Warning: There are spoilers for Squid Game Season 2.Now that all episodes of squid game the 2nd season has been released, it is already being compared with the 1st season. After debuting on Netflix in 2021, squid game was a huge streaming success and quickly became one of the best shows on Netflix. It broke several streaming records, received critical acclaim, and spawned viral trends. As a phenomenon of popular culture, and squid game With the end of season 1 leaving the story ready to continue, the series was naturally renewed for more seasons.
Seasons 2 and 3 were conceived as a story that would serve as a continuation and finale to the hit series. With so many characters killed off in Season 1, squid game Season 2 needed new characters to add to the stories of Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), and Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon). While there are unavoidable similarities between seasons 1 and 2, there are also significant differences that determine which season is better.
Squid Game Season 2 has a different structure than Season 1
Season 2 is intentionally an incomplete story
squid game the first season was written as a single-season story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Although there is suspense as to what Gi-hun will do after promising to take down Front Man and the games, there is a resolution to his story and his arc. Season 2, on the other hand, is only half the story that won't be resolved until squid game season 3. The current games are not yet completed and the fate of Gi-hun and many other players remains unresolved.
As such, squid game the first season inevitably feels like a more complete story, while squid game the season 2 ending feels a bit abrupt. Season 2's story will feel incomplete until Season 3 releases. Season 1 also has nine episodes, while Season 2 only has seven. Due to significant structural differences, Season 2's quality will be more fairly evaluated once all Season 3 episodes are released and the full post-Season 1 story is revealed.
Squid Game Season 2 Focuses on Returning Characters from Season 1
Gi-hun, the salesman and the leader receive more focus
One benefit of so many characters dying in the first season is that squid game Season 2's returning characters receive a significant amount of focus. In addition to Gi-hun, this allows the Salesman (Gong Yoo) to know his entire story and motivations in episode 1. Front Man becomes the main antagonist instead of Oh Il-nam (Yeong-su) and gets significantly more screen time, as does Front Man's brother Jun-ho, who teams up with Gi-hun to find and take down the games.
Even a minor character from Season 1 like Gi-hun's friend Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) becomes an important figure in Season 2 when it is revealed that he has been competing in the last few games alongside Gi. -hun. Instead of a cast of new characters like Season 1, Season 2 has the benefit of exploring established characters alongside new faces. This specific element doesn't make Season 2 better or worse, but simply gives it a different feel than Season 1.
Squid Game Season 2 has fewer games than Season 1
Season 2 ends with just three games played
With just three games in squid game Season 2 has fewer games than Season 1. This is due to the different narrative approach, as the deadly competition remains unfinished as Season 2 ends and a potential winner has yet to be crowned. Season 1 featured all six games, starting with Red Light, Green Light and ending with the titular Lula game. During this process, 455 players died and Gi-hun emerged as the only surviving winner of the 4.56 billion winning prize.
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squid game Season 1 Games |
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Red Light, Green Light |
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Dalgona |
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Tug of war |
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Marbles |
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glass stones |
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squid game |
squid game season 2 only gets Red Light, Green Light, a six-legged pentathlon, and Mingle before the season ends with Gi-hun's ill-fated rebellion. Red Light, Green Light is the only game that is repeated from Season 1, while the six-legged pentathlon and Mingle are new. squid game Season 2's mid-credits scene teases that the games will continue after the failed rebellion, and that one of the upcoming Season 3 games will feature a giant male doll reminiscent of the female one in Red Light, Green Light.
Squid Game Season 2 is more action-packed than Season 1
The ending looks like an action movie
Despite having fewer games, squid game season two is ultimately more action-packed. This is largely due to the brutal fight in the bathroom and the rebellion against the guards. The Season 2 finale is particularly action-focused, with much of the episode featuring shots like Gi-hun and others. squid game players arm themselves and kill several guards, while the guards counterattack and kill many of them in response. It feels more like an action movie than a standard episode of squid game.
At the beginning of Season 2 and throughout Season 1, most squid gameThe action is contained in real games, where players are killed for breaking the rules or simply losing the competition. Season 2 also adds more action with the mercenaries hired to help find the island where the games take place. Gi-hun and Jun-ho know they need a small army and significant firepower to face the forces of the games. With Jun-ho and the mercenaries still searching the island, Season 3 is about to finally have an action-packed showdown between the mercenaries and the guards.
Squid Game Season 2 Is Great, But Season 1 Is Better
Season 1 Sets the Bar High
Between the introduction of attractive new characters, the deepening of established characters and the expansion of the critique of capitalism with increasingly distorted spectacles, squid game season 2 has a lot to offer. However, the new season is ultimately unable to live up to the heights of Season 1. When it premiered in 2021, Season 1 was refreshing and shocking in a way that Season 1 could inevitably never recapture. easier to predict, and the biggest twist, with Front Man being player 001, feels like a weaker version of the first season's Il-nam twist.
Considering the impossibly high expectations, squid game Season 2 is still a solid season of television, but it can't compare to Season 1.
The structural differences also benefit Season 1, as there is a feeling of satisfaction in squid game season 1 ending that is missing from season 2. Once the series ends with Season 3, Season 2 might feel more satisfying as part of the entire story, but as of now, Season 2 can't fully stand on its own merits. Considering the impossibly high expectations, squid game Season 2 is still a solid season of television, but it can't compare to Season 1.