When Squid Game first dropped on Netflix in 2021, its anti-capitalism and anti-establishment messaging hit the culture at just the right time (not that there’s ever really a bad time for those ideas). Fresh out of the pandemic and still reeling from the Trump administration and the January 6 insurrection, the show resonated outside of its South Korean origins to become an unexpected international critical and popular hit. Squid Game 2, the second season of Hwang Dong-hyuk’s show, was all but inevitable, especially given the first season’s cliffhanger ending. It can be difficult for a show to follow up on great success and elevate what came before, and while the show’s second season doesn’t always live up to its potential, it provides a number of exciting thrills and interesting characters.

It’s difficult to discuss the proceedings of Squid Game 2 without diving into spoiler territory, but it’s safe to say that Hwang has kept his same sensibilities intact that led to so much success with the first season. For all the show’s bloodlust and anti-capitalism metaphor, it worked best as a parable for personal responsibility. Here were characters who often had no control over their own lives and often had to rely on others to survive. What can you do to ensure your own safety when the deck is stacked so heavily against you? For hero Seong Gi-hun (Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae) in the start of Squid Game 2, that means finding new and unique ways to enact his personal vendetta against those that ran the games.

Season 2 picks up almost immediately where season 1 ended, with Gi-hun on the hunt, turning down the chance at a new life with his ex-wife and daughter. Lee is as committed as ever throughout season2, portraying a man who has been lost in the deep end without ever admitting it, even if Hwang sometimes forgets to put him front and center. But where Squid Game 2 really shines, once again, is in its ensemble cast of new characters.

Netflix’s trailer reveals that Gi-hun returns to the games, but I won’t discuss how or why, or the nature of any of the games played. The new season introduces a wide variety of new characters who feel brand new to the show, and not reincarnations of last season’s players. They all come from different backgrounds, bring different energies to the games, different strategies, and different motivations to make it out alive. Again, I won’t go into specifics on who they are or whether they’re friends or foes to Gi-hun, but it feels like each performer has a solid grip on their character and how they contribute to the show.

Where Squid Game 2 stumbles is in its plotting, as it often feels overly similar to season 1. So much of the 7 episodes are concerned with the games that it can often feel like Hwang had less compelling ideas to explore. This is a season where an additional 2 or 3 episodes could have led to a more complete season, and less like a bridge for its third and (presumably) final season, which is supposedly coming in 2025. After finishing the season finale, I was left hungry for more – not because I was eager to see where the story goes, but because I felt like too much was left on the table.

The major shift in the conversation to be found here is in an eerily prescient subject in US culture – especially after the 2024 election. There was a nugget of this idea in season 1, but it’s more fully formed in Squid Game 2. That is, the idea that a group of people will too frequently act against the greater good and instead choose their own self interests. Clause number 3 of the games – in which the players get to vote on whether to continue playing or not – gets re-worked this time around, and it provides a good deal of the character drama. With survival horror, it’s easy to posit what you, the audience member, would do in each given situation. This element remains Squid Game 2‘s biggest strength, as players are forced to decide not just their own fate but that of their comrades, often multiple times per episode.

For as unimaginative as some of the action is, there’s no denying that Hwang has a knack for ratcheting up the tension. Whether it’s a simple game of rock-paper-scissors between some secondary characters or one of the squid games, Hwang can put you on the edge of your seat for every moment. Whether these moments manage to add up to a satisfying whole, however, is a different story.

The entire season of Squid Game 2 premieres on Netflix on December 26.