‘Squid Game’ returns to Netflix for season 2

[KENNEDY FELTON]

Netflix had a Christmas gift for Squid Game fans, as its most-watched show of all time returns. It was “green light” for Season 2 of the highly anticipated show on Wednesday.

The first season of the South Korean drama series enveloped fans in 2021 with its colorful set designs, violent competition, and relatable storylines about desperation and survival.

The impact was so massive that people like YouTuber MrBeast recreated less violent versions of the games.

And earlier this month, a promotional event in Paris brought the iconic “Red Light Green Light” game to life.

But behind the global success, the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has been honest about the price of creating a global phenomenon.

In an interview with BBC last month, he says he lost eight or nine teeth from stress during Season One but pushed through because of the show’s potential payoff.

Hwang recalls, “Even though the first series was such a huge global success, honestly I didn’t make much. So doing the second series will help compensate me for the success of the first one too.”

He’s also doing more to hopefully help prevent another unexpected trip to the dentist, too. “In the first season, I wrote by myself almost entire episode. But this time I hire some more people,” Hwang said in a June 2022 interview with Variety.

While Hwang’s creation catapulted him into global fame, the show had a much darker impact in some places.

In 2021, during the show’s first season, Squid Game was outright banned in North Korea. The country cracked down on anyone caught smuggling or watching it, with reports from Radio Free Asia claiming one individual was sentenced to death after seven high schoolers were caught watching the show. They also report one of the high schoolers who bought a USB drive from the individual received a life sentence, and the remaining six were sentenced to five years of hard labor.

Ironically, one of the season’s most popular characters was a North Korean defector who entered the game to win money to help her family escape the country.

But good news for Squid Game fans, there’s no sign of it slowing down. Seasons 2 and 3 were shot back to back, so we’ll likely see a premiere of Season 3 in 2025.