Squid Game fans spot hidden detail in latest season which has left audience feeling 'played'

Like it or lump it, the second season of the jam-packed South Korean series, Squid Game, has got everyone talking.

When the first season of the dystopian thriller show came out in 2021, which sees contestants compete in a series of 'survival games' to be in with a chance of winning a life-changing sum of money, Netflix viewers went wild.

Squid Game received critical acclaim and worldwide attention.

It scored 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and raced to the top of Netflix's most-watched series.

So, when the hotly-anticipated second season blessed our screens in December, social media was flooded with devoted fan theories who binge-watched the entire thing in a matter of days.

Yet, despite the introduction of some tense new murder games and an abundance of bloody scenes, some fans branded it 'boring' on Twitter and said the show just wasn't 'hitting the same' for them.

Meanwhile, others have found deeper theories to the plot, so take this as your warning for spoilers if you've somehow not caught up yet.

The second season follows the protagonist, Seong Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-jae, three years after he won the first Squid Game.

Seong has returned to the arena to face off against new participants, allegedly on a mission to put a stop to the games.

In true Squid Game style, we encounter one of the show's many twists when the Front Man, the leader of the Masked Men and the older brother of police detective, Hwang Jun-ho, joins the game as Player 001.

This clearly isn't coincidental as Oh Il-nam, the elderly financial tycoon and creator of the games, disguised himself amongst the players with the same number in season one.

Now, fans speculate the old man and the Front Man are father and son and there's some compelling evidence behind the idea.

The first is that they have similar names. When telling his story to Gi-hun, the Front Man says he was called Young-il, not too dissimilar from Il-nam.

Secondly, the Front Man's brother was seen talking to his mom about the death of his father - and we know old Il-nam died in the first series.

Also in the first series, Gi-hun revealed he 'can't drink regular milk', prompting Il-nam to remark: 'You're just like my son'.

And lo and behold, the Front Man acting as Player 001 revealed he can't drink milk when he offered his drink to the pregnant player.

However, another theory is also doing the rounds which seems to put the heat on our Gi-hun, Player 456.

In one scene, Gi-hun points up to the floors above, explaining to the other participants that's where the Squid Game 'masters' are.

As 10 of the players all look up, fans point out Player 001 didn't - he was staring at Gi-hun instead.

Taking to Facebook, a fan wrote: "Does this mean Player 456 is the actual mastermind behind this all? Was he 001's accomplice all along?

"We, the audience, were the ones played!"

Yet, others quipped the Masked Man was giving Gi-hun 'the look of love' or, by stark contrast, a 'death stare', in the moment and dismissed the theory.

"Why would he look up? He knows what's up there," another fan wrote.

In another apparent theory, a fan also said: "Don't think he is yet, but pretty sure by the end of season three, Player 456 will become in charge and take the legacy forward of squid games."

Luckily, we don't have to wait too long to find out as the third season has been confirmed for later this year.