Three years after the worldwide hit “Squid Game” became Netflix’s most-watched series of all time, creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk has masterfully continued the series in a thrilling, thought-provoking second installment, leaving little more to be desired than perhaps a better conclusion. The season follows Player No. 456, Seong Gi-hun, as he rejoins the games three years after his original win in Season 1 and aims to bring the games down once and for all.
Hwang continues (in a somewhat ironic fashion, given the undoubtedly large sums of money Netflix and Hwang will rake in on this series) his social commentary on the capitalist system and the “dog eat dog” world of doing whatever it takes to get ahead.
The series presents a batch of new characters while also further developing ones we are familiar with. Namely, we see the return of the Front Man, who infiltrates the games as Oh Young-Il or Player No. 001. The choice to have Oh join the games was a smart one, as it juxtaposed the two opposing worldviews of Oh and Seong. Oh will do whatever it takes to live and survive (as seen when killing another contestant in the Mingle game) and views the people in the games as inherently bad people who deserve their status in society. On the other hand, Seong will always stop to help others even at his own expense (as seen when diving to save a wounded contestant in the Red Light, Green Light game) and believes in the good in humanity, viewing the games as an unfair and unjust tragedy.
The character development of the recruiter in Episode 1 was also surprisingly in-depth and well done. For a character who was originally a simple sidekick, Hwang explores the recruiter’s mindset as he adopts Oh’s pessimistic worldview as a coping mechanism after shooting his own father in the game. We were also introduced to new character dynamics through the new players and followed one of the guards into the game, painting a much more human picture behind the pink suits and black masks. Overall, this season’s character development was top-notch, as it played into Hwang’s critique of the capitalist system, which he argues victimizes and preys upon the lower class yet also blames them for their own failing and not doing enough to get ahead.
Beyond character development, the season’s pacing felt reasonable, with the exception of police officer Hwang Jun-ho’s fruitless boat search for the secret island where the games take place eating up screentime. Focusing less on the games and more on the world, characters and emotions was a good strategic decision, given that the audiences’ shock and horror from the games have likely dampened since the first season. Yet, the games we did see were also smartly designed to promote drama, excitement and tension, becoming edge-of-your-seat thrillers even despite the impenetrable plot armor Seong possessed.
My only major complaint in this entire season would be the ending. Following an intense rebellion against the guards led by Seong, at the last second, Oh turns against Seong, quashing the rebellion mere feet away from the central control room. Yet, after this happens, besides the Front Man (now remasked) killing Seong’s best friend and leaving Seong alive, the audience is left in the dark. Whether the games will continue, if Seong will remain in the games and other developments (including what happens to Jun-ho) are punted to Season 3, which Netflix has vaguely promised to release sometime this year. It’s certainly okay to use cliffhangers, but the ending here is more like pausing mid-sentence than ending a chapter of a book.
Season 3 was originally supposed to be part of Season 2, and Hwang admitted it grew too long to be contained into one season. However, I think it would have made more sense to release this as a Season 2 Part 1 rather than trying to self-contain this obviously unfinished storyline into an entire season. So many questions remain and so many characters, who we have grown attached to through their intricate character development, have unknown fates.
Yet, deliberately or not, the tantalizingly unsatisfactory ending leaves us all in eager anticipation of Season 3, the final chapter of the series. In a season of high-stakes drama and complex, insightful commentary, Hwang adds fuel to the fire in his masterclass of storytelling. Without a doubt his pièce de résistance, we can only wait and see what Hwang’s finishing brushstrokes and touches will reveal for the Squid Game.
