Premiering September 17th of 2021, Squid Games marked a major shift in the culture, incorporating the show’s terminology into daily life and encouraging deeper introspection involving how our world works, commenting on potential analogies to real world struggles. The first season alone was massively influential and would have remained a staple of 2020s culture with the toys, games, and planned spin offs having a massive effect on the media landscape.

Then the second season came out.

Gi-hun, the winner of the previous Squid Game, returned to the arena with a goal in mind: putting an end to the death game once and for all. Supported by hired mercenaries on the outside, he along with his longtime friend Jung-bae, attempted to put an end to the game and save as many people as possible. However, their attempts at saving people are hampered at every turn with distrust fermenting and greed obscuring their reasoning. Meanwhile, the mercenary team outside struggled to find the location of the games, later finding out it was due to the presence of a double agent amongst their ranks sabotaging their efforts. Inside the arena, a massacre took place once the contestants found out killing their opponents in the rest area would add money to the prize amount. Afterwards, Gi-hun and Jung-bae lead a rebellion against the managers of the Squid Games. However, their attempts fail due to a betrayal by In-ho, secretly the Front Man or game master.

To say the 2nd Season was a big hit would be an understatement. Netflix undertook great efforts to promote the show to the best of their ability. They set up games, established Galaxy-exclusive experiences, partnered with companies to sell products and merchandise in new, immersive ways. The reception towards the show has been widely positive, with many calling it a very faithful continuation of the series. However, there are also many critics of the show.

Many critics of the second season have stated that it fails to live up to the hype and great expectations. They state that although the show may be just as exciting as before, it lacks the same amount of intrigue and suspense as the previous season. It’s been stated that the show felt disconnected with the previous season, containing boring characters, boring interactions, and even worse games. On top of this, the cliffhanger in the final episode left many feeling unsatisfied, wishing for a more definite and complete conclusion. However, many fans of the show continue to feel that it lives up to the hype, offering a new and fresh perspective of the games, understanding the side of the previously faceless soldiers and the lengths the creators of the games will go to ensure their secrecy on the outside.

However, in my opinion, Squid Game Season 2 has been a great continuation of the series. The story continues to be engaging, introducing new characters, new games, and leaving us on a cliffhanger, hungry for more content. With even more on the way, I am excited to see where this story leads us.