After three years, Squid Game is back with more deadly games to play. The seven-episode second season premieres today on Netflix. By all accounts, it’s just as good as the show’s first outing. However, this is not a retread of season 1, and that’s due to Seong Gi-hun’s (Lee Jae) return to the gauntlet that nearly killed him.
Why would Gi-hun (aka Player 456) even come back after the violence he endured previously? After all, he won the competition and left the island a billionaire. You’d think he’d put this in his rearview for good and move on with his life. When it comes to the lingering impact of trauma, that’s easier said than done.
When audiences first met Gi-hun, he was an aloof low-life with a gambling habit, struggling to pay off some massive debts. In short, he had a clear detachment from any meaningful responsibilities. In Season 2, Gi-hun is a changed man. A hardened shell of his former self, his sole purpose has shifted from paying off debtors to taking down the whole mysterious operation entirely.
Instead of starting a new lavish life with his competition winnings, he spends copious amounts of money to find the people connected to the games. He wants revenge, and nothing will stop him from getting it.
Or, to paraphrase Michael Corleone from The Godfather: Part III: Just when we thought he was out, he threw himself right back in.
This is the part of the review where I warn you of spoilers for Squid Game season 2. If you haven’t watched the new episodes, tread lightly or turn back now.
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Lee Jung-jae returns as Gi-hun (aka Player 456) in Squid Game season 2 on Netflix.
It’s not a spoiler that Gi-hun returns to the games; that detail was prominent in the trailer. On the surface, this new installment looks a lot like the first one. People who need money are forced to play childhood games for big money while putting their lives on the line. A shadowy figure runs the show with an army of hooded, masked henchmen doing his bidding.
Even though the competitors are all in this life-threatening situation together, bonds are forged and conflicts arise. Once again, we are presented with a Lord of the Flies-style scenario showing how easy it is for humanity to pull itself apart from within.
Gi-hun’s determination to end this operation and save as many lives as possible puts him at odds with a number of competitors. His tenacity and knowledge of the games also bring new friends his way, introducing the audience to a collection of new faces, each with their own flaws and nuances.
As expected, Jung-jae delivers another stand-out performance. Every player in the expansive ensemble delivers on all fronts, from Lee Byung-hun — whose sinister return as the Front Man brings some unexpected new layers to the evil role — and Wi Ha-jun, who is back as detective Hwang Jun-ho, to Gong Yoo’s delightful reprisal of his sociopathic Recruiter role, everyone does a fantastic job raising the emotional stakes. And that’s a necessity.
Let’s remember where we were three years ago when Squid Game premiered on Netflix in 2021. At the time, there was a global lockdown, and millions of people were stuck at home, looking for entertainment to numb the pain of the pandemic realities they were living through daily. The Korean series was a hit out of the gate and quickly became the streamer’s most-watched series ever.
Emmys were won, and careers were made. Series lead Lee Jung-jae got the Star Wars bump with the Disney Plus series The Acolyte. The spotlight was indeed well-received. But after a three-year wait, one has to wonder if the second season of Hwang Dong-hyuk’s global hit scratches the same sort of itch.
It does. But it also doesn’t. And that’s a good thing.
Squid Game isn’t the first piece of entertainment that pits people against each other in bloody combat for monetary gain. Titles like Running Man or Battle Royale come to mind. However, the deadly competition here isn’t a means of popcorn-munching revelry for an at-home audience. No, that would be too easy. This deadly gauntlet of children’s games may take place at the whims of a sociopathic man hiding behind a black mask — but it’s the competitors themselves who own the majority of the trauma.
Season 2 gives everyone a proverbial get-out-of-jail-free card by allowing competitors to vote on whether they should stay or leave. Much like in the first season, though, humanity’s greed offsets common sense and once again guides the series into a bloodbath. Adding an election theme to the mix creates a violent polarity that feels a bit too close to home, considering our present-day reality.
Squid Game has changed with the times more than enough to keep it interesting. It’s just as terrifying as it is funny, heartfelt and dramatic. Like Gi-hun, audiences everywhere are already familiar with this bloody competition — Red Light, Green Light is still the scariest game, to be honest. So, to keep our attention, the story needs to enter a new phase.
The Front Man and his henchmen messed around in season 1. Now, it looks like Squid Game is in the finding-out stage, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
