Squid Game: Season Three

"Player 456, do you still have faith in people?"

Whenever I get to the end of a show, I ask myself if I'm glad that it exists. If I am, then it was successful. This especially goes for shows that were extended beyond their inital planned run. Am I glad that those extra seasons exist? Well...

I'm going to do this review in two parts. The first will be spoiler free. I will then place a Spoiler Cashew and talk about specifics. Sound good?

Calling this Season Three is honestly a misnomer. It's not. It's Season 2B, and was filmed back to back with the previous season. I still don't really know why it was split up this way. Thirteen episodes really isn't that many, and I suspect that both halves here would have benefitted from being a complete entity.

It would have made some of the character arcs feel more coherent since we would have been fully immersed in it instead of trying to remember what the dynamics were after six months.

That being said, the first two episodes were my favorite of the bunch, especially Episode Two, "The Starry Night." The game itself was wonderful with an excellent set, and I really loved the camera work as we followed our different characters. It was Squid Game at its best: dark, bloody, and yet playfully whimsical with a sharp twist that rewarded the very thing that the game itself discouraged.

Not only did it make me laugh out loud, but it was also the only time this season that I cried. Unfortunately, something happened towards the end of the episode that completely shifted the focus of the story in a way that I found very contrived. As time went on, it annoyed me more and more and at this point, I can confidently say that all of my issues with this season stems from this one plot point.

Nothing heralds this shift better than the arrival of the VIPs at the very start of Episode Three, "It's Not Your Fault." They're still painfully obnoxious. I cringed a lot whenever they were on screen. The dialogue was simply bad. It didn't feel like satire or like it was mocking the idea of the VIPs. It was just bad.

They're just one of a couple of storylines that I thought got way too much screentime. Jun-ho, our detective on the boat, continued to be absolutely useless, and the end of his arc actively enraged me. I had been initally intruiged by No-eul, the guard, but I wound up disappointed in what her storyline ended up being as well.

I almost wish that they had given even a fraction of that time to In-ho, the Front Man. After being such a strong presence last time, he takes a very large step back. We never really got a chance to go inside of his head, nor get any significant flashbacks to his own game, and it just feels like a huge missed opportunity.

It's frustrating. Outside of the VIPs, there isn't a single bad performance. The production level continues to be immaculate. The directing was very strong as well with some flourishes in spots that I found to be rather clever. It's just a question of how the time was spent and one plot point that really dragged it down from "Amazing" to "Pretty Good, I Guess."

But to talk about that, we need a Spoiler Cashew.

Scroll to Random Thoughts to be safe!

In hindsight, I should have guessed that Jun-hee would give birth inside of the games. It's practically a Billie Rule of Television that a pregnant woman will always give birth at the most inopportune time in a survival/dystopian situation. And yet I was still surprised when Jun-hee's water broke and she pushed out a baby in less than fifteen minutes.

Yeah. Squid Game adds a CGI newborn into the mix.

If I take a step back and look at everything metaphorically, I can see why. Squid Game has always been a critique of capitalism and the modern economic world, as well as an examination of what morality looks like while trapped in such a system.

The nameless newborn is completely innocent. She never asked to be born into the situation that she is in, and yet her life is still dramatically affected by it. Plus, it examines whether or not people are willing to sacrifice in order to help the next generation or if they're more selifsh and simply want everything for themselves.

It's very in line with the greater ideas of the show. I get that. It makes sense.

But here's the thing. As soon as you introduce a newborn, everything becomes about her. She is the centerpiece. The story is no longer about Gi-hun trying to survive or trying to bring down the system. It is now about Gi-hun, the only righteous person in existence, trying to save a baby's life and fighting against a gaggle of increasingly cartoonish men who only care about money. There's not a single ounce of regret or debate over whether or not they should kill the child. It's a foregone conclusion.

You lose so much subtlety. Even Myung-gi, the baby's father, falls into this trap. His writing at the end got a little incoherent, though. At least for me. I thought that he was obviously acting as a double agent to try and manipulate the Evil Gaggle of Greedy Men in such a way that he could protect his child. But then at the end he switched back and forth so many times that I really couldn't follow it well. I think his arc would have especially benefitted from watching Seasons Two and Three straight through.

It also doesn't help that we lost every likable character by the start of Episode Four, "222," leaving only the Gaggle for us to watch. I can't help but compare it to the end of Season One. We knew our three finalists. We had followed them closely from the start. We cared about them. Even the "villian" of the group, Sang-woo.

This time? It's a group of nine, and we really only followed three of them closely. No one, outside of Gi-hun, was likable. I didn't want to root for anyone. And it honestly made the last game pretty boring and predictable. Obviously, Gi-hun was going to make it to the third stage. I didn't care what order the others were shoved off in, nor did I care that they died.

But can you imagine if it was actually a group of characters that we cared about? Unfortunautely, they killed off everyone cool by the end of "The Starry Night." Seon-nyeo, the shaman lady, kinda annoyed me but at least she was interesting! At least she had a different dynamic with everyone!

The ending itself was fine. I never expected Gi-hun to actually make it out of the games alive, and sacrificing himself so that the baby would live was a semi-satisfying end to his arc. He continued to have faith in people. I wish that he and In-ho had more direct interactions, or at least a longer conversation, but there was enough there for me to pick at and dissect facial expressions for.

I'll repeat that Jun-ho, our detective on the boat, continued to be absolutely useless. All of that work, and he just shouts one question at his brother, who doesn't even bother to answer it? Really?!? Why? Waste of time.

Let's circle back to the first question I asked. Am I glad that these extra seasons of Squid Game exist? Ultimately, I'm neutral on it. I'm glad that I watched them, but I think that the legacy of Squid Game might be stronger without them and the inevitable spin-offs that will follow, including an American one from David Fincher.

I will certainly rewatch the first season, though... and maybe the first episode of the second solely for the Recruiter.

Random Thoughts

So what do we think? Is that cameo at the end a hint towards a future spin-off or just someone who was willing to be in the show for a few seconds?

I also enjoyed the handful of cameos from Season One.

The VIPs were not subtitled for me for some reason, which really just made them more annoying.

The letters on the dorm wall spelled "Hodie mihi, cras tibi," which is Latin for "It is I today, you tomorrow."

Favorite Episode: "The Starry Night."

Least Favorite Epiosde: "Humans Are..."

~~~~
An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.

• Squid Game home