not as entertaining as the first season but then, how could it be? we already know the gag so i guess the challenge for this show was to sustain it and i acknowledge that that's hard. i think it still had its charm and fun moments but i did feel like it is very much the middle season. the bridge to get to the climax which means the pacing here really started slow for me. we didn't get new insights to the game or story. we're still almost at the same place we were when the first season ended... pretty much? i mean we got a new perspective with park gyuyoung's character as one of the pink-tracksuit army but again, not enough insight.

we got a bunch of new characters. acting-wise, i have no complaints here. they delivered in that category alright but these characters are mostly unforgettable. i think it's a mistake not to give them some sort of background stories just like what they did in the first season, even just a little. instead, a lot of the character are already connected somehow and the background stories are just off the screen. the conflicts and fights didn't feel as impactful and this resulted in me not caring much who dies next. well, i do care (especially to that mom who is also a senior! my queen!) but not as intensely as i wanted to. i want to be moved emotionally and to feel hurt and sad. i guess kang haneul's character might be my favorite one but shout out to TOP (man, i haven't seen this guy in years!). and the controversial one which is park sunghoon's trans woman character. i acknowledge this is a step forward in korean media but overall, they really didn't do much with that storyline so there's nothing much to say anyway. both things can be true.

back in season 1, my favorite parts where the games to be honest because it was just entertaining to watch and fun. the betrayals, the desperation, when characters suddenly switched, the drama and conflicts and chaos etc. that was just fun to watch for me back then (hey it was 2020. i needed entertainment lol). i'm glad they changed some of the games but of course, that first one remained. i get it, it was iconic. i just think this was all creative how they incorporated children's games. and i just love the sets and visuals of it all. but i think i'm in the minority because from what i gathered, the part where the contestants vote whether they continue the game or not is the more popular one because that scenes really got a lot of screen time.

but they did leave some mystery with whatever's happening on that boat with junho and i did like the twist with player 001 being there in the trenches with them. i wish he played more mind games with them to be honest lol still... it had its fun moments despite losing the shock factor. i am still gonna be seated for that third season so