Rating: ⭐4.0/5
One of Hollywood's bad habits is stretching a story into multiple parts just to make more money. Dune and Wicked are good examples of this. Squid Game was always meant to be one complete story. The show is about Seong Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae), a man with a gambling addiction who becomes Player 456. He joins a deadly competition to pay off his debts, where losing means death. He survives each deadly game, and the show explores themes like class and capitalism in South Korea. People loved it because it was thrilling and smart, and the world quickly became obsessed with it.
But with its huge success, Squid Game got stuck in a tricky situation. The show was so popular that it was inevitable there would be more seasons, even though the story didn't need it. Before the new seasons came out, the show’s message was tested by Squid Game: The Challenge, a real-life game show. The show was more fun than expected, but it lost the original show’s critical message about how unfair the system can be, as it focused more on winning big than on what the games actually represent.
Still, many fans are eager to see if Squid Game can live up to its first season, even though the new season doesn’t seem necessary from a story perspective. The first three episodes of the new season, though, struggle to find a good direction. The story picks up three years after Gi-hun won the money. Now, he wants revenge on the rich people who created the deadly games. He uses his money to create a mercenary army and teams up with a former detective, Hwang Jun-ho, who is still looking for his missing brother. Together, they try to find the Salesman, the man who recruits new players. But their search leads nowhere, and months pass with little progress.
The first few episodes feel like they’re just stalling, and compared to the intensity of the original, it all feels kind of ordinary. There are chase scenes, car crashes, and shootouts, but the story has shifted from social commentary to just seeking revenge. It’s entertaining, but it also feels like the show is dragging its feet, especially when the last episode feels like the halfway point of a larger story that will be wrapped up in next season. It’s frustrating because the story could have been told faster and more efficiently.
Luckily, things start to get better. When Gi-hun finally returns to the game as Player 456, it brings back the familiar excitement of the original series. The show starts to focus more on the masked soldiers who run the games, giving us a deeper look at the world behind the scenes. New players enter the game, and the show introduces new characters to root for or hate. It also brings up timely topics, like expensive healthcare and the connection between wealth and health. One emotional storyline involves a mother and her son, which adds some heart to the show. But not all new characters are great—there’s one, a rapper named Thanos, who is particularly annoying.
Squid Game has always asked whether people are naturally good or selfish. The Salesman shows this idea early on when he offers two bags of groceries to a group of homeless people. They can choose between bread (a guaranteed meal) or a scratch card (a chance to win money). Most of them take the risk. Gi-hun already knows what the game is like, but he still needs to convince others that playing is dangerous when the odds are stacked against you.
Despite some uneven moments, there’s a big twist in the story that works well. It brings new energy to the show and raises the stakes. Whether it’s completely new compared to the first season is still uncertain, but it’s a positive change. However, it takes too long to get to this point. By the end of the season, there’s still a lot of work to do, and the pacing needs improvement before the story can truly reach its full potential.
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