After narrowly escaping death and winning 45.6 billion won (the South Korean currency) in 2020, Seong Gi-hun became the victor of the 33rd Squid Games at the end of Squid Game season 1. Although his original plan was to fly out to the United States to reunite with his family after the games, a phone call from a mysterious number interrupted Seong as he was about to board the plane, making him turn back. Returning at the end of 2024, the new season of “Squid Game” brings new challenges both in and out of the games.
In the show, the deadly competition is sponsored by a group of ultra-wealthy people apart of the upper class and was designed by season 1 player 001, Oh Il-nam, to give a new opportunity to people who are barely scraping by in their daily lives as they are drowning in heaping debt. While the lower class debtors are desperately trying to win money as they are risking their lives in the games, the upper class sponsors are able to get a front-row seat to their struggle. The show highlights the wealth gap and class inequality in modern South Korea, as the rich sponsors of the games purposefully find those in incredible amounts of debt and then use the lower class’s bloodshed as entertainment.
When season 1 of “Squid Game” was released in 2021, the South Korean survival thriller series boomed in popularity and has become number one on the most popular non-English shows list on Netflix with over 2 billion hours streamed by viewers. Currently, the ranking of “Squid Game” season 2 has also shot up in the span of three weeks and now sits beside “Squid Game” season 1 as the number two show on the Netflix non-English show rankings.
“Squid Game” season 2 seems to build upon the first season’s underlying criticism of South Korea’s exploitation and disregard for the struggles of the lower class, displaying the rich as even enjoying their suffering. In addition to the themes from the first season, “Squid Game” season 2 develops the idea of rebellion and pushback from the lower class by showing the main character, Seong Gi-hun, eagerly searching for ways to dismantle the games and put an end to the bloodshed for money.
Compared to season 1, it took a few more episodes for the players to all be introduced and for them to start playing the actual games. Because there was already the context for the audience of what the games are like from the first season, season 2 focuses more on behind the scenes of the games in the show and immerses the viewers more in what happens between the games and shows Seong’s team outside of the arena trying to put a stop to the games. However, because it takes a bit longer than season 1 for the games to start, some viewers may feel that season 2 progresses slower than the previous season.
Since this season is focusing more on giving the viewers a more comprehensive view of everything going on in the show relating to the games, it captures both the inside and outside of the games itself. This means each game’s screening time is much less compared to the first season, and even with different games, there are much fewer character deaths because of Seong being a returning player. For those who are excited to specifically watch each of the games in detail, even though there is less plot unfolding during the games, the show does display how different relationship dynamics shift during these games.
Finally, each episode’s ending is typical of that of a Netflix series, always finishing with a cliffhanger of some sorts, making the viewer want to keep clicking to watch the next episode. Even though season 1 also ended on sort of a cliffhanger, the season itself felt more complete after the viewers were shown more about Oh Il-nam and his death. Season 1 was also two episodes longer than season 2, giving it roughly 2 more hours worth of content and more time to let the story unfold in depth.
Although the “Squid Game” series gives an overall solid and comprehensive presentation of the issues of class inequality within society, the season’s ending was abrupt, leaving the audience wondering the direction season 3, coming in June of 2025, will go. The fact that season 1’s reviews have been more positive amongst viewers even though the budget of 21.4 million dollars was much lower than season 2’s budget of 84 million dollars proves that perhaps more money put into production doesn’t always guarantee more success.
With all that’s been said, “Squid Game” season 2 is still steadily rising in popularity, and the excitement about the season amongst viewers will likely not end for quite some time because of the sudden ending to the season. Though this season has finished for now, the story of Seong Gi-hun’s plan to dismantle the games has not, and the next season may bring much more chaos and as for whether or not Seong’s plan will succeed? Only time will tell.
Rating: ★★★★
