[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Squid Game - Season 2" Episode 4

Ironically, Gi-hun's presence actually appears to have increased the willingness of the other competitors to continue playing, since his knowledge of the game makes survival more likely. Of course, the payout won't increase unless other people die, an ethical dilemma Gi-hun tries to emphasize without much luck. It's appropriate in this context that Gi-hun becomes friends with competitor number one, who might be pushing for the game to keep going but at least acts nice about it and has a compelling story about his wife.

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Everyone else though? Well...they're not as loathsome, which is definitely a plus. Seo-nyeo, or 144 (played by Chae Gook-hee) is a shaman, or possibly a fake one, who may or may not just be mentally ill. Dae-ho, or 388 (played by Kang Ha-neul) is virtually unrecognizable as a tough guy who may or may not be pretending to be a ex-marine. Then there's Myeong-hee, or 333 (played by Yim Si-wan), whose former work as a cryptocurrency hype man directly led to many other competitors falling deep into debt.

The foibles of the competitors mostly read as pathetic rather than vicious. Very explicitly so in the case of No-eul, who sees her role in the game as one of providing mercy killings to people so pitiful they're willing to throw their lives away. The ethical dilemmas of the game's enforcers are much more intriguing one than those of the players. Because No-eul takes her nihilistic perspective so seriously, she actively sabotages the organ donation subplot.

As she sees it, the competitors expect and deserve a quick death, not a death timed in such a way to make organ harvesting practical. Incidentally, I wasn't expecting the organ harvesting subplot to make a comeback. I'd completely forgotten that the first season of "Squid Game" also had one, mainly because it didn't seem to go anywhere except to help Joon-ho kill time. Speaking of Joon-ho, that's about all he's doing at the moment.

Despite the most obvious lead sitting right in front of him, "Squid Game - Season 2" can't really rush outside progress since the big appeal of this franchise is the absurdly high stakes children's games the characters play. And for what it's worth, the second game is genuinely well-constructed from a game theory perspective and a lot of fun to watch. Excellent editing decision to end this episode right in the middle of it, the characters all having realized the game's a lot harder than it looks.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Squid Game - Season 2" is directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, written by Hwang Dong-hyuk, and features Lee Jung-jae, Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Jo Yu-ri, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-shim. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2024/12/26~Upcoming, Thu on Netflix.