- Have YOU got a story? Email [email protected]
The hotly-anticipated second season of Squid Game dropped onto Netflix on Thursday, to the delight of fans who have eagerly waited for three years.
The South Korean series' first outing back in 2021 swiftly became the streaming service's biggest ever show and racked up a whopping 1.65 billion viewing hours.
It followed the story Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) along with other people down on their luck faced a string of deadly children's games, with many dying along the way, in a bid to win the £24M prize fund.
Series two sees Seong again retunring to battle it out, however some critics have claimed the show has now 'lost it's edge' while others declared it 'utterly engaging'.
As viewers binge the new instsalment, there is one fleeting scene that they won't want to miss.
The Squid Game post-credit scene, which comes at the end of the final episode, teases the next game to come in the competition - and it seems to be a twist on Red Light, Green Light.
The hotly-anticipated second season of Squid Game dropped onto Netflix on Thursday, to the delight of fans who have eagerly waited for three years
The Squid Game post-credit scene, which comes at the end of the final episode, teases the next game to come in the competition
The eerie clip shows see Players 096, 100, and 353 entering the game, set against a new backdrop of a sunset.
It reveals that the giant Young-hee doll is set to have a creepy male companion, setting the scene for a terrifying new challenge in season three as the light turns green and the post-credit scene ends.
The show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told Entertainment Weekly: 'That’s actually a [sneak peek] of Cheol-su, who, like Young-hee, is a new giant doll that we’re going to be showcasing in Season 3.
'And that’s also a hint at the most exciting game in Season 3 as well. So, while it hasn’t been shared yet, I hope everyone will be excited to meet Cheol-su and the new game.'
It comes just after viewers brutally branded the long-awaited new season as 'overhyped' and slammed 'boring' storylines.
Just a few hours after its release, viewers flooded X with disappointed comments - complaining they 'didn't wait three years for this'.
Fans unanimously branded it 'boring' and 'predictable' - while also moaning it lacked the show's trademark nail-biting plot.
Among the long list of complaints, people on the social media platform also raised there were barely any 'new' games, with some begging producers: 'Don't come back for a new season'.
The bitter commentary was inevitably all over X - formerly Twitter - where viewers wrote: '#SquidGame2 is so underwhelming likeee WHAT WAS EVEN THAT its lowkey so messy and all over the place too many characters to the point idk who to focus on anymore + didnt even introduce them properly and the ending is S**T I didnt wait 2 years for this….'.
It sets scene for a terrifying new challenge in season three as the light turns green and the post-credit scene ends
The South Korean series' first outing back in 2021 swiftly became the streaming service's biggest ever show and racked up a whopping 1.65 billion viewing hours
It followed the story Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) along with other people down on their luck face a string of deadly children's games in a bid to win the £24M prize fund
Series two sees Seong again retunring to battle it out, however some critics have claimed the show has now 'lost it's edge' while others declared it 'utterly engaging'
'just finished season 2 THAT S*** WAS TERRIBLE IM CRYING all of the elements from the first season GONE there’s no emotion, substance, and all the games had no thrill or stakes in it #SquidGame2';
'season 2 of squid game lowkey boring like idgaf about the storyline just show me the games';
'#SquidGame2 season 2 is so boring so far';
'Done watching #SquidGame2 It is so boring. What a waste, the only good part was the salesman lmao';
'just finished watching #SquidGame2 and to sum it up everything was really predictable, no plot twists or anything messy writing, characters and sigh... i expected more after waiting for so long and now we prob have to wait another 3 years? hmm';
'#SquidGame2 super boring season 2';
'Squid Game S2: - Very slow and boring most of the time - Unlikable characters - Lots of useless moments - Not enough game moments - The plot barely moves at all Very disappointed';
'They made us wait for this boring season no need to return for another one #SquidGame2';
'#SquidGame2 6.5 of 10 Games were lackluster minus the final one in my opinion. Deaths and games weren’t as creative as the first season still enjoyed it but huge downgrade from first season in my opinion';
It comes just after viewers brutally branded the long-awaited new season as 'overhyped' and slammed 'boring' storylines
The bitter commentary was inevitably all over X
'SPOILER squid game 2 was a 6 or 7/10 imo. felt to dragged on. could have been 5 or 6 episodes instead of 7. there was only 2 new games which i am mad about and feel like there could have been alot more. I wish purple guy suffered a worse death';
'it’s 4am and I just binged #SquidGame2. Games were quite interesting & tense at times but for the most part, it’s a weak sequel with little to no development and the stupidest character motivations. Decisions made absolutely no sense and finale was a mess';
'disappointed with #SquidGame2 it was just so predictable and pointless the whole season felt like a filler episode. s3 better come out fast';
'#SquidGame2 is decent, but fails to capture the scale and imagination of it’s first season. Less about the unique games and tension, this season focuses on the character drama, scaling back on the unpredictability of its predecessor';
'Aside from the fact that it’s NOT FINISHED, #SquidGame 2 is VERY underwhelming. Its characters are flat, the script is trying way too hard to be “modern”, and the emotional gravity from season one is nonexistent because I just didn’t care about any of these new characters';
'Man... #SquidGame2 is reeaaally bad The first episode is incredible, but the remaining 6 feel like they were made by a completely different director, with an entirely new, creatively bankrupt tone. It is almost unrecognizable from the previous season. What a disappointment'.
Daniel Feinberg wrote in The Hollywood Reporter: 'The second season of Squid Game is a thorough letdown'.
'It’s not a fundamental level on which Squid Game is broken, but season two simply doesn’t work'.
Daniel Feinberg wrote in The Hollywood Reporter: 'The second season of Squid Game is a thorough letdown'
Rebecca Nicholson said in her three-star review in The Guardian lamented the show's pacing and wrote: 'For the first three of these seven new episodes, it struggles to find its purpose'.
'For all of its unevenness, particularly as it is warming up to the proper action, there is one big twist that really works, though whether it is distinct enough from what happens in the first series is unclear'.
'And when you think you know where it is going, it turns away from its trajectory, upping the ante and finding its feet. What a shame it takes so long to get there though. Series three has some cleaning up to do'.
However in The Times' Tim Glanfield was full of praise and declared the series 'more complex nuanced' than it's first outing.
'The key to the success of this sensational return is the careful and thoughtful pacing, combined with hints of light within the gruesome shade'.
What was the greatest strength of the original show remains: humans compounding bad decisions, forging fragile alliances and desperate friendships only to see the tables dramatically turned.
