Squid Games is a show that takes place in South Korea and is about a man named Seong Gi-Hun who’s in much debt. One day, as he’s on the train platform, he is then approached by a man who offers to play a ddakji with him, which is a Korean game.
Gi-Hun wins the game against the man after a couple times of losing. The man gives him 100,00 won (68.35 USD) and a card with shapes and a phone number on it. Gi-Hun ends up calling the number and ends up on an island where the games are.
The players first played red light, green light, which seemed easy. Until someone died after moving after “red light” was called. Half of the players were eliminated after the game as they moved after the red light was called. After a couple games, everyone died except for Gi-Hun and his childhood friend Sang-Woo. Sang-Woo ended up committing suidice and Gi-Hun won.
Gi-Hun felt so much guilt over the fact that others had to die, in order for him to have the money. He barely spent the money and often gave it to other people. One day, when he was at the airport to visit his daughter in the United States, he saw the man who gave him the card to join the games.
Motivated by not wanting others to die in the games, he wants to rejoin the games in order to end them. Season two is about him trying to rejoin the games and eventually doing so.
I love season two and I believe it had an amazing plot. In my opinion, it was interesting to see and learn about the new characters and their development. Even though the first season is my favorite, the second season was heavily intriguing.
In regards to preference for second or first season, junior Kit Ritcher said she preferred the second season. Ritcher said, “The characters had more development.” As much as she loved the second season, she wished it hadn’t ended off on a cliffhanger.
The second season characters were far more united than the first season characters. For example, the characters in the second season cheered each other on during the second game and celebrated when they won. Meanwhile in the first season, the characters were mostly focused on their own survival and even sabotaged each other.
I do believe that there were times when the first season characters were selfless. For example, Ji-yeong willingly lost the marbles game against Kang Sae-byeok so Sae-byok could live. There were moments of selfishness from the second season characters. For example, Thanos pushed three people during red light green light, causing them to die.
Though generally speaking, the season two characters stood by each other more. In my opinion, a major moment of unity among the characters was when a couple of them worked together to fight the pink soldiers and end the games. They also protected those who didn’t fight by keeping them safe in the bedroom.
Junior Sara Abusharifeh said her favorite character in season two was the recruiter for the games. A significant moment for her in the second season was when the recruiter and Gi-Hun were playing Russian Roulette together.
In my opinion, although the recruiter was in the first season, we got to know more about him in the second season. I believe a scene important to his character was when he offered homeless people a piece of bread or a lottery ticket.
He threw all the pieces of bread they didn’t take on the ground and stomped on them. He then said, “I’m not the one here who wasted this, that was you people.” In my opinion, this scene was an example of how the recruiter was clever and cunning.
Although sophomore Natalie Russell preferred the first second season, she still loved the second season. In regards to her favorite character in the second season, she said, “Thanos because his on-screen persona was really relatable.” She was surprised with Choi Seung-hyun, most known as T.O.P from former K-pop group BIGBANG, being casted as Thanos.
I loved T.O.P being casted in Squid Games because I believe he’s extremely talented and I love BIGBANG’s music. I also loved how T.O.P himself was incorporated into the character of Thanos. Thanos was a rapper and T.O.P was the rapper of BIGBANG.
Even though season two introduced many interesting characters, my favorite was Park Min-su. In my opinion, Min-su was a realistic character whom I could relate to. I relate to his introversion, sensitivity, and how he liked to avoid conflict. I related to the scene where Min-su covered his ears and started crying when the other players were fighting amongst each other.
A character I found interesting in the second season was the frontman, the man who controls the games. In season two, he disguised himself as a player, not revealing his true identity to the other players. Like the recruiter, he was very clever and cunning. In the last episode, he faked his death and turned on the players.
Overall, even though I believe the first season had more emotion and depth to it, the second season had an amazing storyline. I really enjoyed watching the characters together because they were far more united than the characters in the first second season. Many students at Taft also loved the second season and its intriguing plot.
