'Squid Game' Season 2 Series Review: Behind The Masks Of They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

Creator: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Cast: Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Im Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Kang Ae-sim, Wi Ha-joon, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-uk, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun
Language: Korean
Streaming on: Netflix

There was a bewitching simplicity to the first season of Squid Game that made it Netflix’s most-watched series of all time, and kick-started a massive global franchise that included everything from reality shows to tourist attractions. Sure, the stakes were high (read: death) and the subtext was a satirical examination of the class system in South Korea — but when it got down to brass tacks, the narrative kept things as straightforward as possible: be the last person standing after winning/ surviving a number of children’s games and walk away with the massive piggy bank of prize money.

Not so much this time. In the show’s sophomore effort that picks up around three years after the events of season one, showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk ups the ante by complicating the contest a bit more, adding several layers of psychological warfare to the gameplay. Teams need to be formed, ethical choices have to be made after every task, friendships (new and old) and familial relationships are tested more than ever, and a familiar yet shocking addition to the list of players threatens to upstage everything.

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Then there is former gambling addict Seong Gi-hun/ Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), now richer by 45.6 billion Won after winning the games — with a sole intention to end the entire grisly thing and take down the mysterious black-masked Front Man/ Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun) who oversees the spectacle.

A still from 'Squid Game' Season 2

All this should make for crackling watching — and it does — but Squid Game takes its own sweet time to transport us to the unidentifiable island once more and introduce the new crop of players; Gi-hun goes on one wild goose chase after another, along with an army of money-fuelled brawny recruits, to find the infamous Ddakji Salesman who lures debt-ridden strangers into the nightmare. Joining forces with him is detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) trying in vain to locate the mysterious location of the games again, after surviving last time around when the Front Man — his missing brother — shot him.

However, once the green tracksuits and pink jumpsuits come back into the fray, the action gets riveting again; Red Light, Green Light and the terrifying motion-sensing animatronic doll make a justified comeback, but fresh challenges galore follow soon after. Meanwhile, a bevy of new characters and their back-stories take centre-stage: a mother and her son deep in debt together, a former co-worker of Gi-hun’s who used to bet on horses with him, a transgender person needing money for her gender-affirming surgery (the decision to cast cisgender male actor Park Sung-hoon instead of a trans woman has generated much criticism online), a dethroned cryptocurrency influencer and his pregnant ex-girlfriend, as well as a cartoonish rapper who has a bone to pick with another player.

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All hell is unleashed once the sinister background score begins — and there are lots of endearing faces to root for — but what keeps things interesting is when we also dive into the lives of the soldiers behind the masks and pink jumpsuits. Who are they really? How are some of them still running a covert organ trafficking operation? Is their motive the same as the players — money — or have they pledged allegiance to a greater cause?

A still from 'Squid Game' Season 2

The performances of the ensemble cast are also excellent, in particular lead star Lee Jung-jae who channels his I’m vengeance avatar to the hilt, along with the 61-year-old actor Kang Ae-sim (playing an anxious mom), who steals the show every scene she is in.

As loyalties fracture in the face of human greed and heartbreaks mount after each episode, a massively ingenious twist in proceedings soon pits two armies against one another, following a well-trodden Hollywood template that largely works. Predictably though, the last episode leaves things hanging to set up a grandstand finish in the third and final season next year.

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It was always going to be challenging to match up to the impossible highs of season one — and when you think of shows with near-perfect first seasons (Homeland, Heroes, Westworld…) that comfortably derailed into shoddy finishes, it’s tempting to wish that Squid Game had just bowed out with Player 456 walking into the sunset with all his riches. Still, on the evidence of the seven episodes in season two, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk still has a slick surprise or two up his sleeve — I just hope someone gets to poke that bloody doll’s eyes out finally.