Squid Game Season 2

Meh

This was a cash grab.

I rooted for Hyun-ju, Young-mi, and the halmeoni and no one else. While I appreciated that the show took out the really unnecessary sex scenes in the first season, that was the only improvement over the first season I noticed in s2. The plots all felt recycled, the character profiles felt like copies of the first season and, worst of all, there were several points where I felt like the writers were treating the viewers like they were stupid. Having seen that Netflix is trying to put out more content that allows for it's viewers to consume media without fully paying attention to it, this tracks with some of the shows they've released this year. A season 2 for this show was wholly unnecessary.

This only got somewhat interesting for me on the very last episode. The first episode was the most boring opener I've watched in a kdrama this year. This needed a very, very strong edit, but I fear, if they took out everything that didn't need to be here, the season would be 3 episodes long. The drawn out voting scenes when we know they're going to continue on, the tedious cuts to the detective searching for the island, etc. I also laughed at the concept of this many people treating Gi-hun like some sort of war general. I also hated the hive mind mentality the other players outside of the main cast had because they were indignant to the point of idiocy and it made them feel like NPCs.

I enjoyed Hyun-ju, Young-mi, and the halmeoni's story. While annoying at times, I thought the TOP character brought some life where there was way less levity this time around. The 001 character was an interesting addition this time around with the viewer knowing there was an inside man this time around. However, overall, Squid Game s1 was like a 7.5-8 for me and s2 was just an unnecessary addition.

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Did I like it?? Yes...Maybe...

First things first season 2 did not come up to the level of season 1..season 1 was wayyyyy good it created a global impact!!did season 2 live upto the expectations od season 1?? No it did not...It is definitely a good watch setting up the atmosphere for season 3.
The cast was definitely expensive 🙃 and refreshing, everyone did play thier role well. The story in itself was all over the place, it was squid game at one point then it became money heist...lol... I thought if the games are same won't it be boring??but season 2 had new games it was refreshing. The cinematography, background score like last time is soo good.
Squid game season 2 is a very good watch if you liked season 1 you will definitely like season 2. Do give it a watch.

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Quit game

im not sure how to describe this, but the best word i can find is "nothing".

Story :
so the story basically the mc trying to stop the "game" once and for all, but somehow endedup inside of it. i mean mc knew best that the game wont stop as long as there is a "client" that sponsors the game. so why ? why get in the game ? there are no guarantee that the "client" is on the island. in the end, the game ended up in a riot between players and staffs. why raise the weapon ? he knew the plan busted so bail out with as much people as possible is top priority. like mc doesnt even know what is he doing anymore, nothing changes, history repeated itself.

and the characters is pretty shite, hard to remember. i'll try my best at least with the "main roles":
-Mc : i dont think the mc knew what he is doing.
-The cop : what is he even doing ?. you are a cop, you work with evidence. you got plenty recruiter corpse, mr.kim corpse, soldiers corpse. why is he a cop in the first place if he cant see this ?
-Player no.230 : the joker of the game, special role yet pretty much got nohing, i cant see he barely can act.
-Player no.120 : got decent character, well your typical woke representative. somehow an allrounder that can do everything that makes me think he(she? they?) plays mc, however the biggest hypocrite in the series. playing heroes risking people life just because you want to cut your pp ? what a joke.
-the other players that on the main role list : why are they even considered main role ? some had some backgrounds but too insignificant. its okay for supporting but main role ?, is it becaus of the poster ?.
-Guard girl : decent character, but at wrong series. if i were the writer i would have keep this one as mc for a spin-off story as the guard pov
*special note : the recruiter has no significant story yet damn the actor is good, short but so memorable.

Acting :
the panicking player on the first game acting is awkward, toilet battle is awkward, im pretty sure the night riot is awkward too but the blinking lights saved it. my acting score is purely for the mc and recruiter russian roulette, just for that scene its worth high score. that was freaking good

Music :
that theme song, come on its a sequel know its iconic but atleast it should be rearranged or remixed or anything. and for the first game why flymetothemoon ? i believe there are a lot of old korean song that would fit better, arirang alone for example if it could be rearranged into a deadly vibe song it would be so cool.

and nah doubt will ever rewatch this, or even unless you got somehow fomo about it dont even start. the only factor of rewatching this is how good s3 is, yet even if its good still likely wont rewatch this

overall :
nothing in it, no story development no good character. not a thing just a hype thing. oh just 1 good thing, the picture pretty good they took the shot nicely or at least some of it does. not worth much of a try but well. thumbs up for the promotion team good job really, since this series is popular lets go milk this franchise until its dried out

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Like okay.

Loved season 1 so I was really excited to hear a season 2 was releasing! And well, I'm less excited for a season 3. The plot started good, I loved the first episode. I thought it was really interesting to see how Gi-hun was after the first seasons events, and I really loved Gong-yoo's character. Like he's so much more unhinged this season, it was awesome. I won't lie, the boat plotline bored me a little. Like i'd sigh a bit every time we switched over to that. I get that it was important to the overall storyline, but it just felt as though there was nothing actually happening, until the very end. I was happy that there were different games than last season, and the characters were great! I really thought the acting was far better this season! It just all felt really incomplete by the end. I mean obviously it's setting up for a third season, but nothing really came full circle at all. It was all just kind of heated chaos by the end. Pointless violence, deaths that dragged on a bit in the end. Gi-hun was killing me with how trusting he was as well. I thought maybe after player 001 from last season, he'd be a bit less gullible. Overall it wasn't a bad watch, I'll still watch season 3 when it comes out. Acting and budget wise, it's a great step up from last season. Jo yuri and Im siwan so! Can't really complain xx

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Not Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Squid Game Season 2 '' is the long awaited sequel to the highly popular Netflix survival drama.

The series this time was a hot mess, with the story not being cohesive and being divided into three parts: A) the one where the main hero was trying to find a way in, B) the one where the hero is in and it serves as a reminder of what the first season offered and C) the big heist-like revolution. That final part was when things got interesting, but, alas, it ended too suddenly, hence, it made the whole season feel like a blunt prequel to the action second season that is yet to come, especially since part one and two were boring and had nothing new to offer.

Finally, the performances were all enjoyable by everyone in the stellar cast.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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Squid Game S1 was a global phenomenon and an unexpected hit for Netflix. There has been much made of the drama and advertisements for S2. Any drama would have a hard time living up to those expectations. Season 2 wasn’t perfect but was still entertaining given its middle child syndrome.

Instead of joining his child with his new won wealth, Gi Hun becomes obsessed with finding those in power and ending the games. Armed with 45.6 billion won he hires his old loan shark to locate the games’ recruiter. Officer Hwang now works in the traffic division with most of the police force thinking he’s lost his mind when he rambles on about the murderous games. With the help of a fishing boat captain, he searches for the elusive island. Eventually, the two survivors of S1 find each other and devise a plan to bring down the cruelly sadistic creators of the deadly competition. Gi Hun ends up back in the games and as before there are those who want to go home and those who want to see how much money they can win regardless of how many people must die.

The players this year included an influencer in a disastrous crypto business, a drug addicted and psychotic rapper, a mother and son, a pregnant young woman, a trans woman, an old friend, a deranged shaman, and an obvious plant. This time around there were people who had lost billions of won/millions of dollars. There was one mole known to all who watched the first season with plenty of hints for the clueless players to put together. The second secret plant was overly obvious from early on for the audience. As before there were unexpected heroes and cowards. The focus shifted slightly more to the players and their teams as people picked sides of whether to vote to stay or go. There were new games and an old one, all as insidious and barbarous as S1 for those who need their daily dose of gore and carnage.

Gi Hun could be a difficult player to root for. By the time he made a catastrophic choice I suppose he saw everyone as already dead. He certainly wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box. Hwang also didn’t choose his allies too wisely. There were only a handful of characters I hoped would make it through to the end, and that’s if a person has small hands. S1 taught me to not become too emotionally attached to any of them.

The acting ranged from excellent to over the top to barely had a pulse. There were characters who were killed that scarcely made a ripple in the puddles of blood. The production values were once again of a high quality and the writing was nicely paced. I wasn’t bothered by the cliffhanger knowing there was a S3 scheduled. Sometimes it takes a third installment to take down Sauron or Darth Vader.

While S2 didn’t have the element of surprise that S1 had, it was still a solid effort. The characters who valued life, theirs and others showed the quandary of wanting to stay alive and also of having a life to go back to. As the money poured into the giant translucent pig other players’ greed and gold fever broke out over them in a lascivious sweat. Traitors lurked in the open and in the shadows. The games of the “have nots” on full display for the “have everythings” once again showed the disparity between the desperate and the bored. I wasn’t sure SGS1 needed a sequel but I’ll stick around and see how the writers decide to conclude the multi-tentacled story.

31 December 2024

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Well it has some flaws but definitely a good watch i liked it a lot.

i really liked the season 2 some lags like how they found the GPS tracker in Gi Hun but they did nothing about drugs thanos had in his cross and could have used better Kang ha neul and Yim si wan but they did an amazing job expecting the same performance in the next season.

Gong Yoo wow brillant wanted to see him after the end at the season 1 i mean nothing to say he was brillant amazing the rock paper scissors scene was making me so stressed.

Wi Ha Joon alias Hwang Jun Ho was amazing loved his performance in this season well i would even say he was better than in season 2,also loved Jun Suk Ho who played Choi U Seok he was so funny

Lee Byung Hun was phenomenal how the hell like i never thought he would be the number 001 i mean no one guessed i think but was such a nice twist loved how he came into the game wow and it was funny looking at him killing his minions x).

Park Hee Soon what a surprise to see him i particularly love him after seeing him in My name he is amazing loved him as the officier even thought his role irritated me.

Hwang Dong Hyuk the mastermind behind Squid Game 1 and the superb sequel Squid Game 2 binge watched it easily expecting same for Season 3.

definitely the cliffhanger hurts and make us want to see what happens right now but its ok just 1year i am sure the next season would air the 26/12/25 which would be practical

but really the mid credit scene with the 2 dolls i dont know why it hyped me so much
overall for me 8/10

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Let's just call it what it is: Squid Game Season 2 Part 1

If I could sum up my initial thoughts of Squid Game season two, it would be this: characters I didn’t really care for, but the actors in those roles put on good performances. A storyline that highlights the dangers of tribalism along with rehashing themes from the first. Lastly, pacing that was always gonna make a lot of people feel dissatisfied because of how Netflix structures their seasons.

Like the first season, season two has some pretty solid social commentary on inequality, the wealth gap and how desperation for money creates monsters. However, unlike season one, I personally didn’t care or sympathize for the characters and their desperate attempts to pay off debts this time around.

In season two, we, as an audience, are thrust into a world where many of the main characters are already at the stage of being monsters. This is different from season 1 where we witness a handful of “well-meaning” folks slowly lose their morals as the game progresses. Starting out with more irremediably horrible people than good yet desperate people doesn’t necessarily make for good entertainment. Especially considering, the characters as a whole, are forgettable.

But the actors though? Great performances as to be expected. But sadly again, good performances don't equal memorable characters in this case.

Storyline wise, it hits all the familiar beats of season one but without soul. I mean, the social and economical commentary is clear, but each episode lacks the proper intensity and dread that comes with seeing people you’re rooting for get violently get yeeted out of existence. Many parts felt hollow because significant time was spent on annoying characters than others with potentially interesting storylines.

As for pacing, I feel like this season is a good case study on how money and overall external pressure can influence creative decisions/direction.

I think you could make a strong argument that S2 wasn’t necessary and I wouldn’t disagree. I mean, factually speaking, S2 was never gonna be a thing, at least not this soon, but typical corporate practices aka the Netflix and all streaming platform model made it a reality. Also, S2 was gonna be longer instead of separated between S2 and S3, but again, streaming platforms being streaming platforms.

The writer, Hwang Dong-hyuk was more than willing to accept the boat loads of cash to make a follow up and all I can say to that is “get your money, sir!” Seriously. This man lost nine teeth during the stressful process of creating S1. And to add insult to injury, he didn’t even get paid a lot at the time. Writers being overworked, underpaid and underappreciated is nothing new in the business, so I’m glad he was finally able to get the proper compensation for his hard work, albeit, years later for a second season that wasn’t planned for.

BUT I still feel like the writer was creatively taxed and limited in his vision this time by having to stick to a short season when he intended on having one longish length follow up and conclusion all in one. With that said, it was hard for me to rate this as it was intentionally incomplete.

Anyway, I’m not saying it was a bad follow up, but I’m not saying it was good either. To me, it was okay. Just, okay. The potential was there for it to be good. Obviously not to the level of the first, but it definitely could have kept my attention longer by changing things up and making things more interesting.

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