Created by writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk, the Emmy-winning “Squid Game,” Netflix‘s most-watched series of all time, has returned for a second season. Season 1 of the South Korean survival thriller followed Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a divorced father and gambling addict who joins the Squid Game in hopes of earning enough prize money to pay off his debts and support his family. Gi-hun and 455 other players attempted to pull themselves out of poverty by competing against one another in nostalgic childhood games like “Red Light, Green Light,” “Marbles” and “Tug of War.” However, they quickly discovered elimination meant total annihilation. Despite persevering as the winning contestant and taking home $45.6 billion, Gi-hun remains haunted by the experience. Unable to move forward and enjoy his immense wealth, Gi-hun is determined to dismantle the game from the inside – no matter the cost. Deeply disturbing, ultraviolent and offering new insights, “Squid Game” Season 2 is a worthy follow-up expanding on the ominous themes of its predecessor.
Three years after winning, Gin-hun has done little to transform his circumstances. Paranoid and emotionally disturbed, he is a shell of his former self, living in almost complete isolation. Instead of following his daughter to America, Gin-hun’s sole focus is uncovering a way to force himself back into the game and put a stop to it. Though his investigation has produced only dead ends, his fortunes change when he crosses paths with Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), a police officer who previously infiltrated the game as a guard, hoping to find his missing brother, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun). Upon learning that In-ho was working as the game’s Front Man, Jun-ho was cruelly betrayed by his brother and later ostracized at work due to his ravings about what he witnessed. After teaming up together, Gi-hun and Jun-ho find themselves being pulled back into the world they so narrowly escaped in an effort to stop the inhumanity they witnessed.
The structure, costuming, setting and even the haunting cover of “Fly Me to the Moon” remain the same in Season 2. Still, it mostly thwarts repetitiveness by finding new angles to examine what seemingly ails modern-day Korea: capitalist exploitation, the erosion of morality and class inequities. The show’s signature brutal violence, blood, guts and gore are still hyper-present, but the terror among the players, including Gin-hun, who has experienced it all before, remains palpable.
Moreover, a brand new cast of contenders, including a mother/son duo (Yang Dong-geun and Kang Ae-shim), a YouTube star (Im Si-wan) and a psychotic rapper (Choi Seung-hyun), add new dimensions. Because this crop of competitors skews much younger and includes more women, the narrative showcases how an unplanned pregancy, and timely problems such as unstable currencies like crypto and ill-informed influencers can upend the lives of young people before they are ever able to gain footing in society.
One of the most interesting aspects of Season 2 is that it moves beyond the players. The audience follows the journey of pink soldier No-eul (Park Gyu-young). While the participants are motivated by the promise of billions of dollars, the soldiers, who appear unconcerned with the game’s vicious nature, have chosen to work for the Front Man for other reasons. Just as the series addresses human behavior under extreme duress and life-and-death situations, Season 2 also illustrates how easily people can inflict pain and violence on others when they are emboldened by a sliver of power.
In addition to offering audiences different vantage points into the tournament, Season 2 of “Squid Game” also illustrates how quickly the elite can shift and raise the bar to maintain their status and keep others on hamster wheels of suffering. Though Gin-hun returns with a plan and a roadmap, backed by unlimited funds, he learns harshly and quickly that the game’s overseers have only become more sadistic.
An eerie examination of greed, brutality and a money-worshiping culture, “Squid Game” Season 2 isn’t so much dystopian as it mirrors an ever-compounding global crisis. This story illuminates how differing priorities and a lack of self-awareness can cause major societal fractures, fostering groupthink and barbarism. Boasting several mind-blowing twists, these seven episodes advance the story to what will undoubtedly be an electric conclusion when Season 3 debuts in 2025. Additionally, the show is a reminder that it is not radical to protest injustice. After all, dissent might be the only thing to save us.
“Squid Fame” Season 2 premieres on Netflix Dec. 26.
