South Korea’s most famous television show, “Squid Games,” released its second season on Dec. 26, 2024, taking the world by storm after earning a top show ranking in 92 different countries. The show’s highly anticipated second season has left viewers confused and disappointed with the six episode series after the first season being so successful, but there are still some great emotional and suspenseful moments to be enjoyed by fans of the series.
The vague ending in season one opened the plot for the show to move in many different directions. Season Two was successful in incorporating new competitive games, which were arguably the most entertaining aspect of the first season. Games like Rock Paper Scissors Minus One, Russian Roulette, and Mingle were all introduced to the series in terrifying fashion. Viewers were on the edge of their seats as they were watching Seong-Gi Hun and his friends put their lives before others during the Russian Roulette and Mingle games in order to survive. The anticipation of whether or not Gi-hun would be betrayed by his team members added another level of excitement. This is why the games were just as exhilarating in the second season as they were in the first, which contributed to the reining success of the new season.
This South Korean series managed to keep evolving from the first season not only in plot, but in character development as well. The main character, Seong Gi-hun, experienced major character development. He changed from a lighthearted and optimistic character to a distrustful and reserved character after his previous experience winning the Squid Games in season one. Furthermore, the audience became familiar with more characters for this season aside from just following Seong Gi-hun in the games. Gi-hun’s lifelong best friend, Jung Bae, provided another reason for Gi-hun to fight. Bae was also a likeable character that the audiences wanted to root for. His death at the end made audiences more angry and passionate for Gi-hun to get justice at the end of the series.
In addition to the games that were being played in the Squid Games arena, the show added two new storylines. There was a storyline surrounding one of the Squid Game workers, which gave insight as to how the games are truly run behind the scenes. The writers also created a plot about a team not involved in the actual competition that was formed to help find and destroy the games. These different parts of the show added depth and layers to the viewing experience, which made the second season more evolved than the first.
However, the various plotlines were left unfinished with the season’s ending, which brought about many different reactions to the actual success of the newest season. This caused viewers to have mixed emotions about the show because the audience felt very dissatisfied with an incomplete ending. “Squid Games” creators acknowledged that this was just the first part of the new season and stated that “Squid Games” Season Two, Part Two should be released in the summer of 2025.
Overall, the second season of this worldwide success certainly brought about all of the same emotions that the first season did. The new season is only facing criticism due to the first season of “Squid Games” being a near perfect cinematic experience. While there were some unsatisfactory and dull parts in these new episodes, the show was still able to captivate their viewers and excite audiences for the second part of the second season this summer.
