Squid Game has become a growing franchise since it first aired three years ago on Netflix. It was met with critical success from critics and the general audience, paving the way for a second and third season renewal, a reality show based off the games, video games that are available to play on Netflix, and even other shows on competing streaming services that have clearly taken inspiration from the success of Squid Game.
This was a show that essentially changed the world, and it also came during a time when a lot of people were stuck at home due to the pandemic. It felt like a reflection of the time, people being put out of jobs, having to deal with debt that might’ve been piling up, and having no other way of being able to correct it.
Squid Game Season 2 takes place three years after Player 456 won the Squid Games. Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) remains determined to find the people behind the game and put an end to their vicious sport. Using this fortune to fund his search, Gi-hun starts with the most obvious of places: looking for the man in a sharp suit playing ddakji in the subway. But when his efforts finally yield results, the path toward taking down the organisation proves to be deadlier than he imagined: to end the game, he needs to re-enter it.
Despite the season 1 finale having Gi-hun discover that Il-nam was not only alive but the creator of the Squid Games, and him making the decision to not take his flight and to stay behind and unmask the people behind the violent games, this was still a show that felt like it didn’t need a second season. It simply felt like the biggest money grab from Netflix, and you can’t fault them for it.
Many people have expressed excitement for the future of Squid Game, while others were less enthusiastic about its return. The creator of the show, Hwang Dong-hyuk, also seemed against the idea and initially didn’t know how to continue the show after season 1. While watching season 2, it still feels like this is a story that was planned out from the start, although it still runs into its fair share of issues.
Compared to the first season, season 2 has been reduced to seven episodes from its previous nine episodes. In some ways, this hurts the overall season, as the first two episodes can feel slightly slow before diving headfirst into the action. The first two episodes are extremely on the ground, and for some, it might not be all that interesting to watch Gi-hun struggle as he makes attempts to hunt the Recruiter (Gong Yoo) down. A genuine moment that’s filled with laughs from the debt collectors frantically searching every possible station, which quickly switches to a tense and haunting situation that reminds you exactly what type of show you’re watching.
Once Gi-hun enters back into the game, there begins to be a sense of familiarity that we’re used to as we step away from the sleuthing side of the story. Squid Game S2 still decides to use it as the subplot with Hwang Jun-ho, having been revealed to have survived his encounter with his brother, Hwang In-ho, the Front Man of the Squid Games. Unfortunately, for a show this huge, it’s hard to focus on the games and the 50+ characters we have to connect with while also worrying about Jun-ho’s search for his brother and the island.
With there only being seven episodes in the season, this subplot is left behind to dry out as it fails to be as captivating as the first two episodes promised. There are some interesting dilemmas that come out of this situation, but with the decision to shorten the season, its story is never able to reach its full potential. This unfortunately starts to make it a hindrance to the show, every time it decides to take us away from the action.
Although Jun-ho feels sidelined, the same can’t be said for In-ho, who has a larger presence within the games that entirely increases the stakes of not only Gi-hun but everyone involved. The show always manages to keep you on your toes with its tension, and while we’ve returned back to the games and some of the games may seem familiar, like red light, green light, some new perspectives make it feel like it’s the first time the audience is witnessing this game. There are also a few new games added to the mix to spice things up, and all of them add a new layer of morality and survival to the show that didn’t exist last season.
Many new characters are introduced this season, but there are a few prominent ones, such as a rapper named Thanos (Choi Seung-hyun), Hyun-jun (Park Sung-hoon), a transgender woman, and Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), a friend of Gi-hun’s who appeared briefly in the first season. There was controversy online when Park Sung-hoon first got cast to play a transgender woman, but with the societal issues of South Korea and their outlook on the LGBT+ community, it was the best move for them. Sung-hoon also delivers an exceptional performance as Hyun-jun, with Hwang Dong-hyuk also providing a story that’s just as respectable for the type of show we’re dealing with.
This season dives into the concepts of morality and survival further than the previous season as the contestants are made after each game to vote on whether they stay in the games to play one more or leave with the sum of money they’ve already accumulated. This provides layers of depth to several of these characters as they ultimately decide the fate for their fellow contestants. These moments allow for certain characters to get deep and personal, and most of the time is where we get our character development, besides the trivial moments during the actual games that they play.
Squid Game Season 2 is a spectacular continuation of the season before, with Hwang Dong-hyuk increasing the stakes that are at play and providing new perspectives to the games that we thought we all already knew. While throughout the season, you’re left guessing incorrectly what’s going to happen next with these heart-beating moments, the season fails to arrive at a fulfilling conclusion as it leaves us at an unsatisfying cliffhanger, forcing the final season of the show to wrap up every storyline that was started within this season. Ultimately, it seems like Squid Game has fallen into Netflix’s bad practices and has disguised what’s truly a ‘Season 2 Part 1’ as a season 2, with the third and final season just secretly being a ‘Season 2 Part 2.’
Squid Game Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.
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