Has The Squid Game Lost Its Spark? Season 2 is facing backlash

“Squid Game” Season 2 arrived with sky-high expectations, but not all viewers are happy with the latest chapter of the global Netflix phenomenon.

While the series continues to raise serious stakes and harrowing moral dilemmas, some fans have expressed frustration, claiming the show has “lost its edge.”

Like its predecessor, The Squid Game Season 2 features a diverse cast of financially desperate players. Some abandon their morals in pursuit of victory, while others cling to their humanity despite the high stakes.

The second season of South Korean dystopian drama The Squid Game has already proven to be a success for creator Hwang Dong-hyeok, garnering critical acclaim and a 2025 Golden Globe nomination for Best Drama Series even before its release. The new season quickly shot to number one on Netflix and currently holds an impressive 85% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, some American viewers think otherwise.

Collider gave a brutally honest review that read, “You see plot twists a mile away even when a new game is introduced — and if you don’t, the show will flash in your face to make sure you’re ready for whatever twist is coming. It often feels like the show is afraid that the audience might not understand what’s going on, so everything has to be explained.”

They added: “By the time the season comes to an end, it feels like a lot of time has been wasted on repetition.”

Guardian said: “He’s struggling to find his goal… It’s a shame it’s taking so long to get there.”

Social media users also expressed their disappointment after watching the second season.

“Season 2 just finished. IT WAS FREAKING HORRIBLE, I CRIED,” one viewer wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “All the elements from the first season are gone… there’s no emotion, no substance, and no thrills, no stakes in all the games #SquidGame2.”

“SquidGame2 is as obnoxious as ANYTHING EVEN WAS, it’s low key, so dirty and all over the place,” said another.

“I haven’t been waiting for this for 2 years,” wrote a third.

Building on the record-breaking success of the first season, hailed by Netflix as the “biggest series launch in history,” Lee Jong-jae thanked fans for the overwhelming support and enthusiasm surrounding “Squid Game” season 2 release.

“I want to say that I know a lot of fans are rooting for us,” he said People magazine. “They love us, and what I think is really special about The Squid Game is that now I not only have Korean fans, but people all over the world have noticed and love me. So I really like it.”

In June 2022, Netflix officially renewed The Squid Game for a second season and later confirmed plans for a third, cementing the series as one of the platform’s flagship franchises.

“I thought to myself: can I do this? Will I be able to create or write something that surpasses the first season?” he said IndieWire writing the second season. “But once I started writing and once I got into the story of Gi Hoon (Lee Jung Jae) coming back to the game with his own motives, things went a lot better than I thought.”

“Along the way, I think that feeling of heaviness or pressure actually turned into a source of joy, and I slowly gained confidence that we were creating something that the fans of the first season wouldn’t be disappointed with,” Hwang added. “Having said that, it was obviously no easy feat. However, I think with that confidence I was able to go into it with a better approach.”

The Squid Game Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.