The second season of “Squid Game” made its way to Netflix on Dec. 24, 2024. It has remained on Netflix’s “Top 10 Shows in the U.S.” ever since. The season has a total of 152.5 million streams, making it the third most-watched season on the platform. The first season of “Squid Game” holds the number one spot.
Overall, I was severely impressed with the second season. It gave its watchers loveable characters, sacrifices, plot-twists, action and an unmatched level of suspense. Here’s your warning, there will be severe spoilers.
The season opened with a lot of context into Seong Gi-hun’s (Player 456) life after winning the games. He has dedicated his life and winnings to finding the salesman who first recruited him, but this ends in the fatality of Mr. Kim, the man Gi-hun fired to find the salesman.
His death served as a sacrifice to save Woo-seok, another character hired to find the salesman. This death pulled on my heart strings, but also served as a harsh reminder of the severe cruelty of the show.
Similarly, Gi-hun realizes that he cannot stop the games from the outside. Rather, he asks the Front Man to be put back into the games, clearly aware of the possibility that he may not make it out alive. Regardless, he chooses to make this sacrifice if it means saving the lives of others.
This season also picks up with the subplot from season one with Detective Hwang Jun-ho after being shot by his own brother, the Front Man. Here is where one of my only critiques in the show comes in.
Jun-Ho joins Gi-hun and Woo-seok on trying to put an end to the games, but he never tells them that his own brother is the Front Man, which we learned in the first season. I think the search would have been easier if this information would have been revealed.
On a similar note, there were a few plot twists that had my jaw on the floor. The first being that No-eul agreed to enter the games as a soldier. We see her on the phone giving her consent to the games, but her role is not revealed until the end of episode two. Personally, I enjoyed seeing the perspective from a guard. It gave the show a new dimension that was not expected.
She performed well as a guard during the first game, red light green light. It is after this game that we find another subplot was brought back to the show, this being the organ harvesting ring. I had to do a little research to fully grasp what was going on, so I think this could have been portrayed better.
Also, we see that the Front Man, Hwang In-ho (Player 001), actually enters the game after red light green light. His reveal comes as a shock to us watchers. When the players are tasked with choosing whether they want to end the games and keep the money earned, or keep playing the games and win more money, In-ho is the last person to choose. He chooses to continue playing the game, separating the votes by only one.
Half of the players contain this “one more game” ideology, where they say they will choose to end the games after one more round. This shows the stark contrast between those whose greediness outweighs their humanity, versus those who would rather escape the games alive and find alternate ways to pay off their debt.
Those who chose to continue did so with no regard to the lives of others. Yes, the prize money would increase after every round, but at the ultimate cost of the death of others.
Throughout the season, I caught myself optimistic that In-ho would leave his role as Front Man. We see him forming connections with the other players, especially with Gi-hun (Player 456).
One of my favorite moments from the season was during the fifth episode. The players had to participate in a six legged pentathlon, with only five minutes to complete a series of popular Korean kids games.
After the first two teams failed, all players sank into a feeling of hopelessness. However, the third team gave everyone a sense of hope. This team consisted of a few of the main side characters: Yong-Sik (Player 007), Geum-ja (Player 149), Hyun-Ju (Player 120), Seon Nyeo (Player 044) and Kim Young-mi (Player 095).
As the team moved through the mini games, all other players cheered and rooted, including In-ho. This provided a much-needed sense of community to the games. It was joyful to watch.
Another standout moment for me was during the mingle game in the sixth episode. I think the suspense was top tier, and the song during this game was addicting. We could see the players truly fighting for their lives, rushing to break into the groups with the stated number. The moment I had been waiting for all season finally happened, where all the side characters formed a single group.
It was during mingle that Young-mi (Player 095) was killed. We even see In-ho kill another player to save Jung-Bae (Player 390), who is Gi-hun’s best friend. Once again, we see the strong, human connection In-ho has formed with Gi-hun’s group.
After this game, the final action sequence broke out with the players rioting against the guards. They are able to take out a number of them and acquire weapons. Hyun-ju (Player 120) truly shined, as she was a former special forces soldier. Her strength made her one of my favorite characters.
The season ended on a cliffhanger, where we see In-ho (Player 001) revert to his role as Front Man. He kills Jung-Bae (Player 390) to punish Gi-hun (Player 456) for rebelling. I was crushed to find out that after everything, the Front Man was just playing a part.
This season gave us a drastic change in the sense of optimism. Majority of the characters were loveable and looked out for one another. For example, the core group looked after Jun-hee (Player 222) who happens to be pregnant, and Dae-ho (Player 388) chose to formally introduce himself to the rest of the core group. Calling each other by their names gave the game a more human experience. These small details made the experience all the more favorable.
Furthermore, I would say I prefer this season over the first. I found myself skipping through a lot of the plot in the first season, but this season had me invested from episode one all the way through episode seven.
I am excited to see these characters return in season three, hopefully soon. I strongly believe that Detective Jun-ho will be able to locate the island, bringing a resolution to the series. There is a lot of optimism in me that is banking on a happy ending for the players, especially my favorites: Hyun-Ju (Player 120), Gi-hun (Player 456) and Dae-Ho (Player 388).
