It might have been simple to take the profitable high-concept premise of “Squid Recreation” — down-on-their-luck contestants competing to the dying in a sadistic, child-themed battle royale — and easily replicate it for Season 2. In spite of everything, the present’s first season that appeared on Netflix with little preliminary fanfare in 2021, was hailed as an insightful fable about late-stage capitalism, and attracted a reported 330 million viewers worldwide, turning into the streaming service’s most-watched title of all time.
However the present’s second season, which premiered the day after Christmas, introduces an intriguing plot ingredient that cleverly faucets into the present political second. Essential critiques of the brand new season have been blended, however the brand new installment of “Squid Recreation” could also be the most effective popular culture look but on the social dynamics which have led to a sequence of right-wing shifts world wide — from the election of Yoon Suk Yeol, the hard-line conservative President of South Korea, in 2022. to a second win for Donald Trump right here at house. If the primary season was about how capitalism forces folks to make unattainable selections (like preventing a murderous sport present in hopes of enhancing a determined scenario), the second season is all in regards to the casualties of tribal life: how the strain to face a one other in a winner-takes-all political battle results in destruction and despair for all.
To grasp the evolution of the sequence in its second season, it helps to recall a spotlight from Season 1: the second episode, titled “Inferno”, during which the traumatized survivors of the sport’s first problem got the chance to vote on whether or not they wished to proceed the sport. Contemplating that the primary problem of the sport resulted in dozens of casualties among the many contestants, the viewer can assume that the contestants will unanimously vote to flee. However when confronted with the fixed hopelessness of their predicament within the outdoors world, the contestants universally select, by episode’s finish, to re-enter the sport – believing that its harmful races provide them the most effective likelihood to vary their destiny. The sport is merciless, however the world is crueler. And they also vote to play.
In Season 2, this winner-takes-all dilemma turns into not only a one-time vote, however an occasion after every spherical. The surviving gamers should resolve by majority vote whether or not to finish the sport for everybody or proceed in hopes of amassing the largest jackpot attainable. And there is one other twist: ending the sport prematurely now not ends in everybody going house empty-handed, however somewhat everybody will break up the winnings equally. It is a traditional sport present dilemma — give up now and take the cash you’ve got earned, or hold stepping into hopes of larger riches — however within the palms of the Squid Recreation creator, it turns into a malicious social experiment.
The contestants shortly group into two opposing factions: the pink “X” staff, who need to get away and keep away from additional bloodshed, and the “O” blue staff, keen to maneuver ahead regardless of the dangers. The present just isn’t refined in its political allegory. The voting scenes are staged to really feel like political rallies, with X and O camped on both aspect of the aisle. In a later episode, a wave of populist fervor engulfed the group, fueled by desperation, greed and survivalism. “We have come this far, so let’s do it yet one more time!” a competitor urges the sluggish to transform. What follows ought to include a warning to any American who was horrified on Nov. 5, as the following electoral landslide for the blue staff is accompanied by chants of “4 extra years!” — sorry, “Yet one more sport!” — that sweep the gamers’ bed room.
Finally, the contestants understand that the extra expedient approach to acquire a bonus is to get rid of the opposition somewhat than convert it – and because the corps goes utterly tribal, they choose up weapons and assault one another. That is the final word message of the present’s second season: tribal battle is a hearth that consumes itself.
Hwang Dong-hyuk, the sequence’ creator, started writing the second season proper after Yoon Suk Yeol was elected president of South Korea. He clearly had a political divide on his thoughts. At a panel final fall in Los Angeles, held a number of days earlier than the US election, he stated of the present that he wished to inform a narrative “about how the completely different selections we make create conflicts between us” and the way he hoped to “speak in confidence to begin a dialog about whether or not there is a approach to transfer in a path the place we are able to bridge these divides.”
It is most likely no coincidence that the Squid Recreation hails from South Korea, a younger republic with a tumultuous historical past marked by authoritarian leaders. Most not too long ago, in December, Mr. Yoon tried to declare martial regulation and has since been impeached following widespread and sustained strain from the Korean public. Footage of their joyous protests traveled the world and echoed related mass demonstrations that led to the ouster of President Park Geun-hye in 2016.
There is a second within the Season 2 finale that struck me as a beacon of hope for the human spirit. A member of the Xs (performed by sequence star Lee Jung-jae) manages to assemble sufficient allies among the many contestants to mutiny in opposition to their armed pink-suited guards as they try to storm the management room and take over the sport. A few of these volunteers sacrifice their lives in service of the larger mission of liberating all contestants—even members of the opposing staff. Solely when the tribal spirit falls can all gamers rise.
As America awaits Donald Trump’s second time period, I’m wondering how we as residents will react. Are we already too deeply divided, into pink staff and blue staff, and too preoccupied with our particular person comforts to behave in a method that considers anybody else’s well-being? In accordance with the parable of The Squid Recreation, we are able to both be conspirators in our mutual destruction or deliverers from it. We’ll discover out whether or not or not we are able to muster the braveness and compassion essential to work for our collective betterment when a brand new season of the American drama begins on January 20.
