Squid Game season 2 draws to a close with a surprising, epic finale. Here are our thoughts on episode 7.
Warning! This review will contain spoilers for the first half of the episode!
Squid Game season 2 is coming to a close with episode 7, which is filled with more twists and turns than we can count. We try to keep these reviews as spoiler-free as possible, but with episode 7, we’re going to have to give something away or otherwise this review wouldn’t go past this paragraph.
If you haven’t watched Squid Game season 2 episode 7, we advise that you do so before reading this review. We won’t be giving the ending away, but we will be talking about what happens in roughly the first half of the episode, which is still pretty spoilery. We don’t want to go full spoiler-mode on the show still, but just discuss some of the moments that deserve to be talked about.
So, without further ado, here are some thoughts on episode 7.
In episode 6, tensions were really getting high as the final vote ended in a tie. The group is now completely divided, right in the middle and violence is about to erupt. The gamemakers and guards have no issue with that, providing some with sharp forks with their dinner that can later be used to stab someone.
Someone like Thanos. The last episode ended with him trying to strangle Lee Myung-gi, but Thanos obviously didn’t know Myung-gi had a fork on him. Thanos was clearly intended as this season’s villain, but the character became more of a comic relief and, frankly, really annoying in the last few episodes.
A huge brawl breaks out in the bathroom between the different sides and people are lost on both sides. It’s really a testament to how much the games mess with your head as the surviving players’ first concern is which side lost more people, who won the vote? Things get even more tense during the night, but Gi-hun and his crew have a plan: overpower the guards and take over, get the hell out of there and expose the whole scheme.
It’s an ambitious plan and it’s exhilarating to watch it unfold. Squid Game season 2 has managed to change things up just enough to feel different from season 1 but episode 7 sets the course for the third and final season. In many ways, this episode feels like Squid Game is finally breaking free of the chain of the games. We all love to watch those and I certainly enjoyed watching the new games and even said the season found its groove when it focused on the games finally in one of the reviews. I stand by that statement, I genuinely felt that while watching those episodes, but perhaps I didn’t know I craved for something more.
Episode 7 certainly gives me plenty of whatever I was craving. The episode is action-packed, tense and strangely emotional. The problem is that the episode is so full of action and twists that the smaller, more emotional moments almost get lost in the sea of gunfire and blood. The episode runs 54 minutes without credits, but I wish it ran just a tad longer to give individual moments some time to breathe.
Season 2 ends in style and leaves us wanting more, just like any season finale should. The ending is a little abrupt and clearly designed to force us to watch season 3 to see the full conclusion of the narrative, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this season.
All episodes of Squid Game season 2 are streaming on Netflix.
