Lucy Nichols reviews the latest series of Squid Game

Squid Game, from director Hwang Dong-hyuk, is the most popular series that Netflix has ever produced. The first series of the drama came out in 2021, providing a seething critique of South Korean class society. 

It depicted the poorest section of the Korean working class competing in deadly children’s games for an eye-watering sum of money, while Western billionaires made bets on who would come out on top.

The hit series dealt with issues of morality, poverty, and death. Though shockingly violent and not particularly subtle in its criticisms of capitalism, it was still watched and enjoyed by millions  – likely because of, rather than in spite of, its pessimism towards the ruling class. Characters were either perfectly likeable or perfectly hateable, and the storyline was intriguing. These are all elements that are lost somewhat in the most recent series.

Series two, released on Netflix at the end of 2024, follows the same main character, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae). Desperate for revenge, he enters the Squid Game once more to take down the mysterious Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) and the rest of the villains behind the games. 

Once again, the most poverty-stricken and desperate are forced to die competing for a life-changing amount of money. We meet an all-new cast of competitors, including a disgraced rapper, an in-debt vlogger, a transgender former soldier, and more.

Meanwhile, the policeman from series one (Wi Ha-joon), has teamed up with Seong Gi-hun. Together with a hastily-assembled team of former soldiers and gangsters, he searches for the elusive island where the games are held to rescue Gi-hun, but with little success.

The first few episodes take place inside the games and are slow despite the gratuitous violence as Gi-hun tries his best to survive the growing brutality. The plot becomes predictable, until the final episode which twists into a frustrating cliff-hanger.

This most recent series still boasts likeable (or hateable) characters, and the cast is fantastic, once again comprised of some of the biggest faces in Korean film and television. A third series is expected at some point in 2025, and will continue from where the plot left off in series two.

There is no denying the cultural phenomenon of Squid Game. Ironically, the series has since been turned into a game show where real-life contestants compete in similar contests for a sum of money (though with significantly lower stakes). Series two has had a similar reception, sparking a TikTok trend, viral baking recipes and even a pop-up on Google if you search for ‘Squid Game.’ 

The cultural and social critique that made the first series of Squid Game so interesting is missing in the new series. This would be easier to ignore if so much of the plot didn’t rely on the same premise of the rich exploiting the poor. 

Human nature remains a key theme, explored in series two through an experiment where competitors must vote for or against continuing the games. Here, greed is placed in opposition to morality and largely comes out on top. This is an unnecessarily pessimistic interpretation of ‘human nature’. At its best, it is a comment on the levels of baseness people are forced into by poverty, but could also be interpreted as an attempt to paint all humans as fundamentally either good or bad.

There is also a bizarre attempt to humanise the armed jumpsuit-wearing guards that police the games, with one character apparently forced into the murderous role by her difficult circumstances, proving that there is little difference between the competitors in the Squid Game and those who shoot them.

Squid Game 2 is on the whole an entertaining piece of television. Where it misses out on the intrigue and excitement of series one, it makes up for with unnecessary violence and an irritating cliff-hanger. It is worth watching but be prepared to be left in the lurch.