Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Squid Game Season 2 (or Squid Game 2) may have had less episodes, but in a lot of ways it chose quality over quantity, and I’m not mad at that!
The stakes felt bigger, the tension was palpable, and the pacing was tighter (for the most part). Overall, this second season managed to outpace the first and keep viewers invested, proving Squid Games was so much more than just a flash in the pan. With an extremely lethal SPOILER ALERT, here are my picks for Three of the Best and Three of the Worst Things about Squid Games Season 2.
Best #1 Better Character Development
In the first season there were a wide array of characters in addition to main protagonist and luckiest/unluckiest man alive Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae). But I would be hard pressed to tell you anything I could remember about them beyond the surface.
This time around director Hwang Dong-hyuk and his creative team put a lot of effort in giving us characters that looked and played (pun intended) like real people, the kind of people you could genuinely invest in. As the second season progressed, we got to know a lot of them intimately like Mom and Son combo Jang Geum-ja/Player 149 (Kang Ae-sim) and Park Young-sik/Player 007 (Yang Dong-geun). Their dynamic was sweet, funny and at times heart-breaking. There were also “villainous” characters like rapper Thanos (played by real-life Korean rap artist T.O.P) who was so charismatic in the role it was hard to hate him unlike Player100 Im Jeong-dae (Song Youn-chang) who, I won’t lie, I’m eagerly looking forward to his demise.
My absolute favourite though and the one contestant I hope makes it through to the end is Player 120, portrayed by actor Park Sung-hoon as a trans woman and possibly the one character who truly feels like they had no other choice but to risk it all for a chance at a happy life. I won’t go into the controversy behind the casting as I may not be the right person to weigh in on such a heavy topic. What I will say is as a fan of the show and the medium in general, I think the actor (and the writers) did a phenomenal job of respectfully balancing the intricacies of bringing a character such as this to life.
Best #2 The Games
Like everyone else who caught Squid Fever, I was intrigued by this crazy concept the minute Red Light Green Light was played. As Season 2 unfolded, I was initially worried we were going to see the same games again, but I should’ve known a show with a concept that involves springing surprises on both the viewers and the players wouldn’t fall into the same old traps (no pun intended).
This time around we saw the addition of new games like the adrenaline pumping pentathlon consisting of five Korean children’s games, some of which would look familiar to other parts of the world such as gonggi (a more complex version of Jacks) or jegi which plays like a game of hackey-sack. Throwing these games up against a clock ensured my heart rate never dropped below 90! Then there was Mingle a.k.a. the most terrifying version of Musical Chairs you will ever come across. All of these games are utilised in a way that exposes these people for who they truly are as you never really know someone until it comes down to life or death do you.
Best #3 Less Episodes
My partner would disagree with me on this one as he said he wanted more. Personally, I was more than happy with this season having only seven episodes (previously there were ten) as both the pacing and the tension benefited from this. One the other hand though, more episodes would’ve given us more time with the characters and in a show with no less than 456 players in the game alone, less runtime did mean we don’t get as much time with as many players. Noticeably the people who chose to stay and play were heavily ignored while the players who wanted to leave got more screen time. Here’s hoping we get to see more of the “O” team next season.
Worst #1 More Predictable than Season 1
Was it just me? Or was everyone else on board with Storm Shadow’s reveal as Player 001 from the get-go?
Storm Shadow of course being the character actor Lee Byung-hun played in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and arguably the most recognised performer to Western audiences of the series thus far. He’s been in a host of films, and he usually plays the heel. His face was also revealed in the first season, something of a misstep in my humble opinion.
So one could argue the only reason I would find him “sus” is due to my knowledge of his filmography (and the first season of course) and you might be right but then how do you explain the obvious red flags waving over the Captain of the fishing boat (I actually suspect both Captains worked for the Front Man) or the obvious “stolen valour” of Player388/Kang Dae-ho (although to be fair, his backstory is still forthcoming and I may be wrong) or the death of Thanos?
Okay, that last one was going to happen at some point, but you get my meaning. This season was a bit less subtle than the one before more so by putting the Front Man in the game, the finale was inevitable which sucked a lot of the tension out. When it came to the big reveals thinking back, I would argue Season 1 did it better.
Worst #2 The B Plot
The side plot of Squid Game 2 followed now somewhat disgraced police officer Jun-ho, and loan shark Woo-seok as they lead a team of hired mercenaries in the hope of finding the island and rescuing the players. And when I tell you I fast forwarded every moment they were on screen I’m not exaggerating. It literally did nothing but pad the runtime of the show.
Worst #3 Player 456
Yes, you read that right, I think the main protagonist and the “winner” of the previous game Seong Gi-hun was one of the weaker aspects of the second season. In every way this character was set up to be the hero and let me be very clear, I am in no way disparaging the performance of actor Lee Jung-jae. He is in top form as a man who survived ridiculous odds, winning the game but ultimately losing everything good in his life. He’s on a mission to save lives and to end the madness that is “the game”, but it’s the way he goes about this that just grinds my gears.
Every possible misstep you could make, Seong makes. From loudly announcing at the worst possible time and in the worst possible way, he was the last game’s victor, to quickly trusting a man wearing the same number as the last man who betrayed him (seriously, I would’ve kept far away from anyone bearing the digits 001). Then there was the naïve belief the games would remain the same so he would know what to expect. And don’t get me started on his idea to revolt in the finale. Player 001 was basically holding up signs throughout, warning him of the inevitable failure of such a scheme and he just wouldn’t listen. With no idea of the layout of the building, no idea of how many soldiers there were and no plan of escape other than “find The Front Man”, his lack of planning beyond the present drove me crazy and it’s sad that so many people had to pay the price for it.
Overall though this season was a step up from the last and laid the groundwork for one helluva finale. Personally, I don’t think the show requires more than one more season to wrap things up nicely, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Until then I don’t know about you, but I’m heading to Amazon to see if I can get myself a set of those gong-gi/Korean Jacks. Definitely my favourite game of the bunch!
Those are my thoughts. What did you think of Squid Game 2? And you can check out more deadly game content below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More