3 Great Things About ‘Squid Game’ Season 3 (And 3 That Are Unforgiveable)
Squid Game Season 3 has come and gone in the blink of a giant animatronic murderbot’s eye.
Despite being one of the year’s most anticipated releases, the show has seemingly left this earthly plane without changing the course of history. It’s still on people’s radar, sure, but it’s already making way for fresher, less murder-y IP — namely, Superman and Jurassic World. That said, Season 3 still comprises the much-hyped ending of one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time, and is still spawning much discourse, both good and bad. Along those lines, let’s look back at everything that worked and everything that had to do with the VIPs.
3 Things That Worked
More of the same
Netflix bosses understood the assignment when they renewed Squid Game for “two” final seasons back in 2022. (The “two” seasons have turned out to be one season, split in half.) After we viewers responded to the grotesquerie of Season 1 — its bloody, horrifying games and compelling, allegorical characters — these bosses knew that we would want more of the same. Almost by decree, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has thus concocted a sophomore season that sends Gi-hun right back into Squid Game, where he has faced even more demented and deadly children’s games. Just as in Season 1, the characters of Squid Game Season 3 have been relatable in ways both good and bad, appealing to our cynicism while stealing our hearts. It all makes for addictive TV.
The metaphor is metaphoring
Squid Game Season 1 wasn’t subtle about being an allegory for capitalism, but Squid Game Season 3 has been even more blatant about it. Not coincidentally, the players who have made it to the end of this Squid Game are all greedy, selfish men — men who are willing to sacrifice their own children just to stay alive. Considering that the better half of America is now aware that a handful of billionaires are worsening climate change, effectively killing future generations even as they buy entire islands, such an obvious metaphor has arrived at a perfect time.
“The Starry Night”
Just as “Gganbu” did in Season 1, “The Starry Night” accomplished the near-impossible task of delivering both action and tragedy while elaborating upon Squid Game’s thesis about capitalism. Multiple characters met their fates in ways both spectacular and heartbreaking, and the claustrophobic nature of the episode generated multiple jaw-dropping developments.
3 Things That Didn’t
The VIPs
Much has already been said about their cringe performances and dialogue, and there’s no point in repeating those criticisms here. That said, the VIPs were a missed opportunity. If they had been funnier or more nuanced, or if they had significantly furthered the plot, then they could have been a statement on modern colonialism or American decline. Instead, they just sat there and flirted like AI sexbots.
The contrivances
Season 3 may have delivered some satisfying Game-related moments, but Hwang Dong-hyuk had to bend over backwards to get us there. Supposedly, Gi-hun reentered the Squid Game to save his fellow competitors, but if he had succeeded in this, then the season wouldn’t have contained as much action and violence. Thus, Dong-hyuk had Gi-hun make some truly boneheaded decisions to keep the season’s plot engine humming along, ensuring viewers got more Games. Meanwhile, the doomed B Plot of Jun-ho seeking the island went absolutely nowhere, amounting to an inconsequential distraction and cheap source of tension. Netflix would have never allowed a Games-less Squid Game, and this was the result.
That whole ending
Gi-hun’s final sacrifice is heroic and hopeful and thematically appropriate, but it would have been so easy for him to have pressed that button before flinging Myung-gi off of the platform. He could have survived without affecting the show’s message. Instead, we’re left with 30 final minutes of minor, undeveloped characters having mid endings, followed by … Cate Blanchett?? Like, she’s just … there? With barely a line reading? Even though there’s reportedly no talk of an American spinoff? So they just, like, wasted Cate Blanchett? They committed the capital crime of Improper Use of Cate Blanchett? And for what? To generate clickbait headlines about Cate Blanchett? To incite furiosity among culture writers? (Kroll Show reference.) JAIL! THIS DESERVES JAIL! If you weren’t already joining protests over everything else happening in America right now, then this should have been the final straw. I’ll see you out there.
