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Squid Game season 2

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Squid Game
Season 2
Korean promotional poster featuring notable characters running away in a carousel-themed location with dead people on the ground
Promotional poster
ShowrunnerHwang Dong-hyuk
Starring
No. of episodes7
Release
Original networkNetflix
Original releaseDecember 26, 2024 (2024-12-26)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 1
Next →
Season 3
List of episodes

The second season of the South Korean dystopian survival thriller horror television series Squid Game, marketed as Squid Game 2, was created by Korean writer and television producer Hwang Dong-hyuk. It was released on Netflix on December 26, 2024.

The season stars Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-joon, Im Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Lee Jin-wook, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-shim, Lee Seo-hwan [ko], and Park Gyu-young. Set three years after the first season, the story focuses on Seong Gi-hun's life after winning the Squid Game, giving up on going to the United States and returning to the games with a new resolution in mind. He once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of 45.6 billion. A side-plot of the season sees Hwang Jun-ho trying to locate Gi-hun with help from hired mercenaries.

The season garnered positive reviews from critics. The third and final season is confirmed to be released in 2025, which was filmed back-to-back with the second season.

Episodes

[edit]
No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date [1]
101"Bread and Lottery"
Transliteration: "Ppang-gwa Bokgwon" (Korean: 빵과 복권)
Hwang Dong-hyukHwang Dong-hyukDecember 26, 2024 (2024-12-26)
Seong Gi-hun leaves the terminal[a] determined to confront the Front Man behind the games. Realizing he is being monitored, he removes a tracking device implanted behind his ear. Hwang Jun-ho survives his fall from the cliff.[b] Two years later, Gi-hun works with Kim, his former loan shark, and his lackeys to track down the games' recruiter in Seoul. Kim and his associate, Choi Woo-seok, eventually locate the recruiter and watch him offer vagrants bread or a lottery ticket; most choose the ticket, and the recruiter destroys the rejected bread in front of them. The recruiter abducts Kim and Woo-seok and forces them to play a deadly game of rock paper scissors combined with Russian roulette, resulting in Kim's death. Jun-ho investigates Gi-hun and locates his operational base. The recruiter confronts Gi-hun there, revealing he was once a soldier in the games who killed his own father, a player, and justifies the games' cruelty by vilifying the participants as scum. He challenges Gi-hun into a round of Russian roulette, resulting in his own death.
112"Halloween Party"
Transliteration: "Hallowin Pati" (Korean: 할로윈 파티)
Hwang Dong-hyukHwang Dong-hyukDecember 26, 2024 (2024-12-26)
Gi-hun, Jun-ho, and Woo-seok discover a lead from the recruiter's jacket pointing to a Halloween party. Woo-seok recruits a team of mercenaries, Gi-hun implants a tracker in himself, and the three devise a plan to locate the Front Man. Meanwhile, Gi-hun continues to look after Sang-woo's mother and Cheol. He works with a broker to reunite Cheol with his mother from the North, and places a silent call to his estranged daughter. The team infiltrates the Halloween party, where Gi-hun is escorted by one of the game's pink-clad soldiers into a limousine, with his team in pursuit. He confronts the Front Man via speaker, demanding an end to the games. When the vehicles following him are shot down, Gi-hun requests to be returned to the games as a player. Kang No-eul, a North Korean defector who seeks to extract her daughter from the North, enters the game as a soldier.
123"001"Hwang Dong-hyukHwang Dong-hyukDecember 26, 2024 (2024-12-26)
Gi-hun wakes in the game's dormitory with 455 other players. A manager announces a new clause: after each game, the players will vote, and if the majority agrees to leave the games, the accumulated prize money will be divided among them. Jun-ho and his team lose track of the island as Gi-hun's tracker has been removed. Gi-hun recognizes Player 390 as his friend Jung-bae and advises him to stay close. The first game is Red Light, Green Light; Gi-hun warns the players that elimination will result in death, though many dismiss him. Despite the chaos, Gi-hun's cautions help reduce casualties. Player 230, known as the rapper "Thanos," is under the influence of drugs and pushes others to eliminate them. Gi-hun and Player 120, named Hyun-ju, attempt to save an eliminated player who was only non-fatally shot, but No-eul shoots the player dead. After the game, Gi-hun urges the players to vote the game's end and reveals he is the sole winner of a previous iteration. Players voting to continue are labeled "O", while those voting to leave are labeled "X". The Front Man, posing as Player 001, casts the deciding vote to continue.
134"Six Legs"
Transliteration: "Yeoseot Gaeui Dari" (Korean: 여섯 개의 다리)
Hwang Dong-hyukHwang Dong-hyukDecember 26, 2024 (2024-12-26)
Player 001 feigns an alliance with Gi-hun and fabricates a story, based in truth, about his reason for joining the game. Player 333, named Myung-gi, is attacked by Thanos and Player 124, named Nam-gyu; Player 001 intervenes and stops the altercation easily. Player 222, named Kim Jun-hee and Myung-gi's pregnant ex-girlfriend, reveals herself to him. Meanwhile, a group of soldiers, led by the Officer, begin harvesting organs to sell on the black market. The Officer orders No-eul to ignore the activities, but she refuses. Jun-ho attempts to enlist police assistance but is unsuccessful. To Gi-hun's surprise, the second game requires players to form teams of five for a six-legged pentathlon consisting of five children's games: ddakji, biseokchigi, gong-gi, jegi, and spinning top, to be completed under a five-minute time limit. No-eul continues her sabotage of the soldiers' organ trade by shooting living eliminated players dead.
145"One More Game"
Transliteration: "Han Pan Deo" (Korean: 한 판 더)
Hwang Dong-hyukHwang Dong-hyukDecember 26, 2024 (2024-12-26)
After Hyun-ju's team manages to win through mutual support, many other teams are inspired and succeed. Gi-hun allies with Jung-bae, Jun-hee, and Players 001 and 388 (Kang Dae-ho); they succeed and exchange names after the game, though Player 001 falsely introduces himself as Oh Young-il. No-eul is attacked by two soldiers involved in the organ trade, who warn her to stop interfering. During the following vote, Player 001 encourages the players to vote against continuing the game, but a larger majority opts to proceed, believing the prize pool remains too small. Gi-hun confides in Jung-bae about his growing uncertainty in rescuing everyone. Meanwhile, Jun-ho and Woo-seok, now with an expanded mercenary team, continue their search for the island. The third game, titled "Mingle", requires players to enter designated rooms after forming groups based on an announced number.[c]
156"O X"Hwang Dong-hyukHwang Dong-hyukDecember 26, 2024 (2024-12-26)
During "Mingle", players struggle to fit their alliances into rooms, causing tension, betrayal, and deaths of allies. In the final round, Jung-bae witnesses Player 001 kill another player to secure a room for themselves. After the game, Gi-hun and Player 001 argue over whether to persuade other players to vote to end the games, and ultimately decide against it to avoid a physical fight. During the vote, several players, including Player 125, who has been subservient to Thanos and Nam-gyu, change their votes to "X". The deciding vote again falls to Player 001, resulting in a tie; the players are given a day before re-voting. In the bathroom, Thanos and Nam-gyu pressure Player 125, named Min-su, into changing his vote to "O", but Myung-gi and other players that voted "X" intervene to defend him. A fight ensues, with Thanos strangling Myung-gi, who fatally stabs him with a fork. Meanwhile, Jun-ho's team locates a possible entrance on an island, only to discover it is a decoy rigged with explosives, killing one of the mercenaries.
167"Friend or Foe"
Transliteration: "Chingu-inga Jeoginga" (Korean: 친구인가 적인가)
Hwang Dong-hyukHwang Dong-hyukDecember 26, 2024 (2024-12-26)
Captain Park of Jun-ho's team is revealed to be a double agent, having sabotaged their drone. Following the bathroom brawl, players realize they can kill others to raise the prize pool and weaken the opposing voters. Gi-hun convinces a small group of "X" players to avoid attacking, arguing that the true enemies are the game's creators. During a violent dorm massacre, Gi-hun's group stays hidden as the rest of the "X" group receives heavy losses, and they emerge only when soldiers arrive. Gi-hun's group baits the soldiers, killing all but one and taking their firearms. They start a rebellion and force the surviving soldier to lead them to the control room. However, more soldiers open fire en route, and the rebellion starts to falter when the group runs out of ammunition; Dae-ho, tasked with retrieving more ammo, suffers a panic attack and is unable to return. Player 001 betrays the group, killing two players and faking his death while other surrendering players are executed. Gi-hun and Jung-bae are taken captive; In-ho, now masked as the Front Man, kills Jung-bae in front of a horrified Gi-hun.

Cast and characters

[edit]

Main cast

[edit]

Recurring

[edit]

Guest cast

[edit]
  • Gong Yoo as a salesman who recruits participants for the Game
  • Park Hye-jin as Sang-woo's mother
  • Park Si-wan as Kang Cheol, Kang Sae-byeok's younger brother
  • Sung Do-hyun as the mercenary Kim
  • Kim Pub-lae [ko] as Mr Kim
  • Song Ji-woo [ko] as Kang Mi-na (196)

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]
Series creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk

In late October 2021, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk stated he was in discussions with Netflix regarding a second season.[13] He further stated in December 2021 that he was also discussing a third season with Netflix.[14] Hwang wanted to produce another film first, as well as secure a contract with Netflix to release additional films he may create alongside further Squid Game seasons, so as to avoid becoming known only for Squid Game.[13] Hwang confirmed that he had begun conceptualization work on a second season during a press event in November 2021, with plans to bring back Lee Jung-jae to reprise his role of Gi-hun.[15] Netflix stated in response to Hwang's comments that they had not yet officially greenlit a second season, but were in discussions with Hwang towards one.[16] During an earnings call in January 2022, Netflix's Sarandos said when asked about a second season "Absolutely...the Squid Game universe has just begun."[17][18][19] Hwang said in April 2022 that he presently was working on Killing Old People Club, an adaptation of a work called "Pape Satan Aleppe: Chronicles of a Liquid Society" by Umberto Eco, and anticipated that the second season of Squid Game would be completed and broadcast by 2024.[20] Netflix confirmed that the second season was greenlit in June 2022.[21][22]

Writing

[edit]

Due to the stress of writing and producing the first series of nine episodes himself, Hwang initially had no immediate plans to write a second season to Squid Game, and did not have well-developed plans for a follow-up story and said that if he were to write one, he would likely need a staff of writers and directors to help him.[23] However, with the immense popularity of the first season, Hwang later opined about the possibility of a second season in 2021, telling CNN, "There's nothing confirmed at the moment, but so many people are enthusiastic that I'm really contemplating it."[24] Hwang also said in an interview with The Times that a second season may focus more on the story of the Front Man as well as incorporating more about the police: "I think the issue with police officers is not just an issue in Korea. I see it on the global news that the police force can be very late in acting on things—there are more victims or a situation gets worse because of them not acting fast enough. This was an issue that I wanted to raise."[25] He added that he also wanted to explore the relationship between the cryptic Front Man and his policeman brother Hwang Jun-ho, as well as the background of the salesman character (portrayed by Gong Yoo).[26] Hwang said that a particular inspiration behind the decision to continue the Squid Game story was The Matrix film series, in which Neo chooses the red pill over the blue pill; Gi-Hun, similarly, chooses to go after those responsible for the game rather than go back to his life.[27]

Speaking about the games that appear in the season, Hwang said "They are once again simple children's games that a lot of kids in Korea grew up playing. I remember being on set and being reminded of my childhood days" but he also wanted to open up the games to be more universally recognized this time "In many different countries around the world, there will be some kind of version similar to these games that you probably have played as a child,...They're going to be both very easy to understand and play, and very fun."[28]

Casting

[edit]
Director Hwang requested that actors Gong Yoo (left) and Lee Byung-hun (right), with whom he had previously worked, appear as the recruiter and the Front Man, respectively, in Squid Game.

In April 2022, Hwang confirmed that the characters of Gi-hun and the Front Man would return for the second season.[29][21] During Netflix's Tudum: A Global Fan Event in June 2023, Lee Jung-jae was confirmed to reprise his role alongside Lee Byung-hun, Gong Yoo and Wi Ha-joon. On June 29, Netflix released more info on the new season's cast, which includes Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, Im Si-wan, Yang Dong-geun, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-wook, Won Ji-an, Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-shim, Choi Seung-hyun, Lee David, and Roh Jae-won.[30][4][2]

Prior to the season's release, the casting choice of Park Sung-hoon as transgender ex-soldier Hyun-Ju was controversial due to some wanting a trans person to authentically portray their experiences. Criticism fell on both the casting of a cisgender person for the role instead of a transgender person, as well as for casting a man in particular as opposed to a woman. Some argued in response to this criticism that South Korea is conservative with regards to LGBT rights, and that trying to find a transgender actress willing to put herself in the spotlight was not reasonable.[31] People also opined that having a trans character in a South Korean series at all is an important step in representation.[32] On December 18, 2024 during press day for Squid Game 2, director and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk spoke to a group of journalists, about why he wanted to include a trans character this time around:

“The people who come to join the games in Squid Game are usually marginalized or neglected from society, and not just financially speaking, but people who would belong to marginalized groups. In season one, the representative character for that was Ali, who was a foreigner working in Korea, which is one of the most representative minority groups in Korea. Currently today, unfortunately, in the Korean society the gender minority is a group that is not as accepted widely within society. I wanted to create a character that would represent that. Acceptance of trans people has gotten better recently, but it’s still not where it needs to be. In Korea, when you are a gender minority, it is not as widely accepted yet, unfortunately, and you are still seen to be very much out of the norm. And so by creating a character like Hyun-ju, through her choices, her actions, and the way she carries herself in the game, I hope that that could raise awareness of these issues that we face today.”[33]

Though Hwang wanted to cast a transgender actor for the role, it was difficult to find such an actor in Korea due to the above issues, and believed that Park's prior roles in The Glory and Queen of Tears made him capable of portraying the role.[34]

In 2017 (seven years before Season 2's broadcast), Seung-hyun, better known as the rapper T.O.P, had pled guilty to drug use and was blackballed in the Korean music industry; during that period, he also overdosed on tranquilizers. Seung-hyun was cast as Player 230/Thanos, also a rapper and shown to have a drug problem. Hwang praised Seung-hyun for the courage to return to the public spotlight after nine years and to portray a character with similar negativities as Seung-hyun had in his own life, saying "Despite the long hiatus, I have to say, as a director, he performed very impressively and I’m very satisfied with what he did with the character."[35]

Filming

[edit]

Principal photography for the second season was scheduled to start in July 2023 and was expected to last for "at least 10 months".[36] On July 10, staff members of the production faced a controversy involving allegations of mistreatment towards citizens during filming at Incheon Airport. The production company issued an official apology on the matter.[37] Filming was reportedly underway in August 2023.[38] Filming wrapped in July 2024 and was filmed back-to-back along with the third season.[39]

Music

[edit]
Jung Jae-il composed the score for the season.

Composer Jung Jae-il returned to score the second season, with the soundtrack album being released on December 27, 2024, through Netflix Music.[40] Jung confirmed his involvement in 2023, telling the BBC the second season would retain some elements from the score to the first season but have a "more bizarre and unique sound".[41] The first episode features the aria "Nessun dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, sung by Paul Potts, and "Time to Say Goodbye" by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli.[42][43] The third episode features a cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" performed by Joo Won, a song which was also featured in the first season.[44]

Marketing

[edit]
Promo for Squid Game season 2 at Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines.

During Netflix Event Week in September 2024, a poster and a teaser for the season were released.[45][46]

On December 19, 2024, a rave party related to the season was held in London.[47] Famous streamer Ibai Llanos organized his own version of Squid Game with KFC.[48] Filipino journalist MJ Marfori attended the three-day event for the season and also interviewed Lee Jung-jae.[49]

Release

[edit]

The season was released on December 26, 2024.[1]

Reception

[edit]

The second season received positive reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 65 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "While Squid Game's return can't help but lose the element of surprise, some absolutely diabolical challenges and a knotty moral outlook keep this sophomore season thrilling."[50] On Metacritic, the second season has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[51]

Laura Martin from the BBC gave the season 4 stars out of 5 and said it rivalled the production quality of the first season.[52] Annabel Nugent from The Independent also gave the season 4 stars out of 5 and said while it was not as shocking as the first season, it was still captivating in its violence.[53] Rebecca Nicholson from The Guardian gave the season a less positive review due to issues she found with its plot development and pacing and rated it 3 stars out of 5.[54] Kelly Lawler from USA Today gave the season 2 stars out of 4, calling the plot outlandish and the end unsatisfying.[55]

Of all the cast members of the second season, Park Sung-hoon's portrayal of the transgender ex-soldier Hyun-ju won significant praise from many critics. Many viewers regarded Park's character as one of the most compelling characters in the second season, due to the character development and background of Hyun-ju and Park's dedication and depth in portraying Hyun-ju.[56] Gong Yoo's brief appearance as the salesman and recruiter also received positive reviews from fans on social media.[57]

The season was boycotted in Vietnam after Park Sung Bae said that Kang Dae Ho's father was "a good person" when he fought in the Vietnam War in Episode 5.[58][59] This was interpreted by Vietnamese audiences as praising South Korean war crimes in Vietnam, and demanded authorities to "take necessary actions regarding this statement".[60]

Viewership

[edit]

Within the first three days of release, the second season had 68 million views, exceeding the highest premier viewership for Netflix held by the first season of Wednesday at 50.1 million views during its premiere week.[61]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ As depicted in the first season episode "One Lucky Day".
  2. ^ As depicted in the first season episode "Front Man".
  3. ^ The song played during the merry-go-round that the players stand on during the game is called dunggeulge dunggeulge (둥글게 둥글게), which literally means "round and round". The song is a classic Korean song for a version of a Korean musical chairs game. The real version of the game involves children going around the table or stadium.[citation needed]

References

[edit]
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