After a wait of over 3 years, Squid Game Season 2 is finally here, and the good news is the show is just as bold and brutal as when it first took the world by storm in 2021.
Released on December 26, 2024, Season 2, or Squid Game 2 as it is officially titled, has already achieved a major milestone for Netflix, becoming the streamer’s first series to debut at #1 in all 93 countries where the platform is available. Show creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk, also made history at the 74th Primetime Emmys, becoming the first Asian to win Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
These achievements are a clear reflection of the continued rabid interest in the show’s dystopian storyline, its many colorful but ultimately disposable characters, and of course the show’s series of deadly game scenarios, ripped from the playgrounds of the past.
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last 3 years, Squid Game is a South Korean dystopian survival thriller that explores a secret, illegal and deadly competition where 456 players (all of whom are in deep financial trouble), risk their lives to play a series of deadly children’s games for the chance to win a grand prize of ₩45.6 billion. The show pits a series of compelling characters against each other in pastel-colored playground-style environments that belie the murderous nature of the games.
In the show’s Season 1 finale Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) won the competition and the prize money, but set out to devote his life to shutting down future Squid Game competitions and exposing the creators behind the game. However, after a series of miscalculations, Gi-hun finds himself once again competing in the games in Season 2, this time as an unwilling participant but with valuable foreknowledge of the game’s mechanics.
A Netflix reality series spawned from the show, myriad halloween costumes, and hundreds of thousands of viral meme moments indicate that Squid Game fever is not going away any time soon. In fact, it appears demand has far exceeded supply. Hwang Dong-hyuk has openly expressed feelings of exhaustion over the show’s intensive work schedule, stating “I’m so exhausted. I’m so tired. In a way, I have to say, I’m so sick of Squid Game.”
He further mentioned his desire for a break after the release of the upcoming third season, expressing a wish to retreat to a remote island without any contact from Netflix — humorously clarifying “– Not the Squid Game island!”
Hwang’s remarks come as Squid Game 2 ends after just 7 episodes, and a somewhat uneven cliffhanger. Why was this season so short? And should fans consider it a mid-season finale instead?
Ultimately it doesn’t matter. Squid Game is set to end after its third season, planned to air sometime in 2025. (The streamer has yet to announce a date, or an episode count). In fact, Season 3 has already been filmed — back-to-back with the second season just aired.
The reduced episode count for Season 2 is due to a calculated decision by the show’s creators to streamline the narrative across both seasons.
Hwang explained he realized that episode 7 was a turning point which couldn’t easily be resolved across 2 further episodes, as he had done in Season 1.
“I wrote seasons two and three at the same time, and we were in production for both simultaneously, and currently we are in the post-production process for Season 3,” said Hwang. “When I was writing the script for the two seasons, I felt like there was a big turning point or an inflection point, and that was the end of episode seven, so I thought that it would do it justice to have a separate season after that. That’s why I had first seven episodes as Season 2 and then the rest of Season 3.”
It’s unknown as yet whether Season 3 will comprise 11 episodes (the standard 9 plus 2 as yet unaired episodes from season 2) but with several story threads currently dangling, along with the fates of the remaining Squid Game players, and Gi-hun’s personal mission to destroy the games for good, there’s still all to play for.
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