Warning: This post features spoilers for the Squid Game series finale.
Squid Game debuted on Netflix on September 17, 2021, just as we were coming out of the pandemic. It became a worldwide phenomenon, winning numerous awards, and delivered two more sequels. Is Squid Game done?
In season one, we were introduced to Seong Gi-hun / Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), a down-on-his-luck divorced father who encounters The Recruiter (Gong Yoo) for the games. At the games, he learns of the stakes: everyone else must die. After winning, Gi-hun is left bitter and seeks retribution, which leads to the events of season two. Gi-hun spends the money to hire a team to help find The Recruiter, and the search returns him to the island where the games are held. He tries to manipulate the game, having played once, but underestimates people’s thirst for money and the added twist that the games won’t be the same.
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As we open on season three, Gi-hun feels defeated, and all he wants to do is die. He had tried to stage a coup, to no avail, and his life was spared, but at the expense of the other players who joined him. Behind the scenes, the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) has returned to his role overseeing the game. Soldier 011 (Park Gyuyoung) manages to rescue Player 246 (Park Gyeong-seok) and disguises him as another pink soldier so that he can return to his sick daughter. The final games played are a highly thought-out version of “Hide and Seek”, a gigantic version of “Jump Rope”, and “Sky Squid Game”.
As the games continue, Gi-hun’s motivations also change; once feeling hopeless, he redirects his feelings to seek revenge on Player 333 (Kang Ha-neul) for his betrayal during the coup. Player 222 (Jo Yu-ri) also gives birth to her baby, and Gi-hun takes it upon himself to protect them. As Player 222 sacrifices herself to give her baby a fighting chance with Gi-hun, the baby also becomes a player in the game, leading to a final duel between Gi-hun and his biological father, Player 333 (Im Si-wan).
In the end, the outcome was inevitable, and that was for Gi-hun to die; he kills himself, leaving the baby as Game’s sole winner. This particular choice seemed predictable, as it doesn’t allow for two winners, and it was also a fitting one for our protagonist. With all the deaths Gi-hun has seen at his hands, it didn’t make sense for him to continue and hold on to the guilt and horrors he’s witnessed.
This could have left a loose end for Gi-hun when it came to VIPs, The Frontman, and the game, but fate took its course, and Gi-hun’s (Wi Ha-joon) relentless chase to find his brother came to the discovery of the island, its destruction, and any evidence. However, like a good villain, The Frontman does escape and closes a chapter on the original Squid Game in Korea, but cleverly opens to the games continuing in America.
This final season had many enjoyable moments, but also some repetitiveness. It is a game with a single victor, so knowing that Gi-hun would be alive almost to the end was obvious. As viewers, we became invested in the new players, and it was never a matter of who dies, but rather when and in what manner. The new games kept the show fresh. I did ponder how the following seasons would play out if the games were the same and could be manipulated by Gi-hun, and maybe that in itself would have been fun to watch.
Speaking of the new games, although I played Hide and Seek as a child, I was curious to see how director Hwang would implement the rules, where one person seeks out the people who hide. I was initially confused until I actually saw the game take place. It seemed fitting that, as the writer, he would be able to envision what the production design would look like and match the world. “Jump Rope” appeared to be a throwback to the “Glass Bridge” game from season one. “Red light, green “light” introduced us to Young-hee, the female doll, and here she appears again holding one end of the jump rope while the other is held appropriately by a boy doll, Cheol-su.
What I didn’t see coming was the actual birth of the baby and the interesting dynamic that it would create as a player, which sparked a fun debate amongst the VIPs as to its validity as a legitimate player. We were also given a flashback glimpse of Hwang In-ho/The Frontman having to make the same choice that Gi-hun was given to murder the other players in their sleep, which brought the surprise cameo from beloved fan favorite Kang Sae-byeok (Hoyeon).
The other cameo was a complete surprise, but it was appropriate, given the show’s global popularity. It only makes sense that the show should continue, and no better place to start than America, the country where Netflix was born.
Squid Game, seasons 1-3, is now streaming on Netflix.
