The Squid Game Season 2 Trailer Line That Means More Than You Realized

The official teaser for Season 2 of Netflix's "Squid Game" is finally here, and a lot of things look tragically familiar: There's the green jumpsuits on hundreds of unwitting players putting their lives on the line; the pink-suited overseers ruthlessly running the show; and Player 456 himself, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), back on the playing field once again.

Season 1 made clear that the reason why anyone ends up in these games is simple: desperation, and the belief that money can save them. The literal piggy bank looming over the contestants' heads is a constant reminder of what they stand to gain by surviving, and what they'll lose if they walk away. That slim chance of winning all the money they could ever want overrides their rational brains, leading them closer to danger and self-destruction. It's the ultimate gambler's impulse: "One. More. Game."

This line, shown in the teaser as seemingly being chanted by every player at one point in Season 2's story, calls back to the hook that initially got Gi-hun involved with these games to begin with. It's an evident reference to the first moment in Episode 1 of the series, when Gi-hun encounters the Ddakji-playing salesman on the subway platform and keeps signing himself up for one more round, chasing victory — and the promise of prize money — at all costs.

Following up on the ending of Season 1 of "Squid Game," Gi-hun is making good on his choice to return as a contestant to try and tear the game down from the inside. Using his experience as the last game's winner, his first goal seems to be to save as many lives as possible, making himself available as a human strategy guide. But the teaser suggests that he quickly learns his goals are easier said than done, and he's not going to be able to help anyone if they're not willing to help themselves. Hearing everyone he's trying to save chant their commitment to another game, Gi-hun looks totally lost. It looks like he thought this would be easy, but he'd do well to remember that he basically made the same choice.

The central question of Season 2 seems to be, how much bloodshed will these players need to see before they join Gi-hun in his efforts to break the game? Will any of them listen, or is Gi-hun doomed to once again be the last man standing? One thing seems certain — if Gi-hun spends the whole game trying to foment revolution, he's probably not walking away with his life, much less any prize money. He might think he knows more than all the other players, but he also might be stuck playing a game he's got no chance to win (and might not have played again, had the show gone with a very different ending).

There's only one way to find out how it all works out for Gi-hun and the other players, and that's by watching "Squid Game" when Season 2 premieres on December 26, 2024.