One of the most highly anticipated second seasons in TV history finally hit Netflix after a three-year hiatus. In September 2021, when it launched on the global streaming service, Squid Game became the most streamed series in Netflix history.
The first season of the Korean dystopian drama followed Seong Gi-hun, a down-on-his-luck divorced father living with his sick elderly mother. Despite attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Seong Gi-hun is distracted by a gambling addiction and a growing debt to Korean loan sharks.
After encountering a strange man on a public train, Seong Gi-hun agrees to participate in a series of children’s games for a life-changing grand prize. Pitted against equally desperate people of all ages, he soon realizes the games are far more sinister than anticipated. An examination into the barbaric nature of human greed, the faults of capitalism, and the sheer will of survival, the series captivated audiences around the globe – many of whom watched the show with subtitles or language dubs.
The ninth and final episode of the first season left viewers on a cliffhanger after Seong Gi-hun discovered more truths – which ultimately led to more questions – about the games and decided to return to the playing field. The second season picks up right where the cliffhanger left off, with Seong Gi-hun again competing in the Squid Game, though this time to take the operation down.
Though the second season has already received mixed reviews from early viewers online, critical reception of the show remains high. “Season 2 is smart, provocative, and twisted,” Micheal Ordona of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote. “It deepens characters, steps up the action, and moves the story forward while retaining the first season’s dark absurdity.”
With worldbuilding covered in the first season, the second one goes deeper into the physiological decisions and external factors that drive each player to join the games. Introducing a new cast of complex individuals, season two is sure to captivate the original fans of the drama and may bring more into the disgusting yet fascinating urge to examine the human suffering that is Squid Game.
