Squid Game Season 3

In defense of a controversial last season

I am already seeing a lot of people saying that this finale was a let down and I understand where they're coming from. That being said, I think only 2 parts here were poorly handled and I feel compelled to defend the decisions made in wrapping up this story.

The 2 parts I didn't like:

1. The VIPs (as usual): I wasn't aware of this until I got deep into kdrama land but essentially all English-speaking actors are extremely cringe (I'm from the US). Not just Squid Game; ALL of them, including great shows like Mr. Sunshine and Dali & the Cocky Prince (both of these shows have leads who are also leads in Squid Game lol). I didn't understand at first why the hell all of these actors are so awful but it makes sense. There are simply not that many actors to choose from. Finding native English speakers working in Korea to act in these roles might not be THAT hard but the fact of the matter is that most actors aren't GREAT actors. Excellent actors are overrepresented in our mainstream media for obvious reasons. Add to that that many of the English speakers living in Korea aren't native English speakers...you're going to have accents and intonation that can distract from the role.

That being said, especially by season 3 of the world's most popular show, they absolutely had the budget to fly out some good actors from the English-speaking world. I think the actors overall were better than those in the first season but it felt kind of unjustifiable to have any cringey acting by this season.

2. The American spin-off being set up: I think the beauty of this show, from an American perspective, is that I can get so immersed into a completely different country, language, and culture. I don't need any of this being Americanized. This show has been an introduction for many Westerners into the incredible array of content being generated by the Korean entertainment industry and I wish we could just continue to make space for that without centering ourselves as usual lol.

Onto my defense:

First, for any show that is this plot-driven, sticking the landing is always an EXTREMELY difficult task. There will always be naysayers regardless of how the show wraps because we are all here for the plot and the plot simply has to end. While intensely satisfying endings aren't impossible, we really just need to adjust our expectations (think Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, etc). The more intense and complex the story, the more opportunities for plot holes as it concludes. Endings may feel too forced but that can verge on inevitable if the writers want to create any kind of climax. Some people want happy and satisfying endings (I certainly do for romance shows) but with a show like this, how happy is too happy? This is a dark show and ending things in too positive a light can begin to feel like pandering.

This show has done a fantastic job of showing us the complexities of many social issues as well as our unsettling capacity for everyday cruelty. At the end of the day, the whole point of the show is that the patterns of cruelty and exploitation continue to outlive us by design. So often the only survivors or "winners" are the ones who keep the exploitation machine greased and maintained; staying true to ones principles can be a death sentence. This show has shown us how we go about defining the limits of our morality through the lens of richly complex and diverse characters.

i absolutely loved watching the frontman the most. i have to give it to both the writers/directors as well as lee byung-hun for creating a character as multidimensional as him. i just want more back story about him and that would make a great prequel, however i know the actor is getting older and playing his younger self will only get more challenging if it's to remain realistic.

some people hated the whole baby plot. i can see why but personally i thought it was beautiful and well handled overall. to think that the winner was a defenseless baby, despite such smart and talented contestants, speaks to the complexity of our humanity. even watching the dad fight to the end had me feeling conflicted and confused about him. was he good or bad? what were his overarching motivations? how much of it was money versus protecting his kid? i still don't fully know. yim si wan did a fantastic job as usual.

we got to see some very accomplished and talented actors in one show (lee byung hun, kang ha neul, yim si wan, park gyu young, among others). very complicated themes were fleshed out in a way that kept me on the edge of my seat and asking myself "what would i do in this situation?"

this was a hard landing to stick and i hope that more people will feel how i feel!

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"Not Perfect, But Still Entertaining"

For me, it was good. I don’t know why everyone said it was bad.
The comedy and sense of humor at the beginning were funny. I loved how they didn’t forget to add humorous scenes or characters.
"Hide and Seek" was a good game, but the rest felt rushed. It seemed like they were just trying to milk the show too much.

I feel like the standout characters this season were Nam Gyu and Myung Gi. I loved how Nam Gyu imitated Thanos. That really made me laugh.

The CGI baby was a bad idea.
Also, the scene where the pink guard saved Player 246 felt unrealistic.
Detective Hwang, to me, was unnecessary to the plot.

The VIP scenes were cringe. Their speech sounded like AI-generated text-to-speech, and their lip movements didn’t match their voices.

The jump rope game music was a poor choice. It didn’t fit the atmosphere.

I know many people say Detective Hwang was a useless character, and I kind of agree. But people forget that he did protect Player 246 by shooting the pink guard.

Being a useful character doesn’t mean you have to save everyone or shut down the whole game. A small action can still make a character useful.

As for the ending, I agree with those who say it was bad. Gi-hun was stupid for not pushing the button.

Some say it was a “realistic” ending because Gi-hun sacrificed himself, but I don’t think so. To me, money is everything. It’s better to take the money and enjoy life. Why should we care about others? It's not our fault those people died; we didn’t kill them.

Lastly, I expected all the VIPs or people involved in the Squid Game to be caught, but they weren’t. In a way, it makes sense. You can’t really touch the rich and powerful. That part felt realistic, since the powerful always find a way to stay safe.

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What a good way to ruin a completely fine story.

If you haven't watched Squid Game, then I'd recommend watching only the first season. Don't bother to watch the whole series; don't even think about it.

This season comes off as a disappointment because many would agree that Squid Game S1 itself was such a good story and didn't need a continuation if they were going to do it like this. While I was grateful for the 2nd season announcement and seeing the list of actors and actresses, now it's all just become a big why, because most of them didn't even make an impact to the story.

The writing is very meh. While the 2nd season actually made a nice hook, the 3rd season feels like an abandoned draft that you come back to just for the sake of giving an ending. What's worse is that this whole season seems like only an introduction to the US spin-off. Which is another why.

I really don't understand why Gihun would be so eagerly hunting Daeho and blaming him for what happened, show no remorse after killing him, but then feel bad about killing other players that are actually worse than Daeho. God forbid a guy having a fear of being killed in an obvious situation that they'll lose. Even after this unnecessary witch hunting, I thought that he'd talk about Youngil or Jungbae more, as their impact throughout his journey was undeniable, but no, he just doesn't talk at all.

One of the other things that should not have happened is Junhee's giving birth in the middle of the game. It's just a weird approach. At one point when Junhee's water broke, I did predict that the baby was going to survive because some stories like to push the "parents will do anything to save their baby" narrative. Like, I don't have a problem until it's going worse with Hyunju's death, and the next game is a jump rope. Hyunju's death feels like a bigger throw-off even, because she has been a great addition, and it doesn't make sense that she died that way because she has served in the military and has a very good survival instinct in the 2nd season, and they just slide it off.

Don't even get me started with Myunggi. They wanted to make a second Sangwoo so bad, and I'm glad it failed. Was he really supposed to be the villain all this time? He literally shows a few times of going back and forth, not sure about what to do next, easily swayed. He has no resolve, just a no-brainer, a disgusting character.

I know they want to show that there's still humanity left in that place after what they're going through, but leaving a baby alone in that place was a mistake, a selfish choice, because under whose care would that baby even grow up if not with the people who know her background there? I kind of hope that at least Junhee, Hyunju, or Gihun will win and raise the baby, but then they killed everyone and forced Junho into parenthood, omfg. This guy has failed in what he was supposed to do the entire series, mind you.

While the game's whole plot is beyond help, kudos for the soldier sub-plot, though. Noeul did what she had to. She was one of a few great characters in the series. Also, shout out to Geumja and Yongsik too; their story was actually great and heart-wrenching that they had to end that way.

Anyway, I still think that there are a lot of better options for the story. I don't know why the hell they decided to go with this half-ass writing, God bless.

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Its worth it!!

I see a lot of people upset with the endings and deaths in this season , but if we are all watching the same show , they were always going to die everyone of them and somebody would has won , the show is to give a inside view of what greed does to humans , that no amount of money will ever be enough to satisfy them , no matter how much body’s they hold above their head because of that money , because the money is blood money. Gihun killing himself in the last game was to prove a point that there is still people out there who has their morals , because he was given an option but still choose to be fair , he had all the opportunities to win but he still play fair , he made a promise and he made sure it happened even if he wasn’t the one doing it. The reason i would watch it again is for my emotional distress that i do nit want to put myself through again . And the quote before Gihun died says a lot “we’re not horses, we’re humans” the vips treated them as a game as bets as objects as horses during horse racing so that quote spoke lengths me. So cinematic ,give it a try or don't its up to you

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Very disappointing

Netflix’s worst decision was splitting what should've been the second season of Squid Game into two shorter ones. What could’ve been a tense and compelling final season ended up feeling flat and uneventful. Nothing interesting really happens. We spent far too much time following the boat group, which ultimately leads nowhere.

Jun Ho isn’t a terrible character, but his arc adds little to the story. Especially in Season 3, he's not portrayed as a particularly competent detective. His most impressive feat is somehow sneaking onto the island, navigating a maze of corridors, confronting his brother from a distance, escaping, and swimming to safety—all in under 30 minutes. All that while knowing there’s a bomb.

I don’t even mind that Gi-hun dies in the end, especially since the game just ends and nothing actually changes, but what bothers me is how irrelevant soldier 11 turns out to be. Her entire quest amounts is just to save 246, and that’s it. Meanwhile, the character who gets the harshest punishment is the guy who broke into the Captain’s house and ends up in jail, which is laughable.

P.S. Couldn’t Netflix get better actors for the VIPs? They managed to get Cate Blanchett for a cameo, after all.

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It didn't disappoint

It was a biittersweet season finale. New games, aand plot twists. I wasnt disappointed with the ending at all. In fact, if it turned out differently, I would have felt cheated. It was realistic with the issues and sacrifices. as well as regrets and fight for survival.

Many would have seen the frontman as te next villian. However, as an ex-player and a previous winner he lost his humanity. The sacrifices made by the unselfish chracters restored it and probably made him a more humane man. The concept was a great one. The baby so innocent and pure, a true representation of sinless unlike the other players was the ultimate winner. Kudos to the directors, producers ,the actors and all of those people who made the show.

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Keep Hollywood out of Korea

I have a feeling this was created to cater to both Netflix and an American audience the reason kdramas are so good is, because they lean into family and friendship no matter how bad things get. Korean drama characters also fight and never give up. Spoiler part=This seemed to go off the rails as a father was willing to kill his son,all the MC just give up and just accept their fates. I would have been fine with a sad ending but no ending(us spinoff) and gold cards? seriously? Give me a break...the fact the main antagonist just walks away and the brother stops his search..what??

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whats with the ending?

i started to get so pissed off by gihoon because he was being kinda like a jerk, not wanting to push that guy at the bridge, or trying to kill daeho even tho /it was/ kinda his fault the fact that they caught them while trying to escape and that they killed his friend.

also, i didnt want gihoon to survive/win again because itd be so boring (thank god he died but were they hinting he was still alive? ugh) but the baby winning? i dislike babies, and in shows/movies like this they pissed me off even more (i obv didnt want them to die dont get me wrong) but also maybe myeonggi couldve survived if they had pressed that mf button to start the round.

the first season of squid game was clearly the best one. and idk, if ive said this before, but i wasnt supposed to watch the 2nd season lmao because i hate when something gets popular, and i started to dislike it BUT i couldnt help myself when haneul and siwan got announced for the 2nd season😓 i just love them, theyre such a great actors and this show wasnt the exception

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why...just why... 0 added value

3 seasons later i dont even have any feels for the characters anymore. Most of them free loaders and just weird greedy people. The excitement from s1 games is totally gone by now. Honestly they should have revealed how this organisation fully began instead of adding more games in...the 10s of flashback we got about 001 was the most exciting part in the series cause we finally got some idea about how he became the boss.

the detective....im sorry really for 2 seasons all he did was go from island to island like thats all...no progress at all...

overall since s2 i was quite disappointed so i didnt have much expectations but this was more boring...

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The Human Condition

A lot of people aren’t going to be thrilled with the last installment of Squid Games because they watch TV to escape. They want to see the good guys win and the bad guys lose. However, Squid Games isn’t a show with good guys and bad guys… it is a lot of grey. Regular people end up doing heinous things out of fear and desperation, and the truly altruistic people are a minority. The culmination of the sacrifices made by the collective good deeds of the minority of altruistic people in Season 3 amounts to the survival of an innocent baby. And that is a worthwhile reason!

The best scene for me was Lee Byung-hun’s Front Man character’s flash back to when he made a selfish evil decision in the last round of his first game, only to be disappointed to see that Lee Jung-Jae’s character (Gi Hun) did not follow the same path. Front Man wanted to justify his choice by seeing Gi Hun, a self righteous man trying to save people, make the same evil decision… but he did not. Thus, the Front Man has to face the fact that he is a lesser man.

I personally like dark dramas and these types of “thought experiments”. I want to believe the world is mostly full of good people, but in reality, particularly looking at today’s environment and political landscape, it is clear that the world is run by selfish people, and good people suffer for it as the minority. Good people don’t often seek power or amass wealth. Good people who try to follow the rules and make a positive impact don’t often succeed in this world. But we can succeed in little ways, and enough good deeds can amass over time to a meaningful impact.

End Rant. Go watch this show and don’t expect a perfect world… just try to make a slightly better one.

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A disappointing last season that tarnishes the near perfect first season of a show

This season was disappointing and the ending was frustrating.

Now, I know many people will say that the ending has lots of meaning - Innocence winning, proving that everyone is greedy at the end, and that sometimes good can just never win against evil. My response to that is that all of this would have been entertaining if S2+S3 was a standalone story. Imagine a standalone story with no baggage with the baby winning the game. Epic.

Where things fall apart is that S3 was supposed to wrap up an already launched story. All of the commentary on society and shock value has already been covered in S1, so we were supposed to see the characters accomplishing what they set out to do.

Instead, everyone failed. We got a repeat of the same commentary about greed and selfishness through the characters actions. No one we rooted for survived, and a baby that came too late in the story won.

Even if one character had made a difference.. if Jun Ho had killed a few VIPs on his way out or if Gi Hun had managed to avenge and do something that would ensure the games don't happen again or if a character we rooted for since S2 had won, I think the ending would have been more satisfying.

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Speechless. In a bad way

I have legit nothing to say.

So much frustration, so many years pent up thinking it’ll be a solid ending. I guess i’m dissatisfied because it’s not a satisfying revenge ending, but this whole thing honestly felt like a ddakji slap in the face. It made us all watch this with hopeful optimism for a good ending, only for it end like that. And to think that nobody paid for their sins…I guess it’s the cruel truth of the reality. But even if it is reality, I’m not obligated to like it. I wish it had a satisfying ending.

Cate Blanchett was a cool little cameo though.

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