This review contains spoilers.
At the end of 2024, one of Netflix’s most popular and successful series, “Squid Game,” returned with a second season released the day after Christmas.
Seong Gi-hun, the protagonist of the first season, is troubled by his involvement in the games and now has no other motivation but to confront and stop the people responsible for this inhumane and deadly competition.
Season two focuses on Seong going back to participate in the games to enact his revenge. The series spends an appropriate amount of screen time on returning and new characters, along with new elements implemented into the game.
The sixth episode, “O X,” featuring the carousel game “Mingle,” was filmed in a very beautiful and distressing way. Although the zooming immersion could be a bit too intense, I enjoyed it.
The Recruiter was my favorite character until his demise, especially during the Russian roulette game between him and Seong. It was quite disappointing that he only lasted one episode, as he was an excellent character with a fascinating past and should’ve contributed more to Seong’s motive.
Compared to the first season, which demonstrated how aberrant people can be when confronted with their mortality or greed, this season was less harsh about human “brutality.” To be honest, I never thought this season added anything that kept me on the edge, but it kept some aspects of horrifying elements for the show to be interesting.
The new games they introduced seemed as though there were no stakes and that it was uninteresting. There were several that didn’t appear intense enough for me to think that I couldn’t see myself doing.
The first season involved major characters dying; however, this season mostly kept the new characters alive. The interpersonal interactions between characters were likable and acted better as a “group” rather than as individuals whereas the storyline in the first was a little more superior.
Furthermore, the pacing of various moments such as the transition between the game and the island search storyline erratic. Also, I honestly believe that they could have improved the character development. It didn’t feel the same as the significant impacts in season one and was missing the original dreadful atmosphere.
Granted, there were conflicting opinions regarding the launch. I didn’t mind the changes at first because I was happy with the small changes that I assumed would repeat like season one. Given that it was slower-paced, it remained ideal for what it was and did a terrific job of setting the stage for the third and final season.
The season was fantastic yet unfinished because it seemed the season was divided into two halves, with the second part being a third season to be released later this year.
If you are interested in the series or a lover of thrillers, I highly recommend watching “Squid Game” season two, despite its lack of intensity compared to season one.
