TV: Squid Game (Season 2)

Squid Game is Netflix's most popular show (and by extension, the world's most popular show), so it was all but assured we would get more episodes of the dystopian Korean survival thriller (spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the first season, of course):

Season 2 starts with protagonist Seong Gi-hun's efforts to shut down the titular competition, though at first he is aided only by his newfound wealth and survivor's guilt. Eventually, he's joined by another main character from the first season, Hwang Jun-ho, who infiltrated the Games as a guard only to get a bullet in the shoulder for his trouble.  As you might imagine, the murderous Games start anew and it's up to our heroes to save the players inside - assuming they even want to be saved...

I like Squid Game, but it's not the most original premise nor is its social commentary particularly unusual, especially for South Korea (cf. Parasite). The second season suffers from a big case of "been there, done that," but it does have some fine performances and raises a few ethical quandaries about the nature of violence and greed. I hesitate to recommend it only because it is unfinished - it's only 7 episodes long and ends on a cliffhanger, with literally nothing resolved.  Before you binge, you may want to wait for the third and final season of Squid Game to come out later this year.