Squid Game was a major hit back in 2021 when it aired during one of the modern era’s most divisive and cynical moments. You might think a wholesome, comforting TV series was what everyone would flock to during a global pandemic, but Squid Game’s violent, dystopian horrors drew in massive worldwide audiences instead.
I genuinely liked Squid Game as a piece of entertainment that was equal parts horrifying and emotionally powerful, but I did have a few problems with the way the show wrapped things up. I’ll summarize these (and you can click that link if you want a more in-depth take) as:
- The Western VIPs were super annoying and really pulled me out of the story as it neared the ending.
- The cop subplot seemed to go nowhere in the end. I felt frustrated more than anything by this whole arc.
- The final twist felt less like a shocking moment and more like an emotional betrayal of one of my favorite parts of the show up to that point.
I also wondered at the time if making a second season was even a good idea. I guess it’s the skeptic in me. After watching and writing about so many shows, it’s easy to get a little cynical. Just because a first season is a huge hit and brilliant in many ways, doesn’t mean a second season is warranted. The story wrapped up really nicely in Season 1 and it could have just ended there (spawning a grotesque reality show on Netflix, of course, but that’s fun just for the dark irony).
But money talks and Squid Game remains the biggest hit Netflix has ever had, especially with global audiences (it doesn’t make top ten with English-only audiences but absolutely stomps everything when you look at global numbers). Stranger Things 4 is a distant second, followed by Wednesday and then Dahmer, Money Heist and so forth. A Season 2 was all but guaranteed when you combine that success with the first season’s cliffhanger ending.
Now, according to Netflix, we have a better sense of when Season 2 will air: Sometime in 2024. Since we haven’t heard a peep about the new season—no trailer, no images, nothing—many assumed it might be even further out, possibly into 2025 or even later. For fans, a 2024 release date is certainly welcome news. For me, eh, I have mixed feelings. Such is the curse of heartbreak.
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