You can only white-knuckle it for so long. After the emotional wringer that was , the show's seventh installment ("VIPs") is simplicity itself by comparison. The 16 players who've survived this long—including Mi-Nyeo, whose failure to find a partner for the marble game meant simply that she was allowed to sit the game out, and not including the husband whose wife died during the marble game, who hangs himself from one of the bunk beds—must endure another high-stakes game high up in the air. The difference this time is that the titular VIPs have come to watch them play.
So yes, one mystery this episode solves for us is the nature of the much-ballyhooed VIPs. Simply put, they're a bunch of high-rollers in bedazzled animal masks, trading off-color jokes and guffawing at the misadventures of the players. They're mostly, but not exclusively, American. They lounge around in , amid living statuary comprising nude, body-painted men and women. They place million-dollar bets on who will live or die. If you were wondering what the purpose of the games really is, there's a quote from The Rocky Horror Picture Show that neatly sums it up:
One of these rich weirdos makes the mistake of sexually harassing undercover cop Jun-ho, who disguises himself as a masked waiter to get closer to the VIP action. When the man threatens to have Jun-ho killed if he doesn't obey his commands, the cop manages to lure the guy into a private room, where he reverses the power dynamic by pulling a gun and ordering the man, now nude, to divulge all he knows about the games while Jun-ho films him on his phone. (Good thing he fully charged it before setting out for the island!)
Indeed, the episode ends not with the game-players, but with the Front Man—who exchanges glances with Jun-ho just prior to his escape—leading a search party on a boat, tracking the stolen diving apparatus the cop is using to get away from the island. Since the Front Man and his minions have discovered the dead body on which Jun-ho deposited his police credentials and now know his name and other details, I don't think things look good for him long-term.
As for the surviving players, they're forced to choose numbered jerseys that will determine the order in which they play the next game before discovering what that game is. The game-masters have constructed a dual bridge made from panels of glass. Some of these are tempered, able to hold the weight of up to two players at a time. Others are just normal glass; step on one of these, and you plummet to your death.
Again, compared to the marble game, the emotional stakes are much lower. Here it's a simple matter of the odds: The first players who attempt to cross the bridge are effectively doomed, as it's close to statistically impossible for them to successfully select the right pane of glass to step on all the way across the bridge. As the game's time clock winds down, the players in the back of the line—our hero, Gi-hun, is dead last, preceded by Sae-byeok and Sang-woo; the gangster Deok-su and his nemesis Mi-nyeo are somewhere in the middle—grow increasingly frantic in urging the players in front of them to pick up the pace and just jump already.
The vast majority of the players don't make it, of course. This includes the religious contestant, #244, whose prayers go unanswered. It also includes Deok-su and, surprisingly and perhaps less than convincingly, Mi-nyeo, who opts to take her own life in order to take Deok-su down with her. Sure, she swore she would kill Deok-su if he ever betrayed her, which he did, like, five minutes after she said this. But this is a woman who'd just lucked out beyond belief by being given a pass for the marble game. Why would she choose to die now? Just to punish Deok-su? How much fun is that if you're not alive to enjoy it? It's one of the few decisions this remarkably well-crafted show has made that doesn't quite sit right with me.
Be that as it may, in the end we are left with three survivors, not coincidentally the final three players to cross the bridge: Sang-woo (who straight-up pushes a guy to his death in order to test the final panes of glass), Sae-byeok (whose advice helps a momentarily paralyzed-with-indecision Gi-hun to get across), and Gi-hun himself. I doubt very highly that all three will survive until the end, especially after Sang-woo's pretty much completed heel turn in this episode.
And while this episode does answer some questions, others remain. Who is the mysterious "Host" in the sparkly owl mask who fails to rendez-vous with the VIPs, much to their chagrin? Will the VIPs participate in the final game in any way, or remain spectators? Will that Chekov's bomb in the passageway down to the water go off at some point? If there's only one game left, why do two episodes remain? Sang-woo may be a lost cause, but will Gi-hun and Sae-byeok survive with what's left of their souls intact?
One thing is for certain: 's power is additive in nature. Every episode compounds the tension and ratchets up the pressure on the main characters. Even a relatively straightforward outing like this one feels grandiose in the terror the characters experience. I'm almost afraid to see what the show will do for an encore. And that's a good feeling.
