In the end, “Squid Game” season 2 manages to be both exciting and underwhelming. The new season moves at a steady clip, running through new twists and turns and unleashing more deadly games. But coming in at seven episodes, as opposed to season 1’s nine-episode run, this second season frequently feels like little more than table-setting for the third and final season. I suppose you could consider this the “Empire Strikes Back” of the “Squid Game” trilogy, a continuation without a real conclusion, complete with a cliffhanger designed to shock you and leave you hungry for more. On the other hand, by the time you’ve burnt through all seven episodes of “Squid Game” season 2, you might find yourself asking, “Is that it?” It certainly doesn’t help that Hwang loads the season up with meandering storylines that go absolutely nowhere. Will the series wrap them up in season 3? Probably! But such an approach doesn’t make for very compelling viewing.
As season 2 begins, some time has passed since the conclusion of season 1, and Gi-hun remains both haunted and determined. He’s used his massive jackpot to hire an entire team of guys to help him track down the folks behind the folks still running the Squid Game. Gi-hun could’ve taken his money and run, but instead, he wants to shut the organization down for good. He’s joined on that front by Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), a cop who has a direct connection to the deadly games: his brother, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), who goes by the nickname the Front Man, is the guy running the show, donning a mask and dressing up like a goth Doctor Doom as he lords over the games.
The very nature of the show dictates that sooner or later, Gi-hun has to end up back in the game. And sure enough, that’s exactly what happens. And it’s here where the second season begins to run into problems. There’s a real sense of repetition that sets in almost immediately. In an attempt to remind viewers what they loved about the show in the first place, “Squid Game” season 2 ends up recycling elements from season 1. There’s even a big twist involving one of the new players that’s directly lifted from the first season. Hell, even the organ harvesting subplot returns.
At the same time, season 2 makes a big mistake in giving us far fewer games. Part of what made season 1 so memorable were the host of deadly games the players found themselves partaking in from episode to episode. Season 2, however, only gives us a small number of games, and one of them — Red Light, Green Light — is ported over from season 1. And while season 1 found something for Jun-ho to do by having him sneaking around the mysterious island where the games are held, season 2 sticks him on a boat for the entire season, with each episode briefly cutting back to him as he sails around trying to find Gi-hun. It is, to be honest, rather boring stuff, and gives the entire season a hodgepodge feeling, as if Hwang was torn in two directions of wanting to advance the story while also being shackled to recycling familiar beats.