JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
"Squid Game" is back for a second season.
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CHOI SEUNG-HYUN: (As Thanos/Player 230, speaking Korean).
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SUMMERS: Season 1 of the hit show, which came out in 2021, quickly became Netflix's most popular show of all time. It told the story of hundreds of contestants fighting to the literal death in hopes of winning a cash prize.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (Speaking Korean).
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (Chanting in Korean).
SUMMERS: And though the story was melodramatic and outrageous, it touched on real societal issues that resonated with people. Here to look back on the success of Season 1 and talk a little bit about this new season is Suk-Young Kim, professor at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television and author of the book "Surviving Squid Game." Thanks for being here.
SUK-YOUNG KIM: Thank you for having me.
SUMMERS: I want to start by talking about the first season of "Squid Game." It was hugely successful. But for people who didn't see it, what do you think it was about this story, the way that it was told, that really just sucked so many people in?
KIM: Right. I think everything about the story was familiar - at the same time, refreshing - in its format. All those games, based on children's games in Korea, is something that people will understand easily because rules are simple. But at the same time, they're tied to this life and matter death. And it really captured the psychological edge of people who have no options but to play these deadly games just to pay off their debt. And we should remember that it was released during the height of COVID, when...
SUMMERS: Yeah.
KIM: ...The wealth gap around the world was deepening.
SUMMERS: You've written about how "Squid Game" is, in a lot of ways, indebted to the genre of Korean drama, or K-drama. How would you describe that relationship?
KIM: Right. So a lot of K-dramas usually end in cliffhangers. So when I was watching "Squid Game" Season 1, I just couldn't stop watching because every episode ends in the middle of action. And also, the deep, intense portrayal of family relationship, friendship and human network is so crucial. It's the foundational fabric of Korean drama. And "Squid Game" still retained some of the foundational features of how important sustaining your deep human network is.
SUMMERS: So "Squid Game" was indebted to the K-drama, but what did the success of "Squid Game" mean for Korean TV and movies and their reach globally?
KIM: No other Korean drama had success at this level, in terms of reaching the global audience. And it, I think, opened a lot of doors for new talents. But at the same time, the local distribution and production companies are struggling deeply nowadays as a result of presence of global companies such as Netflix 'cause they bring up the cost of production and the guarantee for talents. So it is a double-edged sword.
SUMMERS: Season 2 is out now, and I don't want to spoil it for people, but I know that you have watched some of it. What do you think so far?
KIM: Well, it confirmed conventional wisdom that sequels are not as good as originals, and I must admit that I was disappointed because the freshness, the psychological edge of the first show was gone. And we have more violent and more dramatic sets playing on a bigger scale with more characters, but I just thought that the story fell flat, partly because the main character, Gi-hun, now turned into this incarnation of morality, and he became very preachy. And I don't quite follow the character arc as I did with Season 1.
SUMMERS: That is Suk-Young Kim, professor at UCLA and author of "Surviving Squid Game." Thank you so much.
KIM: Thank you.
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