The brilliance of Squid Game season 1’s premise will provide a huge challenge for season 2’s appeal to audiences. There should be little doubt that Squid Game season 1 has been a huge success for Netflix. The subversive, political concepts that were at the heart of the story of Seong Gi-hun’s attempts to survive the brutal and barbaric games had a massive conceptual appeal to audiences.
Despite Gi-hun ultimately emerging as the winner of the 45.6 billion won prize money Squid Game season 1 ended ambiguously. After a meeting with Oh Il-nam, the old man behind the games, Gi-hun was finally able to come to with his experience. Nevertheless, when confronted with the knowledge that the game was continuing to exploit other poor and desperate people, Gi-hun's underlying rage at the trauma he experienced was revealed as he chose to seek revenge against the rich and powerful who continued to enjoy toying with the poor and less fortunate, raising a big questions about how the next season can replicate the success of the first.
Squid Game's Season 1 Trials Make Season 2 Way Harder
For all the subversiveness and horror in Squid Game season 1, much of its appeal comes from the wonderfully inventive and terrifying games themselves. Taking inspiration from South Korea’s fondness for game shows, the idea of deadly games that mirrored children’s games is a wonderfully novel concept that provides a great hook for the show. However, the problem is that it creates a potential conundrum for Squid Game season 2.
This is because if season 2 simply repeats the “children’s games turned deadly” idea, it is likely to be accused of repetition and of simply recycling the ideas of season 1 and therefore making the show more predictable and less exciting. At the same time, changing things and moving away from a key part of what makes Squid Game so compelling is also a risk. After all, it would be better for the show to avoid resembling other horror franchises like the Saw movies as that would provoke understandable criticism for choosing to swap something unique for something that audiences have seen before.
How Squid Game Season 2 Can Repeat Its Initial Success
Despite this, the ending of Squid Game season 1 may hint at a way to avoid these issues. Focusing on Player 456, Gi-hun, who is unlikely to be taking part in the competition in season 2, would mean that the games themselves can still play a role in the action. The difference would be that they would be a more peripheral and less visceral part of the show. In this way, Squid Game’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, could use the games as a backdrop, perhaps only showing the aftermath of some of them, while building intrigue and mystery about whether some trials are repeated from season 1.
Similarly, there could be the option of flipping the script from Squid Game season 1, which features the subplot of the policeman, Hwang Jun-ho, infiltrating the game’s operation. Gi-hun could do something similar in season 2, or he could even team up with Jun-ho, if he is still alive. The difference would be in making this the main plot while the games themselves are more of a subplot. Ultimately, whatever choice is made for the direction of Squid Game season 2, it must be hoped that it does justice to the excellence of the first season and meet the challenge that comes from following its original, fantastic concept.