Squid Game returns

Three years since its debut, Squid Game remains the biggest series on Netflix. Now, we have our first look at season two, coming on December 26. It looks as tense and upsetting as ever! 

Lee Jung-jae returns as Seong Gi-hun, who, despite winning the game in season one, decides to return as player 456 for another round of deadly games. Lee Byung-hun also returns as the Front Man, who is the only person to speak in the teaser. Other returning stars include Gong Yoo and Wi Ha-jun, who are joined by new stars Yim Si-wan, Park Sung-hoon, and Kang Ha-neul. The series is once again written and directed by Emmy-winning creator and mastermind Hwang Dong-hyuk. Besides showing off the first glimpse of the long-awaited second season, Netflix also confirmed that a third and final season will premiere in 2025 as part of their “Geeked Week” event (an attempt to build their own Comic Con). 

I’m glad Lee Jung-jae has Squid Game coming back this year to erase some of the sting of The Acolyte’s cancellation. Despite the online Manny Jacinto thirst, The Acolyte’s ratings were in the basement. Two things can be true—the show got review bombed by angry nerds, AND no one watched it. (Andor also had low ratings, but it was critically acclaimed AND it has gained viewership over time as positive word of mouth spread, until there is real anticipation for season two. Even still, the original five-season plan for Andor seems to be out the window.) I liked The Acolyte for its engaging cast, including Lee, and for introducing some ideas that challenge what we know/assume about the Jedi and that opened some new doors in the Star Wars universe, but at this point I just have to accept that most Star Wars fans want safety blanket comfort from new Star Wars stuff, not challenging ideas and post-Skywalker storytelling.

I hope none of The Acolyte cast wear its failure, though. Lee certainly shouldn’t, and moving on to the highly anticipated second season of Squid Game is as good a palate cleanser as any. But it’s been three years since Squid Game captured the world’s collective imagination, and when it premiered in 2021, we were still living in pandemic lockdowns and uncertainty. Now that the world is, for better or worse—probably worse—back to “normal”, will people tune into Squid Game like they did before? Bridgerton also premiered during the pandemic, and it has only grown over successive seasons, which suggests what we watched during the pandemic wasn’t entirely about being stuck inside. But Squid Game was SO huge, and that kind of blockbuster success is hard to repeat. Will we root for player 456 again?