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    The Atlantic

    The Agony of Indulging in <em>Squid Game</em> Again

    The Netflix hit’s second season can’t quite break out of its own vicious cycle.
    by Shirley Li Dec 26, 2024 4 minutes
    Source: Juhan Noh / Netflix

    When the South Korean drama Squid Game hit Netflix in 2021, the show became a bona fide cultural phenomenon. The story of people in debt competing to the death for a massive cash prize looked like nothing else on television, juxtaposing candy-colored children’s games with horrifying hyper-violence. Squid Game soon turned forest-green tracksuits into a trendy Halloween costume. It helped enter the word dalgona—the sugary treat used in one of the contests—into the pop-culture lexicon. It was parodied on. For weeks after I watched, I couldn’t get during the first contest, Red Light, Green Light, out of my head.

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