# Squid Game season 2

The second season of the South Korean dystopian survival thriller television series Squid Game, marketed as Squid Game 2, is created by Korean television producer and writer Hwang Dong-hyuk. It was released on Netflix on December 26, 2024.
The season stars Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-joon, Im Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-wook, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-shim, and Jo Yu-ri. It is set four years after Seong Gi-hun won the Squid Game, giving up on going to the United States and returning to the games with the intent of stopping them once and for all. He once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of ₩45.6 billion. A side-plot of the season sees Hwang Jun-ho trying to locate Gi-hun with help from hired mercenaries.
Within the first 72 hours of release, the second season had 68 million views, exceeding the highest premiere viewership for Netflix held by the first season of Wednesday at 50.1 million views during its premiere week. According to Netflix, the season ranked at No. 1 in 92 countries. It garnered positive reviews from critics. The third and final season, which was filmed back-to-back with the second season, will be released in 2025.

## Cast and characters

Numbers in parentheses denote the character's assigned player number in the Squid Game universe.

### Main cast

* Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun (성기훈, Korean pronunciation:, 456)
* Lee Byung-hun as Hwang In-ho, the Front Man (황인호, Korean pronunciation:, 001)
* Im Si-wan as Lee Myung-gi (이명기, Korean pronunciation:, 333)
* Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho (황준호, Korean pronunciation:)
* Lee Seo-hwan [ko] as Park Jung-bae (박정배, Korean pronunciation:, 390)
* Kang Ha-neul as Kang Dae-ho (강대호, Korean pronunciation:, 388)
* Park Gyu-young as Kang No-eul (강노을, Korean pronunciation:)
* Lee Jin-wook as Park Gyeong-seok (박경석, Korean pronunciation:, 246)
* Park Sung-hoon as Cho Hyun-ju (조현주, Korean pronunciation:, 120)
* Yang Dong-geun as Park Yong-sik (박용식, Korean pronunciation:, 007)
* Kang Ae-shim as Jang Geum-ja (장금자, Korean pronunciation:, 149)
* Jo Yu-ri as Kim Jun-hee (김준희, Korean pronunciation:, 222)

### Recurring

* Park Hee-soon as Masked Officer
* Kim Byeong-cheol as Square
* Lee Sang-jun as Pink Soldier Manager
* Jeon Seok-ho as Choi Woo-seok
* T.O.P as Choi Su-bong "Thanos" (최수봉, 230)
* Chae Kook-hee [ko] as Seon-nyeo (선녀, 044)
* Lee David as Park Min-su (박민수, 125)
* Roh Jae-won as Nam-gyu (남규, 124)
* Won Ji-an as Se-mi (세미, 380)
* Song Young-chang [ko] as Im Jeong-dae (임정대, 100)
* Kim Si-eun as Kim Young-mi (김영미, 095)
* Oh Dal-su as Sea Captain Park
* Kang Sung-wook as Gyeong-su (경수, 256)
* Lee Sung-woo [ko] as Kim Yeong-sam (김영삼, 226)
* Baek Seung-chul [ko] as Kwon Byeong-su (권병수, 047)

### Guest cast

* Gong Yoo as the Recruiter, a salesman who finds participants for the Game
* Park Hye-jin as Sang-woo's mother
* Park Si-wan as Kang Cheol, Kang Sae-byeok's younger brother
* Sung Do-hyun as the mercenary Kim
* Kim Pub-lae [ko] as Mr. Kim
* Song Ji-woo as Kang Mi-na (강미나, 196)
* Jo Si-nae [ko] as Park Mi-hwa (박미화, 006)
* Seo Soo-chan as Player 004
* Kang Yi-eun as Player 009
* Lee Ha-nee as Player 015
* Shim Sung-hyo as Player 016
* Go Seong as Player 020
* Kim Joon-hwan as Player 023
* Jo Seong-jun as Player 024
* Byeon Ye-jin as Player 031
* Yoon Hyo-sik as Player 036
* Woo Jung-kook [ko] as Player 039
* Choi Hee-do as Player 043
* Kwon Jae-hwan [ko] as Player 045
* Kim Byeong-gi as Player 048
* Jeong Mi-ran as Player 049
* Jung Hwan-wook as Player 050
* Shin Min-ho as Player 056
* Jo Jeong-yeon as Player 058
* Choi Soon-jin [ko] as Player 066
* Ryu Yeon-young as Player 067
* Han Dong-won as Player 072
* Park Sang-woon as Player 073
* Lee Seok [ko] as Player 096
* Ha Soo-ho [ko] as Player 145
* Park Hyun-chul as Jang Do-yeong (장도영, 198)
* Choi Gwi-hwa as Kim Gi-min (김기민, 203)
* Park Bo-kyung as Player 254
* Lee Eun-mi as Lee Eun-ju (이은주, 283)
* Woo Kang-min [ko] as Player 296
* Park Jin-woo as Lee Seung-won (이승원, 336)
* Kang Hyun-Joong as Sim Jae-seok (심재석, 343)
* Kim Geum-soon as Player 349
* Lee Gyu-hoe as Kim Yun-tae (김윤태, 353)
* Jo Hyun-woo [ko] as Kim Nam-du (김남두, 444)
* Lee Joo-sil as Park Mal-soon, Hwang Jun-ho's mother and Hwang In-ho's stepmother

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 10 | 1 | "Bread and Lottery" Transliteration: "Ppang-gwa Bokgwon" (Korean: 빵과 복권) | Hwang Dong-hyuk | Hwang Dong-hyuk | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| Seong Gi-hun leaves the terminal determined to confront the Front Man behind the games. Realizing he is being monitored, he removes a tracking device implanted behind his ear. Hwang Jun-ho survives his fall from the cliff after being rescued by Park, a shrimp boat captain. Two years later, Gi-hun now lives frugally in a fortified hotel building and has employed Mr. Kim, his former loan shark, and his lackeys to track down the games' recruiter in Seoul. Meanwhile, Jun-ho still works for the police and occasionally travels on the sea with Captain Park to find the island of the games, to no avail. Kim and his associate, Choi Woo-seok, eventually locate the Recruiter and watch him offer vagrants bread or a lottery ticket; most choose the losing ticket, and the Recruiter destroys the rejected bread in front of them. After recognizing Gi-hun, Jun-ho investigates him. Kim and Woo-seok decide to approach the Recruiter, who beats and abducts both of them and forces them to play a deadly game of rock paper scissors minus one combined with Russian roulette, resulting in Kim's death. Jun-ho locates his operational base. The Recruiter confronts Gi-hun there, revealing he was once a soldier in the games who killed his own father, a player, and justifies the games' cruelty by vilifying the participants as scum. He challenges Gi-hun into a round of Russian roulette, resulting in his own death. ||||||
| 11 | 2 | "Halloween Party" Transliteration: "Hallowin Pati" (Korean: 할로윈 파티) | Hwang Dong-hyuk | Hwang Dong-hyuk | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| Gi-hun, Jun-ho, and Woo-seok discover a lead from the Recruiter's jacket pointing to a Halloween party. Woo-seok recruits a team of mercenaries, Gi-hun implants a tracker in himself, and the three devise a plan to locate the Front Man, though Jun-ho does not tell Gi-hun that the Front Man is his brother In-ho. Meanwhile, Gi-hun continues to look after Sang-woo's mother and Cheol. He works with a broker to reunite Cheol with his mother from the North, and places a silent call to his estranged daughter. The team infiltrates the Halloween party, where Gi-hun is escorted by one of the game's pink-clad soldiers into a limousine, with his team in pursuit. He confronts the Front Man via speaker, demanding an end to the games. When the vehicles following him are shot down, Gi-hun requests to be returned to the games as a player. Kang No-eul, a North Korean defector who seeks to extract her daughter from the North, works as a mascot in a theme park. She forms a bond with Na-yeon, a young toddler with blood cancer whose father is Park Gyeong-seok, a caricature artist at the park. When sleeping in her car, she is given a business card, similar to the Recruiter's and quits her job the next morning. When walking out of the park, she sees Na-yeon collapse and taken to a hospital with Gyeong-seok following her. In the evening, she goes to an isolated trailer park along with several other people, entering the game as a soldier. ||||||
| 12 | 3 | "001" | Hwang Dong-hyuk | Hwang Dong-hyuk | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| "001 (Squid Game)" redirects here. For the Squid Game characters with the player number 001, see Oh Il-nam and Front Man (Squid Game).Gi-hun wakes in the game's dormitory with 455 other players. A manager announces a new clause: after each game, the players will vote, and if the majority agrees to leave the games, the accumulated prize money will be divided among them. Jun-ho and his team lose track of the island as Gi-hun's tracker has been removed. Gi-hun recognizes Player 390 as his friend Jung-bae and advises him to stay close. The first game is Red Light, Green Light; Gi-hun warns the players that elimination will result in death, though many dismiss him. Despite the chaos, Gi-hun's cautions help reduce casualties. Player 230, known as the rapper "Thanos", is under the influence of drugs and pushes others to eliminate them. Gi-hun and Player 120 (named Cho Hyun-ju, a transgender woman entering the games to pay for gender affirming surgery) attempt to save an eliminated player who was only non-fatally shot, but No-eul shoots the player dead. After the game, Gi-hun urges the players to vote the game's end and reveals he is the sole winner of a previous iteration. Players voting to continue are labeled "O", while those voting to leave are labeled "X". The Front Man, posing as Player 001, casts the deciding vote to continue. ||||||
| 13 | 4 | "Six Legs" Transliteration: "Yeoseot Gaeui Dari" (Korean: 여섯 개의 다리) | Hwang Dong-hyuk | Hwang Dong-hyuk | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| Player 001 feigns an alliance with Gi-hun and fabricates a story, based in truth, about his reason for joining the game. Player 333, named Myung-gi, is attacked by Thanos and Player 124, named Nam-gyu; Player 001 intervenes and stops the altercation easily. Player 222, named Kim Jun-hee, who is Myung-gi's pregnant ex-girlfriend, reveals herself to him. Meanwhile, a group of soldiers, led by the Masked Officer, begin harvesting organs to sell on the black market. The Masked Officer orders No-eul to ignore the activities, but she refuses. Jun-ho attempts to enlist police assistance but is unsuccessful. To Gi-hun's surprise, the second game requires players to form teams of five for a six-legged pentathlon consisting of five children's games: ddakji, biseokchigi, gong-gi, spinning top, and jegi to be completed under a five-minute time limit. No-eul continues her sabotage of the soldiers' organ trade by shooting living eliminated players dead. ||||||
| 14 | 5 | "One More Game" Transliteration: "Han Pan Deo" (Korean: 한 판 더) | Hwang Dong-hyuk | Hwang Dong-hyuk | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| After Hyun-ju's team manages to win through mutual support, many other teams are inspired and they too succeed. Gi-hun allies with Jung-bae, Jun-hee, and Players 001 and 388 (Kang Dae-ho). They succeed and exchange names after the game, though Player 001 falsely introduces himself as "Oh Young-il". No-eul is attacked by two soldiers involved in the organ trade, who warn her to stop interfering. During the following vote, 'Young-il' encourages the players to vote against continuing the game, but a larger majority opts to proceed, believing the prize pool remains too small. Gi-hun confides in Jung-bae about his growing uncertainty in rescuing everyone. Meanwhile, Jun-ho and Woo-seok, now with an expanded mercenary team and Captain Park, continue their search for the island. The third game, titled "Mingle", requires players to enter designated rooms after forming groups based on an announced number. ||||||
| 15 | 6 | "O X" | Hwang Dong-hyuk | Hwang Dong-hyuk | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| During "Mingle", players struggle to fit their alliances into rooms, causing tension, betrayal, and death of allies. During the fourth round, Hyun-ju's ally Kim Young-mi is knocked down whilst trying to reach their room, resulting in her death. Hyun-ju and the rest of the group is left devastated and this causes tensions amongst the survivors. In the final round, Jung-bae witnesses Young-il kill another player to secure a room for themselves. After the game, Gi-hun and Young-il argue over whether to persuade other players to vote to end the games, and ultimately decide against it to avoid a physical fight. Jung-bae concludes that although the "O" voters outnumber the "X" voters, they only need seven "O" voters to change their votes to win. During the vote, several players, including Player 125, named Park Min-su, who has been subservient to Thanos and Nam-gyu, change their votes to "X". The seven needed "O" voters change their vote to "X", however an "X" voter changes their vote under the influence of Player 044, Seon-nyeo the shaman, the former becoming a devout follower of hers. The deciding vote again falls to Young-il, resulting in a tie; the players are given a day before re-voting. In the bathroom, Thanos and Nam-gyu pressure Min-su into changing his vote to "O", but Myung-gi and other players that voted "X" intervene to defend him. A fight ensues, with Thanos strangling Myung-gi, who then retaliates by stabbing Thanos in the neck with a metal fork, killing him. Meanwhile, Jun-ho's team locates a possible entrance on an island, only to discover it is a decoy rigged with explosives, killing one of the mercenaries. ||||||
| 16 | 7 | "Friend or Foe" Transliteration: "Chinguwa Jeok" (Korean: 친구와 적) | Hwang Dong-hyuk | Hwang Dong-hyuk | December 26, 2024 (2024-12-26) |
| Captain Park is revealed to be a double agent, having sabotaged Jun-ho's team drone, and kills its pilot. In retaliation for Thanos' death, Nam-gyu kills several "X" players. Following the bathroom brawl, players realize they can kill others to raise the prize pool and weaken the opposing voters. Gi-hun predicts there will be an attack that night by players who want to continue the game, but convinces a small group of "X" players to avoid attacking, arguing that the game's creators are the true enemies. During the anticipated massacre, Gi-hun's group stays hidden as the rest of the group receives heavy losses and they emerge only once soldiers arrive. Gi-hun's group baits the soldiers, killing all but one and taking their firearms. They start a rebellion, forcing the surviving soldier at gunpoint to lead them to the control room. However, more soldiers open fire en route, and the rebellion starts to falter when the group runs out of ammunition; Dae-ho, tasked with retrieving more ammo, suffers a combat stress reaction and is unable to return. Hyun-ju retreats to the dormitory and finds Dae-ho cowered in a corner with the ammunition before the guards enter the dorms. Young-il betrays the group by killing two players and faking his death, while other surrendering players are executed. Gi-hun and Jung-bae are captured. In-ho, now masked as the Front Man, executes Jung-bae in front of a horrified Gi-hun. ||||||

## Production
### Development

In late October 2021, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk stated he was in discussions with Netflix regarding a second season. He further stated in December 2021 that he was also discussing a third season with Netflix. Hwang wanted to produce another film first, as well as secure a contract with Netflix to release additional films he may create alongside further Squid Game seasons, so as to avoid becoming known only for Squid Game. Hwang confirmed that he had begun conceptualization work on a second season during a press event in November 2021, with plans to bring back Lee Jung-jae to reprise his role of Gi-hun. Netflix stated in response to Hwang's comments that they had not yet officially greenlit a second season, but were in discussions with Hwang towards one. During an earnings call in January 2022, Netflix's Ted Sarandos said when asked about a second season "Absolutely...the Squid Game universe has just begun." Hwang said in April 2022 that he presently was working on Killing Old People Club, an adaptation of a work called "Pape Satan Aleppe: Chronicles of a Liquid Society" by Umberto Eco, and anticipated that the second season of Squid Game would be completed and broadcast by 2024. Netflix confirmed that the second season was greenlit in June 2022.

### Writing

Due to the stress of writing and producing the first series of nine episodes himself, Hwang initially had no immediate plans to write a second season to Squid Game, and did not have well-developed plans for a follow-up story and said that if he were to write one, he would likely need a staff of writers and directors to help him. However, with the immense popularity of the first season, Hwang later opined about the possibility of a second season in 2021, telling CNN, "There's nothing confirmed at the moment, but so many people are enthusiastic that I'm really contemplating it." Hwang also said in an interview with The Times that a second season may focus more on the story of the Front Man as well as incorporating more about the police: "I think the issue with police officers is not just an issue in Korea. I see it on the global news that the police force can be very late in acting on things—there are more victims or a situation gets worse because of them not acting fast enough. This was an issue that I wanted to raise." He added that he also wanted to explore the relationship between the cryptic Front Man and his policeman brother Hwang Jun-ho, as well as the background of the salesman character (portrayed by Gong Yoo). Hwang said that a particular inspiration behind the decision to continue the Squid Game story was The Matrix film series, in which Neo chooses the red pill over the blue pill; Gi-Hun, similarly, chooses to go after those responsible for the game rather than go back to his life.
Speaking about the games that appear in the season, Hwang said "They are once again simple children's games that a lot of kids in Korea grew up playing. I remember being on set and being reminded of my childhood days." However, he also wanted the games to be more universally recognized this time: "In many different countries around the world, there will be some kind of version similar to these games that you probably have played as a child,...They're going to be both very easy to understand and play, and very fun."

### Casting

In April 2022, Hwang confirmed that the characters of Gi-hun and the Front Man would return for the second season. During Netflix's Tudum: A Global Fan Event in June 2023, Lee Jung-jae was confirmed to reprise his role alongside Lee Byung-hun, Gong Yoo and Wi Ha-joon. On June 29, Netflix released more info on the new season's cast, which includes Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, Im Si-wan, Yang Dong-geun, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-wook, Won Ji-an, Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-shim, Choi Seung-hyun, Lee David, and Roh Jae-won.
Prior to the season's release, the casting choice of Park Sung-hoon as transgender ex-soldier Hyun-Ju was controversial due to some wanting a trans person to authentically portray their experiences. Criticism fell on both the casting of a cisgender person for the role instead of a transgender person, as well as for casting a man in particular as opposed to a woman. Some argued in response to this criticism that South Korea is conservative with regards to LGBTQ rights, and that trying to find a transgender actress willing to put herself in the spotlight was not reasonable. People also opined that having a trans character in a South Korean series at all is an important step in representation. On December 18, 2024, during press day for Squid Game 2, director and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk spoke to a group of journalists, about why he wanted to include a trans character this time around:
   The people who come to join the games in Squid Game are usually marginalized or neglected from society, and not just financially speaking, but people who would belong to marginalized groups. In season one, the representative character for that was Ali, who was a foreigner working in Korea, which is one of the most representative minority groups in Korea. Currently today, unfortunately, in the Korean society the gender minority is a group that is not as accepted widely within society. I wanted to create a character that would represent that. Acceptance of trans people has gotten better recently, but it's still not where it needs to be. In Korea, when you are a gender minority, it is not as widely accepted yet, unfortunately, and you are still seen to be very much out of the norm. And so by creating a character like Hyun-ju, through her choices, her actions, and the way she carries herself in the game, I hope that that could raise awareness of these issues that we face today.
Though Hwang wanted to cast a transgender actor for the role, it was difficult to find such an actor in Korea due to the above issues, and believed that Park's prior roles in The Glory and Queen of Tears made him capable of portraying the role.
Jo Yu-ri, who portrayed Kim Jun-hee (김준희, 222), is best known as a former member of the South Korean–Japanese girl group Iz*One. She first gained prominence after participating in Mnet's reality competition series Produce 48 in 2018, where she finished in third place and debuted with Iz*One on October 29, 2018. Following Iz*One's disbandment in April 2021, Jo embarked on a successful solo career, releasing her debut single album Glassy in October 2021, which garnered her several nominations for Rookie of the Year at major music awards.
On December 4, 2024, T.O.P was revealed as a cast member through the official Netflix YouTube account in the form of a "Meet the Cast" video. He would play the role of a former rapper, Thanos, fallen from grace due to a crypto scam. The character was created before casting, T.O.P receiving the role after Hwang found his "serious" approach. Hwang explained that he wanted to cast someone who stopped working due to drugs, T.O.P retiring from the K-pop industry and leaving BigBang over a marijuana conviction. The casting of T.O.P received controversy in South Korea, with the actor's face being blurred on the Korean show Live This Morning when airing a segment about the show. The casting led to some viewers to believe that Lee Jung-jae, who portrayed Seong Gi-hun and was close to T.O.P, had gotten him the role, a claim that Lee denied. Netflix and Hwang received criticism for this casting for possibly setting a bad precedent. T.O.P was absent for a time from promotional events with the cast. Responding to speculation that he was removed from promotional events over the controversy, Hwang said that they planned to not have him featured from the beginning, wanting T.O.P to be able to talk about his involvement at his own pace. He felt that he had "a lot of guts" for agreeing to do the performance considering his history with drugs, and was surprised that he had still not been forgiven. He also believed that the reaction to his casting would not be reflected outside of Korea due to different legality and opinions on marijuana use in some countries. He also believed that his character may prove popular with younger viewers in Korea.
In 2000, Song Young-chang (who played the role of Im Jeong-dae in the season) was arrested on charges dealing with child exploitation, after being accused of having sexual relations in his car with a 16-year-old on two different occasions near a park in Goyang and paying the minor for services. The incident further blew up because the teenager recognised him from his previous projects, and led to Young-chang facing legal proceedings. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and two years of probation for violating the Juvenile Protection Act. However, since he had no prior record and showed remorse during his 36-day custody period, his sentence was later suspended. Young-chang was permanently banned from coming on the major TV networks in South Korea, including KBS, EBS, and MBC, and worked in musical theatre until his eventual comeback in films and series. Young-chang's prior legal issues received renewed attention after the season's release.
Earlier in 2024, O Yeong-su (who played the role of Oh-Il nam in season 1) was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, and was sentenced to an eight-month suspended prison term as well as being ordered to attend 40 hours of classes on sexual violence. He was accused of various cases of sexual misconduct in which he had inappropriately hugged, made lewd comments towards, laid in the same bed with, and kissed the victim across multiple incidents. Although he was charged in 2017, he was not indicted until 2022. His conviction led to there being no flashback scenes featuring his character in the second season.

### Filming

Principal photography for the second season was scheduled to start in July 2023 and was expected to last for "at least 10 months". On July 10, staff members of the production faced a controversy involving allegations of mistreatment towards citizens during filming at Incheon Airport, Seoul. The production company issued an official apology on the matter. Filming was reportedly underway in August 2023. It took place at a film studio in Daejeon. Filming wrapped in July 2024 and was filmed back-to-back along with the third upcoming season.

### Music

Composer Jung Jae-il returned to score the second season, with the soundtrack album being released on December 27, 2024, through Netflix Music. Jung confirmed his involvement in 2023, telling the BBC the second season would retain some elements from the score to the first season but have a "more bizarre and unique sound". The first episode features the aria "Nessun dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, sung by Paul Potts, and "Time to Say Goodbye" by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli. The third episode features a cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" performed by Joo Won, a song which was also featured in the first season.

## Marketing

During Netflix Event Week in September 2024, a poster and a teaser for the season were released. Between October and December, Netflix promoted the series in fan conventions around the world, in which invited fans took part in simulated games from the series. The events took place in Lucca, Italy; Paris, France; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Seoul, South Korea; Los Angeles, United States; Sydney, Australia; São Paulo, Brazil; Warsaw, Poland; London, United Kingdom; and Jakarta, Indonesia.
Famous streamer Ibai Llanos organized his own version of Squid Game with KFC in Madrid, Spain. Filipino journalist MJ Marfori attended the three-day event for the season and also interviewed Lee Jung-jae. McDonald's Australia ran a limited time "Squid Game Meal" promotion, which came bundled with a Dalgona cookie for customers to extract a shape from, mirroring the first season. One form of the cookie included the shape of the companies signature Golden Arches where, if extracted successfully, customers could scan to enter a competition to win $100,000, alongside replicas of contestants' tracksuits from the series.

## Release

The season was released on December 26, 2024, on Netflix.

## Reception
### Critical response

The publications noted that this season received more mixed responses from critics and viewers, with the BBC reporting that critical reaction ranged from "sensational" to "a letdown". On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 92 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "While Squid Game's return can't help but lose the element of surprise, some absolutely diabolical challenges and a knotty moral outlook keep this sophomore season thrilling." On Metacritic, the second season has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Laura Martin from the BBC gave the season 4 stars out of 5 and said it rivalled the production quality of the first season. Annabel Nugent from The Independent also gave the season 4 stars out of 5 and said while it was not as shocking as the first season, it was still captivating in its violence. Rebecca Nicholson from The Guardian gave the season a less positive review due to issues she found with its plot development and pacing and rated it 3 stars out of 5. Kelly Lawler from USA Today gave the season 2 stars out of 4, calling the plot outlandish and the end unsatisfying.
IGN writer Alex Zalben drew comparisons between Gi-hun and the people behind Squid Game, arguing that the way he commands the people he hires to find the Recruiter mirrors the controlling nature of the games. He also believed that Gi-hun's "seeming heroism" is self-centered, that it is done for redemption more than for the good of others. Gi-hun's development in season 2 was well-received by Gizmodo writers Germain Lussier and Cheryl Eddy, praising actor Lee Jung-jae for managing to capture his shift into a character with "darker intensity" who is struggling with survivor's guilt. The Hollywood Reporter writer Daniel Fienberg felt that, compared to his performance in season 1, where Lee acted with "live-wire dexterity" and being big in both his portrayal of Gi-hun's comedy and trauma, his "one-note haunted aspect" in season 2, while well performed, is less interesting than season 1.

### Audience response

Of all the cast members of the second season, Sung-hoon's portrayal of the transgender ex-soldier Hyun-ju won significant praise from viewers. Many viewers regarded Park's character as one of the most compelling characters in the second season, due to the character development and background of Hyun-ju and Park's dedication and depth in portraying Hyun-ju.
Gong Yoo's brief reprise of the recruiter character also received positive feedback from fans on social media.
T.O.P's casting was not well-received by viewers. Outside of South Korea, the negative reaction to his casting was criticized by some people, who found it excessive and unreasonable. Hwang argued against the claim that cartoonish characters were not limited to only season 1, comparing him to Jang Deok-su and Han Mi-nyeo from season 1, who he said both received similar commentary. Reception to Thanos and his performance was less negative than from South Korean viewers according to Korea Times. A survey held by Netflix about the favorite new character was conducted, with Thanos winning 50 percent of the vote out of 700,000 people.
The season was boycotted in Vietnam due to a scene in the fifth episode, in which Jung-bae said that Dae-ho's father was "a good person" when he fought in the Vietnam War. This was interpreted by Vietnamese audiences as praising South Korean war crimes in Vietnam, and they demanded authorities "take necessary actions regarding this statement".

### Viewership

Within the first three days of release, the second season had 68 million views, exceeding the highest premiere viewership for Netflix held by the first season of Wednesday at 50.1 million views during its premiere week. According to Netflix, the season ranked at No. 1 in 92 countries.

### Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement :
| Publisher | Year | Listicle | Placement | Ref. |
| South China Morning Post | 2024 | The 15 best K-dramas of 2024 | 1st place | |