When Squid Game Season 3 premiered on Netflix on June 27, about six months after the previous instalment, fans had high expectations from the finale of the award-winning Korean dystopian thriller. But the buzz died days after its premiere, with many calling it a damp squib.
Fans were waiting for an intense showdown between Gi-hun and the organisers of the lethal games, deeper exploration of supporting characters, and an emotionally moving conclusion. But what they got instead was a roller coaster of ambitious ideas that somehow turned askew, marred by underutilised characters, a shocking (not in a good way) end, and an abrupt pivot towards a Western spin-off.
Here are six reasons why Hwang Dong-hyuk’s Squid Game 3 fell flat.
(Disclaimer: spoilers ahead)
Underutilised characters
The latest season of Squid Game crash-landed, doing injustice to the three most important characters — Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun), Kang No-eul (Park Gyu-young), and Front Man (Lee Byung-hun). It gave them little scope to stand out.
Detective Jun-ho returned in the pursuit of his brother, Front Man, yet his storyline received less screen time than expected. Despite discovering the island’s location, he faded out of the story, leaving fans guessing what happened to him.
“Once again, they wasted Hwang JunHo’s character. What was the point of having him going through all of that investigation,” wrote a fan of the show on X.
No-eul, aka Soldier 011, introduced as a North Korean defector soldier, got a brief time to shine in Season 2 by killing some organisers of the game involved in illegal organ trafficking. However, in Season 3, No-eul’s attempt to save Player 246 seemed a distraction from the primary plot.
The character Front Man, previously hailed as one of the most compelling characters of Squid Game, was diluted amid a crowded cast.
“No, but why did he (Front Man) have like only a few minutes screentime in the entire Season 3… I was expecting to see so much more of him, an episode dedicated to his backstory or SOMETHING more than this,” wrote an X user.
Fan-favourite characters killed prematurely
Squid Game Season 3 kills off returning favourites almost at a whim, giving fans very little scope to root for them. With characters like Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), Jun-hee (Shim Eun-kyung) and Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim) dying in the first half of the finale, fans were left with fewer characters to cheer for. These characters, according to fans, could have been destined for more meaningful roles.
Player 456’s sacrifice is preachy
In a shocking twist, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) sacrificed his life to protect Player 222, Jun-hee’s newborn, who was declared the winner of the game. While it was intended as a symbol of ‘hope and redemption’, many fans saw it as unsupported and arbitrary. Some even called it ‘emotional manipulation’.
Gi-hun, who joined the survival games once again to save as many players as possible, somehow lost his purpose to carry on in the third season. He also diverted from his aim of avenging best friend Jung-bae’s (Lee Seo-hwan) killing in Season 2.
Western spin-off speculation sparks concern
With Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett’s surprise appearance in the final scene of Squid Game Season 3 as a recruiter, the creators sparked speculation about Squid Game USA, with Hollywood filmmaker David Fincher reportedly taking up the project. Though visually striking, fans and critics see it as a development that may erode the show’s Korean cultural core and socio-political critique.
“It just seems so unfitting. Asian childhood games getting played by Americans to survive just seems so odd. The point of the games is to give a nostalgic memory to the players, but in a cruel and horrible way that ends with death. It wouldn‘t be the same,” a Reddit user wrote.
Player 222’s newborn as the winner divides fans
Squid Game Season 3’s dramatic leap, crowning Player 222’s newborn daughter as the winner, sparked debate among fans. Gi-hun, who makes the ultimate sacrifice by killing himself and saving the child, aims to deliver the message that human beings are inherently complicated and cannot be treated as disposable assets. But this conclusion did not sit well with viewers. Many fans said it overshadowed others’ journeys with much more ‘symbolic spectacle’.
VIPs obstruct the flow
The tension and drama diminished whenever scenes shifted to the masked VIPs’ reactions and their pointless commentary. The tension that brewed during the Jump Rope game was abruptly cut short to give screen space to the VIPs.
“Creator of the series received backlash for VIPs in Season 1 due to their bad acting and voice lines. He brought them back in Season 3 and made them worse,” a Reddit user wrote.
