Every game has to end sometime. We’ve been left in suspense for the past six months ever since “Squid Game” season two was released on Netflix back in Dec. of 2024 and risked going in a new direction for the series. Thankfully, the risk was worth it, as the third and final season of “Squid Game” manages to wrap things up phenomenally with a big pink bow on top.
It is better to think of season three as part two of season two because it continues where the last season left off. There are three major plotlines: Gi-hun’s second time around in the games, Jun-ho’s attempts to uncover the facility, and No-eul’s side that reminds us that the guards are still human. I’m happy to report that each one is stronger in season three.
First up, the series’ signature games are still the strongest yarn. There are three games left, but everybody now knows the guards aren’t messing around after Gi-hun’s assault on the facility fails horribly and gets most of everybody involved killed. Everything is getting down to the wire, and you’ll be on the edge of your seat wondering if your favorite characters will survive.
The final three games themselves were intense to witness, taking kids’ games and making them violent, but also soul-crushingly emotional. Where last season’s games of Red Light Green Light, a six-legged pentathlon, and Mingle were whimsical at times, season three’s games are embalmed with gloominess because of the recent tragedies with more to come.
Hide and seek sends players into a multilayered labyrinth of hallways, staircases, and rooms that can be unlocked. Hiders have the keys to the doors and can either escape or run down the clock, but each seeker must kill one hider with their knife. Hide and seek was the most creative of all three while showing what kind of animals we can become whether we’re forced or not. Not everybody is a killer, so who will stand up to the task?
Jump-rope forces players to cross a small bridge with a gap in the middle without getting knocked off by a swinging metal rope like something on “Wipeout.” It feels kind of silly at times and seems easy, but like Glass Stepping Stones in season one, what makes it difficult are the players themselves. Not everybody is athletic, nobody ever said sabotage was against the rules, and the narrow width of the bridge isn’t doing anyone any favors.
I won’t give many details about the sixth game, but I love how it leans more towards intelligence via democratic decision-making instead of physical prowess. With as few people as there are, it is more like a selfish oligarchy ready to fall when there is an impasse.
Characters are still the strongest in this storyline, too.
Gi-hun still shines bright without really doing anything—I would even go as far as saying Lee Jung-jae deserves another Emmy for his performance for the past two seasons. He is encumbered by regret over his actions in season two, struggling to remind himself that he is human, and a good one at that. There is a brutal lesson to be learned, though: Even doing the right thing has consequences.
Every other character is as greatly performed like last season, but it is interesting to watch how some of them fall apart. Some players try to replace Thanos as the villain, but T.O.P’s performance as the purple-haired jerk is unmatched. Some examples are Nam-gyu, who matches Thanos’ unpredictability after he indulges in drugs and enters withdrawal, and Im Jeong-dae, an old man who talks big but is scared on the inside, similar to Deok-su from season one.
On the other hand, Jun-ho’s story feels like it actually goes somewhere this season. Even with that said, unfortunately it still drags and is the weakest of all three plotlines.
Since we now know that there is a double agent onboard the boat Jun-ho rides, you will have your fingers crossed that nothing bad will happen. It feels like a whodunnit that is doused in dramatic irony, but its heights never get reached, and the conclusion left much to be desired.
Any questions both Jun-ho and the audience have, season three ignores them completely. If this is the “final season” (at least for the Korean series), it would make sense to tie loose ends.
Finally, No-eul’s stride to do one good thing after her choice of career was great to watch unfold. She has seen enough, and thus, she has had enough. No-eul is still one person, though, so watching her leap through the many hurdles in her way whilst wearing her black mask and pink jumpsuit is nail-bitingly tense.
All six episodes are chock full of creative twists that catch you off guard. For everyone, everything is a task of trying to outsmart the enemy with their wits and what is around them.
“Squid Game” season three is like a layer cake of greatness thanks to all three storylines nicely stacked on top of each other. Season two poked at its full potential, and season three reaches most of it, save for the sequel-bait ending. For the season with the least episodes, this is “Squid Game” in all its glorious drama until the very end.
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