Squid Game season 2 review: a brutal remix of Netflix’s biggest show

In the next three years squid game Becomes Netflix’s biggest propertyit’s easy to forget why it’s so popular. The unflinching story of class conflict combines iconic visuals, schoolyard games and a nihilistic view of humanity that has been largely buried ill-conceived reality show, Influential imitations, Cartoon style mobile gameAnd various brand matching. just before the show starts Return for Season 2, Netflix outlines a series of shocking content squid game cooperatecovering from call of Duty Domino’s, Crocs, Johnnie Walker. You can buy it if you really want it squid game– Brand beef jerky.

Fortunately, though, Netflix seems to have forgotten something squid game Actually – or, more likely, simply blinded by dollar signs – series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk certainly didn’t. Rather than exploring a lot of new ground thematically, Season 2 subtly expands on the themes squid game Cosmos, meanwhile, delivers a thriller that works like a more brutal remix of the original.

The new season picks up a few years after the events of the first season, with Seong Gi-hun, better known as Contestant 456 (Lee Jung-jae), following squid game reputation and Starring Star Wars and his directorial debut), won the initial competition. This meant that he received a bonus of 45.6 billion won, but he also had to accept the reality of being the only survivor among 456 people.

By the end of Season 1, Gi-hun has not only become rich, but he’s also learned that the older Oh Il-nam, Player 001 (Oh Young-soo), is actually the creator of the game, and that he and a group of super-rich people use a pure form of murder and mayhem It’s to relieve boredom. In the final moments of the season, Ki-hoon faces a choice: get on a plane and reconnect with his estranged family, or stay and do something about the game. He didn’t get on the plane.

Season 2 finds Ki-hoon in a very different situation. He has spent the past few years in a state of isolation and paranoia, plotting how to use his wealth to shut down the game for good. First: actually find where they occur. Using a network of paid criminals to systematically scour Seoul’s subway system, he eventually finds the salesman (Gong Yoo), who you’ll remember as the guy in a suit who challenged strangers to a game of “drumming.” He is a salesman. Very good at slapping. Hopefully, by finding him, they can find the mysterious island where the game takes place.

But Ki-hoon isn’t the only one looking for them. Detective Huang Junhao (Wei Hajun), who went undercover in the first season to find his brothers in the competition, is equally obsessed, teaming up with local fishermen to search the island’s waters. Eventually, the two team up to formulate a plan, but Ki-hoon is back in the game as a contestant.

The first few episodes don’t actually cover much about the game itself – but rather provide a deeper look into the rest of it squid gamestrange world. That means learning more about the mysterious and unflappable salesman who seems to take pleasure in scaring poor people. There is also some insight into the guards patrolling the game. We learn that they are no different from the contestants themselves: desperate people doing desperate things within a financial system that fails them.

After a few episodes, the show got back into the game and started to look very familiar. There were green tracksuits, armed guards in bright pink jumpsuits, and a giant piggy bank that filled with cash as more and more people died. But rather than retelling previous events, these episodes feel like remixes of the first season. And, like the original, there’s a lot of compelling storytelling here, with characters pushed to the edge with few options.

These include a young mother looking forward to starting a new life, a trans woman in need of money for gender-affirming care, and a mother and son who both sign up to pay off their gambling debts, tragically unaware that the other is also in the game. There are also some great new villains, like a purple-haired rapper who spends his life in bloodshed, and a ruthless cryptocurrency influencer who loses himself and his audience—and all kinds of money. Once again, an undercover member of Squid Game’s management attempted to rig the game from the inside.

This game feels different because of Ki-hoon, who does everything he can to save people during the game and convince them to leave after the game is over. After each match, all surviving players can vote on whether to continue, and these moments of counting hundreds of X’s and O’s are extremely tense. But greed drives people to make bad choices time and time again, and it’s hard not to feel frustrated with Ki-hoon. But for many players, dying in a school game is better than what awaits them outside. Ki-hoon has his work cut out for him, convincing the other contestants that their real enemies are not each other, but the system that makes them fight for money. It ended in a bloody massacre squid game Scarier than ever.

Since then, the show has reached a conclusion that ultimately promised to shake up the game itself — but it never really reached that big moment. Instead, it cleverly sets up the third and final season Coming to Netflix in 2025. While the suspense (and subsequent wait) may be disappointing, it’s a relief that unlike others, Huang and his team haven’t lost sight of what makes it all happen. squid game It was special from the start. Season 2 may not be as mind-blowing as season 1, but it makes up for it with clever twists on the formula and storyline that are even gorier. Better yet: Commit to a conclusion that you know where you’re going.

squid game Season 2 will be available on Netflix on December 26th.