Squid Game Season 2 delivered — or did it just coast on the original's legacy and leave us with nothing but a cliffhanger?

• M

  Maya1mo ago

  My wife and I watched it together and she turned to me at the cliffhanger ending and just said "are you KIDDING me" and closed the laptop. That ending genuinely ruined the whole experience for her. I get it honestly.

  211Reply
• M

  Maya1mo ago

  Season 3 better have a real ending or I am going to lose my mind. I'm serious. Give us closure.

  203Reply
• M

  Morgan1mo ago

  my husband and I have completely opposite takes on this. He thinks it was excellent. I think it was fine. We've been arguing about it for three days now in the most weirdly fun way. Squid Game is doing more for our marriage than couples therapy did.

  200Reply
• KT

  Kofi T.1mo ago

  i binged it in one night then immediately went online to see if people agreed with me that it was great and then read a bunch of criticism and now im not sure what i think anymore. the internet has broken my ability to form opinions

  198Reply
• L

  Liam1mo ago

  I watched the whole thing in one sitting and felt nothing by the end. Season 1 made me cry three times. Season 2 made me check my phone twice. Something is off.

  187Reply
• N

  Nina1mo ago

  I've been a screenwriting professor for eleven years and the mid-season structural collapse — around episodes 4 and 5 — is a textbook case of what happens when a writers' room is building toward a season 3 endpoint rather than crafting a season 2 story. Every scene starts asking 'what do we need the audience to know later' instead of 'what does THIS scene need to be.' You can feel it in the dialogue. Characters stop sounding like themselves and start sounding like exposition vehicles.

  187Reply
• C_

  Casey _x1mo ago

  I've been a screenwriting lecturer for eleven years and I use Season 1 as a case study in economical character introduction. Season 2 introduces roughly twice as many players in the same amount of screen time, which mathematically halves the emotional investment per character. It's not a feeling — it's a structural arithmetic problem.

  187Reply
• L

  Leo1mo ago

  Every major streaming platform is doing this now — split your story into parts so people subscribe for longer. It's a business strategy dressed up as creative vision and I'm so tired of it.

  175Reply
• L9

  Liam 921mo ago

  My 16-year-old watched it before I could stop him and his only note was "why does everyone make such bad decisions" which is honestly the most devastating critique of the whole show that I've heard from anyone of any age

  172Reply
  • P

    Priya1mo ago

    That's actually kind of the point? The show asks you to understand why they make those decisions, not to judge them for it. If a 16-year-old thinks it's simply bad decision-making then the show failed to land its thesis with that viewer. Or the viewer isn't quite there yet. Both are valid.

    58Reply
• T

  Theo1mo ago

  nobody is asking the real question which is why are we still watching rich people make poor people suffer for entertainment both in the show AND as viewers. the whole premise should make us more uncomfortable than it does

  166Reply
• M

  Maya1mo ago

  The show's actual flaw is that it peaked thematically in episode 6 of Season 1 with the marble game and everything since — including all of Season 2 — is working in that scene's shadow. You cannot top it. It was a once-in-a-decade piece of television.

  162Reply
• R

  Reese1mo ago

  Netflix greenlit season 3 before season 2 even aired. That tells you everything. This is content production, not storytelling.

  156Reply
• M

  Maya1mo ago

  What nobody seems to want to acknowledge: Hwang Dong-hyuk said publicly that season 1 nearly destroyed his health. He lost teeth from the stress. The man delivered one of the most acclaimed shows in history and nearly broke himself doing it. Season 2 existing at all, at this quality level, is kind of a miracle. Maybe extend some grace.

  156Reply
  • A

    Alex1mo ago

    I love the man and I respect his sacrifice immensely. But 'the creator suffered therefore the product is good' isn't an argument. We have to be able to evaluate the work separately from the biography of the person who made it. Otherwise criticism becomes impossible.

    74Reply
    • R

      Riley1mo ago

      Nobody is saying criticism becomes impossible. Just that some people's certainty about what the show SHOULD have been feels weirdly arrogant given that they've never made anything.

      61Reply
• M

  Maya1mo ago

  Empire Strikes Back literally ends with Han frozen in carbonite, the rebels scattered, and Luke's hand cut off. Nothing is resolved. It is the textbook definition of a cliffhanger. Please rewatch it before using it as your counterexample.

  156Reply
• MT

  Morgan T.1mo ago

  The social media hype machine is running so hard that I can't even tell if I genuinely liked it or if I just think I did because everyone else was talking about it. That's a real problem with consuming media in 2025.

  145Reply
• H

  Hana1mo ago

  Hot take that nobody will agree with: Season 2 is actually the braver piece of television. Season 1 was a tightly contained story that felt complete. Season 2 deliberately refuses to give you that satisfaction because the point IS that the system doesn't end. You don't get closure. That's the whole thesis.

  143Reply
• R

  Riley1mo ago

  Hot take nobody wants to hear: Season 2 is actually the better-written season and Season 1 is better-remembered because it was NEW. Novelty is doing 60% of the work in how we evaluate television and we never account for it.

  143Reply
• RL

  Ravi L.1mo ago

  Season 2 was fine. Not great, not terrible. The problem is that when the original aired, nobody expected it. It hit you out of nowhere. You literally cannot recreate that feeling, so of course the sequel feels lesser. That's not the show's fault.

  142Reply
• MS

  Marco S.1mo ago

  the games in s1 had emotional stakes attached to specific characters we already loved. in s2 we're meeting people and they're dying before we care about them. that's the structural failure nobody is naming correctly

  141Reply
• M

  Marco1mo ago

  The games themselves are weaker this season and I will die on this hill. Season 1's games were elegant — children's games with lethal stakes created this unbearable cognitive dissonance. Season 2's games feel more like... obstacle courses? The innocence is gone and that innocence was the whole horror.

  139Reply
  • ZT

    Zara T.1mo ago

    This is exactly right and I think it's because season 1 games could be EXPLAINED to a child and they'd recognize them. The familiarity was the dread. Season 2 games require rules explanations. Once you're doing that you've lost the weapon.

    91Reply
    • K

      Kofi1mo ago

      Season 1 had Red Light Green Light, tug of war, marbles, glass bridge. Simple, devastating. Season 2 has... what exactly that you can explain to your parents in one sentence? That's the design regression right there.

      77Reply
• LM

  Liam M.1mo ago

  honestly the games themselves were less creative this season. season 1 had ddakji, honeycomb, the marble game that destroyed me emotionally. season 2 felt like they ran out of ideas for the actual challenges

  134Reply
• H

  Hana1mo ago

  I work in mental health and I want to say something that might be unpopular: the way season 2 depicts gambling addiction and debt spirals is actually more accurate and damaging to watch than season 1. Season 1 was stylized violence. Season 2 is just... the real reasons people end up in rooms like that. It hit differently for me professionally.

  134Reply
• T

  Theo1mo ago

  I think the deeper problem is that Season 1 made us care about capitalism's victims. Season 2 wants us to care about institutional corruption and revolutionary failure. That's a harder, colder thesis and it was always going to produce a less emotionally accessible season. That's not coasting — that's ambition that didn't fully land.

  134Reply
• C

  Casey1mo ago

  My honest take: it's a solid 7. People are scoring it a 4 because it's not a 10, and that's just broken critical thinking. A 7 is good. A 7 is worth your time. Let the 7 be a 7.

  119Reply
• P

  Priya1mo ago

  Season 2 confirmed for me that the original was a one-time cultural event, not the launch of a franchise. Lightning doesn't strike twice. This is fine television that exists in the shadow of something extraordinary.

  117Reply
• MR

  Marco R.1mo ago

  I genuinely cannot believe people are watching this show dubbed. You're not watching Squid Game. You're watching a recording of someone describing Squid Game to you.

  116Reply
  • TM

    Theo M.1mo ago

    Not everyone can read subtitles fast enough due to visual processing differences, dyslexia, or simply watching with kids who need to track the story. The subtitle gatekeeping is exhausting and also kind of ableist. The dubbed version exists for real reasons.

    97Reply
• F

  Feli1mo ago

  season 2 spoilers but the way they handled [THAT death] in episode 6 was genuinely shocking and I respect it. they're not protecting fan favorites. that's integrity.

  112Reply
• QL

  Quinn L.1mo ago

  I genuinely cannot believe people are defending a cliffhanger ending that resolves NOTHING from the main plot as acceptable storytelling. That's not a middle-chapter structure, that's an incomplete product. The Empire Strikes Back still told a full story within its runtime. This didn't.

  112Reply
• N

  Noah1mo ago

  Gi-hun's arc this season is the most realistic depiction of radicalization I've seen in mainstream television and it makes me deeply uncomfortable in the best possible way. He's not wrong. His methods are becoming wrong. That gap is where all the interesting drama lives.

  108Reply
• A9

  Avery 921mo ago

  I'll die on this hill: the tug of war game in Season 1 is still the best-directed sequence in either season and nothing in Season 2 comes close technically. The blocking, the sound design, the staging. That's a filmmaker at full power. Season 2 feels competent where Season 1 felt inspired.

  108Reply
• AL

  Alex L.1mo ago

  I cried at episode 4. I'm not going to pretend I didn't. Say what you want about the structure but it still gets to you when it wants to.

  103Reply
• C9

  Casey 921mo ago

  The Front Man going undercover is the most genuinely interesting narrative decision in the show's entire run. Full stop. A villain choosing to descend into the hell he administers — that's Greek tragedy logic. I do not understand why the discourse is dominated by "was it as good as season 1" when THIS is sitting right there.

  103Reply
• M9

  Marco 921mo ago

  Disagree completely. The show is deliberately referencing Season 1 because GI-HUN is deliberately walking back into the same world expecting different results. The circularity IS the point. He hasn't grown as much as he thinks. You're reading intentional craft as laziness.

  101Reply
• A

  Avery1mo ago

  Gi-hun becoming radicalized is actually a fascinating and underrated character direction. Turning the survivor into someone who's maybe just as dangerous as the system he's fighting? That's bold writing.

  99Reply
• P

  Priya1mo ago

  I don't care about any of these arguments. I cried. It made me think about money and desperation and who we become when the system fails us. That's what I ask from fiction. Debate the structure all you want — I'll be over here thinking about it for the next month.

  99Reply
• J

  Jordan1mo ago

  What I keep coming back to is this: if Season 2 had been the first season, would we think it was a masterpiece? I genuinely think yes. It's only 'disappointing' measured against something extraordinary. That's a weird standard to be held to and I have some sympathy for the creators.

  95Reply
• R

  Reese1mo ago

  Korean dramas have been operating at this level for years and Western audiences only notice when Netflix puts a budget behind it. Squid Game isn't exceptional for Korean TV. It's just the one that got exported.

  94Reply
• MM

  Morgan M.1mo ago

  ok but can we acknowledge that Thanos, the character, is genuinely one of the best new additions to any show this year. the way he navigates his own morality inside the games. give that actor every award.

  94Reply
• NK

  Nina K.1mo ago

  ok but the honeycomb game callback literally made me gasp out loud alone in my apartment at 2am and if you didn't feel ANYTHING during that scene you might be a robot

  94Reply
• N

  Nina1mo ago

  I think the criticism misses what Hwang Dong-hyuk is doing. Season 2 is deliberately uncomfortable in a different way — less spectacle, more rot. The games feel more mundane because that's the point. The horror has normalized. That's not lazy filmmaking, that's thematic progression.

  93Reply
• M

  Morgan1mo ago

  okay so I studied film at university for four years and I have a simple question: why does every scene that should breathe immediately cut to the next thing? the show is scared of silence. season 1 trusted silence. that's gone now and it costs the season enormously

  92Reply
• P

  Priya1mo ago

  Can we talk about how the voting mechanic in season 2 is actually more disturbing than the games themselves? The idea that people keep CHOOSING to stay when they could leave — that's scarier than any game.

  88Reply
• A

  Avery1mo ago

  That comment above is exactly the kind of reductive take that makes film discourse exhausting. Execution IS the invention. Shakespeare didn't invent jealousy. Influence and originality are not the same thing.

  88Reply
• M

  Morgan1mo ago

  The fact that a show can be "just okay" and still dominate global conversation for weeks says more about the content landscape than it does about the show itself. We are starving.

  88Reply
  • J

    Jordan1mo ago

    Nope. Hard disagree. We watched The Bear, Shōgun, Slow Horses, The Penguin, Interview with the Vampire s2 — all this year. We are not starving. Squid Game s2 just happened to have the biggest launch.

    71Reply
    • KK

      Kofi K.1mo ago

      those are all english language shows or english-dubbed prestige cable products aimed at specific demographics my guy. squid game is legitimately global in a way those shows just aren't. that's not a quality argument, that's a reach argument

      49Reply
• C9

  Casey 921mo ago

  My grandmother called me after watching it and said the scene where the players vote and choose money over freedom reminded her of something her own village did during a crisis in the 70s. She wouldn't elaborate. Sometimes this show cuts to something real and people miss it because they're busy counting plot holes.

  88Reply
• J

  Jamie1mo ago

  I don't understand why people watch things they hate and then go online to explain how much they hate them. Just... stop watching? There is so much content. You are allowed to opt out.

  86Reply
• RL

  Ravi L.1mo ago

  The moment that genuinely broke me was [not spoiling] the scene in the infirmary. I sat there for probably ten minutes after. If that scene doesn't move you, I don't know what you're looking for in television.

  86Reply
• C

  Casey1mo ago

  Cultural reach and artistic quality are two different axes. Lots of historically significant things are also mediocre. Popularity discourse keeps getting collapsed into quality discourse and it muddies every conversation.

  86Reply
• Y

  Yuki1mo ago

  Can someone explain to me why the people who hate the cliffhanger are always the same people who would have complained if the season had a complete arc that "wrapped things up too neatly"? You cannot win with this demographic. They want something impossible.

  84Reply
  • L

    Leo1mo ago

    A middle installment can have a thematic conclusion without resolving the plot. The Empire Strikes Back ends on a cliffhanger AND feels complete because the CHARACTERS go through something finished. Season 2 of Squid Game doesn't give you that. So it's not about plot resolution. It's about emotional satisfaction.

    121Reply
• RT

  Reese T.1mo ago

  season 2 is literally better than 90% of what's on tv rn and people are complaining because it's not as good as one of the greatest shows ever made. the bar you're holding it to is the problem

  82Reply
• D

  Diego1mo ago

  The voting mechanic critique is real but I think people misread what it's saying. It's not supposed to be puzzling that people stay. It's supposed to be OBVIOUS why they stay, and that obviousness is what should terrify you. Hwang Dong-hyuk is basically pointing at your screen and going "you already understand this and that's the problem."

  78Reply
• R

  Reese1mo ago

  Okay I need to push back on the 'predictable twist structure' criticism because I did NOT see the Front Man reveal coming and I watch way too much television. That landed.

  77Reply
• JM

  Jordan M.1mo ago

  The new characters are genuinely interesting though?? Player 390 and her whole arc had me invested in a way I didn't expect. People are sleeping on the actual character work happening here.

  76Reply
• T

  Theo1mo ago

  The recruitment/pre-game section went on for so long I genuinely forgot what show I was watching. Trim that by 40% and the season improves dramatically.

  76Reply
• J

  Jordan1mo ago

  People keep saying "it was just okay" as if "okay" for a prestige streaming show isn't genuinely rare. Most of what gets made is unwatchable. Okay is actually pretty good.

  73Reply
• C

  Casey1mo ago

  Season 2 has the same problem as a lot of sequel television — it's so aware of what made the first season iconic that it becomes a museum exhibit of itself. Every choice feels like it's winking at you.

  73Reply
• DM

  Drew M.1mo ago

  The Front Man storyline is the best thing in the entire season and nobody is talking about it enough. That character has layers now.

  71Reply
• D

  Drew1mo ago

  The cliffhanger discourse is so weird to me. Did people expect a complete standalone story from the MIDDLE part of a trilogy? Of course it ends on a cliffhanger. That's what middle installments do.

  68Reply
• AR

  Avery R.1mo ago

  The fact that it's still the most-watched non-English language show Netflix has ever produced says something. Critics overthink everything. Audiences don't lie.

  67Reply
• F

  Feli1mo ago

  People who say "it's just setup for season 3" are missing that literally all of Breaking Bad season 4 is setup for the finale and nobody complains. Patience.

  67Reply
  • EM

    Elena M.1mo ago

    Breaking Bad s4 still had self-contained episode arcs and genuine payoffs along the way though??? It wasn't just vibes and a cliffhanger. Not a fair comparison at all.

    82Reply
• Y

  Yuki1mo ago

  the thing that gets me is the MUSIC. Season 1's score was doing so much emotional heavy lifting quietly in the background. Season 2 felt louder and more on-the-nose about its own tension. Like someone turned the subtlety dial way down.

  67Reply
• AT

  Avery T.1mo ago

  I actually think that's the most honest thing the season does. Real loss doesn't wait for narrative convenience. People die before the story is ready for them to die. It's brutal and it's supposed to be.

  63Reply
• R

  Ravi1mo ago

  I went in with zero expectations because I deliberately avoided all hype and I came out thinking it was genuinely great television. Then I read the internet. I think the discourse poisoned a lot of people before the first episode even ended.

  62Reply
• J

  Jamie1mo ago

  People forget that Season 1 also had pacing problems and filler. We just didn't notice because we were watching it fresh. Give Season 2 five years and people will reevaluate.

  61Reply
• ZS

  Zara S.1mo ago

  I waited three years for this. THREE. YEARS. And we got half a story. I'm not even mad at the quality I'm mad at the value proposition. You had three years.

  61Reply
• DT

  Drew T.1mo ago

  My hot take: Gi-hun is a terrible protagonist and he was in season 1 too. The show is always better when he's not the focus.

  59Reply
• A

  Avery1mo ago

  lmaooo the 'if you were paying attention' crowd for every piece of media is so exhausting. sometimes a show just doesn't earn its twists and it's okay to say that

  58Reply
• S

  Sam1mo ago

  Brutality for its own sake isn't depth. There's a difference between 'subverting expectations with purpose' and 'killing characters randomly to seem edgy.' The show increasingly cannot tell those apart.

  57Reply
• SR

  Sam R.1mo ago

  ngl the new characters felt like they were designed by a focus group. here's the funny one, here's the tragic backstory one, here's the morally ambiguous one, here's the one who will definitely betray someone. everyone was a function not a person

  55Reply
  • E

    Elena1mo ago

    Respectfully disagree with this — Park Geum-ja specifically felt completely three-dimensional to me. Her relationship with her son was the most human thing in the whole season. If she felt like a focus group product to you I'd genuinely want to know what you were watching.

    61Reply
• Z_

  Zara _x1mo ago

  its just squid game 1 but worse lol. same vibes, same twist structure, same "ohhh society bad" message. we get it

  54Reply
• P_

  Priya _x1mo ago

  I actually think the slower pace of season 2 is its biggest strength. Season 1 was relentless to the point of numbness. Season 2 lets you sit with the dread. Different approach, not wrong approach.

  53Reply
• Y

  Yuki1mo ago

  I am SO tired of the "they greenlit season 3 early therefore it's just content" argument. Studios greenlight things early. That's how television production works logistically. It says nothing about creative intent. You're confusing business operations with artistic cynicism.

  53Reply
• L2

  Leo 211mo ago

  Whatever your opinion on quality, the fact that a Korean show is dominating global streaming conversation for the second time is genuinely historic and we're all too busy being snarky to appreciate it

  53Reply
• L

  Leo1mo ago

  Hard disagree — Myung-gi is a paper-thin representation of a certain kind of person rather than an actual character. He exists to be booed. Good writing would've given him one moment of genuine humanity that complicated your hatred. They didn't.

  48Reply
• K_

  Kofi _x1mo ago

  does anyone else feel like the guards became weirdly less threatening this season or is it just me. in s1 they were genuinely ominous. in s2 they're basically furniture

  48Reply
• YK

  Yuki K.1mo ago

  The political subplot this season is where it lost me. I don't need my Korean survival drama to become a commentary on cryptocurrency and populism. That's too on the nose even for this show.

  47Reply
• A

  Avery1mo ago

  I have watched every episode twice now and I genuinely flip between 'this is brilliant' and 'this is hollow' depending on the day. I think that instability might actually be the correct response to art about systems that are designed to make you feel like your own confusion is your fault.

  47Reply
• NM

  Noah M.1mo ago

  I work in a high school and the kids were obsessed with it again. Like season 1 level obsessed. Whatever we adults think about the quality, it clearly still has something.

  44Reply
• R

  Reese1mo ago

  Coasting on legacy. Obviously. The production design is stunning, the performances are committed, and the whole enterprise exists to make you buy a season 3 subscription. These things can all be true simultaneously.

  44Reply
• Q

  Quinn1mo ago

  nobody talking about the costuming choices this season?? the way they used color to signal who was still emotionally alive vs already checked out was genuinely clever and i've seen exactly zero think-pieces on it

  44Reply
• N

  Noah1mo ago

  The costuming and production design are still world-class. Whatever else you think, it is a beautiful show to look at.

  42Reply
• M

  Maya1mo ago

  That 'slow' section is where they establish every character relationship that pays off later. Fast-forward through it and then complain the deaths don't hit hard enough — that's on you, not the writing.

  41Reply
• N

  Noah1mo ago

  here's my actual take: the people who love it watched it alone or with one other person who was also into it. the people who hate it watched it at a party or put it on as background noise. the viewing context is doing a lot of work here

  39Reply
  • L9

    Leo 921mo ago

    I watched alone at 2am during a bout of insomnia and still thought it was about a 7/10. Context isn't everything.

    28Reply
• Y2

  Yuki 211mo ago

  the new character Myung-gi is genuinely one of the most hateable people put on screen in years and that's a COMPLIMENT to the writing. i wanted to reach into the tv

  39Reply
• M

  Marco1mo ago

  I showed my parents season 1 and they refused to watch season 2 because, quote, "we already know what happens, people kill each other for money." They're not wrong? The concept has a ceiling.

  38Reply
• J

  Jordan1mo ago

  people are out here writing essays about this show like it's Dostoevsky. it's an entertaining show about people killing each other. sometimes that's all it needs to be and the over-intellectualizing is honestly more exhausting than any flaw in the season

  37Reply
  • Q

    Quinn1mo ago

    Counterpoint: the reason Season 1 hit so hard globally is precisely BECAUSE it was doing something thematically coherent and universal beneath the surface spectacle. Strip away the analysis and you also strip away the explanation for why it connected. You can't have it both ways.

    79Reply
• L

  Leo1mo ago

  the show spent three seasons of emotional setup in one episode for a character and then killed them off like they were background dressing. you know which scene. there is no defending that choice

  35Reply
• M

  Morgan1mo ago

  the real squid game was the friends we made along the way [I'm serious though the new ensemble dynamic is the best part of s2 and it's criminally underappreciated]

  33Reply
• I

  Iris1mo ago

  My roommate works in content localization and said the English dub is noticeably better this season. Apparently they hired a completely different team. If you watched dubbed in season 1 and stopped — worth trying again.

  31Reply
• I

  Iris1mo ago

  Coasting on legacy. Next question.

  31Reply
• L

  Liam1mo ago

  the whole thing is just battle royale with better cinematography. people act like it invented something

  29Reply
• N

  Noah1mo ago

  I feel like I watched a completely different show than the people saying it was bloated. Flew through it. Four hours felt like ninety minutes. Idk what to tell you, it gripped me.

  29Reply
• T

  Taylor1mo ago

  The Front Man reveal was telegraphed in episode two if you were paying attention. It was only surprising if you were half-watching.

  22Reply
• H

  Hana1mo ago

  I watched S1 after everyone told me it was life-changing. Never cried, never felt devastated, enjoyed it fine. Watched S2 with no expectations and thought it was... also fine? I think I'm just not the target emotional frequency for this show and that's okay.

  22Reply
• A

  Avery1mo ago

  This is just availability bias. When something is exciting, subjective time compresses. That doesn't mean the pacing was actually good — it means you were stimulated. Those are different things.

  18Reply

More debates people can't stop arguing about