We’re not sure if Netflix knew what it had with the first season of Squid Game when it came out in 2021. They held back screeners for the series, which could have been a vote of confidence or the complete opposite. Despite the lack of reviews (except for ours and a couple of others) and other coverage before the show’s release, it still went on to become Netflix’s biggest hit ever, with audiences worldwide watching desperate characters play deadly children’s games for the small chance at a massive jackpot. After a reality competition spinoff (where no one dies, of course), Hwang Dong-hyuk is back with the much-anticipated second season of the series.
SQUID GAME SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A shot of the airport. A man with magenta hair walks through, on the phone with a demanding voice.
The Gist: The man with the magenta hair is Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), and the man on the phone is Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), the Front Man of the Squid Game that Gi-hun just won. He was going to go to the United States with his winnings and join his family there, but when he saw the Salesman (Gong Yoo) handing someone a card with a circle, triangle and square on it, he decided to stay in South Korea. “You should have gotten on that plane,” the Front Man tells him on the phone.
Two years later, and three years after he entered the Squid Game, Gi-hun is still a reclusive, broken man, determined to find the Salesman. He has a crew of associates at every subway station in Seoul looking for him, and is willing to pay to put as many men on as possible. He figures if he stops the Salesman, the next game won’t have enough players.
In the meantime, Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who survived being shot by his brother In-ho, whom he thought had died long ago, is working traffic detail. He is doing that instead of his previous work as a detective because at least when he stops someone for speeding or not wearing a helmet, there’s concrete evidence. There is no concrete evidence that the island where the games were being played exists, and he’s been out on the boat of the man who pulled him from the water almost every day looking for that island.
When the two leaders of Gi-hun’s search party finally find the Salesman, they follow him to a park, where he offers unhoused people either a bun or a lottery scratcher. Almost all of them pick the scratcher, earning the Salesman’s contempt. When Gi-hun gets word that the Salesman is being tracked, he speeds towards where he is, and is pulled over by Jun-ho. The Salesman gets the upper hand on Gi-hun’s men, though, and ends up finding Gi-hun instead of the other way around.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Three years ago, we cited that Season 1 of Squid Game felt like The Hunger Games crossed with Willy Wonka. Though the first episode of Season 2 isn’t like that at all, once Gi-hun reenters the game, we’ll get that vibe back.
Our Take: It took Hwang Dong-hyuk three years to conceive of and create a second season of Squid Game, and despite the pressure of being Netflix’s most popular show of all time and armfuls of Emmys and other awards, he took the time he needed to put this season out (the third and final season will be released in 2025, according to Netflix). It shows in the first episode, as he takes his time to plunge Gi-hun back into the game, and he gives him ample motivation to put himself through that torture again.
This time, it’s not financial desperation on Gi-hun’s part, because he still has billions of won left from his win three years prior. He puts himself through the game again purely to get to the Front Man and the others who watch desperate people compete literally to the death as a form of entertainment. If there’s any desperation on Gi-hun’s part, it’s from anger, given the fact that people he was friends with — and those who he became allies with during the game — had to die in order for him to win, and it was all done for kicks.
He hasn’t entered the game by the end of the first episode, but that doesn’t mean no games are played. The Salesman figures prominently in this episode, and he’s not just playing Ddakji with recruits. Once he captures the the leaders of Gi-hun’s search team, he plays a sadistic game of Russian Roulette with them. So, even in the outside world, we see that people are always playing games.
The first episode shows that Hwang isn’t into repeating what made the show such a global success back in 2021. We suspect that even the games Gi-hun plays will be different, giving him less of an advantage than he might think he has given his previous experience. That’s certainly a good thing, as will meeting a new group of players once he re-enters the game. Also, at the same time, Jun-ho will keep probing from the outside, looking for his brother and trying to put a stop to the game in his own way.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: Gi-hun and the Salesman complete their game of Russian Roulette.
Sleeper Star: Gong Yoo gets a chance to give the Salesman a bit of a character arc in the first episode, and he does a good job with it.
Our Call: STREAM IT. The long-anticipated second season of Squid Game lives up to what Hwang Dong-hyuk accomplished in the first season, with Gi-hun back in the game, but for very different reasons than when he first played it.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 On Netflix, Where Gi-hun Plays The Deadly Game Again In Order To End It Once And For All appeared first on Decider.
