Squid Game Season 3 Review: A brutal, thoughtful, and satisfying farewell to the deadlier game

Time of India

a day ago

Story: After his defiant stand to end the brutal competition, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a.k.a. Player 456, is pulled back into the deadly game. Now under the ruthless control of the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), the stakes are higher, the rules more unforgiving, and the consequences bloodier. As each round pushes players to their limits, Gi-hun must fight not just to survive—but to hold on to what's left of his humanity.
Review: Squid Game returns for its third and final season, and in many ways, it delivers exactly what fans were hoping for: higher stakes, deeper character arcs, and a fitting conclusion to Netflix's global phenomenon. Picking up immediately after the harrowing events of Season 2, this six-episode finale plunges Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a.k.a. Player 456, back into the nightmare he once escaped—only this time, he returns not just to survive, but to confront the game itself. However, he miserably fails in his first try with some other rebellious participants.
Gi-hun begins the season weighed down by guilt and betrayal, haunted by the failed rebellion and the loss of his closest allies. His reluctant reentry into the game, now harsher and more unforgiving than ever, sets the tone for a season that leans heavily on psychological tension. The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) tightens his grip over the proceedings, pushing the players into even more brutal and morally compromising scenarios. Parallel narratives introduce a richer cast of returning—a mother-son duo, a transgender woman seeking identity, a crypto-scam survivor, and a rogue pink-suited guard (Park Gyu-young) whose arc quietly challenges the very structure of obedience within the game. Meanwhile, In-ho (the Front Man) resumes his command and prepares for a new batch of VIPs, as his brother, detective Hwang Jun-Ho (Wi Ha-Joon), resumes his search for the elusive island—unaware of a traitor within his own ranks.
Director and writer Hwang Dong-hyuk ups the ante both visually and thematically. The familiar iconography—the looming red-light-green-light doll, the candy-coloured staircases, the piggy bank of cash—returns, but now under a darker and more introspective lens. While the season wastes no time plunging viewers into the action, it also dares to slow down in parts, peeling back the layers of its characters. That shift in tone may feel like a dip in pace for some, especially compared to the adrenaline-heavy momentum of Season 1, but it allows the show to ask more thoughtful questions about humanity, choice, and guilt.
Performance-wise, Lee Jung-jae is once again outstanding. As Gi-hun evolves from a desperate survivor to a man grappling with responsibility and moral ambiguity, Jung-jae injects nuance into every conflicted decision. Lee Byung-hun's icy turn as the Front Man remains a highlight—menacing, unreadable, and ever-strategic. Their scenes together, crackling with tension and ambiguity, form the emotional core of the season. Kang Ae-Sim also leaves a strong impression as a well-meaning older woman who forms a tender bond with the pregnant Jun-hee (Jo Yuri), embodying the show's core themes of sacrifice and survival.
Not everything lands perfectly. A few subplots—particularly involving the VIPs and a brewing betrayal—feel underdeveloped or rushed, and the emotional resonance occasionally wavers under the weight of exposition. However, the series regains its footing in the final episodes, culminating in a climax that answers long-standing questions while leaving just enough ambiguity to linger in viewers' minds.
Season 3 doesn't just rely on spectacle; it dares to be meditative, even philosophical. In choosing to explore what makes people human when stripped of everything but choice, Squid Game ends not with a bang, but with a disturbing whisper that echoes long after the credits roll. It reinforces, once again, that survival is as much a mental game as it is physical—and sometimes, the toughest opponent is the person staring back in the mirror.