After 3 years, Squid Game is back with its 2nd season, now on Netflix. The 7 episode season brings back the game but focuses on Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) who willingly goes back to the same nightmare he barely survived. Despite winning the game and becoming a billionaire, Gi-hun can’t move on. His trauma and guilt makes him hunt down the people behind the game.
Instead of enjoying his wealth, Gi-hun spends it tracking the game’s recruiter and trying to expose the organization. His obsession takes him back to the game, proving how hard it is to escape the past.
The core is the same—desperate people forced to play twisted childhood games for money, overseen by a masked figure and his enforcers. While the structure is familiar, Season 2 introduces new dynamics. Players now vote after each round on whether to continue, creating suspenseful moments that show how greed trumps logic.
But some twists feel less surprising since they follow Season 1’s pattern. Plotlines are left open to set up the 3rd season, so this season feels incomplete. Subplots like the internal struggles among the guards start strong but go nowhere. This makes parts of the season feel like setup rather than progress.
But the season has its good parts. Gi-hun’s mission to take down the game creates conflict with old and new players. The expanded cast adds diversity, each player has their own goal. Lee Jung-jae is good as always and the returning cast, Lee Byung-hun as the Front Man and Wi Ha-jun as Detective Hwang Jun-ho adds to the story.
The show doesn’t fully recapture the shock of the first season but it keeps the suspense alive. Season 2 feels like a setup for the bigger conclusion, so we’re left wanting more.
