The third, and final, season of Netflix’s Squid Game recently released this past Friday with six episodes. Shot back-to-back with season 2, this season finds showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk returning as writer & director for this season. The season stars Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-joon, Im Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-wook, Park Sung-hoon,
Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-shim, and Jo Yu-ri. Gi-hun persists with his goal to put an end to the game, while the Front Man continues onto his next move and the surviving players’ choices will lead to graver consequences with each round.

It’s wild to think that we got the second season of Squid Game after a three-year hiatus. I suppose it makes more sense since the second and third season were shot back-to-back. I personally think it’s just a wild decision that Netflix was ready to release it so quickly. At the same time, it seems like they are ready to get the American version from David Fincher into production. Like the second season, I did ask Netflix for early access to the third season, but they were not sending out any screeners for this season. It showed that the ending was either going to be controversial or they did want spoilers leaker. In the end, I think the third season has a lot of shocking conclusions that will be controversial and widely talked about.

Picking up right after the events of the second season where Gi-hun lost his best friend in front of his eyes. It puts Gi-hun in a vulnerable position where he has to obey by the Frontman’s rules. Even though this was shot back-to-back, the third season manages to still have an identity of its own. The remaining three games are the most creative they’ve been since the first season, and manages to raise the stakes compared to the second season, but it can come at the cost of some messy CGI, which completely took me out of feeling the severity of the games.

Speaking of CGI, I can’t tell if this season relies more on it than ever before, the budget ran out, or if they were on a time crunch. The jump rope game clearly has CGI for the rope where the last game looks like everyone is standing in front of a green screen. Perhaps the worst of it is when the film uses CGI for a baby. I get it. You can’t have a baby filmed in so many of these scenes. It’s an easier method to keep the story and production moving. The problem here is how the baby fits into the story.

If you are at all familiar with the second season, you can probably put two and two together as to how the baby comes into play. Gi-hun, being the good person that he is, helps takes care of this baby. You can see where this is him trying to do a do-over for missing out on his daughter’s life. I know Gi-hun is there to end the games, but if it wasn’t for him, the baby would have been in a far worse position. The way the baby is used though does requite a lot of disbelief. There’s a lot of thematic elements through this story, but it can come at the cost of simply being silly.

What this season does to wrap up the entire series is going to be heavily controversial. Instead of giving what you, the viewer, would want, Hwang Dong-hyuk sort of repeats themes that were already explored. We get it. Capitalism is bad. It is a little frustrating to experience the same themes that were already explored three years ago. We, the viewers, want closure to what came before, but this show has never been something that gives viewers what they want. To wait three years to experience that again is frustrating. At the same time, Hwang Dong-hyuk shows that this is a consequence of what we wanted. We asked for more to be told, and this is what Hwang Dong-hyuk chose to do. It honestly could have been worse.

The performances continue to be strong for the most part between Lee Jung-jae & Lee Byung-hun. They both lead emotionally charged performances that offer closures to their characters in the end. As mentioned, the games this season raise the stakes more than ever before, resulting in a lot of fan-favorites being eliminated. I was a little disappointed by this, to be honest since this is something we’ve already seen before. Personally, I would have liked to have seen some character’s stories go in a different direction. I do believe viewers can collectively agree just how bad the performances from the VIP’s are. Since these characters were from around the world, it does make me concerned about the future of this franchise.

It sucks to call this a franchise now. Netflix wants to capitalize on it, which is ironic. Based on where this ends, it leaves it open for more stories to tell. At least the American version would be an expansion of what came before with David Fincher at the helm. I just don’t see it working. Why would American play the same games of those in South Korea? That just hurts the significant impact of exploring other cultures. I don’t know how the American version could work if they repeat the same games. If anything, I think it would have been more profound just to end the show by showing how worldwide these games have become. End it there and don’t expand on it. Leave it on a haunting note. At least we get a cool cameo out of it.

Overall, the third, and final, season of Squid Game works thematically, even if it can be a bit repetitive. The games have raised the stakes and haven’t been this good since the first season. The performances continue to be great, for the most part. The creative decisions will be controversial, but I think it will leave a lasting impression that will leave its viewers something to think and talk about for years to come.

VERDICT: 3.5/5 (Pretty Good)