‘Squid Game’ Seriously Underestimates How Many People Want To Be Slapped By Cate Blanchett

You would have lesbians lined up around the block. I mean blocks. The entire city of LA might shut down, honestly.

Blanchett’s appearance in the final moments of the Squid Game series finale might be the only thing that saved it from being a total disappointment. Gi-hun made the ultimate sacrifice to save Jun-hee’s baby, and the Front Man presses the island’s self-destruct button, like only a true Bond villain would.

After we see loose ends tied up with the survivors, Front Man In-ho delivers Gi-hun’s winnings and bloodied track suit to his daughter in America—a scene that that received significant attention in the Squid Game: In Conversation special with lead actors and showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk. In-ho is doing this of his own volition, perhaps out of respect for Gi-hun, but there is also a level of cruelty to the way he goes about it. In many ways, he’s opening a Pandora’s box for Ga-yeong.

By giving her just enough information to know something terrible has happened to her father, but no way of understanding what, it’s possible In-ho is triggering her to following in his brother Jun-ho’s footsteps to track down the nefarious games, which we know are continuing on through Blanchett’s cameo.

Watching her step into the shoes of The Recruiter makes perfect sense since Gong Yoo’s attractiveness paired with his coldness and cruelty is exactly what made the character so unsettling, up until his gruesome end in that game of Russian roulette. Not only can Blanchett match that energy, she can multiply it times ten. Even in a fictional world where her stardom isn’t a factor, she always shows up to every role with some level of Big Carol Energy.

If her cameo is teasing a U.S. spin-off of the series, all I know is you’ll have way more than 456 players for this game…