Squid Game Season 2

If I Had Watched as it Aired the Ending Would Have Made Me Rage Quit and Not Wait for Anything Else

8/10 is my rating

I am probably being generous with the rating because I know I can immediately watch Season 3. If I was watching it as it aired, I think the way it ended would have frustrated me a lot.

Review

I liked Squid Game Season 2 for what it is - which is a solid follow-up to the first season. It is notable that they were able to keep the same intense, cutthroat survival vibe that had me glued to the screen albeit not liking the "icky" way it made me feel in my brain. The early episodes hooked me with all the clever planning by Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) to take down the game’s twisted system. That, for me, was a pleasant departure from the gore. I was so pumped for his strategy that it was disappointing when it didn’t pan out the way I hoped—it felt like all that buildup went nowhere, and the story shifted back to him in the games and it felt like here we are again. It was also hard to understand his feeling about the money on one hand yes it was "blood money" but, on the other hand, not spending it on good things was a slap in the face of all those who played so hard and died. They had the choice to leave and chose not to. So, winning and frivolously giving it away or just sitting on it also felt wrong. It was a dammed if you do, dammed if you don't type situation.

If you loved Season 1, you need to watch this to keep up with the story—it answers some questions—but don’t expect a tidy ending.

Spoilers

Once he was back in the game, I was rooting for him to convince the new players. I wanted them to believe so they could avoid getting hurt and it seemed like there was hope in the red light, green light game where they were listening to him on strategy. He tried so hard to convince everyone it wasn't just these benign children's games. That people would die and that there wouldn't be groups of them making it to the end. But history has shown repeatedly, using the Holocaust as one example, that people will ignore warnings about horrors because it’s easier to buy a pretty lie than face a harsh truth. That whole cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias angle struck home because I have seen it play out in real life both in history and more recently. To me the trans character, Hyun-ju, felt totally forced. I just didn’t see how that character added anything to the story—her connections with players like Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim) or Jun-hee didn’t justify her role; it seemed like a diversity checkbox. Same with the druggie character, Thanos (Choi Seung-hyun)—his real-life drug scandal made his role feel like a stunt. He was an over the top almost Batman joker type character. For an actor making a comeback after drug allegations, that seemed like a poor choice as it would take people out of the moment thinking about the real person behind the character. I was disturbed that there was a pregnant girl, Jun-hee, because it felt like they added that just to show there were no depths to their depravity. I saw fans on X ranting about these same issues, so I know it’s not just me. I loved that they mixed up the games, though. The pairing-up game was brutal as hell—imagine hearing people getting taken out and walking through blood pools. The new voting rule after each game kept things fresh and not just a Season 1 rehash. 

I’m not a gore fan, and chilling with straight-up evil characters isn’t my thing, but knowing the show’s vibe, I always brace for the worst-case scenario. If I think, “Could this happen? Could something worse happen?”—yup, the worse thing’s probably coming. That dulled the shock a bit, in this second season relative to the first.

The ending, though? Just straight up infuriating. It’s not a cliffhanger—it’s a middle finger. No closure on major characters or plotlines, leaving you hanging with nothing. Netflix’s greedy, profit-driven model is killing what makes K-dramas great: those tight 16-episode seasons that tie everything up. Fans on X are pissed, and I get why—some ditched the show entirely. I waited to binge, which saved me some rage since I know Season 3’s is already available. But if I’d watched this as they came out, I’d be fuming. I mean nothing ended tidy - it was mostly left wide open. Park Gyeong-seok (Lee Jin-wook), the dad helped by North Korean defector guard Kang No-eul (Park Gyu-young) for his sick daughter, ends up at gunpoint after the rebellion flops. She suggests saving him but how? And what happens to both of them? Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) never finds the right island because the captain sabotages drones and kills mercenaries, confirming his role in the game’s corruption. But, they did find a hatch and it blew some of them up so they must have been in the right place. Are they still coming? The fates of surviving players are left totally up in the air, making the cliffhanger feel like a cheap ploy to string us along. Which would not have been so bad if it wasn't Netflix. Netflix will just end a show if the profit isn't there. They also create these cliffhangers in a way that only serves to ensure true fans will be looking for another. It is completely profit over people.

Synopsis

Season 2, which dropped on December 26, 2024, packs **7 episodes** with an average runtime of **65 minutes** each, ramping up the psychological warfare and brotherly betrayals while introducing a vibrant new cast of misfits in games that probe deeper into themes of revenge, identity, and the inescapability of systemic cruelty. Fans of the original's intensity will devour this escalation, but newcomers might want to start at the beginning—it's darker, more introspective, and ends on a cliffhanger that demands the finale.

Three years after his pyrrhic victory, a haunted Gi-hun abandons escape to America and launches a vengeful crusade to dismantle the Squid Game's elusive architects, only to find himself back in the arena amid a fresh batch of 456 broken dreamers facing deadlier evolutions of the childhood gauntlet—now laced with votes to quit or continue, testing fragile alliances and buried guilts.

**Major Characters:**
**Seong Gi-hun (Player 456) (Lee Jung-jae)**: Scarred by survivor's remorse, the once-bumbling everyman evolves into a steely avenger, infiltrating the new games to end them forever, his fractured psyche fueling both heroic resolve and self-destructive rage.
**Hwang In-ho / The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun)**: The enigmatic game master, revealed as the 2015 winner and a disillusioned architect of despair, grapples with his brother's pursuit while enforcing order, his stoic facade cracking under familial ties and moral erosion.
**Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon)**: The tenacious detective, still reeling from Season 1's revelations, goes rogue in a high-risk infiltration to expose the operation, his loyalty to family clashing with the deadly risks of getting too close to the truth.
**The Recruiter (Gong Yoo)**: Returning with expanded menace, the slick ddakji dealer expands his predatory recruitment, his polished exterior hiding a web of manipulations that draw even more souls into the abyss.
**Myung-gi (Player 333) / Thanos (T.O.P.)**: A fallen K-pop rapper turned crypto scammer, cocky and self-serving, whose online infamy follows him into the games, where his manipulative charm unravels amid paranoia and desperate bids for relevance.
**Hyun-ju (Player 120) (Park Sung-hoon)**: A resilient transgender woman and former sex worker fighting for her child's future, bringing fierce vulnerability and unapologetic authenticity to the arena, challenging prejudices in a fight for dignity and survival.
**Geum-ja (Player 149) (Kang Ae-sim)**: A cunning, foul-mouthed grandmother and con artist, whose street-smart savvy and maternal ferocity forge unlikely bonds, turning her into a wildcard ally in the chaos of betrayal.
**Yong-sik (Player 007) (Yang Dong-geun)**: A jittery, tech-obsessed young gamer burdened by his mother's debts, whose awkward innocence and quick wits shine in puzzle-like challenges, highlighting the games' toll on the digital generation.
**Seon-nyeo (Player 044) (Chae Kuk-hee)**: A faded shaman whose eerie prophecies and spiritual rituals unsettle the players, blending mysticism with sharp survival instincts in a bid to divine escape from the mortal coil.
**No-eul (Player 149) (Park Gyu-young)**: A stoic North Korean defector and soldier, hardened by defection and loss, who allies with Gi-hun with disciplined precision, her quiet strength masking a storm of unresolved trauma.

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Not as good as season 1

Overall watchable.
Comments about the story:
1. Main cast is really dumb or stupid? Does he forget in season 1 player no 001 was also the mastermind? In this season he innocently without any slight doubt 10000% trust the other no 001 player that he just met? giving the ammunition to him too! How dumb is he??

2. In the first place what's the logic of getting back into the game and trying to kill the management? First of all the place have many restrictions, does the players lost their common sense and without a background trying to kill the professional killer on their own? They outnumbered yet bravely (or I say is stupid) to try to breakout (face palm)... If they steal weapons slowly hide the weapons and disguising as the soldier that is another story which is smart, but the way the writer write this season 2, make the whole character, especially the main character looks very dumb beyond measure.

And also game wise even though he was there 3 years ago doesn't mean the whole game will be the same???

Honestly the story is really out of logic that make you want to throw brick at them.

And also he will always survive? on the last episodes the friend died on his place instead...

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The veteran actors truly delivered outstanding performances.

SPOILER ALERT! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Acting-wise, it was great. But as a viewer, I felt like something was missing, though I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. According to other reviews, Season 2 focused more on the games rather than the backstories of the players, unlike Season 1. I think maybe they will reveal more in Season 3?

In terms of the games, I’m glad they introduced new ones in Season 2, except for one that seems to have become a trademark of Squid Game. As for the new characters, hmm… for me, they didn’t have as strong an impact compared to the ones who died in Season 1. Season 1 was still more exciting to watch.

I recommend it mainly because it’s the second season of Squid Game. Plus, it’s a quick watch—only seven episodes, with a special Episode 7.5 to help explain why Season 2 turned out the way it did.

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general review

Overall, I really liked it. It's very entertaining. I really loved it until the ending ruined everything. That ending simply wasn't good, and I know they did it for the third season, but leaving such an inconclusive ending after waiting three years isn't what we deserved. That aside, it was good, not to mention the acting, which I thought was very good. Excellent actors(the actor of player 100 no) and plot. Another thing to mention is that I would have liked to see more of the recruiter and Jun-ho, more of the latter considering that he is of utmost importance to the plot and I feel that they could have taken advantage of him a little more.

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Great cast but it's missing the wow factor as season 1 had.

Finally, we got another season. I was so looking forward to it. I loved Gong Yoo as the recruiter; he portrayed the role perfectly. I liked all the new characters, especially TOP, as he weirdly brightened the atmosphere of the drama. My favorite characters were Sung Hoon and Kang Ha Neul.

The drama did not have the same wow factor as the first season. Maybe because I knew what to expect. It was nice to see them add new games and that Player 001 joined the game. Also, I did not really like Player 456's obsession with the man in the black mask, as it became a little annoying.

Overall, it's a good watch, and it will be interesting to see how they end it.

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Thrilling but not flawless

Squid Game Season 2 delivers another round of twisted, high-stakes challenges with jaw-dropping production design and inventive games that keep you hooked. Lee Jung-jae and Lee Byung-hun shine once again, anchoring the chaos with commanding performances. The moral dilemmas remain compelling, and the show still has plenty to say about greed, desperation, and the cost of survival.

However, the pacing stumbles in the first few episodes, and some side plots feel more like filler than substance. A few new characters lack the depth that made Season 1’s ensemble so unforgettable, and the emotional punches land softer this time around.

Even so, the tension, style, and sheer spectacle make it a gripping watch. Season 2 might not match the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of its predecessor, but it’s still a bold, thrilling continuation that fans will devour—red jumpsuits, ominous music, and all.

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Unfinished Sequel - Unfulfilled Potential

Was this almost unnecessary?
Absolutely
Did I still watch because continuity and Wi Ha Joon?
Absolutely

The set up was right there after season 1 for sure, but there was also no real need to have another season, let alone two. But I still watched it because despite my progress with not torturing myself by watching things I don't want to in the name of continuity, I thought this would be good. I liked the first season, why not this one

The seven episodes started out incredibly serious in episodes 1-2, started getting this comedic undertone in episodes 3-5, and by the time it got to 6-7, it was a joke. The tone was serious, but the plot was a joke.

The initial set up of wanting to take down the game from within the game is a pretty bad one by the way, Gi Hun was the winner last time and knows the game inside and out. For someone who knows how it works, he sure made a lot of decisions based on the humane nature of the participants. And for someone who knows that the people controlling the games can see literally everything and manipulate it as they wish.. he really didn't think anything through.

That's the problem with this season, the core concept just feels all wrong and what it relies on instead is the bread and butter of season 1 - getting you emotionally invested in the characters. The new cast is awesome, so many wonderful and endearing characters (amongst the usual jerks because I guess there always needs to be characters as the opposition within the contestants, because meta I guess) and they are one of the few reasons I'm looking forward to season 3.

The returning characters as well, written pretty well. Gi Hun is battered and scarred from the last games and it shows, his only intent the entire time is to make sure the games end and to protect as many people as he can. This kind of backfires (see: section that talks about the bad writing), and we're left on a cliffhanger.
Jun Ho is used very sparingly despite being a lead and that choice is very paradoxical because the way they've written the series makes sure that his character can't do much. He could've if they'd changed the plot accordingly at certain points, which I hope they do in the sequel.
In Ho aka The Front Man had the best development this season, at least for me. Not in terms of character or anything, in terms of playing a role in the plot and I'm definitely curious how they'll take that forward.

There isn't really much to say until season 3 is out because I hope the plot can recover from the kind of dive it took in the last couple of episodes. I don't know how they're going to do it, but I hope for our sakes and theirs that they actually find a way to end the game because even with Wi Ha Joon, this doesn't need a fourth season.

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This season was better than the first season

Maybe it's an unpopular opinion but I liked this season more than the first season.

In this season I liked the characters more and I also felt a lot more connected to them than in the first season. The games were also better and for me this season was more exciting to watch.

I really loved cho hyeon jus character and thought that she was such a badass.
I also liked seong gi huns character more in this season than in the first season.

What I also liked is the fact that some of the players finally fought back the masked people and that they nearly got to the control center.

One thing that pissed me off was that seong gi hun didn't figure out that the front man was player 001 and that they didn't figure out that the captain of the ship is also a traitor.

All in all, I was really satisfied with this season because for me it was an interesting, exciting and good watch.

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A bit disappointing but still enjoyable to watch

This season still manages to keep you curious and intrigued, but not as much as the first season. This season was completely fine, it wasn't bad, but it also wasn't that great.

A bit too much exposition in the beginning that were a bit too obvious. I get that they need to tell what happened between this season and the previous one, but the dialogues were a bit unnatural. I did really like the first episode tho. It was fun to see them chase the man with a suit and also build his character a bit more. The rock, paper, scissor game was very tense to watch.

Still, I think they could have shorten the first two episodes a bit. The introduction was a bit too long and took away time for characters to be developed inside the game.

I think the story with the cop and his crew was very lacking. Also the plottwist with the boat captain not being on their side is something I figured out in the first episode. Just a veeery obvious twist. So obvious that I can't even call it a twist. Also, why would they trust this random fisherman so much?? Like they have a whole crew and also so much money to spend on this search. Why not just hire a captain and have better boats? This whole side story made me annoyed and frustrated.

I also found it a bit annoying that the main character did not think about that there could be a mole in the game (like in the first season). I feel like that is something he would consider.

Something that I missed in this season with the games was the clever solutions to them. The last season the games were very suspenseful, but it was also fun to se how they would solve them and what clever ideas people had.

There were some interesting new characters this season, but unfortunately they did not have that much depth and emotional impact compared to the first season. I found myself not caring super much about them, except for maybe a few of them. One of my favorite new characters was Cho Hyeon Ju (No .120), but I also kinda wanted to know more about her. Still I found her character interesting.

Speaking of Cho Hyeon Ju, I think the show did a pretty good job at portraying a transgender character. (There have been a lot of opinions and debate about having a cis male actor for this role, which is another topic, but only focusing on the actual written character I thought the show did a pretty good job.) I have never seen a transgender character in a Korean media before so it was very nice to see that kind of representation especially for me that is a transperson myself. I liked that she actually got to be a character and also not just a stereotype for the show to ridicule. Maybe my bar for representation is really low, but I was happy to just see a transgender character exist in a show. One of the scenes that I liked the most was when Hyeon Ju was talking about how other transgender women in Thailand was so beautiful and then Kim Young-mi said that she already thinks that Hyeon Ju is beautiful :,)

This season overall lacked the pure dread and emotional impact of character death that the first season managed to capture. The first season had high stakes and made you fear which characters would survive. I did not have that feeling watching this season. I thought it was kinda obvious who would survive.

Overall I think the first season worked better because it had a lot more mystery to it. It made the viewer curious and wanted to know more. It also had a good balance in showing the survivors in the game, but also showing the cop discover behind the scenes stuff about how the games are being managed. This season doesn't have exactly the same balance. Sure we got to follow one of the soldiers, but it actually doesn't contribute that much. Like we already knew from the previous season about the corruption within the management of the games and how a secret organ harvest is happening. I would have liked to see more new stuff and discover more about the actual games and the facility.

I did like when they finally actually fought back. Like finally something new and interesting is happening! It made me curious about how things would progress, but that progression also kinda happend too late. This season mostly felt like a build-up towards the next season.

The production is very good, just like the first season. The soundtrack and actors are also great.

Overall, the first season was definitely better but I still enjoyed watching this and will be watching the next season as well.

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