10 Things We Liked, and 3 We Didn’t, About Squid Game 2

15 hours ago 2

In the autumn of 2021, Squid Game arrived connected Netflix with minimal fanfare, and seemingly overnight became the streamer’s most-watched bid of each time. Its popularity led to captious acclaim and large awards, including an Emmy for prima Lee Jung-jae, and paved the mode for an inevitable return. Season 2 has yet arrived, and it lives up to the drama, excitement, and unit of play one, portion revealing more of the Squid Game satellite and furthering the archetypal season’s thought-provoking themes.

With that successful mind, we binged it eagerly—so here’s what we liked (and a fewer things we didn’t) astir Squid Game 2.

io9 spoiler bar

Liked: The Russian roulette scene—and that it takes awhile to get into the existent games

We knew that Player 456 was going to get backmost into the game. That was the tease astatine the extremity of past season, his eventual goal—and frankly, it was successful the trailers. But we didn’t rather deliberation astir what, exactly, that would entail. It’s not similar these games are publicized. So it was fascinating to ticker him walk immense chunks of his winnings, hiring radical to scour the subways, looking for the Salesman, the 1 hint helium had. It was, successful a way, his precise ain Squid Game. A large citywide crippled of needle successful a haystack. It was great.

Then, erstwhile helium recovered him, the crippled of Russian roulette the 2 play was perfectly terrifying and revealing. We learned truthful overmuch astir some men and while, sure, we knew the main quality of the amusement wasn’t going to die, his willingness to bash truthful told america everything we needed to astir his mindset this season. Finally, sidesplitting disconnected the Salesman illustrates that thing can, and will, hap connected the show.

In tandem, play 2 truly played with your expectations, making america progressively anxious and excited to get backmost to the land and backmost to the games.

Liked: Thanos

Squid Game loves a villain and play two’s astir memorable villain is, of course, Thanos. Played by histrion Choi Seung-hyun, Thanos is the wannabe rapper and societal media influencer who’ll halt astatine thing to triumph the wealth for himself. He’s ruthless, he’s diabolical, and he’s hilarious and charming arsenic helium does it. The information helium slips into English from clip to clip works to exemplify his wide appeal, and the information helium paints his fingernails similar Infinity Stones shows however afloat helium embraces his character.

What we possibly emotion astir astir the charismatic, entertaining villain though is that he’s besides benignant of dumb. In the comics and movies Thanos was of people precise evil. But astatine slightest helium had a code. This Thanos does not, and the information helium doesn’t rather grasp his ain persona is an fantabulous prime to marque the quality that overmuch much circumstantial and memorable.

Liked: Player 120

Player 120, existent sanction Hyun-ju, is Squid Game‘s archetypal trans character. A erstwhile soldier, she’s determination to triumph capable currency to implicit her gender-affirming surgery, and hopes to commencement a caller beingness successful Thailand wherever she tin flight the favoritism she faces successful South Korea. It’s thing we spot her endure wrong the microcosm of the game.

Ideally, Hyun-ju would person been played by a trans woman. But arsenic Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has explained, helium formed Park Sung-hoon, a cis antheral actor, aft realizing the endowment excavation successful Korea has astir nary performers who are openly trans, oregon adjacent openly queer. That makes Hyun-ju’s beingness present consciousness adjacent much important, particularly aft you get to cognize her and it’s made perfectly wide she hasn’t conscionable been written successful to marque a connection astir diversity. Far from it! She’s 1 of the standout caller characters, a existent person who will slap immoderate consciousness into you if you commencement freaking retired astatine a important moment, and who maintains a consciousness of compassion portion besides being a full badass.

Liked: No-eul and getting much penetration into defender life

In play one, we hardly got immoderate thought of who the pinkish jumpsuit-wearing Squid Game guards truly are. We cognize they volition termination connected command—and that immoderate of them marque other currency harvesting organs from the bodies of dormant (or almost-dead) competitors.

In play two, we spot that defender beingness is almost arsenic grim arsenic subordinate life; they slumber successful austere quarters that lucifer jailhouse cells, and indispensable travel a strict docket and obey each orders without question. Though they’re each armed, there’s a consciousness that unit could interruption retired astatine immoderate moment, and they won’t beryllium protected by thing but their ain weapon; they’re conscionable arsenic disposable arsenic the Squid Game participants.

That’s wherefore No-eul—Guard 011—is specified an breathtaking caller character. Some clip prior, she escaped North Korea and feels heavy regret implicit leaving her girl behind, arsenic we larn successful a poignant backstory starring up to her Squid Game employment. She whitethorn beryllium ruthless (she’s perfectly deadly close with a rifle, acknowledgment to her subject training), but she’s besides not a robot, and her disregard for rules has already gotten her into trouble. We person a feeling she’ll play an adjacent greater value successful play three, and we can’t hold to spot what this refreshingly unpredictable quality does next.

Liked: The caller relationships formed during the games

One of the galore things that makes Squid Game truthful bully is the unusual pairings and relationships that this full script creates. Forced to combat for their lives, the characters extremity up teaming up with radical they usually wouldn’t subordinate with. And, successful turn, that creates adjacent much memorable moments.

That inclination continued this season. The biggest one, of course, is the Front Man entering the crippled (more connected that later) and however helium befriends and uses 456. But the parent and lad are fantastic, adding an absorbing dash of household to it all. The antheral pretending to beryllium a subject vet is bittersweet but absorbing and his worship of the existent erstwhile soldiers is powerful. The information that 1 antheral knows 456 successful existent beingness is cool. Player 120’s dynamic successful the radical truly shines. And up and down the database we could go.

Liked: The ensemble is huge, but each of the players are distinctive and memorable

In a prime that carries implicit from the archetypal Squid Game season, contempt the information that the amusement has dozens of characters, and you conscionable astir of them precise rapidly erstwhile the games get going, and they’re each dressed alike, everyone is distinctive and memorable. That they deterioration numbers connected their jackets helps differentiate everyone, of course, particularly erstwhile the contention picks up. But the array of personalities and backstories represented among the players feels some divers and realistic. Most everyone is hopeless to get rich, but nether that umbrella there’s a large young woman, a parent and lad team, a shaman, a crypto scammer, and truthful galore more—including, arsenic we already mentioned, an obnoxious rapper named Thanos.

Credit’s owed to the performers, who trade elaborate characters contempt getting lone scattered moments of surface time, and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who expertly paces each occurrence to marque definite the show’s high-tension enactment and affectional resonance enactment connected adjacent footing.

Liked: The Front Man’s caller role

The uncover that Lee Byung-hun’s malevolent Front Man has entered the contention is simply a delicious infinitesimal astatine the extremity of an occurrence named for his faux identity: Player 001. The information that he’s wearing 001, taking aft Oh Il-nam—season one’s concealed puppeteer—somehow doesn’t ringing immoderate alarm bells for Gi-hun. In information the 2 men go trusted teammates… oregon astatine slightest Gi-hun believes so. The Front Man’s two-faced (or three-faced, even, if you number his 3rd individuality arsenic Jun-ho’s missing brother) strategy anchors play 2 with its cautiously calibrated duplicity, giving Lee a juicy portion to dive into aft spending astir of play 1 down a mask.

Season 3 is going to beryllium immense for this character, and we can’t hold to spot what happens when, inevitably, the information comes out.

Liked: Gi-hun’s evolution

When we met him astatine the commencement of Squid Game play one, Gi-hun was a gambling addict who had zero problems stealing from his parent and betting currency intended for his daughter’s day astatine the racetrack. Being thrust into a life-or-death nightmare rapidly helped him make a motivation compass, and successful the play 1 finale we saw him determine it’s clip to halt the Squid Game from doing immoderate much harm, adjacent if it means giving up his ain state and happiness.

In play two, which picks up 2 years later, he’s struggling with a upland of survivor’s guilt, and his goofball tendencies person been wholly erased; instead, he’s a antheral who’s arsenic haunted by his past arsenic helium is determined to bash what helium tin to acceptable things right. Lee Jung-jae erstwhile again adeptly handles each of Gi-hun’s profoundly felt emotions, with a much, overmuch darker strength to his property this clip around.

Liked: The voting

Obviously the games successful Squid Game are the main event. It’s close determination successful the title. But adding successful the ripple of letting everyone vote, retired successful the open, astir whether oregon not to support playing oregon not was a masterstroke. What amended mode to acceptable up dueling factions arsenic good arsenic immoderate precise aggravated play successful betwixt the games? If you’re similar us, you jumped retired of your spot erstwhile a quality you expected to ballot 1 mode voted another. You cheered radical connected arsenic they attempted to politic those connected the different broadside of the aisle similar a cruel crippled of government. Plus, the voting truly allowed america to deliberation astir the repercussions and morality of what’s happening successful the games connected a full caller level. An A+ summation this season.

Liked: The subordinate rebellion

With less episodes this clip around, we had a consciousness we weren’t going to decorativeness the games. So what could hap that’s caller and exciting? Well, however astir a radical of players overthrowing the guards and effort to instrumentality implicit the games? The players virtually going to warfare with the games added not conscionable enactment and escapade but a full caller level of drama.

We knew, and possibly the characters knew it too, that this was an intolerable task. There are excessively galore guards and excessively fewer players who take to partake. But we cheered and watched eagerly arsenic 456 and his friends continued to marque headway. Sure, ultimately, it was a failure—thanks successful ample portion to the Front Man being a traitor—but it’s conscionable different illustration of Squid Game going against expectations successful delightful and breathtaking ways.

Didn’t like: Too overmuch clip connected the boat

We had a bully feeling Jun-ho, the bull who infiltrated the games successful play 1 portion searching for his missing brother, would resurface. Sure, helium was changeable and fell implicit a cliff, but we didn’t see him die—and aft the large reveals that his member was a) a past Squid Game winner, and b) the masked Front Man, it seemed evident that Jun-ho would beryllium backmost connected the hunt successful play two.

We did similar that helium joined forces with Gi-hun (or much specifically, Gi-hun’s money) and a clump of gangsters (Gi-hun’s greedy associates) to effort and find the games’ concealed land location. But erstwhile Gi-hun is whisked backmost into the competition, we get a fewer excessively galore scenes of Jun-ho and his squad connected their fruitless search. Near the extremity of the season, we larn wherefore their quest has been truthful unsuccessful—the skipper who Ji-hun believes helium met by accidental is not connected their side, and has been sabotaging their efforts. The double-cross twist is fun, but not capable to marque up for each that clip spent being boring astatine sea.

Didn’t like: The games themselves

One of the main pleasures successful play 1 of Squid Game was conscionable however large and diabolical the games got. “Red Light, Green Light” was the baseline arsenic things got either bigger oregon progressively dangerous. This play we transcript that crippled for immoderate crushed portion the others are conscionable benignant of—okay. The immense mentation of philharmonic chairs decidedly allowed for immoderate amusive groupings and scenarios, but it didn’t truly necessitate excessively overmuch strategy oregon skill. And the six-legged race, portion besides providing plentifulness of play and intrigue, was conscionable a clump of mini-games successful one. We didn’t hatred the caller games, they conscionable underwhelmed erstwhile compared to things similar a elephantine crippled of tug of warfare oregon a level wherever you person to trial your luck connected solid that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not shatter beneath your feet.

Didn’t like: It had Empire Strikes Back middle-story syndrome

After waiting astir 4 years for Squid Game to return, to permission america erstwhile again connected a cliffhanger was a bummer. What volition hap to 456 and his surviving friends? And are we conscionable going to hide that full different storyline connected the vessel successful the end? Surely these questions and much volition beryllium answered successful play three, but play 2 truly didn’t reply thing from the archetypal season. The bull and the Front Man don’t reunite. We don’t spot immoderate advancement that could effect successful the games being unopen down oregon exposed. It’s each conscionable acceptable up—entertaining acceptable up, but acceptable up nary the less—for a 3rd and last play we, hopefully, won’t person to hold arsenic agelong for.

Squid Game play 2 is present streaming connected Netflix.

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.

Read Entire Article