Why I’m Not Watching Squid Game Season 2

After four long years, the second season of the South Korean survival-thriller show “Squid Game” has finally been released. With the success of the first season, many viewers all over the world were highly anticipating the release of the second season. So far, it seems the second season is off to a strong start as edits and clips of the show have practically been taking over the front pages of my social media.

With the release of the second season and various clips from the show assuming control over my social media algorithm, it reminded me of when the first season premiered. The first season was released over three years ago, right in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic outrage! We were all locked in our homes, attending all our classes through Zoom, and taking all our graded exams behind a screen where God knows what we were looking up.

Anyway, I was in the late seventh or early eighth grade when season one was released. I distinctly remember binge-watching the entire first season of Squid Game the day it was released and talking about it with my friends over the phone. However, in terms of the second season, I haven’t watched it and don’t plan on watching it anytime soon. Trust me, if I had the time I would have watched it and gotten caught up with practically the most popular Netflix show right now. But unfortunately, I don’t have the time. Nor the energy, to be honest.

See, over the course of three years I’ve not only gotten older, but my relationship with time has shifted completely. As a young seventh or eighth grader, I had all the time in the world to binge a random series on Netflix, especially since I was forced to spend all my time in the confined location of my house. Binge after binge and I’d still have enough time to doom-scroll on various social media platforms, video call my friends, and play video games for hours.

However, things have changed, I’m now a junior who has just begun the IB diploma. Plus I’m not allowed to complete all my assignments and attend all my classes in the comfort of my room. I spend most of my day at school and when I get home I either have an extracurricular class or heaps of homework and studying. Most of the time, it's both.

If I’m lucky, I’ll get an hour or two to spend for myself, where my options are: catching up with friends, playing a sport, going out with family, maybe even watching the second season of Squid Game. Which option should I choose? Realistically, it’s most likely going to be taking a nap or doom-scrolling on Instagram reels or Tiktok, which are both options that give me some space to breathe in bodily-preparation for another cycle of school, home, and study.

So, if I have to choose between the options presented above, watching an episode of Squid Game is not an experience that is worth my limited time. I want to make the most out of my free time, which often occurs late at night, hence why I am limited to two options of sleeping or scrolling. However, during the holidays such as the recent winter break, I had free time during the day as well, and I could have watched Squid Game. But honestly, would I rather sit on my bed staring at my laptop screen for eight hours straight or spend time traveling and catching up with friends and family? The former is basically what I do every day at school already, so I’ll go with the latter.