Season 2 - 7 episodes (2024 December 26)
Watch Squid Game on Netflix
Created by: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Starring: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon, Lee Byung-hun
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. While surviving the games provides a 45.6 billion-won payout, you you lose you the games you die.
In season two, the winner of the 33rd games returns for the 36th round of games.
Verdict
This season ends on a huge cliff hanger, so the verdict for this season depends on how season three concludes the narrative. We only get half of the story, leaving a huge hole in this season. Season 2 does a competent job of building on the first season and expanding on the plot while still creating the same chaos, unique relationships, and shifting alliances. Unfortunately this season is incomplete. Whether it's worth watching depends entirely on the next season. One thing is certain, it's not worth watching by itself. Season three may change that verdict.
Skip it.
Review
The third and final season is scheduled to premiere in 2025. The creator never planned for a second season, but I'm sure the success of the first season had Netflix wanting more. I also wonder if Netflix is the reason season two and three split the story.
Season one was a wild ride. If you need a quick refresher, Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), player 456, was recruited to play the games because he was desperate for money, like all the participants. During the games he befriended a frail old man who turned out to be one of the wealthy men that created the games. Gi-hun ended up winning the games after facing off in the final game with his childhood friend Sang-woo.
During the games police officer Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) infiltrates the facility, trying to find his brother who participated in the previous games only to discover his brother works as one of the masked guards.
Gi-hun ultimately decides to return to the games to stop the cruelty and deaths.
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| Lee Jung-jae plays Gi-hun |
Gi-hun has been searching for the salesman that introduced him to the games in the intervening years since he participated. He's used his winnings to fund an entire staff of people. Jun-ho survived his plight in season one and is trying to track down the island, searching all of them in the area. At this point he's found nothing. The first episode drags. The draw of this show is the games and the shifting alliances. At this point we know the games and the show needs to get to the action.
To the surprise of no one Gi-hun and Jun-ho meet and team up, both looking for a way back into the games.
In episode two Gi-hun has made it back to the games and the first one is the infamous red light green light with the unnerving robot we saw in the first season. Gi-hun tries to convince everyone to leave the games, but you can't overcome greed. That and where would the season go if everyone opts out? We know there will be more games because there are still plenty of episodes. In season one Gi-hun was just trying to survive the games, now he's also trying to stop the games by convincing people it's not worth it.
As the season progresses we learn about the motivations of the contestants and watch unlikely contestants excel while the most athletic aren't always the best. Some of them develop a report which makes it all the more difficult when games pit them against each other. Episode six features a nefarious game where a certain number of people must get into a room in a set amount of time. If you have too few or too many or you don't get into a room in time, you die.
There's also contestant #001 that teams up with Gi-hun. This contestant is always curious, and towards the end of the season we wonder if he knows more than he told. In season one, #001 had a secret too. 
After each game the contestants vote on whether to continue. Tensions escalate between those that want to cash out and others that want a bigger piece of the pie. The animosity tips and a fight breaks out, escalated by the guards. Gi-hun uses the distraction to lead an ill-fated revolt. This season ends on a cliff hanger without the games ending and without seeing the full repercussions of the revolt. This is basically half a season with the next and final season resolving the plot. As is, this season offers no conclusions, relying on the results of next season.
Especially with streaming and the propensity for shows to get canceled, ending on a cliff hanger can be dangerous with the possibility of no conclusion. Combine that with the sheer number of shows and how easy it is to forget what's even happened, stringing this show along as such feels like a ploy to keep people subscribed.
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