Squid Game Season 2 Makes No Sense But We’re Getting It Anyway
Ah, Squid Game; I enjoyed you, although the longer you lasted—that is, the more your first season progressed—the less sense, plot-wise, you made. But I relished the rendezvous all the same. Times have changed, however, and Squid Game Season 2 looms on the horizon.
Squid Game Is Similar To A One Hit Wonder
From a financial perspective, how could it not? After all, the series’ debut season didn’t just break viewing records; it smashed them—propelling itself into the cultural zeitgeist thanks to the winsome mix of harrowing storytelling and vibrant visuals.
However, as the enthusiasm surrounding the show’s first season dimmed to a warm glow of nostalgic reverence, news of the incoming second season stirs an understandable blend of excitement and skepticism. The question lingering in more critical minds isn’t whether we need a Squid Game Season 2—but whether another installment of the show makes sense at all.
Season 2 Is Likely To Create More Questions Than Answers
And by “makes sense,” we mean from a narrative standpoint. Not from a, “make as much money as possible” standpoint, which we understand Netflix is beholden to.
Regardless, the show’s second season will inevitably involve a rehash of the old formula. Expect new, twisted games, a referential homage to the “Red-light, green-light girl;” expect to learn some new facets of the lore behind the brutal game in Squid Game Season 2. Facets that will probably and negligently introduce more questions than answers—like all lore reveals in the first season did.
Why Squid Game Works Best As A Limited Series
At bottom, the show’s first season was basically a critique of capitalism’s most brutal extremities, wrapped in the garb of a childhood-gone-wrong horror. That tightly packed narrative fitted functionally into nine episodes. The miniseries format effectively conveyed the narrative of desperate individuals so trapped by debt and despair that the allure of a deadly game seemed a rational choice.
Mainly because the show (before the announcement of Squid Game Season 2) was finite—it had the life-and-death stakes, so to speak, of a feature film. This setup worked well and enriched the character development and plot twists. Indeed, akin to a movie, all the main characters die by the end of the narrative except the protagonist. To put it another way, consider how multiple-season shows, involving evolving character arcs, boil down to just that: character arcs. Emphasis on the plural, not the singular.
Season 2 Won’t Be Able To Live Up To The First
Additionally, the first season of the show had a pronounced beginning, middle, and end, amounting to a miniseries in the truest sense, offering a complete, fulfilling narrative arc that left little unsaid or undone. Extending the project into Squid Game Season 2 will dilute its potency and risk impoverishing the original’s crisp narrative to capitalize on its success (a hyper-capitalist move at odds with the show’s thematic ethos, no?).
The Shock Has Warn Off
Sure, more stories within the universe might involve more exploration of societal issues. But the strength of the series was more than its premise or socio-political commentary. It was how these elements were interwoven and strengthened by the personal stories of its characters. Replicating this formula, as Squid Game Season 2 will probably do, risks plunging the show into the trap of repetition, rather than innovation.
And meaningfully, so much of what made the series resonate was its sheer shock value and novelty—how it redefined the survival genre. A second season would probably not measure up to the weight of expectation. With the surprise well and gone, what would remain? Anticipation…and not much more, incapable of living up to the first experience.
In sum, we don’t need Squid Game Season 2, nor does it make sense.
