This review may contain spoilers
A Disappointing Ending to a Great Show
I was really excited for this to drop, only to be left feeling empty as the credits played. All this season has to offer us story-wise is the same things told to us in the first season, just leagues worse.
The ‘confrontation’ between Gi-hun and In-ho was so disappointing. It was hyped up as this grand thing and lasted five minutes in a quick, rushed manner. And I don’t get having In-ho as one of the main characters in season 2 just for him to go right back to being a side character glazing the VIPs in season 3. I liked the message it tried to bring forward, but the execution of it was poor.
Jun-ho was so useless he may as well have just stayed dead. 13 episodes and all he manages to do is call the coast guard and scream “Why?,” once again at In-ho. Woo-seok managed to be more useful than him.
The final game was filled with dumb decisions that made absolutely no sense. What was the point in bringing Min-su to the final game just for him to die immediately? Myung-gi decided to charge at the other men when they had already made a compromise that would’ve guaranteed that he make it to the final round and live. Genuinely what was the point in fighting when someone had already been pushed off. Yim Si-wan was incredible though. The button was so obviously just a means to get Gi-hun to sacrifice himself for the baby.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the baby. First of all, how the hell did it survive??? It was born prematurely in a bloody death arena, also birthed by a malnourished woman, but happened to come out just fine. The logic with it made absolutely zero sense. I actually enjoyed the message of it, but when it comes to realism, it really lost me.
A lot of people have commented on Gi-hun’s confusing morals, and I get it to an extent, but I also liked it. After the rebellion, he had no reason to live, but used Dae-ho as a scapegoat so he wouldn’t blame himself. He ends up killing him and regrets it immediately. Once Jun-hee’s baby is placed in his hands, he finds a new reason to keep going. He’s given a knife and is told to kill the finalists to ensure he and the baby’s survival. He can’t bring himself to do it because Sae-byeok appears and reminds him he isn’t that kind of person. That and In-ho’s flashback were my favorite scenes of the season. I get the confusion from people, because he had no idea what the next game was and was just playing with fire, but his tears felt raw and real and you could feel that he didn’t want to resort to what In-ho was. It wasn’t as bad to me as others, but it was still a bit confusing. Also, how did he not find it in him to kill In-ho, the one he had been hunting down for YEARS. That was the part I was lost on.
Lee Jung-jae’s acting was good, but at times I couldn’t help but feel that his character was almost on the sidelines? It felt like he had a few lines just every once a while instead of being a main. I get that the point was that he was almost catatonic and didn’t have anyone, but they really could’ve given him at least a bit more to work with. I feel bad knowing he lost 20 pounds for the role just to barely do anything. Jump rope was his standout moment because you could actually see the terror there. All he really said in Hide and Seek was: “It’s your fault.” Speaking of, I really wish they did more with Dae-ho then just resorting him to something to propel Gi-hun’s arc. It was clear he had some sort of trauma, but was just made out to be a coward with no real story. Kang Ha-neul acted him out amazingly though with how little he was given.
Once Hyun-ju died in Hide and Seek, I realized that was where we were going with this. She deserved to be a finalist instead of Min-su. Geum-ja was also a standout, Kang Ae-shim did her thing with this role. Her speech to Gi-hun was really sad and so was her death.
No-eul’s storyline was good and I think it was a nice addition, she was a standout here. I found no interest in Gyeong-seok, the father of the sick girl.
The scene with Gi-hun’s daughter was heartbreaking, In-ho’s horrible. Also the final scene with Cate Blanchett was kind of off-putting, but I didn’t hate it.
In conclusion, Squid Game really should’ve stayed one season. You can tell this is just Netflix milking a popular series for profit, which is pretty ironic considering the message of the series. Despite this, I’m still glad this brought back my love for Squid Game and gave us new characters and more great scenes. #justiceforseonggihun
Favorite Episode: The Starry Night (S3E2)
Standout Performances: Lee Jung-jae, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, Kang Ae-shim, Park Gyu-young, Yim Si-wan
The ‘confrontation’ between Gi-hun and In-ho was so disappointing. It was hyped up as this grand thing and lasted five minutes in a quick, rushed manner. And I don’t get having In-ho as one of the main characters in season 2 just for him to go right back to being a side character glazing the VIPs in season 3. I liked the message it tried to bring forward, but the execution of it was poor.
Jun-ho was so useless he may as well have just stayed dead. 13 episodes and all he manages to do is call the coast guard and scream “Why?,” once again at In-ho. Woo-seok managed to be more useful than him.
The final game was filled with dumb decisions that made absolutely no sense. What was the point in bringing Min-su to the final game just for him to die immediately? Myung-gi decided to charge at the other men when they had already made a compromise that would’ve guaranteed that he make it to the final round and live. Genuinely what was the point in fighting when someone had already been pushed off. Yim Si-wan was incredible though. The button was so obviously just a means to get Gi-hun to sacrifice himself for the baby.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the baby. First of all, how the hell did it survive??? It was born prematurely in a bloody death arena, also birthed by a malnourished woman, but happened to come out just fine. The logic with it made absolutely zero sense. I actually enjoyed the message of it, but when it comes to realism, it really lost me.
A lot of people have commented on Gi-hun’s confusing morals, and I get it to an extent, but I also liked it. After the rebellion, he had no reason to live, but used Dae-ho as a scapegoat so he wouldn’t blame himself. He ends up killing him and regrets it immediately. Once Jun-hee’s baby is placed in his hands, he finds a new reason to keep going. He’s given a knife and is told to kill the finalists to ensure he and the baby’s survival. He can’t bring himself to do it because Sae-byeok appears and reminds him he isn’t that kind of person. That and In-ho’s flashback were my favorite scenes of the season. I get the confusion from people, because he had no idea what the next game was and was just playing with fire, but his tears felt raw and real and you could feel that he didn’t want to resort to what In-ho was. It wasn’t as bad to me as others, but it was still a bit confusing. Also, how did he not find it in him to kill In-ho, the one he had been hunting down for YEARS. That was the part I was lost on.
Lee Jung-jae’s acting was good, but at times I couldn’t help but feel that his character was almost on the sidelines? It felt like he had a few lines just every once a while instead of being a main. I get that the point was that he was almost catatonic and didn’t have anyone, but they really could’ve given him at least a bit more to work with. I feel bad knowing he lost 20 pounds for the role just to barely do anything. Jump rope was his standout moment because you could actually see the terror there. All he really said in Hide and Seek was: “It’s your fault.” Speaking of, I really wish they did more with Dae-ho then just resorting him to something to propel Gi-hun’s arc. It was clear he had some sort of trauma, but was just made out to be a coward with no real story. Kang Ha-neul acted him out amazingly though with how little he was given.
Once Hyun-ju died in Hide and Seek, I realized that was where we were going with this. She deserved to be a finalist instead of Min-su. Geum-ja was also a standout, Kang Ae-shim did her thing with this role. Her speech to Gi-hun was really sad and so was her death.
No-eul’s storyline was good and I think it was a nice addition, she was a standout here. I found no interest in Gyeong-seok, the father of the sick girl.
The scene with Gi-hun’s daughter was heartbreaking, In-ho’s horrible. Also the final scene with Cate Blanchett was kind of off-putting, but I didn’t hate it.
In conclusion, Squid Game really should’ve stayed one season. You can tell this is just Netflix milking a popular series for profit, which is pretty ironic considering the message of the series. Despite this, I’m still glad this brought back my love for Squid Game and gave us new characters and more great scenes. #justiceforseonggihun
Favorite Episode: The Starry Night (S3E2)
Standout Performances: Lee Jung-jae, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, Kang Ae-shim, Park Gyu-young, Yim Si-wan
Was this review helpful to you?
