When Squid Game first landed in 2021, it was more than just a new TV show - it was a wake-up call for the whole world. This brutal send-up of capitalism, wrapped up in a layer of sinister deception and the familiar-yet-creepy games of childhood, got a grip on our attention with its jolting thrills and the searing, unflinching look at what desperation and inequality really mean. tackling so many tough questions and pushing so many boundaries, it set the bar impossibly high - and that 3 year wait for season 2 felt like a never-ending cycle of gossip and speculation. Now that it's finally here, the question still lingers on - can you get that same lightning to strike in the same gory arena twice? The answer is a bit of a mixed bag: season 2 delivers heart-stopping tension & a bunch of surprises but it struggles to live up to the original bc of some repetition, some uneven pacing & a cliffhanger ending so abrupt that it leaves you wanting more - while also wondering: did the treat feel satisfying in the end?
Directed once again by Hwang Dong-hyuk, who thought he was done with this - but then Netflix had other ideas. Season 2 picks up three years down the line after Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) finally snapped out of his zombie-like state after his pyrrhic victory. That bumbling debt-ridden guy is long gone - now its a haunted crusader we see before us, as grey streaks his hair & a fire burns deep in his eyes. Haunted by the ghosts of the 455 players he made it through against all the odds, he's put the 45.6 billion won he won to good use in a one-man crusade against the shadowy crew running the game. He wants in, all over again - to get right to the heart of the & bring the show down from the inside - and bring those high-up puppeteers who treat human lives like pieces on a game board to book. The vibe here is that we're in for something different - from mere survival to the high-stakes business of actually taking down the system. And now - to make things more complicated - Gi-hun teams up with a familiar face - Detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) - whose brother just so happens to be the copper who vanished last season - which ups the personal stakes & brings all sorts of uneasy alliances into play.
The seven episodes of the season (2 episodes fewer than the original) don't waste time at all before dumping us straight back into the garish nightmare that is the games. Gi-hun gets recruited pretty quick and its brutal - a stark reminder of the way the game exploits the people who really need it - a guy just one step away from losing everything in a crypto scam, a YouTuber trying to escape their online tormentors, a North Korean defector with a huge problem controlling his urge to gamble. These newcomers each bring their own complicated reasons for playing, which adds a much-needed bit of gritty realism to the cast. The standouts include Park Gyu-young as a mum so angry you can just taste the hot fury simmering just below the surface, and newcomer Yang Dong-geun - a shifty little snake who's manipulation stings way more than any toy gun ever will. And don't forget the returning cast, which brings its A-game even more so with Lee Byung-hun as the Front Man - whose air of mystery cracks just enough to give us a glimpse of the haunted soul hiding beneath the ridiculous mask.
What Squid Game has done well is turn nostalgia against us and Season 2 brings in three new challenges that turn childhood experiences into sources of fear. The first challenge of the season is a 5 minute paper fortune teller folding challenge while blindfolded. You have to be accurate despite the stress – mess up the fold and you’re out (or worse). This is a twisted version of Red Light, Green Light, showing how quickly teamwork breaks down when partnerships crumble in the heat of the moment. The later challenges get more violent: a zero gravity tug of war that defies physical laws and moral boundaries and a hide and seek game where helpers and traitors lurk in the dark. These scenes are like visual art – Hwang’s camera zooms in on sweating foreheads and shaky fingers, with bright colours clashing against bursts of red like an out of control Warhol piece. The sound design heightens the tension: the snap of a dalgona cracker breaking, the held breath before a decision to end the games. These moments are what made the original so alluring and show that the old formula still works.
Yet for every heart-pumping adrenaline rush, Season 2 shows its cracks. The pace stumbles right from the start - the first couple of episodes plod along with Gi-hun chasing down clues all over the world, it feels like this is more build-up for a separate thriller series than it is the main horror show. The side stories get lost in the weeds: the organ harvesting plotline that was teased in the first season comes back but ends up going nowhere; it's just a gruesome gimmick rather than anything with real depth. And the voting mechanic that lets the players just quit the game mid-stream and walk away with whatever rubbish they can scavenge gets used way too often, it pulls tension in all the wrong directions and feels like they're deliberately padding out the story so it feels like 1.5 stories rather than 1. Gi-Hun, too, who used to be a really relatable anti-hero, now just comes across as some brooding dude who just likes to monologue about inequality, but it's hard to get on board with that when we keep seeing the same old betrayals and backstabbing. New characters try to add some real weight - we get a look at the recruiter's past that gives a sense of just how cruel and calculating this organisation is - but a lot of the story threads just fizzle out and leave us with a big ol' cliffhanger, basically a teaser for season 3.
This season is an uncertain double-edged sword. On one hand it takes a page from the show's brutality: you've got to fight to survive and we're left hanging - much like Gi-hun - between his desire for vengeance and the edge of madness. The finale just explodes with all the suddenness of a maelstrom of gunfire and moral gray areas, while the prize continues to get bigger and bigger as everyone's allegiances just fall apart in a spectacular display. It's a punch to the gut that in many ways mirrors the first programmes despair and forces you to confront the way that big problems just go unanswered. On the other hand it kind of cheapens the whole experience - what's the point of getting this excited about it when the whole pay-off is still a year away? Critics have been saying the same basic thing, giving credit to the visuals and the performances but knocking off points for how same old it all feels - with people just getting filler episodes that are just pointless. Rotten Tomatoes currently has it hovering around 75% with a pretty clear divide between those who think it's still addictive & those who think it's just a cynical cash in on the original
At its core, Season 2 takes the gloves off in its scathing critique of our world: In a world where the super wealthy are raking it in by betting on our hardships, we're all in on the farce - voting to keep the charade going because the truth of the matter is that walking away means going hungry. This theme bites a lot harder now that we're living in a post pandemic world with AI driven inequality on the rise. And that's not coincidental. Gi-hun's rebellion makes it crystal clear just how futile it is to try and fight the system - when it's rigged from the start. The show may not bring anything painstakingly new to the table - or the face of the oinking pig in the arena - but it brings enough raw energy and ferocity to keep the momentum rolling. Flawed - absolutely. Thrilling - without a shadow of a doubt. As the credits roll on this kick off to the last hurrah, one truth sticks with you: The game was never about winning. It's about how long we're willing to let it keep going on. If Season 2 teaches us anything, it's that sequels are all about taking risks & trying new things, not just rehashing the old. Hwang Dong-hyuk's got one final round to turn the whole thing on its head. I'm crossing my fingers he gets to keep bringing the heat.
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