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Squid Game 2: The game has changed for the better
December 31, 2024
“I’ve played these games before- we’ll all die if we keep playing.”
“If you really have, why would you come back?”
Netflix’s blockbuster South Korean series “Squid Game” returned for a second season last week and while this batch of episodes is decidedly smaller with 7 episodes versus the first season’s 9, I would argue that the tighter count has allowed for a more focused, concise, and ultimately more engaging product.
“If you really have, why would you come back?”
Netflix’s blockbuster South Korean series “Squid Game” returned for a second season last week and while this batch of episodes is decidedly smaller with 7 episodes versus the first season’s 9, I would argue that the tighter count has allowed for a more focused, concise, and ultimately more engaging product.
In my review of 2021’s first season, I knocked “Squid Game” for being overhyped and too full of itself, confusing boring elementary school ruminations on greed and betrayal for engaging drama, and stated that the show took itself too seriously but I praised the visuals, acting, and production values.
It would seem creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show’s multi hyphenate writer, producer, and director not only personally read my review but saw it as his mission to prove me wrong in nearly every single way, growing exponentially as a storyteller and director.
It would seem creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show’s multi hyphenate writer, producer, and director not only personally read my review but saw it as his mission to prove me wrong in nearly every single way, growing exponentially as a storyteller and director.
Season 2 begins with our protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), now exponentially wealthy from winning the Squid Game, attempting to track down the gamemakers and put an end to their depravity. To this end, Gi-hun is painted more of a Batman or Punisher-style vigilante, far from the pathetic burnout we met him as in Season 1.
Gi-hun now has a vast array of henchmen combing the subways, a surveillance network set up around the abandoned hotel / compound he lives out of, and has amassed enough guns and munitions to fund a small army- he’s training for war.
Gi-hun manages to track down the briefcase agent or “Recruiter” who brought him into the game 2 years prior as he is seeking new entrants for the next round of games.
The Recruiter and Gi-hun play a tense game of Russian roulette, offering us the best scene in the entire series as we see the desperation from Gi-hun, wracked with survivor’s guilt from his time in the game, versus The Recruiter giving us a glimpse into the psyche of a man who drafts the most desperate and destitute of society into life-or-death games.
Gi-hun now has a vast array of henchmen combing the subways, a surveillance network set up around the abandoned hotel / compound he lives out of, and has amassed enough guns and munitions to fund a small army- he’s training for war.
Gi-hun manages to track down the briefcase agent or “Recruiter” who brought him into the game 2 years prior as he is seeking new entrants for the next round of games.
The Recruiter and Gi-hun play a tense game of Russian roulette, offering us the best scene in the entire series as we see the desperation from Gi-hun, wracked with survivor’s guilt from his time in the game, versus The Recruiter giving us a glimpse into the psyche of a man who drafts the most desperate and destitute of society into life-or-death games.
The police officer from season 1, Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who infiltrated the game to track down his brother who was revealed to be The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), survived his fall from the ending of S1 and has now tracked down Gi-hun in time to join his mission of finding the Gamemakers.
After a tense chase, Gi-hun finds his way back into the games while Jun-ho and a private military group attempt to find the Squid Game island, chasing a tracking device Gi-hun had implanted into a false tooth.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to an amusement park performer Kang No-eul (Park Gyu-young) who is an ex-military North Korean defector that is searching for her daughter she left behind in The North while also befriending a sickly girl at her amusement park.
This is where the show’s first big twist comes into play- the audience assumes No-eul’s Squid Game card means she is recruited as a player, but it turns out she is actually hired as one of the iconic pink guards.
To this end, we now have our three storylines established: Gi-hun is back in the game, Jun-ho is on the hunt yet again for the game island, and No-eul allows us to peek behind the curtain even further.
After a tense chase, Gi-hun finds his way back into the games while Jun-ho and a private military group attempt to find the Squid Game island, chasing a tracking device Gi-hun had implanted into a false tooth.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to an amusement park performer Kang No-eul (Park Gyu-young) who is an ex-military North Korean defector that is searching for her daughter she left behind in The North while also befriending a sickly girl at her amusement park.
This is where the show’s first big twist comes into play- the audience assumes No-eul’s Squid Game card means she is recruited as a player, but it turns out she is actually hired as one of the iconic pink guards.
To this end, we now have our three storylines established: Gi-hun is back in the game, Jun-ho is on the hunt yet again for the game island, and No-eul allows us to peek behind the curtain even further.
Season 2 introduces Gi-hun to a new cast of contestants including an elderly woman and her son, a pregnant girl, a cryptocurrency YouTube celebrity, an underground rap artist, a former soldier transitioning into a woman, and others, all of whom are given less “time” than the supporting cast of Season 1 but leave a stronger impression.
The first game, Red Light Green Light, acts as a rugpull by creator Dong-hyuk.
Red Light Green Light became the most iconic bit from Season 1, spawning memes, songs, merchandise, and turning the robot girl into a franchise mascot.
Here, much like Season 2 as a whole, Dong-hyuk plays with what is “expected” of a second season versus what he wants to write.
Immediately, the game is changed by Gi-hun shouting orders to the other players. He’s been here before. He knows how this goes, and this spoils the “fatal twist” that awaits these players, allowing more than usual to survive. He becomes the audience, the person shouting at the TV in a horror movie for the person to survive.
Of course, people still get ripped apart by gunfire, but Lee Jung-jae commands the screen as a new and improved Gi-hun.
We also get a POV of our guard No-eul, giving us a look at how the players during Red Light Green Light are eliminated.
Meanwhile, The Front Man himself is watching, a sort of amusement, at this unprecedented development. Gi-hun is a problem, and to combat this hyper-awareness, The Front Man himself infiltrates the game as a new contestant going into the second round.
Season 2 develops The Front Man (in disguise as player 001 with the name Oh-Young-il) and his relationship with Gi-hun while the chaos unfolds around them and explores the sympathetic nature behind his rise to power as The Front Man, who we recall was once a Squid Game winner several years prior.
I mentioned earlier Season 2 feels like an intentional curveball from Season 1, and I firmly believe that comes from a fear of complacency from creator Dong-hyuk.
The audience doesn’t even “see” the games until 3 episodes into the season, no doubt testing the patience of those who wished to see murderous playground games carried out with glee from the jump.
When Season 2 takes an unexpected twist in the final hour, ending on a MASSIVE cliffhanger, the status quo of the games and the life of Gi-hun is completely altered.
It would have been easy money for “Squid Game 2” to just be a new collection of people with new games and more bloodshed, but this sophomore outing feels like a more sure-of-himself creator crafting a story he truly wants to tell rather than one mandated to him, giving its strengths and weaknesses bolder meaning. The show, much like our protagonist Gi-hun, has hardened and matured.
In my review of Season 1, I praised the visual style of the show and 2 is no exception. Everything is brighter, more vivid, more eye-catching.
The decorative and childlike colors of the arenas pop, making the blood splatter contrast even more sinister. The dormitory hall of the contestants is given a complete makeover from the fluorescent-tinged gymnasium of the first season, with neon symbols on the floor and a more visually compelling scheme for the walls and monkey bar-like beds.
We see more glimpses of the contestants as they side-step puddles of gore, giving a new layer of interaction to the sets and allowing for a more believable setting.
Creator and director Dong-hyuk plays with the camera more, with shootouts and brawls given a sure-handed fluidity to them along with more interesting cuts and angles.
Online reception has been mixed, especially where the cliffhanger is concerned, but with the 3rd and final season coming in 2025, it seems less egregious than when some shows abruptly end only to resume 2-3 years later.
Funnier, more engaging, bloodier, more visually compelling, and more dramatic, “Squid Game 2” might not be what you’re expecting, but it might just be what you need.
The audience doesn’t even “see” the games until 3 episodes into the season, no doubt testing the patience of those who wished to see murderous playground games carried out with glee from the jump.
When Season 2 takes an unexpected twist in the final hour, ending on a MASSIVE cliffhanger, the status quo of the games and the life of Gi-hun is completely altered.
It would have been easy money for “Squid Game 2” to just be a new collection of people with new games and more bloodshed, but this sophomore outing feels like a more sure-of-himself creator crafting a story he truly wants to tell rather than one mandated to him, giving its strengths and weaknesses bolder meaning. The show, much like our protagonist Gi-hun, has hardened and matured.
In my review of Season 1, I praised the visual style of the show and 2 is no exception. Everything is brighter, more vivid, more eye-catching.
The decorative and childlike colors of the arenas pop, making the blood splatter contrast even more sinister. The dormitory hall of the contestants is given a complete makeover from the fluorescent-tinged gymnasium of the first season, with neon symbols on the floor and a more visually compelling scheme for the walls and monkey bar-like beds.
We see more glimpses of the contestants as they side-step puddles of gore, giving a new layer of interaction to the sets and allowing for a more believable setting.
Creator and director Dong-hyuk plays with the camera more, with shootouts and brawls given a sure-handed fluidity to them along with more interesting cuts and angles.
Online reception has been mixed, especially where the cliffhanger is concerned, but with the 3rd and final season coming in 2025, it seems less egregious than when some shows abruptly end only to resume 2-3 years later.
Funnier, more engaging, bloodier, more visually compelling, and more dramatic, “Squid Game 2” might not be what you’re expecting, but it might just be what you need.
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