This observation brought to you by musing on the streamer’s latest effort to hype up Squid Game 2, the second season of its South Korean murder game import, which Netflix would like you to know an unbelievable number of people have watched.

With 152.5 million total views, the second installment of "Squid Game" has become the third most-watched TV season on Netflix, trailing behind only its own first season (265 million) and "Wednesday" (252 million).

In contrast to other critiques of capitalism that tend to highlight the players behind the scenes, ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 unearths why people play along with the system in the first place.

Squid Game Season 2 had some big shoes to fill when it arrived, given just how wildly successful the Emmy-winning first season was. And although the sophomore run on Netflix was a fun one, the format change was frustrating. Specifically, that it took us so long to get in the games, and how few games actually happened through the second season.

An intriguing aspect of the second season of the hit Netflix series "Squid Game" is its use of traditional children's games as challenges, several of which are similar to the ones I played as a child in Iran such as paengi chigi (top spinning), gonggi (jacks), biseok chigi (rock throwing or kicking) and Red Light, Green Light.

Squid Game' is Netflix's most watched show ever, but reviews for its second season have been sharply divided. Here's what this proves about the survival thriller.

The seven-episode installment put up another 26.3M views from January 6 to 12, easily making it the most-watched title of the week. With 152.5M views since its December 26 premiere, it sits behind only Squid Game Season 1 and Wednesday in terms of all-time viewership.

When the first Squid Game season came out in 2021, it took the world by storm and became, by far, the biggest show to binge on Netflix. It seemed like we couldn't escape from the series, and then Season 2 finally came out in 2024 after a three-year wait. But thankfully, we're not going to be waiting long for Squid Game Season 3 – the final season.

This article contains spoilers for season 2 of Squid Game and its ending.

Squid Game Season 2 becomes Netflix's third most-watched series with 152.5 million views, following its own record-breaking season, Squid Game Season 1, and Wednesday. According to reports, it topped non-English charts for multiple weeks.