Squid Game: Front Man

 "YOU!"

A strangely short episode in the run-up before the final game gives us lots of tension from two angles- that of Jun-ho's attempt to avoid capture by Front Man and of the last night for the three finalists before the final game. It is, of course, utterly gripping.

Jun-ho, of course, is in a no-win situation, and ends up in an unequal Mexican stand-off worthy of Tarantino, at the edge of a cliff-and almost (almost!) certainly ends up dead. It's a fitting ending to his sub-plot, but what gives it meaning is the huuuuuge revelation that Front Man is the very brother he came to found.

Then we have the clever character stuff between a dying Sae-byeok, Sang-woo and Gi-hun. It's all cleverly arranged, after a mockingly posh dinner like one of those formals at uni, that all three of them should spend the night armed with a knife. There's a clear indication that one of them will die, and it has to be the dying Sae-byeok, especially after her nice chat with Gi-hun. But the reason for her deayh is unexpected: Sang-woo is turning out to be unexpectedly villainous. You really hate him by this point.

This is top telly. The tension is electric for the finale.