Netflix is in a weird position at the moment. Not a bad one, but they have finally reached the point where they have to accept the truth that every stockholder and investment fund try to avoid: Growth is neither linear, nor permanent. You should attempt to expand, but failure to do so does not mean that you have incompetent executives or your strategy suddenly sucks, it means that you have reached a point where you are fighting for diminishing returns and you should start looking for new markets or ways to further distinguish yourself on existing ones.
So they have decided that one of the ways they are going to do the latter is to make a real life game show based on Squid Game. And yes, like everyone else who covered it I have to add that no, there won’t be any deaths on this one…hopefully. If only I could’ve been on the meeting where they decided to greenlight this, because its approval implies that they know that Squid Game is popular but they have no idea why.
“So Squid Game is popular?”
“Yes.”
“Is there, like, a game show that uses the same concepts”
*stares blankly* “No. At least I hope not.”
“Excellent, we should get right on that.”
“Um…people die on the Squid Game”
“Oh.”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
“Maybe not recreate them that faithfully then?”
“No.”
At no point anyone involved in the conversation even considered throwing office furniture at whomever put the idea across. They just considered that Squid Game made a lot of money and earned tons of praise and thank you customers may we have another (monthly subscription)?
I lament that such a unique product is being driven pedal-to-the-metal down the road of watering down and brand debasement, but none of this should be surprising. The series was doomed from the moment it became successful. All of a sudden this artistic product, of which the creator had no intention of making more, is printing vast amounts of money. So now they have to send executives to production company Siren Pictures Inc. with some flash money and the promise that there will be much more from where that came from for a second season. And then it trickles down from the executives to the accountants to director Hwang Dong-hyuk. Only he knows how he truly feels about making a second season, but with this much at stake, they would do it either with or without him.
Will the second season be as good as the first one? Yes, probably better. Will it be as popular and well-received? Likely not. But Netflix hopes they will made pots of money between them releasing it and you finding out.
But what would I know? I never actually watched Squid Game.
