Squid Game

After hearing about all the hype and seeing it was one of the most watched series in the entire world I finally found time to watch Squid Game. I have to admit that I had fun watching it and was very entertained throughout the entire season. It's about hundreds of contestants (who are all down on their luck and need money) that are asked to play children's games for an shot at winning a lot of money, 45.6 billion won (about 33 million dollars). The only thing is these children games are now all deadly and the last contestant standing wins all the money. It will pull you into its world and before you know it you'll be hooked. It's a thriller with lots of twists and lots of violence. This is a show that will stay in your mind long after you watched it. I know it's already been renewed for another seasons so I hope they can keep the same magic they had for season one.

I could've given this 10 but the VIPs ruined this for me. Why the need to add non Korean actors who are so bad at acting? Their sudden appearance in the show threw me off. I didn't know English speaking can be so cringy at such a masterpiece. There was no need to add foreigners, especially ones who are really bad actors. No offense, I'm not one to discrimate any color, but I swear those VIPs don't blend in. I normally like diversity in shows and like seeing a mix of differemt cultures but come on! Totally unecessary on squid game! It ruined this masterpiece! Also, the AI baby is too obvious though I understand it's best to use AI baby than a real one.

Comparisons to Season 1 are nonsensical. Season 1 was an original concept that stood and succeeded on its own, which cannot be the case for subsequent seasons.

The best thing about Season 2 is the acting. The cast is absolutely great! Where Squid Game 2 feels lacking, is in its refusal to resolve ANY of the multiple threads in this season. There are many ways to build suspense, but the laziest one is where you just refuse to answer any questions you raised for an entire seasons, leaving it to be addressed in Season 3. It is quite evident that the show is now a lot less interested in telling a satisfying story and more invested in stretching the franchise into a multi-season subscription-retention machine.

Just watched whole 9 episodes and my favorite was the 6th, Gganbu. Not perfect nor a masterpiece, but this is very well made and provides a certain level of emotional experience. The overall show was far beyond things that were shown in trailer. Very well directed, performed, and finding its own unique points from the genre mixture of various references such as Gambling Apocalypse : Kaiji, Battle Royale, and so on. Just hope all others enjoy this show not only in Korea but also everywhere!

Ps. Even to Korean ears, VIPs' English conversations were not well written nor performed. I think the drama could stand well enough without their presence and save the budget.

I found the show to be fantastic, only ruined by the horrible VIP acting.