It is a truth universally acknowledged that a successful first season means that a season two is coming, and that is true for Squid Game. The South Korean hit show has made a piggy bank full of money for Netflix, and so we knew this news was coming.

Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk was at a red carpet event at NeueHouse in Los Angeles on Monday, according to CNN, where he said that because of the response to the show, he feels he has “no choice” but to make a season two.

“There’s been so much demand, love and attention for a season two so I feel I have no choice but to make a season two,” he said. “I have a rough idea about it but I think it’s too early to say when or how specifically. But I can promise you this — Gi-hun will come back and he will do something for the world.”

The Squid Game story so far

In case you have, by some chance, missed out on the premise of Squid Game, it goes as follows: 492 severely indebted people join a competition that will give them an opportunity to gain a huge amount of money by winning a series of children’s games—except the consequences for losing are a lot bloodier than anyone would have expected.

Season 1 follows Gi-hun, a former union worker who has become severely indebted through gambling and lives with his mother. He is very much our anti-hero protagonist, a well-meaning but flawed man attempting to do right in a situation that can only lead to pain and suffering.

Gi-hun is our lead, but we also bond with several players throughout the game, some for only one episode, but due to the excellent writing, that ended up being more than enough to create attachment to them. That’s all I will say without getting into spoilers.

Squid Game is a special surprise series that, even coming into it knowing some aspects of the story, I was still blown away. Even the parts that don’t work (that whole cop storyline) do not detract from the exceptional character writing and suspense that surrounds the show. I was on the emotional edge of my seat the entire time.

High expectations for Squid Game season 2

That leads to very heavy expectations for a season two. The door was definitely let open for that—but any second season is going to have to completely switch up the format. Hwang Dong-hyuk worked on trying to bring this series to life for about ten years. I doubt Netflix will give him that much time for a second season, but I do hope that he is given the time and resources (and pay increase) to craft a new season.

Right now, a Netflix spokesperson told CNN that the company was in discussions about a second season‚ but that one had not been confirmed just yet.

But also, it is okay for a standalone, self-contained single season of television to exist. Have we learned nothing from Big Little Lies?

(via CNN, image: Netflix)

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