Squid Game - Season 3

In the final season of Squid Game, we continue to explore Seong Gi-Hun's story. The big question, of course, is whether he can survive all the games once again. As with every review, I'll try to avoid spoilers about this season as much as possible. Since the third season picks up right after the second season ended, I can't avoid discussing the second season. If you don't want to risk spoilers about the second season, you might want to stop reading here.



After two seasons, the premise is clear. People with large debts receive an offer in Squid Game. By participating in a few games, they can earn a huge amount of money, giving them a fresh start. However, they only discover, as participants, that the prize pool is filled by the elimination of other participants. And you eliminate by dying.

During the second season, the pool of contestants has thinned out considerably, not least because some of them rebelled against the game hosts. The resulting casualties, and there have been quite a few, have significantly increased the pot. This has also drastically changed the relationships between the contestants.

Seong Gi-Hun, played by Lee Jung-Jae, is completely devastated by the end of season 2. While in the first season he was primarily driven by guilt towards his daughter and in the second season was determined to stop this competition, by the third season it's clear that something has broken inside him. Little remains of his fighting spirit and survival instinct.

Gi-Hun's development over the three seasons is especially beautiful to watch and well played by Jung-Jae.

However, he, along with the others, will have to continue with the sadistic games, since most of the players don't think the pot is full enough yet and want to move on. And so Gi-Hun is forced to try to get as far as possible again, while his companions, such as the pregnant Kim Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri), 'mother' Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim), and Cho Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), try to get Gi-Hun out of the doldrums.

We see new games, but without any truly innovative ones. Overall, I found the games a bit less extreme than in previous seasons. This wasn't a problem, as it shifted the focus away from the games themselves and toward the interactions between the participants.

And in that interaction between the participants, the people behind the series show they haven't lost their edge. The full spectrum of humanity is revealed in all its beauty, but also with all its flaws. From the people who come together under these circumstances and try to be there for each other, to those who betray everything and everyone around them and take a tough stance to get ahead. This aspect, in particular, made the third season stronger for me than the second.

The third season certainly wasn't perfect, however. The fact that the focus is more on the interactions between the participants means that this season, despite "only" consisting of six episodes, sometimes feels a bit slow and drawn-out. Furthermore, I was, to put it mildly, quite annoyed by the dialogues between the VIP guests (just like in the first season, by the way), and – although I could live with the ending of season 3 – I found that not all storylines were concluded satisfactorily.



All in all, I definitely found this season stronger than the previous one. Was it innovative? No, it's largely the same as what we've seen before. But there were enough twists to keep things exciting, and it's also intriguing to see the character development of several main characters. Gi-Hun's development over the three seasons is particularly beautiful and well-played by Jung-Jae.

And even in the third season, there's plenty to ponder. The creators of Squid Game paint a dark picture of what people in trouble are capable of and how individualistic humanity can be, while also showing that hope for humanity isn't lost.