Squid Recreation season 2 evaluate: a brutal remix of Netflix’s largest present

Within the three years since Squid Recreation grew to become Netflix’s largest property, it’s been straightforward to overlook simply why it was so fashionable to start with. The unflinching story of sophistication battle that mixed iconic visuals, schoolyard video games, and a nihilistic view of humanity, has largely been buried beneath ill-conceived actuality exhibits, influencer knockoffs, cartoon-ish cellular video games, and all method of name tie-ins. Simply forward of the present’s return for season 2, Netflix outlined a staggering array of Squid Recreation collabs, overlaying the whole lot from Name of Obligation to Domino’s to Crocs to Johnnie Walker. Should you actually wish to, you should purchase Squid Recreation-branded beef jerky.

Fortunately, whereas Netflix appears to have forgotten what Squid Recreation is definitely about — or, extra probably, was merely blinded by greenback indicators — sequence creator Hwang Dong-hyuk definitely hasn’t. The second season doesn’t discover loads of new territory thematically however, as a substitute, cleverly expands the Squid Recreation universe whereas providing up a thriller that performs out like an much more brutal remix of the unique.

The brand new season picks up a couple of years after the occasions of the primary, through which Seong Gi-hun, higher often called participant 456 (Lee Jung-jae, who adopted Squid Recreation fame with a starring function in Star Wars and his directorial debut), gained the preliminary video games. That meant he earned a ₩45.6 billion prize but in addition needed to reside with being the one survivor from a bunch of 456 folks.

Season 1 ended with Gi-hun not solely getting wealthy but in addition studying that the aged Oh Il-nam, participant 001 (O Yeong-su), was truly the creator of the video games and that he and a bunch of fellow ultrarich people used the homicide and mayhem purely as a method to relieve their boredom. Within the final moments of the season, Gi-hun had a option to make: get on a aircraft to reconnect together with his estranged household, or keep and do one thing in regards to the video games. He doesn’t get on the aircraft.

The second season sees Gi-hun in a really completely different place. He’s spent the previous few years remoted and paranoid, planning use his wealth to close the video games down for good. First up: truly discovering the place they happen. By paying a community of criminals to systematically search Seoul’s subway system, he finally finds the salesperson (Gong Yoo), who you’ll keep in mind because the man in a swimsuit who challenges strangers to a sport of ddakji and is excellent at slapping. The hope is that by discovering him, they’ll be capable to find the mysterious island the place the video games go down.

However Gi-hun isn’t the one one searching for them. Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) — the detective who went undercover in season 1 to seek out his brother who was collaborating within the video games — is equally obsessed, working with an area fisherman to scour the waters for the island. Finally, the 2 be part of forces and set a plan in movement, just for Gi-hun to be pulled again into the video games as a contestant as soon as once more.

The primary few episodes don’t truly contact on the video games themselves a lot — and as a substitute present a deeper have a look at the remainder of Squid Recreation’s unusual world. Which means studying much more in regards to the mysterious and unflappable salesman, who appears to take a perverse enjoyment of terrorizing the poor and destitute. There’s additionally some perception into the guards who patrol the video games. We study that they aren’t all that completely different from the contestants themselves: determined folks doing determined issues inside a monetary system that has failed them.

A couple of episodes in, the present pivots again to the video games and begins to look very acquainted. There are inexperienced tracksuits, armed guards in vibrant pink jumpsuits, and an enormous piggy financial institution that fills with money as extra folks die. However slightly than rehashing earlier occasions, these episodes are like a remix of season 1. The video games have been modified up, and since Gi-hun is the one returning participant, there’s an entire new forged. And, like within the unique, there’s an incredible mixture of compelling tales, with characters who’ve been pushed to the brink and left with few different choices.

That features an anticipating younger mom seeking to begin a brand new life, a trans lady who wants cash for gender-affirming care, and a mom and son who each signed as much as repay his playing money owed, tragically unaware the opposite had additionally joined the video games. There are some nice new villains as effectively, like a purple-haired rapper who’s having the time of his life amid the bloodshed, and a cold-hearted crypto influencer who misplaced himself — and his viewers — all types of cash. And as soon as once more, there’s an undercover member of Squid Recreation administration who’s attempting to control the video games from the within.

The video games really feel completely different this time due to Gi-hun, who does the whole lot he can to each save folks whereas taking part in and persuade them to go away after the match is over. After every sport, all of the surviving gamers can vote on whether or not to proceed, and these moments of counting tons of of X’s and O’s are extraordinarily tense. However greed pushes folks to make the incorrect selection again and again, and it’s laborious to not get disheartened alongside Gi-hun. However for lots of the gamers, dying in a schoolyard sport is preferable to what awaits them on the surface. Gi-hun has his work lower out for him convincing the opposite contestants that their actual enemy isn’t one another however the system that put them right here combating over cash. Issues finally culminate in a bloody bloodbath that pushes Squid Recreation additional into horror than it’s ever been.

From there, the present races to a conclusion that lastly guarantees to shake up the video games themselves — however it by no means truly reaches that massive second. As an alternative, it neatly units up the third and remaining season that can hit Netflix in 2025. Whereas the cliffhanger (and the following wait) could also be disappointing, it’s a aid that, in contrast to seemingly everybody else, Hwang and his crew haven’t overlooked what made Squid Recreation so particular to start with. Season 2 is probably not the large shock the unique was, however it makes up for that with intelligent twists on the method and storylines that hit even bloodier notes. Even higher: the promise of a conclusion that is aware of the place it’s headed.

Squid Recreation season 2 begins streaming on Netflix on December twenty sixth.