I'm a Squid Game superfan and we need to talk about that Season 3 ending
To quote the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (my other Netflix obsession), Squid Game is often imitated but never equalled. The twisty Korean thriller brought not only a totally unique aesthetic to viewers, but a gut-punching storyline that never unfolds in quite the way you'd expect.
That was never more true than for Season 3 of the show which picks up after Season 2's bloody - and let's face it, doomed from the start - rebellion. In the newest episodes, Player 456 Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is a ghost of his former self until he finds himself responsible for the survival of Player 222 Jun-hee's (Jo Yuri) newborn baby.
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While he couldn't save his relationship with his own daughter, Gi-hun sees an opportunity to make amends by ensuring this child makes it, especially given it was Jun-hee's last wish that he protected the baby at all costs before she fell to her death.
The show's director made clear that the baby is symbolic of "humanity and conscience", with Gi-hun feeling like he's "looking at his own daughter" when holding her. For many viewers, it quickly became obvious that at some point Player 456 would have to make a terrible choice between his own survival and that of the baby.
Lo and behold that's exactly what happens, but the way in which it unfolds is no less shocking. While you may be able to predict some of the twists in the show, the way in which they actually happen remains astounding and is testament to the quality of the writing.
In the very last game in the Season 3, Sky Squid Game, Gi-hun and the baby's real father Myung-gi (Yim Si-wan) are the last two adults standing, meaning surely the baby could have at least one father figure post-games. No such luck: the pair fight and Myung-gi falls to his death before the round officially starts meaning just Gi-hun and the baby remain, with one player still needing to be eliminated.
While the VIPs watching on think Gi-hun will sacrifice the baby, he chooses to end his own life and in the process confronts them and Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) with his humanity. It is a poetic, dramatic and highly-emotional moment and from this point, we see a huge shift in Front Man as he sits uncomfortably with his newfound feelings as he torches the whole island to evade capture by the Coast Guard.
A happy ending in the Squid Game universe is always bittersweet, but viewers definitely get more happiness than in previous seasons with a number of storylines satisfyingly concluded, including the baby becoming a newly-minted Squid Game winner and the revelation that Pink Guard No-eul's (Park Gyu-young) daughter may actually be alive after all.
But before viewers breathe a sigh of relief that Player 456's sacrifice finally brought an end to the brutal games, we discover there's another branch. After returning Gi-hun's belongings to his family in LA, Front Man encounters a besuited Cate Blanchett playing ddakji in an alleyway, confirming the games were actually an international affair and bigger than we ever thought.
Ultimately Player 456's sacrifice was for nothing and the misery and suffering perpetuates. Viewers that expected anything else missed the point.
From where I'm standing, it was the perfect ending to a perfect show, and I'll certainly be lapping up every spin-off that comes next.
All seasons of Squid Game are now streaming on Netflix
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