Squid Games is an extremely popular thriller series that can be watched on Netflix, and its new season was released in December. The show returns with Gi-hun, the main character and the previous winner of the last Squid Games, a fictional game with lives at stake. Gi-hun tries to end the whole scheme but ends up playing again.
Season two was developed and produced amazingly. Each episode is packed with great and memorable performances by the actors, making it worth watching. I also watched season one beforehand so I was able to set a few expectations for myself as I dove into season two.
The general idea of the plot for season two is that Gi-hun, is searching for the “recruiter” who was responsible for finding people in debt and inviting people to the Squid Games. Gi-Hun goes on this search in an attempt to prevent the deaths of many people in the Squid Games and to end the whole scheme. After searching for him for 2 years, Gi-hun locates the recruiter and gets his hands on an invitation to play the games again.
There’s new players this time around, a notable one is a man named “Thanos.” I think he’s really memorable because of his purple hair and carefree personality. During the first game, Thanos was seen skipping past people in a carefree manner whilst others were running for their life. I mean, how could you not remember him?
Another character worth mentioning is Jun-ho, the police officer from season one, who is trying to find the island where the Squid Games take place to find his brother. His story last season was emotional, and I wish there were more developments.
The acting from everyone was great, as it felt immersive with the emotions every single character displayed. For example, when one character (played by Park Sung-hoon) gets separated from her friend, she fears the worst and lashes out with what felt like real emotion. I was so immersed that when some of the other characters died, it made me sad because I genuinely wanted to see more of them.
After watching season two, I think I should’ve set higher expectations, considering they were greatly surpassed. I really liked that they had the contestants play different games compared to the first season so it didn’t feel repetitive.
Two games that were introduced in season two were a Six-Legged Pentathlon (Group of 5 people racing by completing 5 mini-games first and in under 5 minutes) and Mingle (A variation of “Musical Chairs”). I believe the addition of new games kept the same amount of suspense that the first season had in store for us.
Overall, I thought the pacing and drama of the story was great. I recommend season one fans to watch this new season, even if it’s just to see where the story goes next.
I also saw that season three would be released fairly soon on June 27 of this year. With such a short wait compared to the wait from season one to two, I’m really excited to see what the directors of Squid Game have up their sleeves.
I hope they keep it fresh again while still barely reusing the same assets. I hope some of the characters from this season somehow return in season three. I’m excited to see the creativity and bloody fun that comes with the show.
