There are three burning questions about Squid Game season 2

When the first season of Squid Game, an ultra-violent South Korean drama, landed on Netflix in 2021, many of us were in lockdown with little better to do than rot in front of the TV.

The show, in which people in deep financial hardship risked their lives in a series of deadly children’s games for the chance to win a cash prize, was a resounding success. According to Netflix, it claimed 1.65 billion hours of viewing in 28 days following its premiere, making it the platform’s most-watched show.

Lee Jung-jae returns as Gi-hun in the second season of Squid Game. But do people still care?Credit: Netflix

Now, three years later, season two is finally about to be released. The trailer shows main character Seong Gi-hun returning to the horrific game, intent on revenge against its orchestrators.

But as much as this reveals, it raises more questions.

Why did they let Gi-hun return?

During a phone call with the game’s Front Man in season one’s final episode, Gi-hun says he can’t forgive the game masters for what they did, before deciding to return to the game to bring it to an end.

His intentions (not to mention his skills) are therefore known to the game masters, so there must be good reason for them to allow him to compete again.

Here’s a theory: they reached an agreement to end the competition for good if Gi-hun wins, thereby lifting the stakes for both Gi-hun and the mega-affluent people watching the game as entertainment.

Will there be new games?

The “red light, green light” game features in the trailer, but it appears season two will consist of new, perhaps more dangerous, games. There’s a sequence that resembles tic-tac-toe, replete with giant X and O flooring, and in the promotional poster, we see an eerie merry-go-round circus setting.

A popular Korean children’s game that could be twisted in an entertainingly gruesome way would be Neolttwigi, in which two players stand on a seesaw and attempt to propel the other into the air.

Have they waited too long?

It’s easy to lose interest when waiting three years for a new season. For many, that was the case with other Netflix shows such as Russian Doll, the OA and Master of None, all of which took years to return. Without rewatching season one, it would be easy to forget smaller, yet crucial details, such as that the Front Man is the brother of the detective who attempts to infiltrate the game.

Will fans care enough to tune back in? If the trailer’s performance is any indication, it seems they will. After just two hours on YouTube, it had claimed 265,000 views. And with the glut of recap content available online, it’s unlikely people will give up on the show if they don’t have time to rewatch.

Finally, it drops on Boxing Day, a date known for vegging out and watching TV. This is perhaps as close to a lockdown as the showrunners could get, and we all know how effective that was.

Squid Games season 2 will land on Netflix on December 26.