Squid Game Season 2

A second season that is too mediocre.

Since I'm a fan of survival series, I watched the first season.

Although I didn't like it because it didn't bring anything innovative other than children's games, I didn't think the first season was so bad. But this second season... ugh, there's nothing I can rescue by being honest.

Firstly the protagonist had already played this game before he should have learned that no one can be trusted in this game. His own best friend betrayed him and yet he was stupid enough to fall into the 001 player trap again? There were strange things about him, he must have caught the signs. But it was too stupid and he fell again. At the beginning of the first season, it seemed to me that he was a character with too much innocence to think that people in a game like this have no limits when it comes to greed and morality, but when he saw the first game past, he must have been more intelligent and cautious. He changed my mind about his character and I think he's just a stupid person who shouldn't have come back in if he wasn't prepared for this.

There is also no surprise factor as happened with the old man in the first season. We already knew that player 001, who is part of who runs the game, was not a surprise factor. We knew he would come in to play, even so he was not as clever as the old man, I don't even understand how anyone suspected him since he had attitudes that anyone would realize he was an untrustworthy person.

The games were almost the same so he didn't bring anything new in this installment either.

Speaking of players in general, I thought that by having more heartbreaking stories they could bring something new. However, they were too weak compared to the players of the first season.

The soundtrack that wanted to introduce forced humor seemed irritating to me. It seemed like he was watching a poorly done Slam Dunk game.

TOP's character was completely unnecessary, it wasn't funny or scary enough. I know they wanted to parody his personal controversies but it didn't work for me at all, I never laughed at his stupid jokes.

The old woman who had survived the Second World War had potential because of her past. But in the end she was a very cowardly woman. She clearly had good intentions, but a character of her caliber must have been more fearless and cunning.

The North Korean girl was completely missing, I didn't really understand her intentions or what she intended either. I think they wanted to add a North Korean character like the first season, but her character is too weak compared to the North Korean girl from the first season. She lacked a lot of the cunning of the girl from the first season.

I can continue talking about the characters but they were all so weak and forgettable that I will honestly save myself from talking about them because they didn't bring anything new.

The policeman? Meh, it completely disappeared compared to the first season.

Honestly, there is nothing redeemable, not the soundtrack, not the suspense, not a surprise factor and not the performances, which surprised me a lot. Because while the first season didn't catch me enough, the quality of acting was top-notch.

Everything here is wrong. When you do a second part you must keep in mind that it must be better than the first, not worse.

But I think the producers didn't even put in the effort. They spent more money promoting the second season than making a decent second season at least.

Honestly, since the protagonist is so stupid-minded, I don't think he's going to see the third part. Since I think it's going to be even worse than it is, and that's saying a lot.

The message? There is no message. Point.

Honestly, it bored me so much and everything seemed so stupid to me that I didn't feel the need to want to see the third season and how all this will end.

I think the squid game only had to have a single season because there wasn't much else to indigest in the story but Netflix was greedy and that greed made them run everything wrong.

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A new vision of the game

"Squid Game 2" continues the story where it left off in season 1.
Gi Hun is trying to end the game, looking for the Recruiter (Gong Yoo's character), to use him as a way to speak to the Leader and force him to stop everything once and for all. This plan doesn't work and Gi Hun has to go into the game again, there he tries to help the people and make them want to give up.

I understand Gi Hun's purpose, the game ruined his life, made him see all those people died, even his friend Sang Woo and all of that just for money, but we need to remember that Gi Hun the first time voted to end the game and then entered again, he was never forced to play. This is one of the main points of the game, it does everything to complicated things, but it always gives the chance to stop. This time, it had even a difference, a vote in the end of every game, but people's greed was too big.

The Recruiter's death was the best scene of the season for me. Gong Yoo only appeared in a few scenes, but it was amazing.

The drama, instead of focusing in the rounds of games, focused more on the relationships that was made between the characters, the three distinct groups. The main one has Gi Hun, Jeong Bae, In Ho, Jun Hee and Dae Ho. The second one has Yong Sik, his mother Geum Ja, Hyun Ju, Yeong Mi and later in the game, Gyeong Seok. The last group is the crazy ones, all following Thanos. Speaking of him, it amazes me that people didn't know T.O.P, he's the one of the most famous rappers in South Korea. His character here, Thanos, is really fucking crazy, hating him and laughing at him, was one of my favorite things to do. HAHAHA'
No Eul's character was a surprise, I never thought we would be able to see the side of the guards in the story.

It ends with an open ending, since the show was renewed for a third season, it makes sense to end it like this, because Gi Hun's plan didn't work and everyone will probably have to continued to play until the end. Basically all the main characters are still alive and we know that sacrifices will be made. The story was more light probably already thinking about the next season, to put all the action and death scenes later.

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STAYING TUNED FOR THE NEXT AND FINALE SEASON OF THE SERIES IN 2025

SEASON 2 AT THE LEVEL OF MY EXPECTATIONS !

Watched the whole thing in a day and honestly I was afraid to be disappointed by everything after the long wait (due to the fame the series has gained, I thought the writers aiming for too big would mess things up) but this season satisfied my expectations and will have me waiting for the new one.
Now let’s get to the core of my review :
The casting, the decor, the OSTs, the scenography everything was epic (btw can someone tell me the name of the song used in Season 2 Episode 3 around 27 minutes from the end of the episode ?)
About the new characters, I really loved the writing and the plot twists as well as the new games. Now only problem would be the protagonist as he keeps getting dumber and acting carelessly. Because tell me why the dude isn’t thinking strategically once he gets the chance to get in the game? Why is he straight up revealing that he was in the game before ? Cuz bro that’s what changed everything and even made the master of the game (the one with the black mask, In-ho ?) infiltrate it and managing from the inside. That’s also what made the annoying old (the player with 10B debts) stand up during the first vote and influenced everyone into vote for to stay in the game as he thought gi-hun (player 456) would be helpful being a former winner of this.
Now I REALLY hope Jun-hee, the pregnant girl will NEVER get back with this pos that is MG coin because he doesn’t deserve her and still doesn’t seem trustworthy. A manipulator that scammed and ruined people’s lives including his and hers, got her pregnant and told her to abort without asking what she wanted to do, then left her doesn’t deserve to be the father of their child. Now, as I saw her starting to trust him again in the last episodes, I hope in Season 3 she won’t get back to him !
Also I gotta say objectively MANY rew roles were hella cliche and some plot twists predictable. The Master (funny how he took the number 001, the same as the other chef, the old man, the traitor) and his fishy acting, how he would switch up the upcoming games etc… Like bro be a bit more unpredictable and creative.

Thanos the rapper really gave me second embarrassment during the whole season, blatantly and uncomfortably hitting up on girls, acting like everyone was one of his minions and switching up to english randomly and only to say useless lines. T.O.P’s acting was fire though cuz I felt strong emotions everytime his character would appear on screen. It’s just the character the problem, the rapper and how he acts is just too cliche. (Jo Yuri and Im Siwan also did a great job in their acting !)
Then another cliche character, Min-sun, the typical coward till the end and I’m not even saying I wouldn’t have done the same. His character is just not as interesting as I thought he could’ve been.
Then honorable mentions of good characters go to : Jung-bae, Dae-Ho (I wanna know more of his background because he seems to have some ptsd but they’ll never make me hate you 😞), Hyeon-ju (the effort of depicting a transgender person and the prejudices over them was although being a bit lacking in execution already a good step forward especially for a mainstream series like Squid game), the old mom and her son, Jun-Hee, the girl with the vertical labret percing.
Player 246 and young-mi’s deaths had me in tears just like I cried so much for Ali, Sae Byeok and 001’s deaths in season 1 (before learning 001 was a traitor)
Now the gangsters esp the boss and his associate and best friend. RIP the boss and I hope his best friend will make it out alive and that they’ll understand that the captain of their boat is fishy (pun intended) tho he always had that bad aura tbh.

011 I love you. Thanks for messing up the organ trafficking business. Hope she’ll find her child and be able to help the little girl that has blood cancer !

On a side note I wanted to add something I really “appreciated” : The way the series was filmed and directed really made me feel like during season 1 as I was induced to feel like one of those VIPs that watch the games like an actual source of enjoyment. I surely worded it wrong but I meant seeing it I had that feeling that I was actually acting like one of those VIPs, yearning for this or that character, hating on this and that person etc…

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Very Entertaining and GREAT acting from full cast

As someone who has actually not watched Squid game s1... I really enjoyed season 2. It was fun!
Sung Hoon aka Hyeon Ju was the AMAZING. Best acting and powerful character!!!
Thanos was overall my favorite. I hope T.O.P gets more acting projects. ❤️
You can slowly see Gi Hun lose his sanity in the season, leading him to ultimately leave his humanity in the final episode. He wanted to 'win' against the front man and beat the game more than just saving lives. In Ho's realization seeing it... felt like he won. He broke Gi Hun that instant.
I really loved In Ho... the best villain ever! He's so sweet, handsome and charming as 001... his bond with every player close to him was endearing, even if it was fake. His smile is melting my heart. His friendship with Gi Hun was the best. Only we was viewers know he is OBSESSED with Gi Hun at this point... his eyes study Gi Huns every movement. The whole psychological aspect was great.
Grandmother and son were great. I liked seeing grama's bond with the women. I also realised her flaw - she lies to herself about her sons faults... it is sad.
I actually want 222 to die in S3... let it not be cliché.
Min Su is gonna lose his goddamn mind and go beserk in S3... he will one of the most deadly. You can tell from the signs.
I want dad to survive. It would be nice if dad and guard have a love storyline in S3 or dad and Hyeon Ju love story... I see the potential very clearly... hopefully the writers see it too.
Si Wan aka 333 and Dae Ho 388 got no business looking so fine. Semi was also very very fine. I really loved them.
Bro... WHY WAS THAT GUARD SO HANDSOME?! and why did he have to die?! He's tooo freaking hot like whyyyyy 🥲
I liked this season overall and looking forward to next season! :)

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Slow start, too fast of an ending

I don't think I agree with most of the people here, this wasn't bad at all, nor was it just a filler season for the conclusion in Season 3 (it was kinda tho). It was clear from the start, though, that the story was complete in the first season, although it was exciting to see a new development for this story. One could say the new games are even better than the first season ones, in my opinion they really were, but that weren't many of them (only two new rounds), so it was upsetting. New characters aren't as iconic as the first season ones, but you still get pretty attached to (some) of them... Acting was a bit cringey (won't give spoilers), though we did get some nice memes. Lastly, for me, what happened in the last episode compensated everything! Lots of plot twist, lots of action, lots of edge-of-your-seat thriller, but lots of things left completely unanswered. Yet-to-come Season 3 seems more like "Season 2 Part 2" than anything. They literally just forgot to film the rest of the series hahaha
Wonderful to have this as my last watch of 2024, so I'm really looking forward to Season 3!!! Hope it comes earlier than we expect

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These violent delights have violent ends, we just have to wait for Season 3

I'm specially puzzled as to why people don't get that it has been hinted all throughout Seasons 1 and 2, that the world outside of the Game Island is way bigger and much more powerful than what has been shown.

Yes, Season 2 it's not as novel and exciting as the first season and we know for a fact that "these violent delights have violent ends", so we can all agree that this game will not end in pretty terms, but world builing of this scope, requires more time to be fully developed than what can be shown in this limited number of episodes.

**** Some spoilers ahead ****

However, I believe there is now a very good idea of how unlikely a hero Gi-hun is and how powerful the game structure is, given how he and Jun-ho have become forcefully isolated even mocked about their claims of their past experience at the Island. In order to show that, we need to be patient.

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Ending?

It took them long enough, tbh for me the only way to stop the games would be exposure, but the plot twist would just make the games more popular and powerful

And so, I do think it lacks in development, we get a bit of attempt to finish the games, by one person against an army

And tho they attempted in making his own army, they were useless and not enough at all



I did appreciate the change in games, and even the last round felt like a game of make believe “paintball game”
Tho I found the extreme connections ridiculous, a mom and son, ex lovers, friends, a dude one saw in her job…
Unless the game master chose them to add more drama in the game xD so they’re not just after desperation and death, but also writing dramatic stories xD



I highly appreciate their use of multiple versatile actors and added new cute breakthroughs

Tho character wise everyone was dumb, sure they were desperate enough for money, and actually the X vs Os added better drama

But they weren’t just playing one more round, they were hoping more people died
And they moved super fast from “we’re not the ones killing”, to “let’s murder everyone and stay in the game that’ll kill us






Anyways, for me squid game is like a prequel to a dystopian future, the ml should’ve written a book, threw hints that the games are real, so instead of his gang actual ppl would search for the hot guy in suit that slapped ppl

Then ppl like tops character would be extreme enthusiasts
Like adrenaline junkies

And slowly the games would become public, no one can stop it cuz “ppl are the ones joining” whether out of desperation or seeking the thrill

And so ml would go crazy knowing he exposed the games to a bigger audience xD

Another thing, I wished ml showed more emotion, for example he should go crazy and scream about how dirty money is, and how bad greed is, and they’d try to shoot him for interfering with the votes and someone steps in😆

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Solid Second Installment

So.. I fear what has ‘ruined’ this season for most is that the shock value is essentially gone. The promos say bigger and better and more of this and that, but what season two is-
Is a continuation. I don’t see it as giving any less or more. It actually makes me angry and confused that so many act like this season is horrible. When in fact, it is a cohesive season that is seamless from the first. Sure it isn’t perfect, but it isn’t horrible at all.

I think many people just say it is crap because the cliff hanger, and the fact that it isn’t season one. Like did they want the two of the seasons to be their own entity? Sure, that could have been the case I gues.. but this is a continuation and there will be another one. So I don’t see the problem with the fact there is a cliff hanger. People are impatient and blood hungry I guess. The argument of not enough kills is concerning to say the least. Like you need to watch red every five seconds, my goodness. This has a story to tell, and sure it isn’t finished, but I say it does a good job at building characters and relationships.

The difference from the second season is that there is hope here. It makes the first season better to me, and I will say that season is a lot better- but this one is not garbage. People just jump and have some mob mentality to say it is horrible to feel good I guess! You can’t tell me you wasted seven hours of your time. Goodness. You chose to binge watch it, the fact something can be binged means it is worth a whole lot more than most. It was engaging enough, it wasn’t BORING! THAT says a lot. The fact it was a good sit down watch was A LOT!

I will clean up this review but it needs to be said. This drama is good, not boring, and has a great cast of characters.

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Same story as season 1

But draggier. It took 3 episodes to get to the game, and the set up of why our hero wanted to join the game makes no sense.

This season should more accurately be called part 1 because it just drags out to set itself up for so called season 3, which is really just part 2.

The show is repetitive - same games, sub-plots, etc. The only highlight is the many well known actors.

When the writer said he spent 10 years writing the original and didn’t want to film a second season, he should have stuck to his guns. This is s show about money grabbing as a money grab.

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A Thrill or a Letdown?

So, the 2021 blockbuster Squid Game finally released its second season at the end of December 2024. I was waiting for this for the last 3 years. As soon as they dropped it, i finished watching all seven episodes in one go and .... I had mixed feelings about Season 2.

So, regarding the question whether it is better than season 1, the answer is NO, it is not. I would say Squid Game S2 surely is entertaining to watch but it’s not as good as S1. Compared to Season 1, this second season starts off really, really slow. The first two episodes are spent on conversations and running around rather than going into intense action right away like we did in S1. If S1 was about extreme thrills and action where characters focused on exploring and understanding their new environment to survive the game, S2 is more about the main character, Seong Gi Hun, trying to put an end to the game with all his might. To do that, he has no choice but to join the game again.

So, if someone is looking for the same level of thrills as in Season 1, they’re likely to get disappointed. In S1 we had no idea who the mole in the game was, which made the final reveal in the last moments so impactful. But in S2, we know from the start who the mastermind behind the scene is. it’s also quite frustrating that the villain is right in front of the protagonist, yet he doesn’t seem to have the slightest clue about it. I kept thinking, How can you be so dumb? Like you've been already tricked once man. you're supposed to act more vigilant but tsk tsk..

Really....the writing felt quite weak especially in designing the characters. While we could feel connected to the characters in S1 so easily, this was not the case in S2. Most of the characters introduced this season were one dimensional except for Hyun Ju, Player No. 120 (played by Park Sung Hoon) and Player No. 149 (portrayed by Kang Ae Shim). These two characters were very well written and excellently acted. that's right! we could genuinely feel their emotions or pain through whatever they're going through.

tbh, I was eagerly waiting for Park Sung Hoon's performance this time and as usual he didn't disappoint. Moving away from his usual villain roles, it was refreshing to see him take on a different character like this one; a badass yet capable and kind person with a captivating story line of his own. Honestly, among the many characters in Squid Game S2, Hyunju truly stand out for a reason.

Another funny thing is, I might have been waiting for this season but I never checked who were exactly going to be featured in the cast. So, it was a surprise to me once I started watching. I just couldn’t believe that almost all of my favorite actors like Lee Byung Hun and Kang Ha Neul were in the show. It was great to see Lee Byung Hun transition from a small cameo role in S1 to playing the main role in S2. But for Kang Ha Neul, I wanted more from his character but unfortunately, it was kind of DISAPPOINTING! Sadly, the production team didn’t utilize these talented actors to their fullest potential. I’ve seen some people complaining that Kang Ha Neul can't act but I disagree. For me, it was the production team that failed to bring the best out of him. I've seen his performances in other masterpiece like Forgotten, so yeah..... i’m definitely not going to say he can’t act.

Oh, let's not forget the phenomenal performance came from Gong Yoo. His extended cameo scene in Episode 1 was truly a treat for Squid Game fans.

Lastly, not exactly the same but while watching, viewers might sometimes feel like Season 2 is just a repetition of Season 1 because that's how I felt, especially during the scenes where the characters were playing the game. Despite these flaws, the show is still enjoyable. I finished the show in one go, which means, yes, it’s actually good. However, when compared to the first season, it might feel a little dull. What truly kept me engaged throughout the series were characters like Hyunju and the Front Man directly entering the game. While the suspense might have gone, the tension is still there.

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