Have You Watched Squid Games 2? (My Thoughts)

It’s a rare feat for the second season of an already-great show to exceed the first, but somehow I think Squid Games 2 did just that.

The novelty of the first Squid Games made it a Netflix blockbuster: People in heavy debt are recruited for a winner-take all competition with a grand prize of around $30 million USD. The brutal catch: Everyone other than the winner is killed in the process.

It’s probably the temptation for this type of show to increase the stakes for the second season: More contestants! More money! More violence! Bigger scope! In nearly every aspect, Squid Games 2 shows restraint, instead focusing on the characters: Every character with any lines is more nuanced, more interesting, and more real. In many ways, characters are also smarter: They don’t fall into horror tropes, and they ask the right questions even if they don’t know the answers.

The rest of the post includes mid-range spoilers (episodes 3 and 4), so I recommend not reading beyond this if you’re going to watch season 2.

Four other elements really elevate season 2 for me:

1. A mix of old and new games: With the main character returning to the competition, the show first asks the question: How many lives can you save if you already know the games and the stakes? That’s great. Then it shifts into some new games, raising the great question asked in the previous season: What strategy would you employ if you were there?
2. Voting as a new dynamic: The main twist on the competition is that after every game, the players can vote to play another game or stay in the game (the results impact everyone). This is brilliant. It gives the players agency instead of making them feel stuck, and the results are tense and surprising.
3. The antagonist…as a protagonist: One of the best new characters is someone we briefly saw in season 1: Player 001, the leader of the Squid Games. His role is fascinating to watch. Is he really playing? Can he be killed? Does he care about the players? Will he eventually turn on them?
4. The new mystery: The show introduces a somewhat vague mystery about some of the people in pink who want to use almost-dead bodies for…something? We don’t really know, but I trust the final season (coming in June) to answer the questions.

Despite the violence (I’m watching for the stakes, but not for blood), I was truly impressed by season 2, and now I know I’ll watch season 3 starting on the day it’s released instead of waiting like I did for this one. What did you think?