Squid Game 2 Review: Gong Yoo's menacing presence elevates a stalling tale of bloodbath and histrionics

Throughout Squid Game 2, Lee Jung-Jae seems to be unintentionally channeling the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s Exile: I have seen this film before. And I didn’t like the ending.

No, really.

Well, instead of Swift’s melancholy tones, Jung-Jae’s character Gi-Hun shouts about horrors, ad nauseum at every opportunity he can, or muttering it under his breath to those around him. That’s the simplest way to explain the latest season to the 2021 international sensation that had the world in it’s iron-clad grip, as it depicted the lengths people could go to escape their battered lives. In the newest installment, a grim Gi-Hun is back, and is determined to uncover the truths of the murder house, where people play children’s games for money. If they win, they’re alive. If they lose, they die.

He has got help this time, from Wi Ha-Joon’s Hwang Jun-Ho, who, as we last saw, had topped off the cliff after being shot by his own brother.  But it’s two years later now, and he is alive and well, and cherishes the same determination as Gi-Hun to find this mysterious island. They craft a plan, which, obviously fails, and so Gi-Hun finds himself back in the games and is desperate to put an end to it. Of course, the games have changed: And now, one of the murderers lurks in their midst, pretending to be their ally.

So, does this new season generate the same amount of suspense, intrigue, horror and emotional pull that the first one had? Well, not really. Season 1’s astronomical success was due to its novelty: The high stakes, the tension in the dormitories, and the unexpected alliances and betrayals. The games felt fresh, the masked murderers remained chilling, and the unpredictability of each twist heightened the suspense. Season 2, however, leans heavily on exposition, dragging out the story with endless explanations and over-explaining motivations, which feels much contrived compared to the raw emotional intensity of Season 1. The audience hear about who was rescued, when, how, and several tearful stories, some of which just appear mawkishly manipulative, unlike the actual emotional weight of stories like Ali’s from the first season.

There’s so much tell-and-less-show, that it gets dreary at points. Sometimes, not even ‘tell’, there’s just a lot of histrionics about how terrible the place is.  The season revolves around endless conversations, redundant plans of escaping, that like the story and the character’s own agendas, lead nowhere. The last episode is a complete letdown, because it just turns into an elaborate shootout and of course many deaths…that to be honest, you really saw coming. And unfortunately, the characters weren’t even fleshed out so carefully that you felt invested in the first place. The bloodbath designed to make your skin crawl, just appears so forced and stretched, that the audience, like the lead villain, wants to say, ‘Wrap it up, wrap it up’.

Nevertheless, all is not lost with the new season. The first few episodes had vestiges of the frantic madness and bizarre intrigue that carried Season 1 through, and mostly, thanks to Gong Yoo’s sinister nameless recruiter. Gong Yoo sinks his teeth so mercilessly into a brutal, manic and diabolic human, that it might be a little difficult to see him in any other role for a while. He is terrifying; you don’t want to ever want to cross paths with him. His slap is worse than his gunshot.

Squid Game 2 has a few moments that work for it, few and far in between. Yet, all said and done, it was better off as a standalone limited series. Perhaps, it was better when we didn't know so much. Maybe less, is actually really more. As it turns out, in trying to flesh out a broader story, the latest season, the story gets further muddled and a lot more convoluted, lacking the haunting tautness of the first installment.

Well, we’re not done yet. Season 3 is on the way, what does that hold, we wonder.

Squid Game 2 is streaming on Netflix.