WHO WANTS TO LIVE? WHO WANTS TO GET RICH?
A Phenomenon Returns
There were a lot of crazy trends people started obsessing over during COVID, but arguably the craziest was Netflix’s Squid Game. The show centered around a secret contest where 456 players risked their lives playing children’s games for the chance to win 45.6 billion won (roughly $39.56 million in U.S. dollars) to pay off their massive financial debts. Released in 2021, the South Korean survival drama took the world by storm, becoming Netflix’s most-watched original program to date.
While the final episode wrapped up the story, it left the door open for more. Fans seemed satisfied with how the series ended and questioned whether a second season was necessary. Yet, after a game of Red Light, Green Light, Netflix decided to renew Squid Game for two more seasons. In 2024, three years after the original release, Squid Game Season 2 finally arrived. But are the games just as fun the second time around?
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Left: Before Star Wars: The Acolyte. Right: After Star Wars: The Acolyte.
Picking Up the Pieces
Season 1 ended with Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) becoming the sole survivor and winning the 45.6 billion won. But instead of traveling to Los Angeles to reunite with his ex-wife and daughter, Gi-hun decided to stay in South Korea to bring down the people behind the games.
Season 2 picks up two years later, with Gi-hun using his billions to fund his quest for justice and revenge. He enlists his former loan shark to watch subway terminals for the Recruiter, the man who first offered Gi-hun the chance to join the games, and sent countless people to their deaths.
The pacing in Season 2 is noticeably slower than in Season 1, with a significant amount of setup for the story and characters. The actual games don’t begin until the third episode, as the first two focus on Gi-hun’s attempts to reenter the contest before his opportunity slips away.
Familiar Yet Different
Once Gi-hun is back in the deadly contest, even reclaiming his original number, 456, history starts to repeat itself. Naive players are thrown into seemingly harmless games, but this time, Gi-hun is prepared. He helps as many players as he can survive the first trial.
Season 2 does lose some of the tension and unpredictability that made Season 1 so captivating. There aren’t as many tragic loses as there were in the first season (but there are some deaths that will hit viewers like a gut punch) there’s still enough excitement to keep viewers engaged. Many may even binge the entire season in one sitting.
Parallel Storylines
While the games unfold, Detective Hwang Jun-ho, who survived his fall off the cliff in Season 1, leads a team of mercenaries under Gi-hun’s payroll to locate the island where the games occur and save Gi-hun and the other players. Jun-ho’s storyline, however, feels aimless at times, with him and the mercenaries sailing in literal circles.
Adding to the frustration is that the dramatic reveal from last season—Jun-ho’s presumed-dead half-brother, In-ho, is secretly the Front Man of the games—has minimal impact on this season’s events. It’s clear that Jun-ho’s storyline is being saved for Season 3.
Another subplot that falls short is that of Kang No-eul (Guard 011). Introduced early in the season, No-eul is a masked guard who helps in overseeing the games, secretly harboring a complex connection to one of the players. Despite being set up as a major figure with interesting motivations, her appearances are sporadic, and her storyline feels underdeveloped. Like Jun-ho, it seems her arc is being reserved for the next season.
New Rules, New Players
In Season 1, Gi-hun’s goal was survival. In Season 2, it’s to save as many players as possible. The rules of the games have also changed: after each round, the surviving players vote on whether or not to stop the games and leave with a portion of the winnings.
This adds a new layer of conflict. While some players want to escape with their lives, others are willing to risk everything for a bigger prize. This division escalates as the season progresses, creating tension and drama among the contestants.
Like Season 1, many of the 456 players are given focus, allowing the audience to connect with them as Gi-hun does. Notable additions include Gi-hun’s loyal friend Park Jung-bae (Player 390), the sympathetic and determined Cho Hyun-ja (Player 120), a mother-son duo Jang Geum-ja (Player 149) and Park Yong-sik (Player 007), expectant mother Kim Jun-hee (Player 222), and the unpredictable rapper Thanos (Player 230). The mysterious Player 001 (Lee Byung-ha) also adds intrigue.
Emotional Investment
As the games progress, the unpredictability returns. The closer viewers bond with the players, the more nerve-wracking it becomes to watch each game. The emotional highs and lows are expertly crafted—viewers will gasp, sigh, cry, and even laugh as the contestants navigate their way through life-or-death challenges.
The cast delivers spectacular performances. Despite the language barrier for many viewers, the actors’ emotions are so vivid that their struggles resonate deeply, whether you’re reading subtitles or listening to dubs.
A Cliffhanger Ending
What holds Squid Game Season 2 back is its ending. With only seven episodes—two fewer than Season 1—and slower pacing, the season concludes on a cliffhanger (to an admittedly very exciting finale), leaving half the game unresolved. It feels more like Season 2 Part 1 than a full story.
Final Thoughts
Despite being incomplete, Squid Game Season 2 delivers enough of what made Season 1 a global phenomenon. It starts slow and familiar but gradually carves out its own identity with a compelling new cast and fresh conflicts. The games remain unique and terrifying, keeping viewers on edge with each episode.
Here’s hoping Season 3 is worth the wait and concludes the series on a high note.
