“Review of ‘Squid Game’ Season 2: A Remarkable, Surprising, and Thrilling Comeback on Netflix”

When the hit series Squid Game premiered on Netflix in September 2021, it provided a much-needed release for viewers who were grappling with the aftermath of a global pandemic that had taken its toll emotionally and financially. The brainchild of Korean filmmaker Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show depicted a ruthless competition where financially struggling individuals faced off against each other for a chance to win a substantial cash prize. The perilous challenges were inspired by childhood playground games, and the show’s vibrant visuals were saturated with vivid, candy-colored hues. Squid Game quickly captivated audiences worldwide with its masterful combination of artistic elements and dark themes, propelling it to become Netflix’s most-watched series ever. Its massive success practically guaranteed a second season, despite the daunting task of living up to the creative brilliance of the first.

Fast forward to the arrival of Squid Game Season 2. The latest installment delivers seven new episodes that are jaw-dropping, heart-wrenching, and at times, exhilarating. While Season 2 may not quite reach the extraordinary heights of its predecessor, it still manages to impress with its gripping narrative and compelling characters. Squid Game Season 2 holds its own as a solid continuation of the story that fans have come to love.

**Spoilers for Squid Game Season 2**

In the initial season of Squid Game, the focus was primarily on Gi-hun (portrayed by Lee Jung-Jae), a likable but troubled gambling enthusiast spiraling downwards into despair. His life takes a dramatic turn when he is challenged to a game of ddakji by a mysterious stranger played by Gong Yoo, known for his role in Train to Busan. This seemingly innocent game opens the door to a larger, high-stakes competition where Gi-hun and 455 other contestants vie for a life-changing sum of money. The catch is simple yet brutal—losing means facing death, all while serving as mere entertainment for a shadowy group of affluent “VIPs.” Gi-hun emerges victorious from the game, but not without sacrificing his innocence along the way.

Squid Game Season 2 opens with Gi-hun in vengeance mode, using his vast funds to hunt the secret society that staged the games. Eventually, Gi-hun teams up with heroic cop Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who has his own reasons for exposing the game: his long-lost brother In-ho (Lee Byung-hun) is secretly the “Front Man” organizing the mayhem. Gi-hun makes the risky gamble to re-enter the games in the hopes that Jun-ho can track him to the villains’ secret island base. Naturally, that plan quickly goes awry, forcing Gi-hun to relive the horrors of Squid Game.

If Squid Game Season 2 has one massive flaw, it’s the fact that Hwang Dong-hyuk has lost the element of surprise. When the first season hit Netflix, everything about it — from the maniacal robot doll Young-hee to the radical decision to let the players return to the real world for a beat — felt utterly fresh. The show’s unpredictability made its horror and tragedy hit harder. In Squid Game Season 2, it’s easy to share Gi-hun’s own jaded reactions returning to the familiar settings of the dormitory and “Red Light, Green Light.” We’ve already seen hundreds of pitiful poor people gunned down because they lost a children’s game. We know how everything’s going to go down. After all, we’ve seen this before.

Except we haven’t. Hwang Dong-hyuk introduces a fascinating wrinkle to Squid Game this season by adding a new rule: the contestants can vote after every game to keep going or not, and if they agree to leave, they split the existing prize money. The players are immediately polarized between self-preservation and all-out greed, creating a blunt, but effective, metaphor for our own modern political polarization.

Squid Game Season 2 also sagely introduces a new roster of intriguing players to the game. Gi-hun is quickly reunited with childhood friend Park Jung-bae, Player 390 (Lee Seo-hwan), whom we briefly met in Season 1. Jung-bae notably still has that incorrigible optimistic streak that Gi-hun initially brought with him into the games which adds much needed levity. Player 007, Park Yong-sik (Yang Dong-guen) continually finds his own worst impulses curbed by the fact that his own mother, Jang Geum-ja, Player 149 (Kang Ae-shim), followed him into the competition. Crypto scammer Lee Myung-gi, Player 333 (Yim Si-wan), comes into the games with baked-in nemeses, as flamboyant rapper “Thanos,” Player 230 (Choi Seung-hyun), nightclub bouncer Nam-gyu, Player 124 (Roh Jae-won), and pregnant ex-girlfriend Kim Jun-hee, Player 222 (Jo Yu-ri) all blame him for their crippling debt. There’s also an erratic mystic, a courageous transgender woman, and the most radical new addition to the competition of all: the Front Man himself, masquerading as Player 001.

That said, Squid Game Season 2 is not as breathtakingly good as Season 1. Again, for all the innovations this season, part of its beats do feel sadly route. The season also ends abruptly on a downer of a cliffhanger, leaving us desperate for what’s to come. Nevertheless, it’s still emphatically Squid Game. It’s a gorgeously shot, intensely paced, beautifully acted work of drama. Hwang Dong-hyuk simply knows how to write and direct incredible television. Lee Jung-jae, who won an Emmy for his work in Season 1, proves his mettle as one of the world’s greatest actors by playing a darker, haunted version of Seong Gi-hun. Indeed, the entire ensemble cast shines, with Lee Byung-hun getting a particularly twisted spotlight when the Front Man is called upon to put on an impenetrable emotional mask this time around. Squid Game is still very, very good!

Squid Game Season 2 may not be as innovative as Season 1, but it’s still fantastic TV. Hwang Dong-hyuk doubles down on his philosophy that humanity is sick, but worth saving. Lee Jung-jae throws down another incandescent performance and Lee Byung-hun effortlessly transforms into Gi-hun’s perfect foil. Should Netflix have left Squid Game as a perfect limited series? As half of the payers this season would chant, I enthusiastically say, “One more game! One more game!”

Squid Game Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix