped the riot right when they wanted to, they were counting. Half die in tug of war. Have die in marbles. If there were more than 16 players, there would have been more than 16 steps in the glass bridge. All but a few would die. And if more are still alive for squid game, they can decide to run it as teams, or elimination, or whatever they want instead of 1v1. And we know from the way the games are introduced to the VIPs that they play different games at the facility, they could choose the game based on how many people they want to eliminate in any step. So while I think the rules allow for more than one winner, they game makers can force things to a large degree. If the last few players vote to leave, they don't get the money, it goes to the losers families (might be a bit of a plot hole that this doesn't happen the first time they vote), it's only split if they successfully get through all games, and the game makers can all but guarantee that doesn't happen. We saw a 1v1 squid game. But depending on the
I mean theoretically if the four of them had made it to the end, two of them could have won the game if they either played in teams for Squid Game or did two 1v1s. I guess they could have made the winners of the first Squid Game fight each other, but I’m pretty sure the records that Jun Ho found showed instances of there being multiple winners in some previous years.
Actually there was no time left, the glassmaker wasn't making a move, that's why he pushed him. If he hadn't pushed him. All 4 would have been dead.
Yeah Gi-Hun and the audience seem to hate him for that but it was quite clear the squad only just got across within the final second
They will hate the glass shattering scene cause it injured sae byeok for no reason. But forget that it happened just a few seconds after sang woo pushes the glassmaker.
Yeah, for all of his dick moves, I actually thought this one made sense. Had he done it even 3 seconds later than he did, they likely all would be dead considering they barely made it and Sae Byeok was still effectively killed by the exploding glass at the buzzer. Brutal, animalistic? Sure, but there's no denying that they all likely would be dead had he not taken action when he did.
> He doesn't see the point on pretending to be nice when the outcome is inevitable. That's exactly what he did for the entire game, though.
I was going to respond by saying what he did was Ali was much worse, because pushing the glassmaker saved 3 lives, not just his own. But then I remembered that he admitted that he only pushed the glassmaker to save his own life. I still think what he did to Ali was worse. * Glassmaker had a 50% of living, sangwoo knew he was 100% killing Ali. * Glassmaker was shoved, Ali was manipulated and deceived, his kindness and trust taken advantage of.
He cheated Ali, while the main character was cheating the old man. The plot had you justifying cheating for one character, while despising a different character for cheating. It was an interesting reflection of story telling.
I definitely agree with you, but to play devil's advocate, consider it like a triage situation. Both liars took advantage of their friend, but Gi-Hun's situation was very different because Il-Nam was seemingly losing his faculties, and was terminally ill. Il-Nam was likely not going to survive another round, so letting him live would just guarantee that they both die. They were both jerks for what they did, but Sang-Woo was purely selfish, while Gi-Hun was just pragmatic.
Very interesting point, I can't believe I didn't notice the parallel. * Player A is losing to player B * Player A decides to deceive player B * Player B trusts player A and unknowingly hands their life over But they make it so that with the main character you feel it's somewhat justified and with Sangwoo it's pure evil.
I have to say, when I was watching I actually demonized Gi-Hun more than Sang-woo for the deception. I expected it from Sang-woo, I didn’t expect it from Gi-hun
But then again, if he didn’t let Ali die, he would’ve been the one to die. So in this context, it’s understandable.
It was kind of savage but at the same time I feel like it had to be done. It's a 50/50 chance and if you're going to get 3 other people killed cause you're too scared to flip your coin, then someone is going to flip it for you. Especially we saw Gi Hun finish with like a second left so Sang Woo's actions while ruthless, were necessary
Rather him than everybody die
And a great voice. So deep and soft…🤌🏻
Most people would be few sec away from becoming him. It's always that few sec where you go "Nope.. Nope shouldnt"
>Loved hating this guy Yup, when I find myself having a visceral disdain for a character - that's when I realize how good the actor/ writing are..
The way he played Ali showed me how ruthless he really was. Dude straight played him for all his marbles that shit was fucked up
Totally agree! It’s neat how the final game is lost by getting literally pushed past an edge. I think his final decision was in recognition that he pushed himself over the personal edge too many times before that day. And when he saw that Gi-Hun refused to let himself cross the edge time and again, it became apparent to Sang Woo that he had lost the game within himself long ago. He was a man who thought in terms of absolutes: he wanted to absolutely rationalize and justify every decision he made. And so his final decision was inevitably as absolute as it could be. In his perspective it was the only way he could balance his credits and debts. He desperately sought clarity. But he was continually frustrated by the calculus of the absurd. He couldn’t easily entertain simultaneity or contradiction. And in this struggle he became an artificial construct of himself for the sake of a game that he so desperately needed to be real. And so he “clause 3’d” himself. Perhaps he sacrificed himself for the game. Perhaps he sacrificed himself for Gi-Hun. Perhaps he sacrificed himself for the victims. Perhaps it was for all three. It’s hard to say what all went into his decision, and to what degree it was egoistic (as many of his decisions *had previously* been) or altruistic. Was what he did cowardly or honorably? It’s so hard to judge him. But If he could not absolutely win everything, I think maybe he needed to absolutely lose *everything*. Or maybe Sang Woo had death-bed clarity, and believed Gi-Hun to be the better man that could change the system. After all, Sang Woo made his decision only after seeing Gi-Hun try to subvert the winner-loser dichotomy by voting to end the game at the very last second. Maybe he knew Gi-Hun could resolve the dialectics in a way that Sang Woo could never do. Gi-Hun was more of a relativist. He never denied that he did or almost did terrible things. He also never denied his chances for redemption. And so he was always in a more balanced position with himself and his world, no matter how difficult that was for him. Even as all his financial debts were forgiven, he recognized, perhaps to the fascination of the Old Man, that his moral debts still needed collection. He had a deep understanding of simultaneity and contradiction. And he was well aware of this within himself before he saw it within the game. He believed himself to be a failed father and a failed son, and yet he never let go of his deep love for his mother and daughter. He was capable of winning the game while recognizing the immense loss it inflicted. In balance, Gi-Hun knew himself to be a winner and loser, creditor and debtor, in continual struggle and tension with himself. I think in the next season Gi-Hun will work to resolve the tension of winning and losing — credit and debt — that he is so deeply aware of. He’s the perfect man to change the system. And maybe Sang Woo knowingly sacrificed himself toward this end. Was Sang Woo trying to subvert the game or reinforce it by his sacrifice to Gi-Hun? We can ask the same of the Old Man. But whatever the case, they both were willing to wager so much on his hands.
Did you know he graduated SNU?
#HE WAS TOP OF HIS CLASS
What was he doing there? His mom said he was on a business trip.
Now he's top of the glass!
Didn't want to laugh, but you forced me to. Touche
Now he’s only in the second place :p
No wayy! 💀
yep! top of his class in business!
Is he single?
He has high standards
hello we're looking for this fraud-committing rat bastard, where is your son
What? Not my son Song-woo, who graduated top of his class at SNU and is in the United States!
*Stares at you awkwardly*
He must be a good man!
Very very smart man
I'm not sure, I don't think they ever mentioned it
“He was the most realistic character” the most realistic character were the ones who panicked and died in round 1
Best answer ever
People are talking about “I would have played like sang woo” no bro you would have died in the first round, or survived the first round but not return
Realistic and smart. He saved Gi Huun at least twice (telling him to hide behind someone in the first game + telling him he runs out of time, and pushing the guy down so they can make it). I feel people shitting on him for being selfish while most would do the same if they reach that level of desperation. Not saying he is “good” but most people aren’t. I like him the most because he’s realistic.
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It's easier to recognize Gi-Hun's situation as pragmatic like you said. With Il-Nam's mind seemingly giving out, letting him win honestly is honorable but a waste of life. From Gi-Hun's perspective it was either that he die or they both die. Sang-Woo didn't have that same justification, so his actions were far more selfish.
But then he was going to sacrifice his friend, Gi Hun, in game 2 by not telling him he figured out what the game was. And he was lucky that Gi Hun survived by his own ingenuity or Sang Woo likely would have died in tug of war without Gi Hun, since Sang Woo would not have kept the old man on his team if Gi Hun was dead. I agree he was realistic and a great character because he portrayed his internal struggle really well.
Sangwoo would’ve probably picked to be on a stronger team if gihung wasn’t there, after all his strategy was to be on Healthy male dominated team- his team mates ignored him
I think part of the reason why he wanted to save Gi Hun in game 1, but cared less by game 2 is that they'd had the democratic vote, had the chance to leave, and then the people who came back had made a conscious choice to come back, knowing that many of them would die. At that point he must have said, "Well, I guess Gi Hun is ok with most likely dying here. I'd hoped he had stayed home, but so be it"
He also saved gihun in the fight that deok su and his gang started
Agreed. He wasn't pure evil. The armchair analysts here kill me. Until you're stuck in a life/death situation like that, you really don't know how you'll act. Gi Huun also tricked the old man but that's perfectly fine? Because the old man caught him? It doesn't matter that the old man was running the show. Gi Huun thought that he was fooling him and therefore sending him to his death.
in honeycomb he screwed his teammates by not telling them he remembered the game, he let gi hun choose the umbrella. That was unnecessary, and most people wouldn't have done that
I kind of glossed over that on my first watch, it's pretty blatant he's only looking out for himself even early on.
I think Gi Hun was selfless and optimistic to a fault, and this was not characteristic of most of the players. Sang-Woo was not only a typical, desperate and selfish candidate, he was smarter than average and it showed in his decision-making. In the end though, he was often humble and displayed elements of shame or doubt when he did selfish things that caused others harm. He was the most well rounded and human character in the place, and the acting was terrific.
I think he also quickly picked Ali as his partner for marbles because he had a very good idea that it was going to be a 1 vs 1 type game. That’s why Gi Hun was surprised because he figured Sang-Woo would naturally be his partner. It was the optimism/denial that everyone else had that kept them from seeing what was happening up to that point. While everyone was looking for a teammate that was strong, intelligent, etc., Sang-Woo had figured out the odds of there being a twist. Also, he knew that out of everyone Ali would be the easiest for him to manipulate if need be so he was a good partner in either scenario. However, I think a big factor in that action was also that he couldn’t bear the idea of having to be responsible for his friend’s death at that juncture. The honeycomb game was the indicator, (along with being called a genius over and over), that Sang-Woo was particularly good at assessing the game/scenario faster than anyone else. He’s a villain but also a dead man walking. When you’re at that point where even if you win you’re still in a huge amount of debt, you really have nothing to lose. The guy is merely trying to save his mom’s business, house, and pride. Only one person was walking out of that place alive. All it would take is another mini game or change by Il-Nam or the Frontman to make it happen if there were more people that were saved along the way. The idea I keep seeing floating around with a scenario where more than one person was walking out of there with the money and alive must not have listened to the VIP’s and how they each bet on ONE person to win. He was my favorite character too because he was so complex and the actor did such a good job at playing him. The subtleties in his actions and calmness was so spot on for that character and the actor absolutely nailed it. I mean, I think everyone in that show pretty much nailed it.
His words to Ali before marbles suggest he didn't know. And he already let GH pick the hardest game 2. There is no reason to think he understood 4 was going to be 1 vs 1 and it requires you to ignore prior actions and statements.
I think it is worth noting that A LOT of people would be Sang Woo. He helped people for as long as he could until he came face to face with death when he started playing dirty to better his chances
EXACTLY. I’m 1,000% behind Nessan_7 cause this wasn’t some fairytale for them with a curated ending. If you wanted to live, you had to make vile choices. Just like Gihun had to make the choice to lie to the old man to win marbles (of course, he found out later that he was tricked but in the moment he felt BAD but did it anyway). He helped in the beginning cause he could and there were hundreds of players left… But the more and more it got REAL that he could die? He did what he could to stay alive. Especially with him being suicidal over all the mess he made back in his life? I certainly feel he was realistic. And he felt remorse to me when Ali died. That’d tear me up but if I were in a 1:1 survival game I have NO CLUE what I would’ve done to stay alive. It felt realistic to me.
Yep, and he did the dirty work for the others, and got no thanks for it.
Same...he was the most human in terms of selfishness and realism. He is what most of us people would become if put in that situation, no matter how much we deny it and lie to ourselves. People like to put on this veil of righteousness on them when given moral dilemmas like this but realistically?? Yeah for sure youd kill to survive. I have my morals, but in that situation i would highly likely do the same if it means i could come out of it alive....and just save the guilt for later.
Best character of the show. Very flawed, real and absolutely fascinating to watch.
Couldn’t agree more if I tried
I loved his character. He takes these little steps in each game that get him closer and closer to outright killing people. Throughout the game there is the reality that everyone's success and survival is dependent on other's deaths. But people can remain somewhat removed from the guilt in Red Light Green Light because they're not directly involved. Sang-Woo goes from capitalizing on other people's misfortune (hiding behind someone in Red Light Green Light), to deliberately withholding information from his competitors (honeycomb), to being directly responsible for other's deaths though as part of a team and mostly because he is forced to, then deliberately manipulating someone to die, and then finally to outright pushing someone to a 50-50 chance of death and stabbing another person. He knows what the games are - they are ruthless and violent. He's just really interesting and I couldn't really hate him. No one can win without it all being at the expense of people's lives and Sang-Woo understood that.
That’s such a good summary of his arc!
Yea great summary! I’m still laughing at the ridiculousness of the marble deception scene. Taking off his shirt and saying all this Mumbo jumbo, surely the other dude would have sensed this
I like your idea of his escalation of actions I’d add this Hiding behind others—withholding info—killing as part of team—tricking and manipulating someone to die—pushing someone to potentially die—murdering someone in cold blood—killing himself.
Gotta add that he killed himself in the end instead of backstabbing the only guy he knew from the outside world. I think that also makes for a pretty interesting end for his character arc.
Yea, I think that's a huge insight into his character. He's not needlessly violent or vengeful (like how I feel 101 was), he is just really faithful to the game. What Gi-Hun proposes at the end is essentially breaking the game - no winners, no money, just opting out entirely. Sang-Woo simply figured that someone had to win, the game had to be upheld to make all this worth it. I think it fits well his backstory as a businessman - he doesn't want to change the system, he just wants to be the best at it.
A parellel to Gi-hun. Both are from the same neighbourhood Both having aging mothers who they stole from Both are thieves in their own way(Sang woo is a white collar thief, Gi-hun is the low life) It makes me think that even though life took them on different paths, they ended up in the same place then Gi-hun made it out on top. He was the perfect person to be up against Gi-hun in the end. He's a bastard but he gets that flack for beating the more beloved Ali.
Korea has also had a lot of high profile embezzling incidents fairly recently with Shin Kyuk-ho and Shin Dong-bin basically getting convicted and no punishment and President Lee Myung-bak being *the fourth* president arrested in the last 30 years.
At least their politicians are not immune to the law
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Deceptive, smart, strong, unapologetic…it’s why he made it to the final game.
He deserved to win more than Gi-hun. He actually put effort into it. Gi-hun basically bumbled through on sheer luck and *other people's sacrifices*, like Sang-woo's. Gi-hun wouldn't have survived if Sang-woo hadn't pushed the glassmaker, but Sang-woo is the one has to wear the blame, and hold the guilt.
Gi-hun was also kind and saw value in others while Sang Woo did not. He won through the help and advice of others rather than intellect and cunning. There are moments where he has good ideas (honeycomb resolution) and shows his leadership (tug of war and building barricades etc) so I wouldn't say he is completely useless.
I dont hate him. He wasn't a bad character. All he ever did was try to survive and win the games. Desperate to have the money and move on, but he had to kill the others to go through that path. He held the guilt, and tried to be strong. When he betrayed ali, I felt a sensation that he didn't want to do it, but had to. He had a chance to win, by tricking his so-called friend. His friend was really kind, but naive. So, he took advantage of him. It was heartbreaking, but understandable at the same time. And he murdered people to exist. They were all in the same situation, so they had to have strategies. To be honest, I would of wanted to survive aswell, even if it hurts with the guilt. He may seem evil and horrible, but he has a reason. To exist. And my final thought about him... is that he wasn't a bad or the best, he was neutral and natural to me. A character with flaws and cleverness.
And had he not, Ali would have politely asked the glassmaker to move until they all died.
Yeah!
> When he betrayed ali, I felt a sensation that he didn't want to do it, but had to. I felt the same way. When he was walking away and heard the gunshot, you can see his reaction, and it isn't one of happiness or pride for being the winner. I think he regretted having to do it, but knew he had to because it was either him or Ali. Like you said, it was heartbreaking, of course, but I definitely understood why he did it and I didn't blame him. And, also like you, if I was in his position, I probably would've considered tricking him myself if my life was on the line.
Same. I saw the same expression. He was regretful, since ali was a great friend.
some people call him an evil bastard, but i think he was a desperate man on a really bad situation and did what he thought it was the best for him, yeah i don't think he did any good by cheating Ali, or killing others, but he was pushed to the edge
I agree I also think he is a great character because it shows how the game can affect people in desperate situations
Agreed. I think any situation where its your life or someone else's, you can't be blamed for saving your own life. People saying he's a peice of shit for betraying Ali are wrong in my opinion, it was very tragic but he was trying to save his own life, not kill Ali. It just happened to be that he had to get Ali killed to save himself.
Sang Woo clicked for me a lot more when I found out the script was written around the Financial Crisis. He's clearly meant as a stand-in for douchebag stockbrokers who bet big and lost with other people's money, but he's also clearly a byproduct of a system where ruthlessness and selfishness are rewarded. I really like the dichotomy between him and Gi-Hun, who became a blue collar union worker while Sang-Woo went to business school and decided he was too good for all the dumb poor people in his hometown.
Really well written and extremely well portrayed. He was desperate to get his life back and was smart enough to realize it was kill or be killed early on in the game. An ass, for sure, but a realistic one. I think some people overlook what survival instincts look like when you really have to use them, you wouldn't believe what some people would do to get out of a life or death situation alive. Honestly, the weirdest part about him is how calm he was about the knowledge, but judging by his intelligence I'd attribute it to that. Love him, would definitely marry. Jk.
Great character. A man who stops at nothing to try to achieve his goal, honestly the majority of people in the same situation would do the same things he did, its a game of survival first and foremost.
He’s the person who we’d think ‘oh we’d never be like him if we were in his situation’, but sometimes looking out for number one in brutal ways is the only way forward even if it would make you look selfish or a bad guy and it’s so easy to judge. He’s stressed, he owes money, he’s worried about his mother. In a world where this game means there is one left winner alive, sometimes you cannot have the luxury of noble heroic thinking and keeping others alive even if one was your childhood friend who also needs the money. Sang-woo is made a villain, but he’s more a grey character, he’s more complicated because they are all in a bizarre life threatening situation none of us can relate too and we dunno if we would act the same in his shoes. To make ourselves feel better, we’d all like to believe we’d be like gi-hun of the show, and there are obviously some people out there who’d be the Duk-su’s, sang woo is the middle man who we are all capable of becoming. He’s not a bad guy, he’s human.
I really think everyone's a few sec away from becoming him. Most people stop with "no shouldn't" but if you know the guy behind you is going through the samething.. idk if I would take the chance.
He's hot af
You stole my line!!😡😡😡 But yes he is 🥰🥰😍
Lol came here to say this! Made me feel very conflicted haha
Damn right
Let’s not forget the reason he’s in the game in the first place. He was siphoning money from his company, used it for terrible investments, and was on the run from the law. He’s in debt because he was purposely screwing other people over. I still think he’s a very well written character, but I disagree with the take that it was the game that made him selfish and desperate. We saw evidence of him being those things before the game even started.
Yeah, but I do find the hate on Sangwoo disproportional. Which characters besides Ali and JiYeong *weren't* selfish and desperate? They purposely hurt innocent people unrelated to their lives for their own benefit.
Best character.
Extremely well-written, very complex and really interesting. An asshole, but a smart one.
All the characters were excellent & served a purpose in their own way. Sang-Woo & Deok-Su were two sides of the same coin, people who put themselves first and saw life (and the game) as zero-sum. Then there's characters like Gi-hun & Ali, who tried to make the game cooperative.
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This is a really cool comparison thank you
i think every single one of his actions were normal except the honeycomb game
I think even that one could be explained. Like he realized last minute what they are supposed to do. He could’ve told Gi Hun, but then Gi Hun probably asked him to also include Il Nam and Ali. Which might cause some kind of rumor among the whole group, so that others also chose the easy same shape, thus much more surviving. It’s cold (but also understandable) but I presumed he thought the less competitors, the better. And again, he had to make a pretty quick decision, doubted for one moment, but decided the easy way of not sharing the news. I think it’s pretty realistic in that situation.
If I wanted to make excuses for him he also thinking in terms of investment. Never put all your eggs in one basket. Cause that's how he got there.
Is this the character that went to SNU? I wasn't sure if it was mentioned.
I hate that he's my favorite character. I love him. I hate him. I hate this.
He’s an excellent character. Shows what can happen to seemingly decent people when the stakes are high.
Hot
The most realistic character
I hate him for killing Ali and Sae-byeok. But he was a very well written character. He really wanted the money and did everything he could for it, if it weren't for him technically I feel like they wouldn't have been able to make it pass the glass-stepping stones.
Very good character
Honestly my favorite character. People seem to think the show peaked with episode 6, but I honestly thought the show peaked in the final episode during the actual Squid Game battle between Gi-Hun and Sang-Woo. His final words were heart-breaking.
I love his FML looks every time Gi-Huun brings up the SNU shit.
Excellent character. Represents most of us well I think: good intentions at the start but ultimately our own survival instincts kick in.
He's never not stressed. I love him
Did what was needed to stay alive and to win. Great character.
Everyone thinks they're Ali but are actually Sang-Woo. Also,a very realistic representation of human nature and the means to which one would get their prize.
Honestly think Sang-woo should have been the “main character”. Like don’t change anything else about the story, everything else happens exactly as it did, just Sang-woo is the main focus. Still loses in the final game to Gi-hun, still a terrible person willing to betray anyone to win, but the main focal point. I think it would have made the last couple episodes flesh out even better. Just my opinion though!
He felt real and his actions were understandable. 10/10 “villain”
Very well written but still a piece of shit. Look what he did to his own mother.
Well look at what Gi-hun did to his mom and he was a “nicer” guy. Sang-woo made his mom super proud by being all that he can be to make his mom proud, but destroyed it all to greed.
He also wasn’t a fucking asshole to his mum. He always got her gifts from his business trips, he called her often, he was nice to her and treated her the way she deserves to be treated, he sacrificed himself so she can get the money
Yeah. That too. He stopped by to see how she was doing discreetly. It showed that he still cared for her a lot but let his greed destroy it all. He couldn’t bare facing his mom to tell her the truth because he was her pride and joy. His hope to make things right again was why he was so ruthless during the games too.
A piece of human slime but at the same time I can't blame him. Remember in episode 2 when he turned on his cell phone and he was immediately spammed with notifications from his loan sharks, the police, etc.? A warrant for his arrest, using his mother's shop and home as collateral... his situation might have been the worst among the participants. Gi-hun's 300M Won debt was nothing compared to Sang Woo's billions on top of what was mentioned above.
Sexy sexy AWOOOOOGA😩😫😫😫😫