The fourth episode of Netflix’s smash hit series brings us new games. Here’s our review of Squid Game season 2 episode 4.
Warning! No spoilers for episode 4 but loads for previous episodes.
Now that we’re back in the games, Squid Game season 2 has truly found its groove. Episode 3 brought back Red Light, Green Light, but it seems that’s the last of the familiar games we’ll see this season.
First and foremost, after the last episode revealed that the Front Man has also entered the games as player 001 and he was the deciding vote between the players continuing the games and going home. Naturally, the games are continuing or there would be no Squid Game season 2.
In Squid Game season 2 episode 4, the Front Man, who doesn’t disclose his real identity (obviously) to the other players, is trying to make friends with Gi-hun. This adds another fascinating layer to season 2, but Squid Game is in danger of becoming a little overcrowded. As we mentioned in our review of episode 3, there’s a lot more characters, a lot of perspectives, a lot of names and player numbers to remember. Squid Game certainly isn’t light entertainment anymore; it requires your full focus and concentration. The ambition is admirable, but the real test is if showrunner and director Hwang Dong-hyuk can keep balancing all the different elements.
But back to the games themselves. Gi-hun is dreaming about having to do the Dalgona challenge again, but with even more difficult shapes. As if the gamemakers would let him off that easy; the next game involves teams of five, tied together by their legs and forced to play 5 minigames within a five minute time limit. This might sound easy, but have you ever tried to walk in harmony with four other people? Give it a try and you’ll find out it’s very hard indeed.
The organ harvesting is also still happening, run by a new guard, dressed in all black. They’ve learned their lesson from the last games and hired an actual doctor to do the harvesting rather than one of the players, but guard 011 aka No-eul (Park Gyu-young) is ruining their plans by making sure the players are dead, rendering them useless for organ harvesting. I’m sure this will make her very popular among the guards trying to make an extra buck on the side.
What’s slowly becoming the biggest change in this season of Squid Game is the entire voting situation. Having a very public vote after each game, rather than on request, is turning the players quickly against each other, especially as they’re wearing a patch with their vote on their chest. It creates a lot of tension and something tells us it’ll incite chaos and violence later in the series.
The episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but as all episodes are released at once, you can simply press play on the next episode. It makes me wonder if cliffhangers are losing their effect when you can just keep watching immediately? Is it just a tactic to get people to keep watching but one that lessens the series’ dramatic weight?
If you’ve pressed play on the next episode of Squid Game, you might as well click on our next review!
