SQUID GAME Season 2 is on Netflix and we pick up right where Season 1 left off. Are you ready for more brutal games? You’ll get to know (and love or hate) many new characters and a few familiar ones. Read our full Squid Game S2 review here!

SQUID GAME Season 2 on Netflix may begin where the previous season ended, but then a time jump happens. The real storyline of this second season happens a full three years after Player 456, Seong Gi-hun won the game as the sole survivor.

NEED A RECAP OF SEASON 1?

Check out our quick Squid Game Season 1 recap here >

There are only seven episodes in this new season, each around one hour long. Some are a little shorter and a few run even longer. It’s as brutal as ever, so get ready for more children’s games with deadly outcomes. We’ve watched all S2 episodes for this review.

Continue reading our Season 2 review of Squid Game below. Find the new season on Netflix from December 26, 2024.

Tilbage til Squid Game-komplekset

Most of Squid Game season 2 takes place three years after Player 456/ Seong Gi-hun won a fortune as the winner. In the final scene of season 1, we saw him give up being reunited with his daughter (now living in the US) and instead attempt to dismantle the games.

With this seemingly impossible resolution – but more money than he can spend in a lifetime – he starts planning how to do this. Not everything goes according to plan, as Gi-hun once again ends up taking part in Squid Game.

He is once more given the number 456 and starts the mysterious survival game. Each round is a life-or-death situation and what starts as being very familiar will soon evolve into a very different beast.

New games – that we won’t spoil here, of course – are introduced and even a few rule changes have come into play. Seemingly for the better, but human nature is still human nature, so it may not make much of a difference.

Four season 1 characters return

Obviously, we already know Player 456, Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), though it’s a hardened version of the man we were introduced to in the first season. Taking part in the games has broken something inside him.

Watching both friends and foes die before your eyes will do that!

Another familiar character is the shadowy Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), and his brother, Police Officer, Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who managed to infiltrate the games in season 1. Plus, of course, The Recruiter (Gong Yoo), who is responsible for finding players among people down on their luck.

Alongside these familiar characters, we will see many new players. 455 new players, to be exact. We won’t actually get to the Squid Game compound again until episode 3, but I can promise you that there’s plenty to look forward to until then as well.

Squid Game: Season 2 – Review | Netflix | Korean Survival Series

Key players in Season 2

I don’t want to give away spoilers as finding out how people in the games are connected, is part of the experience. However, you’ll do well to keep an eye on the following Squid Game Season 2 players:

  • Gi-hun, Player 456 (our previous winner)
  • Myung-gi, Player 333
  • Dae-ho, Player 388
  • Gyeong-seok, Player 246
  • Hyun-ju, Player 120
  • Yong-sik, Player 007
  • Geum-ja, Player 149
  • Jung-bae, Player 390
  • Jun-hee, Player 222

Also, keep an eye out for Player 001. In Season 1, this was a very special person, and it’s safe to say that for Season 2, Player 001 is equally important. This time, however, you’ll know their identity from the second you see the face of Player 001.

This is why you’ll have to wait a few episodes before he’s a player we meet. And yes, you can easily hide one player among 456 very active players in a game.

Among the new cast members, you can look forward to a few familiar faces from other South Korean productions. Including Yim Si-wan (Unlocked), Kang Ha-neul (Forgotten), Park Gyu-young (Celebrity), Lee Jin-uk (Sweet Home), and Park Sung-hoon (The Bequeathed).

Same Place, New Games!

One of the new players sports purple tips in his hair and the name Thanos. He’s a rapper who cannot stop himself from speaking English to be tough and cool. He’s neither really, but he is a classic bully. Also, he’s one of the players you’ll definitely notice from the very first game.

And yes, we begin with the same game.

After that, everything changes and you cannot be sure what to expect. New games are also introduced. Maybe I’ve forgotten how bad it was in the first season because, to me, the Squid Game season 2 games tend to feel even more brutal.

Yes, Squid Game Season 3 is coming!

Oh yeah, we already know that Squid Game is coming back after Season 2, so more Squid Game is on the way. Season 3 is coming in 2025, and it will be the last season of the series.

We were thrilled that season 3 has already been announced. Especially when we saw the final scene of season 2. Much will be resolved in this second season, but even more will be left open-ended, so we need that third season.

In other words, get ready for a cliffhanger ending to season 2. Followed by the long wait for Squid Game Season 3.

Watch Season 2 of Squid Game on Netflix now

Emmy winner Hwang Dong-hyuk continues as the writer, director, and executive producer on the South Korean Netflix megahit. When he won the 74th Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, as the first Asian director ever, he made history.

Not unlike his South Korean colleague Bong Joon-ho made history with many of his awards for Parasite (2019).

The show won an impressive 6 Prime Time Emmy awards in 2022 – including for Chae Kyoung-sun as Squid Game’s production designer. The series was nominated for an additional 5 awards. It was also nominated for 3 Golden Globes and won a single one for Oh Yeong-su’s performance as Player 001 in the first season.

Squid Game Season 2 has already been nominated for Best Drama Series at the upcoming Golden Globe award show, which is the only award it’s been nominated for this time around. The Emmy Awards will likely be a different story as this second season is amazing.

Squid Game Season 2 will launch on Netflix globally on December 26, 2024.

Details

Creator/Writer/Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Cast: Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, Gong Yoo, Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-uk, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won, Jo Yu-ri, Won Ji-an

Plot

Three years after winning Squid Game, Player 456 gave up going to the states and comes back with a new resolution in his mind. Gi-hun once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of 456 billion won.

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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