Squid Game season 3 is a near-perfect end for Netflix’s biggest hit

Warning: spoilers ahead up to Squid Game season 2. We’ve avoided including spoilers for Squid Game season 3 in this review.

If Squid Game had continued for six more seasons, there’s no doubt that we’d all be there, glued to our screens, consuming every last second right up until the very end.

Instead, Netflix’s biggest TV release ever – boasting 262.2million views and more than 2.2billion hours watched since its 2021 launch – is ending on its own accord after just three seasons.

It was a brave but wise choice for creator Hwang Dong-hyuk to wrap the series up in a pink satin bow in this way. Especially as the final season, which Metro was able to watch in its entirety before the Friday June 27 release date, is darn near-perfect. Almost.

Nowadays, it feels as though most shows are at risk of being cancelled prematurely or of going on for far too long. But not Squid Game. While the writer didn’t initially have the three seasons mapped out, he concludes the tale of Player 456, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) in a seamless way that feels as though it was always meant to be a three-part story.

At the very end of season two, it was revealed that Gi-hun’s attempt to enact a rebellion against the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) had failed. Not only did the majority of the rebels die in the fight against the pink-suited guards, but Gi-hun also lost his close friend Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), who was shot dead in front of his very eyes.

The Front Man, who had been posing as a player and gained Gi-hun’s trust, resumes his role as the overseer of the game in the third season, watching as the protagonist is made to return to the room full of bunk beds where all of the players sleep.

‘Why didn’t you kill me?’ Gi-hun asks, in a scene that was included in the trailer before the release of the new episodes. ‘Why did you keep me alive?’ As the soldiers wrestle him to the ground, he lets out a guttural scream, yelling: ‘Why did you let me live?’

From the beginning of Squid Game, the creator and cast have emphasised that the drama is not simply about the spectacle of violence, despite it being one of the most graphic and gory programmes on TV.

At its core are the themes of social inequality and greed, as well as the question that ends the season three trailer: ‘Do you still have faith in people?’ A question that Squid Game has made viewers ask from the very first episode, which they’ll continue to ask themselves until the final moment.

Despite knowing that the players in Squid Game are most likely doomed to die gruesome deaths, I couldn’t help but root for my favourite contestants while watching the latest episodes.

Cho Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), a trans woman and former special forces officer, is once again one of the standout players in the game, refusing to allow the corrupt morals of others to dampen her own integrity and the obligation she feels to protect those in need.

Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim), the mother of fellow player Park Yong-sik (Yang Dong-geun), is a beating heart of goodness in the hellhole that they’re trapped in, even when Gi-hun seems as though he’s at risk of being sucked into the darkness completely.

But, let’s not forget what show we’re talking about here. Any moments of hope are quite often dashed as a stark reminder of the cruelty and unpredictability of life.

Somehow, after three seasons and a total of 22 episodes, Squid Game manages to pull even more shocks and unexpected twists out of the bag right up until the last minute on screen, including with new games that take the savagery that the contestants are capable of to the next level.

As for why season three is nearly perfect, and not a clear 10/10, the main qualm I have pertains to a group of characters shown in the trailer who are so distracting that they bring me back to real life with a sharp jolt – the VIPs.

Their presence is jarring and feels unnecessary, even if the intention is to demonstrate who the game is being held for. The degree of control that the Front Man holds feels powerful enough to send the message that every player is under his thumb. We didn’t need the VIPs to show that as well.

The final moments of season three genuinely made me jaw drop in the best way possible. I can’t describe the frustration I felt that I couldn’t discuss the ending with other fans right away.

And so, Squid Game ends the way that it began – with audiences on the edges of their seat, questioning their morals, transfixed by the brutality of human beings but also hopeful that even in the darkest of times, goodness will prevail. A true TV masterpiece.

Squid Game is available to stream on Netflix.

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