Many didn’t feel Squid Game’s first season needed a follow-up: myself included. As we watched through gritted teeth, writer Hwang Dong-hyuk navigated themes of modern poverty, individualism and the desperation of the working-class with a satirical deftness rarely seen on TV before. Sweeping Western awards seasons, the conversations around said themes became worldwide thanks to Squid Game’s exclusive home on Netflix. Much like the story of Player 456 (played by Lee Jung-jae) however, Dong-hyuk’s journey to a second season has not been easy; he reportedly lost teeth due to financial stress as a result of poor licensing deals from Netflix an issue befalling a plethora of dearly-loved K-dramas across the globe.
In that sense, the existence of a second Squid Game series is painfully ironic; much more so after watching the first episode ahead of its worldwide release on Netflix on December 26th, thanks to a preview at the British Film Institute. Titled ‘Bread and Lottery’, the episode picks up exactly when our last season left us: with Player 456 (otherwise known as Seong Gi-hun outside of the games) abandoning his flight out of Korea after winning around £25 million in prize money to hunt down those behind the games. Over the course of the episode, Jung-jae’s performance as a man wronged by corruption, plagued by fear and isolated by anxiety is exquisite. For those who remember the first season well, the tension surrounding him is laughably identical to his poverty-stricken anxieties from the early episodes.
This first episode feels more like a crime drama or a mystery-thriller rather than the psychological horrors of the first season - although, there’s no telling what Dong-hyuk has in store for the episodes ahead. With minimal spoilers in tow, if this first hour is anything to go by then audiences should prepare for hard-hitting commentary on wealth and class, memorably disturbing and drawn-out scenes of psychological torture as well as the surprising addition of comedic turns, scored by an occasionally odd but comical soundtrack.
As a very clearly left-leaning messenger on classism and its curses, it is almost regretful to admit the success that Squid Game Season 2 will have across across the globe yet again; primarily due to the struggle that Dong-hyuk had to go through in order to receive adequate compensation in line with his Western (mostly American) counterparts on Netflix. As reported three years ago, Dong-hyuk was very candid and ultimately straightforward that Netflix did not pay him performance-related bonuses in light of Squid Game’s success, despite it being a landmark production. In that, there’s an irony not unnoticed by viewers in ‘Bread and Lottery’ as Player 456 has won his money but is still constrained by the fear, manipulation and anxiety around those behind the horrific games.
There were parallels between Korean society and Squid Game’s first season three years ago and this time around - in light of the recent events around the declaration of martial law, subsequent protests and calls for the South Korean president’s impeachment - those parallels are ever clearer. As Dong-hyuk said when Squid Game first premiered, “We are fighting for our lives in very unequal circumstances.” Squid Game’s second season seems to document how with or without that prize money, Gi-hun is still fighting. Of course, there is another angle of irony in the fact of Netflix being the one to host such a nuanced, anti-capitalist narrative whilst being a global corporation often perceived as guilty of under-paying creators like Dong-hyuk. In fact, the Guardian brought this very question to the director to which he (rightfully) refuted both the ideas that the narrative was diluted as a result of being hosted by Netflix, and that this take on capitalist society was profound: “I did try to convey a message about modern capitalism. As I said, it’s not profound.”
Amidst the release of this second season, the series has already drawn criticism for having a transgender character played by a cisgender actor - although Dong-hyuk has done his due diligence and been truthful once again that “there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay” in South Korea and his initial intention of having an “authentic casting” could not be seen through. On the internet this has drawn extensively negative feedback - although it can be successfully argued that even the inclusion of a transgender character seeking gender-affirming care is an incredible milestone for representation in the South Korean entertainment staple that Squid Game has become.
Squid Game Season 2 has already secured a nomination at the Golden Globes, despite not being officially out until December 26th. For those anticipating its release, Dong-hyuk has confirmed that there will also be a third and final season chronicling Gi-hun’s story and his further journey to justice.
Squid Game Season 2 will premiere exclusively on Netflix with seven episodes on Boxing Day.
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Jannat is a British-Pakistani film critic and culture writer, based in Yorkshire and born in the South. Dedicated to spotlighting Brown talent and underappreciated storytelling, she runs The Amateur's Take: an online platform for film and TV recommendations from a South Asian lens.
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