When Squid Game hit our screens back in 2021, it did so without fanfare or ado – a blood-soaked bolt from the blue that set a new benchmark for TV. Within weeks of its release on Netflix, it became the platform’s most-viewed title in 90 countries.

Except it's not, because three years later, the world in which "Squid Game 2" (streaming now, ★★ out of four) returns is drastically different than it was in 2021. And part of that difference is the effect of "Squid" itself: What was once a deeply shocking satire and critique of capitalism has become so popular and ubiquitous that it's too easily reduced to punchlines and memes.