Squid Game 2 reviews: Smash hit Netflix series divides critics who claim latest outing has ‘lost its edge’ and is a ‘thorough letdown’ – after fans slammed the ‘overhyped’ show

The highly anticipated second series of Squid Game finally started streaming on Netflix on Thursday, but critics are divided over the latest installment of the dystopian drama.

The South Korean series’ first outing of 2021 quickly became the streaming service’s biggest show ever, racking up a whopping 1.65 billion viewing hours.

It followed the story. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), along with other unlucky people, faced a series of deadly children’s games, killing many along the way, in an attempt to win the £24 million prize money.

Series two sees Seong return to battle again, but some critics claim the show has now ‘lost its edge’, while others called it ‘utterly engrossing’.

Daniel Feinberg wrote in The Hollywood Reporter: ‘The second season of Squid Game is a major letdown.’

“It’s not a fundamental level where Squid Game is broken, but season two just doesn’t work.”

Rebecca Nicholson said in her three-star review The Guardian lamented the show’s pacing, writing, “For the first three of these seven new episodes, it struggles to find its purpose”.

‘For all its imperfections, especially when it heats up to the right action, there is one big twist that really works, although it’s unclear whether it’s different enough from what happens in the first series.’

“And just when you think you know where he’s going, he turns away from his trajectory, raises the bar and finds his feet. What a shame it takes so long to get there. Series three still has some tidying up to do.”

ColliderTherese Lacson claimed the show was as subtle as a sledgehammer, writing, “The downside of [series two] is that once we’re in the actual arena, you can see the plot twists coming from a mile away, even if a new game is introduced, and if you don’t, the show flashes lights in your face to make sure be that you are prepared for the incoming twist.

“It often feels like the show is afraid that the audience might not understand what’s going on, so everything has to be spelled out.”

“By the time the season comes to an end, it feels like a lot of time has been wasted on repetition. Especially since the final episode picks up and shows something we haven’t seen before, more time could have been spent here than anywhere else.”

Meanwhile, Ed Power wrote in his own three-star review for it The telegraph: ‘Squid Game 2 is the equivalent of a pop star’s difficult second album overnight. It contains much of what you loved about the first Squid Game, from 2021, but has little interest in surpassing, let alone undermining, its predecessor.

‘The cast is expanded, with Park Gyu Young as a traumatized North Korean woman and Park Sung-hoon as a transgender participant. But despite these new additions, the series does not radically deviate from the established formula.’

‘It skims the surface of the Squid Game world if you want it to dive deeper and show us something new. Despite all the chaos and ultra-violence, Squid Game 2 plays it safe with a vengeance.

However, in The Times, Tim Glanfield was full of praise, declaring the series ‘more complex and nuanced’ than the first outing.

‘The key to the success of this sensational return is its careful and thoughtful pacing, combined with hints of light in the horrifying shadows.’

What was the original show’s greatest strength remains: people making bad decisions, forging fragile alliances and desperate friendships, only to see the tables dramatically turned.

Annabel Nugent also gave the show four stars The independent and wrote, “So, can Squid Game catch lightning in a bottle for the second time? Well yes and no. It’s impossible to repeat the shock of that first outing, and [creator] Hwang Dong Hyuk would do well not to try.”

‘Where the first series relied on shock for horror, with each death landing like a solid blow to the back of the head, season two draws the terror from what we know as returning audiences, once again positioning Gi Hun as our surrogate. He also knows what comes next and yet even with that knowledge he is powerless to stop it.”

Meanwhile, viewers flooded X with disappointed responses, complaining that they “didn’t wait three years for this.”

Fans unanimously labeled it “boring” and “predictable,” while also complaining that it lacked the show’s signature nerve-wracking plot.

Among the long list of complaints, people on the social media platform also said there were hardly any “new” games, with some producers pleading: “Don’t come back for another season.”

The bitter commentary was inevitably everywhere on had to concentrate + not even introduce them properly and the end is S**TI didn’t wait two years for this….’.

‘just finished season 2 THAT SHIT WAS HORRIBLE, I cry AWAY all the elements of the first season, there is no emotion, substance, and all the games had no tension or stakes #SquidGame2’;