Squid Game: 3 years of waiting… for that? With season 2, Netflix reserves the same fate as the series La Casa de Papel and I find it distressing!

Three years of waiting for an unsuccessful result, season 2 of Squid Game left me indifferent

No doubt, you will have had to be more than patient to discover the second season of the series Squid Game on Netflix. When the first episodes were broadcast, the show experienced unprecedented popularity, ranking at the top of the ranking of the most watched series on the platform. Obviously, Netflix was not going to let such a golden goose slip away. In itself, the platform could very well have been satisfied with the conclusion offered by the first season, but no. For my part, I rolled my eyes a little when I knew that the basic idea was to send Seong Gi-hun back into the game to try to put an end to it. So we’re off again for a spin, but, at the time, I say to myself that there might be a way to do something, to rectify the little flaws of the first season and to offer more solid entertainment. In the end, after watching, I had the feeling that it was quite the opposite…

At the time the first episodes were broadcast, a period when the excitement surrounding the series was growing more and more each week, I had not given in to the pressure of watching. For now, I preferred to leave the hype settle down, just to have a little more perspective. So it was two or even three months after the broadcast that I finally took the plunge. At the end of my viewing, I could only recognize the entertaining side of the series, the themes explored here and there, even if I was far from calling it genius or considering it as one of the best shows that I have been able to see so far. Despite this discrepancy, I still had the feeling that I had been oversold this series. Anyway, and unlike the first season, I quickly launched the new episodes to see whether, yes or not, this season 2 had things to tell but, after the fact, I realize that I I watched on “autopilot” and, once I got to the end credits, I only had this question in mind: Netflix made fans wait so long…just for that?

A second season sacrificed on the altar of Netflix statistics

Firstly, why this comparison with the treatment undergone by the series Paper House ? Quite simply because the breath of fresh air brought by the series, just like the Spanish show if we don’t take into account the strings and inconsistencies, ran out of steam the moment Netflix wanted to pull the rope. Why take the risk of carrying out a new heist that is too ambitious and so dangerous? Why want to destroy such a cruel game from the inside if that’s what it’s going to lead to? In short, as I said, I find it distressing and, in the end, season 2 of Squid Game is just another piece of entertainment that now has almost nothing to tell or offer. Where did the tension of the first season go? Where there could have been uncertainty regarding the unfolding of certain events, this has now disappeared. Do we really believe that the Russian roulette test will be unfavorable for Gi-hun? The only positive point of this scene, as well as of the first two episodes, is the performance of actor Gong Yoo. Moreover, it must be emphasized that this season 2 spends a lot of time laying the foundations for its new episodes and extending the plot… Almost two hours to retrace a manhunt, obtain some information on how the participants of the game are recruited and understand Gi-hun’s plans to try to overcome the Squid Game.

In reality, by wanting to slow down the pace, season 2 of Squid Game loses its thrilling side, and Netflix’s decision to split this conclusion into two parts (season 2 and season 3, in 2025) only worsens this observation. What is happening is that the series is punctuated by too many lengths and the most important passages – too quickly defused and with a tension that works less well than in season 1 – are drowned out in downtime which don’t add much to the subtext of the series. Of course, there are always little twists here and there to counter our thoughts and our anticipations, but the situations lead more to plot conveniences or obviousness, which short-circuits the apprehensions that one may have regarding the outcome of certain events or the destiny of certain characters. Moreover, what we also regret is that in addition to the under-exploitation of the characters – even if efforts are made for Cho Hyun-ju or Kang Dae-ho who illustrates the effects of post-traumatic syndrome that the soldiers face – we find the same archetypes from the first season, like the player who enjoys dictating his law and brutalizing others (in addition to being completely out of step regarding the game sordid scene in which he participates) or the whimsical and strange woman, to name but a few.

By repeating certain gimmicks too much, by relying on a formula too closely modeled on the previous season despite the new “games” and by highlighting uninhibited violence, almost without perspective, I had the impression that the series was losing itself by following this objective of entertainment, a syndrome which had also tainted the last seasons of The Money Heist. Wasn’t there a way to make fun of Gi-hun’s objective during 1,2,3 Sun by not causing any casualties and making him look like a madman, for example? Today, if I had to share my feelings about this season 2, I would say that we are facing almost seven hours of a thriller where we never hold our breath and which leaves us with the impression of a in the mouth before the big finale, allowing Netflix to make money. Despite everything, if you dig deeper, there are passages that can lead to interesting subtexts but, in reality, Netflix has made Squid Game exactly what the series criticizes, namely for being a product that fuels capitalism. Now, it remains to be seen what season 3 has in store for us and whether the final twists and turns will offer a more coherent vision of this season 2 or if they will definitively validate the fact that the series is nothing more than a shadow of itself. -even.

Netflix made Squid Game everything the series criticized

How can we stage a social critique of capitalism and its financial influence on each individual to, ultimately, make it the marketing object that fuels this same capitalism? This is certainly what hurts the series the most. Squid Gameeven if we feel that there remains an ounce of critical discourse. What’s interesting is that Seung Gi-hun’s figure transforms. Is he a hero or an executioner? Yes, he wants to redeem himself for his actions and his previous participation, but at what price? At the beginning, as in the game, he controls the characters in the search for the recruiter thanks to money and it is this greed that leads them to their downfall. In the same way, if Hwang In-ho infiltrates the game, it is to better win his battle against Gin-hu, the goal being to break him by showing him that his objective, certainly philanthropic, is also deeply selfish and can have serious consequences. It is also a way of making him understand that he will never be able to overcome the game (symbol of capitalism) until the world (the Squid Game players) has completely changed.

Unfortunately, this is just a backdrop that is somewhat obscured by the popular success of the series, fueled by the major marketing campaign around the show. As we said, if Squid Game is a critique of capitalism and wealth inequalities, Netflix largely uses the series to fuel it and reduce it to the level of a simple product. Where season 1 was released almost without a sound, the situation was no longer the same with the launch of season 2. Between promotional events (the game on the Champs-Elysées, happenings in certain football stadiums, etc.), the openings of pop-up stores and the manufacturing of derivative products (Dalgona biscuits, pink guard costumes, figurines) and others marketing strategies (creation of a reality TV show, a video game, etc.), Squid Game becomes a weapon to increase the company’s profits and its influence. We are still talking about a company valued at nearly $377 billion. Moreover, for IGN, journalist Alex Zalben even points out that the series also boosted sales of Vans sneakers thanks to the broadcast of the first season. Between enriching the series or developing its business, even if it means transforming a phenomenon into an ordinary production, Netflix seems to have made its choice.