Netflix’s buzzworthy drama returns, sparking global attention with second season
Season 2 of Netflix's most anticipated Korean drama (Squid Game) was launched simultaneously globally at 4 pm on December 26. The entire season has a total of 7 episodes and a total length of 427 minutes. Continuing the success of the first season, this time in addition to starring Lee Jung Jae and Lee Byung Hun, new faces such as Park Kyu Young, Im Si Wan and Park Sung Wan are added.
The main story revolves around the winner of the first season, Sung Ki-hoon (played by Lee Jung-jae), who returns to the Squid Game and prepares to compete with the mastermind behind the scenes, Hwang In-ho (played by Lee Byung-hun). Among them, Park Kyu-young, known as the "Daughter of Netflix", relies on her superb acting skills and dazzling appearance to play Jiang Xia, a defector from North Korea who competes to find her child. Her character setting and interpretation techniques are favored by the audience. It is worth mentioning that Park Sung-hyun, who once became famous as Jeon Jae-hyun in "Dark Glory", this time even appeared in cross-dressing and played a transgender character, which became a highlight of this season.
Source: Netflix (Squid Game) The main story of season 2 revolves around the winner of the first season, Sung Ki-hoon, returning to Squid and preparing for a showdown with the mastermind behind the scenes, Huang Renhao.
Plot and game innovation, but polarized reviews spark discussion
Compared with the first season, the second season has major changes in the game rules. After each game, contestants can choose to press the O button to take away the jackpot, or press the X to continue challenging for higher prizes. This new setting not only adds tension to the story, but also makes the plot more watchable. The voting session after each game allows all players to vote whether to divide the accumulated prize money equally according to the number of participants, or to continue playing. Coincidentally, this plot coincides with the recent "short-lived martial law" incident in South Korea. Together, the Korean media even called it "so real that it gives me goosebumps."
Further reading
South Korea's Martial Law Lazy Pack) Watch the whole 6-hour political farce in one go. What exactly happened?
However, there are obvious differences in the evaluation of this by major media. On the Rotten Tomatoes website, the second season received an 83% positive rating, slightly worse than the first season's 95%.
(The New York Times) pointed out that although new contestants appeared in the second season, many people's experiences seemed familiar, the sharp angles were lost, and the originality was also lost.
(The Guardian) criticized even more strongly, believing that the show fell into the common Hollywood sequel dilemma of forcibly splitting the story in half in order to continue box office revenue.
However, Variety gave a favorable review, saying that the second season is not only larger in scale and maximizes audience involvement, but also successfully examines social issues such as capitalist exploitation, moral decadence and class inequality from a new perspective.
The role of the coin speculator sparked heated discussions, and Im Si-wan was praised for his superb acting skills.
Director Huang Donghyuk specifically integrated the speculative mentality of "getting rich overnight" in modern society into the plot. The "coin speculator" Li Mingqi (No. 333) played by Yam Siwan is a very symbolic character. In the play, he plays a YouTuber who gets into trouble due to a cryptocurrency investment scam, which not only causes heavy losses to himself and his girlfriend (played by Cao Yuli), but also injures many subscribers collectively.
His exaggerated and provocative lines such as: "Why did you take my mobile phone and wallet? Please give it back to me! At least give me my mobile phone. I want to look at cryptocurrency. If I lose money, will you compensate me? I want to Get the price instantly! Do you know how much I invested?"
It also triggered strong reactions from Korean netizens. Netizens on the Korean forum "theqoo" said:
"Wow, this reflects reality so well. The voice and tone are exactly the same as those of a typical 20th generation male Austrian."
"Even if I stand in front of Im Si-wan, I still hate it...it's my fault for being too good at acting!"
"I got angry when I heard the first sentence... He is exactly the kind of lunatic who has a terrible personality and leaves people speechless."
"It's exactly like the feeling of an Internet celebrity who is addicted to cryptocurrency. He thinks he is rational and logical, but in fact he is extremely selfish and paranoid about unrealistic things."
"That kind of voice that is full of victimization, full and sharp, as if it doesn't need to breathe, is so well performed."
This scene appears in the third episode of this season "001: New Player Check-in". In fact, director Huang Donghyuk said frankly in a media interview that the class promotion system in modern society is disintegrating, and many people no longer believe in earning a stable income through normal labor. Instead, they rely on speculative behaviors such as virtual currencies, cryptocurrency, stock trading, and even online gambling, hoping to "get rich overnight." The director hopes to trigger the audience's thinking about real society by reflecting the current social atmosphere. The role of "coin speculator" perfectly interpreted by Yam Shiwan is an excellent representation of the epitome of this era.
(Crypto City) also reported in July this year that 40% of students in South Korea invested in cryptocurrency, believing it to be a lifeline to solve their increasing debt and economic difficulties, which is completely consistent with the plot of (Squid Game).
"Squid Game 2 is broadcast!" The crazy lines of the coin speculator character resonate with each other, why are foreign media evaluations so polarizing? This article was first published in "Crypto City"