“Squid Game” Season 3 Provides a Strong End for a Groundbreaking Series

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Season 3 of Squid Game included everything I love about Squid Game: entertaining games, unpredictability, and powerful commentary on our society and what makes us human.

This felt like the perfect ending to one of my all-time favorite shows. For those who were a little disappointed in season 2, I think the final season does enough to make up for it. In fact, I think watching seasons 2 and 3 back to back will result in a much more satisfying watch experience than watching the second season on its own.

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The games this season don’t quite match the caliber of the season 1, but overall I think they are strong entries. That being said, I do think the character building and social commentary explored during the games are some of the strongest in the series. In particular, the final game was extremely satisfying in these areas. The side characters really do some heavy lifting throughout the season as Gi-hun has succumb to guilt over the aftermath of season 2. This allows us to dive deeper into their stories and struggles while exploring more fully the themes the series has been tackling since day one.

There are a handful of twists and turns, as well. Nothing too mind-blowing, but all and all, it kept me guessing. We also got a little more insight into the backstory and motivation of the main antagonist, Front Man, while still keeping his character a bit of an enigma. For me, a predicable ending is often the resort of a safe and boring story, but at the same time having too weird of a twist can also be off putting. The resolution we got in season 3 rides that line perfectly. There were some aspects that I didn’t predict, but it wasn’t so unbelievable that it made me angry.

No Ju-han/Netflix

If I had to pick out some negatives, I would mention that the subplot with Officer Jun-ho trying to infiltrate the island doesn’t do too much for me. I understand that it’s leading to an aspect of the story’s conclusion, but I would’ve preferred to spend a lot less time with those characters and keep our focus on the games. The other laughably bad element of this show is the VIPs, who are all English-speaking actors, and bad ones at that. I imagine the language difference between the director and actors is the main reason for such terrible performances, so that’s why I’m willing to give it a pass, but truthfully it might be some of the worse acting I’ve ever seen—full stop.

But when it’s all said and done, the best thing about this entire series is the writing, and that continued throughout season 3. Themes of greed, capitalism, and morality are amplified in this final chapter, and a lot of powerful questions and impactful moments are present. Squid Game, to me, is the perfect combination of entertainment and substance, and I know it will have a very strong effect on me long term. This final season does a great job at pushing this show toward the top of my list of best TV series of all time. I would highly recommend it to anyone who can stomach some dark storytelling in service of an intelligent and meaningful analysis of humanity.