Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘Squid Game,’ hundreds of people enter a game with the hopes of winning several billion won. The only criterion is to survive six games over the course of six days. Soon, however, the players realize that a lot of dangers exist outside of the games, amidst the players who become more desperate to survive and win and are ready to do whatever it takes. Some players learn this lesson the hard, and in the second season, Se-mi, aka Player 380, is one of those people. She knows that she needs to toughen up to win, but by the end, she doesn’t have what it takes to really survive. SPOILERS AHEAD
Se-mi Grossly Overestimates Her Odds of Survival
We don’t know what Se-mi went through in the outside world, but she has enough debt to make her desperate enough to play the games. While it looks like she has gone through a lot not to trust anyone so easily, this confidence turns into overconfidence, and she makes some harsh mistakes, which eventually lead to her tragic end. We meet her properly in the second game, where she chooses to partner with Min-su, whom she considers a meek person who will not be able to survive on his own. When Thanos asks her to join his team, she ensures that Min-su is with them. She continues looking out for him while believing that she can manipulate people like Thanos and Nam-gyu. It is in the third game that she realizes that she made a huge error in reading Min-su.
In Mingle, the players are told to form teams in the number specified in each round. At one point, they are told to form teams of three. Thanos and Nam-gyu tell Min-su and Se-mi to play rock-paper-scissor to decide who will join them and who will be left alone to fend for themselves. Se-mi tells Min-su that they should stick together and find one more person. However, when she extends her hand, he throws scissors, indicating that he’d rather go with Thanos and Nam-gyu. This is when Se-mi realizes that she is wrong in believing that Min-su doesn’t have what it takes to survive in the games. And eventually, this costs her her life.
Se-Mi’s Lack of Friendships Dooms Her to a Tragic Fate
Once she loses Min-su as a friend, Se-mi doesn’t get the time to make any active efforts to join another team. By now, a lot of people have already formed their own groups, which comes in handy following the tie of the third vote. People who have familiarised themselves with Gi-hun or anyone in his group are given advance warning about the brawl that is confirmed to erupt once the lights go down. They are all advised to find hiding places and stay there until the guards show up. Even Myung-gi gets a warning from Jun-hee, who tells him to hide even when she is angry at him. Se-mi, on the other hand, gets no such warning because no one in the group knows her enough to warn her.
Sure enough, the Os crawl out of their spaces when the lights go out, and immediately, the entire thing turns into an ugly bloodbath where anyone who isn’t prepared is killed. Se-mi tries to hide, too, but she is sought out by Nam-gyu, who has completely lost his mind now. He has had several pills, his friend Thanos has been killed, and he wants the votes to turn in favor of Os so he can continue playing the game. He knows that Se-mi votes as an X, but that’s not the only beef he has with her. In their previous interaction, she had undermined him in front of Thanos, and Nam-gyu uses the opportuity to exact revenge on her. He has the fork with which Myung-gi stabbed Thanos, and he uses the same thing to attack Se-mi.
While Se-mi tries to fend off her attacker, Min-su is right above her, watching the whole thing from the top bunk of the bed where he hid to escape the mindless slaughter. When he sees Se-mi, he throws a bottle at Nam-gyu but misses. Se-mi uses that bottle to defend her, but her attacker turns out to be more powerful than her. Even as Nam-gyu stabs Se-mi, a terrified Min-su does nothing to help her. The only thing he had as a weapon was the bottle, but even that is gone now. He doesn’t climb down the bed as he would be betraying his hiding spot. He knows Nam-gyu will come for him next, so he decides to stay put, letting Se-mi, the only person who had been kind enough to befriend and look out for him, die.
Read More: Squid Game: Who is Kang No-eul (Guard 11)? What Happened to Her Kid? Why Did She Become a Guard?
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