Ending a TV series is no easy task, especially when it’s a show with a massive fanbase. It’s impossible to please every viewer, so no matter how the story’s concluded, there’s bound to be people who hate the ending.
Fans of Netflix’s global hit series Squid Game are divided on whether or not creator-writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk stuck the landing in its third and final season. Here’s why.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Squid Game seasons 1-3.
Early Character Deaths
In a show like Squid Game, we’ve come to expect our favorite characters to die, but that doesn’t stop us from being shocked and heartbroken when they do. Season 3 jumps right back into the action and doesn’t waste any time dropping bodies, and one of the biggest criticisms is the number of prominent characters who died in Episode 2’s fatal game of hide-and-seek. The level of anxiety-inducing tension and devastating heartache rivals Season 1’s marble game.
Gi-hun, Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), locks in on tracking down Dae-ho, Player 388 (Kang Ha-neul). Based on his trembling and inability to deliver the magazines in the Season 2 finale, many fans (correctly) suspected Dae-ho lied about serving in the Marines. But we don’t get to know any more of his story before Gi-hun strangles him to death.
Another big death is Hyun-ju, Player 120 (Park Sung-hoon), who finds the exit but goes back for Geum-ja, Player 149 (Kang Ae-sim), and Jun-hee, Player 222 (Jo Yu-ri), who just gave birth. When her back is turned, Myung-gi stabs her, Player 333 (Im Si-wan), who teamed up with Nam-gyu, Player 124 (Roh Jae-won), to take out as many blues as they can. Hyun-ju had just taken down everyone who threatened her group, but she died from being stabbed in the back. Her unceremonious death was a gut punch.
While these deaths feel sudden, Seasons 2 and 3 were filmed back-to-back, so Season 3 is more like a Part 2 of a 13-episode second season, which also explains the pacing issues in the final six episodes.
Jun-hee’s Baby
Episode 2 introduced a new character: Jun-hee’s unnamed baby daughter. Her arrival isn’t the issue, but rather her sudden importance not just to Jun-hee but to everyone. Yong-sik, Player 007 (Yang Dong-geun), tries to kill Jun-hee and/or her baby out of down-to-the-wire desperation. Geum-ja does the unthinkable and stabs her son, and later takes her own life in the dorm. She told him in Season 2 that she couldn’t live without him, and she meant it. Her impassioned plea to Gi-hun shakes him from his near-catatonic state. Protecting Jun-hee and the baby becomes his new purpose.
Gi-hun carries the baby across the bridge in Episode 4’s diabolical game of jump rope and promises to come back for Jun-hee. But with her increasingly swollen ankle, she knows she’ll never make it. She steps off the ledge and kills herself, leaving her baby under the care of Gi-hun. The cartoonishly villainous VIPs suggest putting the baby in the game as Player 222. The absurdity of the situation is entertaining to an extent, but the emphasis on the baby in five of the season’s six episodes left some fans frustrated. It doesn’t help that the CGI was unsettling at times.
For Director Hwang, the baby represents purity and innocence, telling Netflix Tudum that he “wanted to explore humanity’s last hope through Jun-hee’s baby and Gi-hun, who tries to protect the baby at all costs.” At the end of the Sky Squid Game, Myung-gi, the baby’s father, goes full villain and threatens to eliminate her from the game. In other words, he’s okay dropping her over the edge to collect his 45.6 billion won. Once Myung-gi falls to his death, our hero Gi-hun realizes neither of them pushed the start button. Since his elimination doesn’t count, it’s down to Gi-hun and the baby. Being the good-hearted person he is, he sacrifices himself, leaving Player 222 the sole winner.
One-Note VIPs
The glaring issue with the VIPs who watch the games is that they’re completely one-dimensional. Season 1’s wealthy attendees were fittingly obnoxious and entitled. Their dialogue wasn’t the best, and every scene with them often felt like a chore to get through.
Season 3 went all in on the insufferable elite trope and introduced a lineup of VIPs played by David Sayers, Jane Wong, Bryan Bucco, Jordan Lambertoni, and Kevin Yorn. They arrive in Episode 3 and have a surprising amount of screen time. A couple of them, namely Wong’s character, have dubbed distractingly bad dialogue, and the dialogue is just as atrocious as before.
Unsatisfying Character Arcs
In Season 1, we watched Detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) infiltrate the island and masquerade as one of the pink guards. His story ends with him finally coming face to face with his brother, In-ho aka the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), getting shot, and falling off a cliff.
Jun-ho spent Seasons 2 and 3 searching for the island with Choi Woo-seok (Jun Suk-ho), Captain Park (Oh Dal-su), and a team of military men. It started interesting, but the longer they spent at sea, the less compelling it became. Cutting from the intensity of the games to the futility of their mission definitely affected the pacing of both seasons, frustrating viewers, particularly fans of Jun-ho. When Jun-ho finally makes it to the island, he doesn’t even get to confront his brother. He’s in the VIPs area while In-ho is on the circular platform with the baby and disappears.
The finale gives us a glimpse into In-ho’s past experience playing the game, showing him receiving and actually executing the same opportunity he later offers to Gi-hun. He’s a tough character to read, so any insight into his beliefs is a treat. However, his confrontation with Gi-hun is a bit underwhelming, and the lack of interaction with his intrepid brother is disappointing. Ha-jun and Byung-hun are fantastic performers; not having them share at least one scene together feels like a missed opportunity.
No-eul (Park Gyu-young) helped amusement park artist Gyeong-seok, Player 246 (Lee Jin-uk), escape the island. After killing the Black Guard (Park Hee-soon), she almost takes herself out, but she stops when she sees Gi-hun’s sacrifice for the baby. Some fans interpreted her change of heart as her deciding to take care of the baby herself since she hasn’t been able to find her daughter, but In-ho leaves the baby and her prize money with his brother. However, No-eul gets a hopeful ending. She visits Gyeong-seok at the park and sees his daughter, Na-yeon, doing well. She also gets a lead on her daughter and heads off to China.
The Ending
As our determined protagonist, we hoped Gi-hun would survive again, shut down the games, hopefully save a few players, and reunite with his estranged daughter. But this is Squid Game, and most of the characters don’t get a happy ending. Jun-hee’s baby being the reason Gi-hun ultimately died subverted expectations and only added more fuel to the baby-hating fire. Before the games, he was selfish, and after the games, he selfishly abandoned his daughter to pursue his mission. Gi-hun giving up his life for an innocent baby he’s known for less than a week makes sense for his character, even though it may not be ideal or satisfying.
One of the final scenes sees In-ho delivering Gi-hun’s belongings to his daughter Ga-yeong (Jo Ah-in) in Los Angeles. As he drives away, he hears the familiar sounds of ddakji and spots a recruiter (Cate Blanchett) playing with someone down on their luck. This tease leaves the door open for more stories in the Squid Game universe and sets up the US version. But the ending feels like it’s more about Netflix continuing to cash in on the success rather than being in service of the story.
Praise for Season 3
Squid Game’s final season is intense, dramatic, sometimes hilarious, and incredibly bleak. The elaborate sets, music, and camera work are all stunning, especially during fight/game scenes and the surreal moments (dreams, hallucinations, drug trips). As always, the actors’ performances (excluding the VIPs) are top-tier and elevate the already successful series. Squid Game Season 3 may be flawed, but it’s far from dull.
The third and final season of Squid Game premiered June 27, 2025 on Netflix.
