“I’ve played these games before,” Gi-Hun could not possibly be more right. The Hunger Games, one of the best franchises of all time, has been completely flying over peoples’ heads since 2008. 

While watching the games is entertaining, and Katniss and Peeta’s love story is heartwarming, the point of the series is about power and greed. Yes, Sam Claflin is very handsome playing Finnick Odair in the second and third movies, but focusing on that aspect over the serious plot points is proving that people don’t actually care about the issues trying to be addressed. 

The same thing is happening with Squid Games 2. Yes, the cast is amazing, yes the games are interesting to watch, yes the frontman is always looking at Gi-Hun like he is in love with him, but that isn’t what the show is about. It is supposed to show the greed of humankind. 

The season starts following Gi-Hun (player 456) as he is trying to hunt down the recruiter who got him to join the game three years after season one. At the end of the first season, Gi-Hun doesn’t get on a plane that would have ensured him a safe, comfortable life. Instead, like the Matrix comparison the frontman made, he chooses the red pill, and dedicates his existence to ending the Squid Games. 

Gi-Hun comes up with a plan with Jun-Ho, the detective who was trying to find his brother in season one, to find the frontman. However, the plan quickly falls apart and Gi-Hun finds himself in a limo with the frontman. Gi-Hun, realizing that he was out of options on the outside, requests to rejoin the games. 

Throughout the games, the rules change from before. Almost taunting, the updated rules are meant to show Gi-Hun the true nature of humankind.

Many people say that Gi-Hun was selfish for returning to the games. He already won 45.6 billion won in the first games, he didn’t need to win again. Seeing this comment proved to me that media literacy is entirely dead. Everything he did in this season was to put an end to the games. 

I’ve heard a lot of people say they skipped the first two episodes of season two because they were “boring” and went straight to the start of the games. This is proving the exact point that Squid Games and literally every single dystopian piece of media ever. The VIPs watch the games for their own amusement, just like so many average people. 

Squid Games season two absolutely surpassed season one, and if you haven’t watched it already, I highly recommend it. However, if you do, I beg you to remember the point of the show. This is not a gruesome thriller show about the lengths people will go to in order to earn an exuberant amount of money, it’s about the nature of people and the lengths they would go in order to survive, and how the rich are so detached that they revel in the bloodshed.