Becoming The Muse

Squid Game Season 3 Review

Squid Game is a South Korean survival drama series written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The first season of Squid Game premiered on 17 September 2021 followed by Season 2 which aired on 26 December 2024, with the third and final season being released on Netflix on 27 June 2025.

Squid Game Season 3 picks up the story in the immediate aftermath of season 2’s bloody, but failed rebellion and the games that arent child’s play continue. If Season 1 was about capitalism and desperation, and Season 2 about rebellion and ideology, Season 3 is about sacrifice and legacy.

The Good

Season 3 raises the stakes as we head to the conclusion of Squid Game with show runners being on record for saying that this is the end of the road. I strongly feel Squid Game should have ended as a one season wonder instead of drawing it out into a multi-season crash and burner… Still, its had a good run and time to say goodbye, while its still got its thunder.

While Squid Games Season 3 doesn’t follow the trend of having a different game in each episode they manage to make simple childhood games bloody, scary and oh so fatal, from a Hide and Seek with knives out to a precarious and edgy Jump Rope.

The visuals and cinematography are top notch on the pink and green set punctuated by the haunting Blue Danube soundtrack that plays as contestants are led to the games, like sheep to the slaughter.

 Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun shows exceptional range from being the down and out rebel who blames himself for the failure of the rebellion in the previous season to being an avenging crusader and finding his purpose in the chilling conclusion of Squid Games.

The Bad

I usually avoid viewing that puts my feels into an emotional blender and churns them into a smoothie and sipped on an emotional rollercoaster, now see me almost crying over fictional characters… this season they decided no one would make it out alive, following some all-contestants-must-die manual, where all characters can die and you keep wondering who and if anyone will make it to the end.

Its hard to find a character to root for because as soon as you get invested… well.. game over.

Since Season 3 had only 3 games it could have been concluded in 3 or 4 edge of your seat episodes, instead it gets stretched into 6 episodes with a whole lot filler content and unnecessary side quests, that overally, don’t help the plot except beg your suspension of disbelief over how a character expects to get away with an unplanned and poorly executed quest.

The VIPs were mercifully absent in Season 2 but they are back in Season 3 with their atrocious accents and over the top commentary that is not only distracting but undoes the impact Squid Game could have made.

The Ugly

Squid Game seems designed to emotionally break you until you forget what exactly you are suppose to be getting from it… There’s a strong message buried in the show, but the water gets muddied with nihilistic elements where nothing ever matters and even the choices we think we make can be manipulated.

Its violent and doesn’t shy away from blood and gore, with some very disturbing scenes.

Final Thoughts

Squid Game: Season 3 is the final conclusion to one of the most watched shows on Netflix and doesn’t hold back as it carries you on its dizzying ride. While the show runner says there will be no more Squid Game episodes, the show teases a USA spinoff of Squid Game which has received mixed comments about westernisation.

Have you watched Squid Game?