Squid Game (Season 2)

Three years after Seong Gi-hun won the survival game known as Squid Game, he gives up on going to the United States to be reunited with his daughter and attempts to stop the deadly games once and for all. Only, in his quest to track down the game’s recruiter, Gi-hun manages to get himself back into the games in order to try and stop them from the inside. Which admittedly does sound like a horrible plan, but Gi-hun has detective Hwang Jun-ho tracking down his location from the outside. Yes, Jun-ho survives his injuries from the season one finale, and his team up with Seong G-hun may just be enough to finally put an end to the games. 

And you know what? In spite of the mixed responses that this season has received, I have to admit that I actually really enjoyed it. Granted, it’s nowhere near as strong as its predecessor, but that isn’t too surprising, given how Squid Game was never made with a second season in mind. So season two really needed to justify its own existence. And, obviously, I personally felt like it did that.

Because, picking up exactly where the first season left off, season two begins with Seong Gi-hun looking for the Squid Game recruiter. Only, it takes a long ass time for Seong to actually find him. As in two years long. But once he finally does find the elusive man, he's able to partner up with Jun-ho, who is the only other person that knows of the game's existence.

And Jun-ho also wants to stop the games, since he knows that his brother is responsible for running them in the first place - which is a small detail that Seong Gi-hun has yet to figure out. And that's good for Jun-ho, since Seong would probably want to kill In-ho. Or at least have him arrested for his crimes.

Either way, Jun-ho keeps this information from Seong, which may come around to bite him in the ass later on in the season. But I'll get more into that in a second. For now, I will say that the first few episodes of Squid Game Season 2 started off really strongly. I liked the relationship between Gi-hun and Jun-ho, for example, especially since they're both trying to accomplish the same goal for different reasons.

Yes, they both want to stop the games, but Jun-ho also wants to get his brother back. Seong Gi-hun, conversely, has become more utilitarian over the years; he seems to be more interested in stopping the games than being reunited with his own daughter. But we already know that Seong was a flawed character, so this new “altruistic”  personality of his could also be rooted in that flaw. Because now, instead of gambling his life away in the pursuit of money, he's gambling his money away in the pursuit of ending the games.

He has no reason to believe that he could be the one to stop the shady organization that has been operating for several decades now, but he had no reason to believe that he would go on to become a millionaire either. So, that belief is just part of what makes him who he is. Sure, he can do some good by just being a father to his daughter, but he can probably do some more good by stopping hundreds of people from being killed every year. So, who am I to judge where his values are?

I mean, if I made millions of dollars from winning Squid Game, I - like most people, I imagine - would probably just run for the hills and happily live off of my new found wealth. So, a part of me really respects Seong Gi-hun for trying to put an end to these evil games.

But as anyone could have predicted, season two of Squid Game doesn't exactly end on a conclusive note. Yes, much like most other sequels, the finale to Squid Game's second season ends on a huge cliffhanger. And while that may not have worked for some audience members, I actually really liked the finale .

I mean, considering that this is the middle portion of the story, I don't mind seeing that this was the darkest or lowest point of Seong Gi-hun's character journey. I thought it actually made the season feel a lot like The Empire Strikes Back. And I know that comparison has definitely been overused, but I think it actually works pretty well here. So, my issue with season two has nothing to do with how the story came to an abrupt halt, but how the story basically stopped focusing on Jun-ho's storyline completely.

Once Seong Gi-hun makes it back into the Squid Games, the show doesn't know what to do with Jun-ho’s character anymore. Which was really disappointing, especially considering how important his character felt in episodes one and two. And he's not the only character whose development gets stunted midway through the season.

His brother, In-ho, for example, does have a much larger role to play in this season; and while his character is admittedly fascinating, I have no idea what his character motivations are. Yes, his character did add a lot of tension throughout the season, but since Seong Gi-hun never found out his character's true identity, that tension never really goes anywhere .

So I concede on the criticism that this season doesn't feel like a fully fleshed out season, in and of itself. But my criticism focuses more on the character arcs specifically, rather than the overarching narrative.

That being said, I still really liked the rest of the season. Sure, the actual games weren't quite as shocking as the ones from the first season, but they were still pretty damn fun to watch. The characters may have been a little more hyper exaggerated, and the acting may not have worked for everyone, but I thought all of the characters were fascinating and that every performer did a really solid job with their respective roles.

Plus, the direction is great, the music is great, and the themes - while admittedly heavy handed - are still inherently interesting. So, despite how anyone else may have felt about it, Squid Game Season 2 would still get a recommendation from me .

Showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk is clearly a talented storyteller, and his work on this season only continues to prove that. So, regardless of how season three turns out to be, I’m looking forward to seeing whatever he’ll work on in the future.