When Does Season 2 Take Place?

Spoilers for “Squid Game” season 2 follow.

It’s been three years but now the show that took over the globe in 2021 and became Netflix’s biggest launch series ever is back for a brand new game that’s likely to be just as deadly and treacherous as the last. One of the most important things to remember from Season 1 of “Squid Game” is that Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) was the only surviving player of the brutal battle royale that saw him ₩45.6 billion richer, and with a full head of dyed red hair. So where does season 2 pick up? How long has it been since our hero declared hunting season on the game masters that are still picking out of pocket members of the public and giving them the fight of their lives? Well, as revealed in the first episode, it isn’t very long. In fact, it’s like we barely left the games at all.

Kicking things off in the first episode, we’re reunited with Gi-hun immediately where season 1 left off: Gi-hun, his hair still red, is still on a phone call with the mysterious Front Man when realizes he has a tracking that’s been implanted behind his ear, which he promptly cuts out. From there, the story jumps forward a whole two years, highlighting what feels like a lengthy stalemate between our hero and the masked villains.

In a world where every second counts and choosing the right sugar cookie can be a matter of life and death, there’s something to be wary of over the fact that “Squid Game” flashes forward a whole two years following the events of last season’s final episode. While he might have been lucky in making it out alive, Gi-hun hasn’t got anywhere in terms of tracking down the games masters behind his haunting experience, even with the help of a team he’s paid to monitor subways for the mysterious Recruiter who lured him into the nightmare to begin with.

But in all that time of striking out, just what have the evil folks behind the games been up to? How much have they been monitoring our hero and more importantly, how much have they infiltrated his life after his win? It’s all well and good to be paying a team to go on the hunt, but who’s to say those he’s hired don’t already have another employer? Every dead end in tracking down the game’s masters might be a set-up from the inside. He needs someone he can trust. Someone that has a reason to get back over the fence and in the eyes of that head-spinning doll. Unfortunately, that person busy in a boat with a fisherman to keep him company.

Determined police officer Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) is back on the case even after the misstep of being shot and almost falling to his death last season. Now reapplied as a traffic cop following his failed effort to reveal the games to the world, he’s spent the last two years trying to find the island that has miraculously disappeared. Seemingly every day, Jun-ho sets sail with fisherman Captain Park, who pulled Jun-ho out of the sea after he was shot last season. 

Day in and day out, Jun-ho and Captain Park sail around, trying to find the island, with absolutely no luck. Of course, two years is a long time for a shifty company to cover their tracks, chief among them being Jun-ho’s own brother, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), aka the Front Man, who is carrying on the legacy left behind him by Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su). Last time the two met, Jun-ho’s older brother shot him and almost sent him to his death to keep his new occupation, so there’s no telling what limits he’s willing to go to ensure it stays that way. For now, the only sensible game plan is to binge the whole series and make sure no one picks an umbrella this time around. 

“Squid Game” season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.