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Pierce Conran

5/5 stars
Lead cast: Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun
As seismic cultural events go, Hwang Dong-hyuk’s death game spectacle Squid Game (2021) was something special, blowing past everything else on the Richter scale.
Three years later, the record-obliterating Netflix show is back for another round of Korean childhood games with a gruesome twist.


When crafting follow-ups to phenomena that have captured the zeitgeist, creators tend to err on the side of “bigger” and “more” – bigger budgets, bigger names and generally more of everything.
Squid Game season 2 does feature more recognisable names in its cast and it reportedly boasts a vastly higher budget than its predecessor, yet this new set of episodes is also richer and more cohesive than what came before, without ever betraying the roots of where it came from.
The first Squid Game season ended with Lee Jung-jae’s Seong Gi-hun, or Player #456, bitterly triumphing against 455 competitors and claiming the 45.6 billion won prize.
This raised several problems in creating a sequel. Most of the characters – many of them fan favourites – perished in the games, and given the traumatic experience Gi-hun has undergone and his payday, who would expect him to return?

Remarkably, the show manages to replicate the first season’s trajectory, bringing us through the same alleys and subway platforms, and reacquainting us with the feelings of desperation that originally primed us for the carnage.
But this time it goes deeper and, along with the familiar feelings, we are acquainted with a number of new ones.
With his ill-gotten fortune, Gi-hun is funding a small army of struggling hoodlums (even loan sharks need to pay the bills) to help him find the man on the subway platform – memorably played by Gong Yoo – and find a way to end the games.
Gi-hun’s intentions may be benevolent but something within him is broken. Gone is the happy-go-lucky gambler who sauntered through the early stretch of the first games with a goofy smile. This is a world-weary man with dead eyes who holes up in a dank love motel while pursuing his quest.

And it’s a long quest. But, eventually, he does get his man. Gong’s briefcase-wielding man is found.
Hwang turns a glorified cameo into a full-blown and disturbing character, with Gong’s bravura performance bringing him to manic life as he guides us through this season’s thrilling first impromptu game.
Gi-hun ultimately does find the people behind the game; trouble is, they are always a step ahead of him.
A few episodes into the show, Gi-hun opens his eyes – surrounded by 455 strangers in green tracksuits, the number 456 plastered on his. He has returned to his nightmare. Actually, there is one familiar person – Gi-hun’s friend Jeong-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), whose financial worries have landed him in the game.

The rest of the competitors are new faces, and here Squid Game 2 introduces us to a roster of colourful new characters.
There’s Im Si-wan’s failed crypto-pushing YouTuber, Park Sung-hoon’s former soldier and transgender woman – regardless of the controversy of the male Park’s casting in the role, one of the best new characters – Kang Ae-sim and Yang Dong-geun’s mother-and-son duo, the hopped-up rapper played by Choi Seung-hyun (aka K-pop singer-songwriter T.O.P. of BigBang), and many, many more.
The format of the games is the same, with one crucial difference: players vote after each round on whether they want to stop the games, take the money and run.
This gives the show a renewed political charge, with camps forming thanks to the X and O patches handed out during the vote, which shift after each round.

As the camps shift and clash, with the Os constantly arguing for just one more game, no matter the human cost, we are reminded of director Hwang’s audacious period siege drama The Fortress, a potent Korean political allegory for the big screen starring Lee Byung-hun.
Hwang and Lee reunite once more here. Lee plays the Front Man masterminding the game, who was largely hidden behind a mask in season 1. The plastic mask is now largely gone and, in a much expanded role, Lee and his magnificently expressive eyes put on a variety of new masks.
The allegories are more powerful, the character work feels richer, and the already terrific production values are even more immersive.
Also reuniting with Hwang after The Fortress is ace cinematographer Kim Ji-yong (Decision to Leave), who did not shoot season 1. Kim’s dynamic and kinetic camerawork adds a thrilling edge to the show’s many pulse-pounding set pieces.

Brace yourself for many shocking surprises and long stretches of white-knuckle tension during this year’s premier K-drama event. The only problem? The painful wait for the simultaneously shot Squid Game season 3, due out in 2025.
Squid Game season 2 is streaming on Netflix.


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Netflix K-drama Squid Game season 2 review: new games electrifying and pulse pounding

Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix

Gong Yoo in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: Netflix.

Im Si-wan as Lee Myung-gi in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Yang Dong-geun (left) as Park Yong-sik and Kang Ae-sim as Jang Geum-ja in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Lee Byung-hun as Front Man in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

Choi Seung-hyun as Thanos in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix.

6 of the best new K-dramas to watch in December 2024, led by Netflix’s Squid Game season 2

Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun, winner of the previous squid game, in a still from Squid Game season 2. The K-drama is among our pick of six coming to screens in December 2024. Photo: Netflix

Lee Byung-hun as Front Man, the master of the games, in a still from Squid Game season 2. Photo: Netflix

Disney+ K-drama Light Shop review: Ju Ji-hoon in mawkish supernatural story of two halves

Ju Ji-hoon in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Ju Ji-hoon in a still from Korean drama series Light Shop, created by Kang Full. Park Bo-young, Kim Min-ha and Bae Sung-woo co-star. Photo: Disney+.

Park Bo-young as hospital nurse Kwon Young-ji in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Kim Seol-hyun (left) as Lee Ji-young yanks stitches through the chest of Uhm Tae-goo, as her partner Kim Hyun-min, in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Lee Jung-eun (left) as Jung Yu-hee and Shin Eun-soo as her daughter Joo Hyun-joo in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Ju Ji-hoon as Jung Won-young, proprietor of the titular light shop, in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+.

Who is Lim Ji-yeon, actress best known for K-dramas The Glory and The Tale of Lady Ok?

Lim Ji-yeon in a still from The Glory. Photo: Netflix

Korean actress Lim Ji-yeon is best known for her part in Netflix K-drama The Glory. Photo: Netflix

Lim Ji-yeon in a still from The Tale of Lady Ok.

Lim in a still from The Treacherous (2015).

Lim (left) and Lee Do-hyun on the set of The Glory. Photo: Graphyoda/Netflix

Song Seung-heon and Lim in a still from Obsessed (2014).

Lim in a still from The Glory (2022). Photo: Netflix

Lim in a still from Spiritwalker (2020).

The 15 best K-dramas of 2024 ranked, from Queen of Tears to LTNS and Squid Game season 2

Lee Jung-jae in a still from Squid Game season 2, the most anticipated Netflix series of the year and the best K-drama show of 2024. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix

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Richer, deeper, more cohesive, with familiar characters like Lee Jung-jae’s Gi-hun and new ones, and kinetic camerawork, Squid Game is back


Richer, deeper, more cohesive, with familiar characters like Lee Jung-jae’s Gi-hun and new ones, and kinetic camerawork, Squid Game is back.


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Squid Game

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

Review | Netflix K-drama Squid Game season 2 review: new games electrifying and pulse pounding

Richer, deeper, more cohesive, with familiar characters like Lee Jung-jae’s Gi-hun and new ones, and kinetic camerawork, Squid Game is back