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Business Upturn
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
Is ‘Squid Game' returning for season 4? Everything we know so far
By Aman Shukla Published on June 28, 2025, 17:30 IST Last updated June 28, 2025, 11:04 IST If you're anything like me, you've probably been glued to Netflix, binge-watching Squid Game Season 3, which dropped on June 27, 2025. The show's wild ride of deadly games, gut-punching drama, and sharp jabs at society has kept us hooked since that first Red Light, Green Light game. But now that Season 3 is out, wrapping up Seong Gi-hun's story, everyone's asking: is Squid Game Season 4 happening, or is this the end? Let's dive into everything we know about the show's future. So, Is Squid Game Season 4 Happening? Straight to the point: no, Squid Game Season 4 isn't in the cards. Hwang Dong-hyuk, the mastermind behind the series, has been clear that Season 3 is the final chapter for the main story. At a press conference in Seoul, he said, 'We don't have plans for a fourth season. That was decided while working on Season 3.' He's poured his heart into telling Gi-hun's tale, and after years of crafting this dystopian world—starting with his first draft in 2009—he's ready to close the book on it. Hwang's also been open about how grueling the process was. He's mentioned losing teeth from the stress of making the show, which sounds like a nightmare. So, it makes sense he'd want to wrap things up after three seasons. That said, he's not slamming the door shut on the Squid Game universe entirely—just the main storyline with Gi-hun. Why End It After Season 3? Hwang's decision to stop at Season 3 isn't just about burnout. He's said in interviews, like one with The Hollywood Reporter , that he feels he's told the story he set out to tell. The show's always been about more than just survival games; it's a raw look at how society chews people up, especially through Gi-hun's eyes. By the end of Season 3, Hwang believes he's landed that message. Plus, let's be real—stretching the show further could get stale. Some critics, like folks at ScreenRant , have pointed out that another season of Gi-hun fighting the game's shadowy organizers might feel like retreading old ground. Seasons 2 and 3 were shot back-to-back and written as one big arc, split for maximum impact. It's a smart move to go out on a high note rather than risk dragging things out. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
‘Squid Game' ends on a squishy note
Published Jun 27, 2025 • 5 minute read Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in 'Squid Game' Season 3. Photo by Noh Ju-han / Netflix Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. This review contains mild spoilers for Season 3 of 'Squid Game.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account – – – You started watching 'Squid Game' because everybody else was doing it when the first season dropped in the fall of 2021. Well, that and also its intriguing, deeply bingeable premise. The South Korean drama, which has become one of the most-watched series in Netflix history, follows the outcomes in an underground competition where financially desperate players battle one another in a series of children's games. The last-standing winner potentially walks away with millions. Lose during one of the rounds, though, and you might not walk away at all. The show dared to ask the question, 'Hey, what if we play Red Light, Green Light, but in this version, you get shot in cold blood if a thigh muscle so much as twitches?' Then it showed us that version. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Squid Game's' brutal violence and often discordantly cheery aesthetic naturally captured the public's attention. But creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who writes and directs every episode, also undergirded the show with enough commentary on classism and economic disparity to give it some narrative heft. When it debuted roughly eight months into Joe Biden's first and only term as president, there certainly were parallels between this more-twisted iteration of 'The Hunger Games' and the actual, One-Percenter-dominated world. But back then, 'Squid Game' landed more like fiction than a direct reflection of reality. In June 2025 – roughly five months into Donald Trump's second presidential term and the moment when the third and (purportedly) final season of Hwang's nerve-rattler is landing on Netflix – let's just say that 'Squid Game' hits a little different. Picking up exactly where Season 2 left off, in the middle of the second bloody elementary school field day that Netflix subscribers have been invited to witness, players continue to vote after each round to determine whether to continue the game. Which means that many of the characters in 'Squid Game' must helplessly observe as their fellow citizens voluntarily elect to put them in positions that could result in their own deaths, as a part of a shadowy system controlled by an enigmatic figure – the Front Man, a.k.a. the leader and former Squid Game champion whose actual name is Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun) – and sometimes observed by masked elites who sip champagne while they watch the bloodshed from a safe, cocooned distance. Well. This doesn't feel like a slightly different, admittedly exaggerated iteration of the world we are living in at all. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Do you still have faith in people?' our protagonist, Seong Gi-hun (Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae), is pointedly asked at a critical moment in this six-episode swan song. Gi-hun does not give a clear answer. Which points to a central issue with these concluding episodes of 'Squid Game': As gripping as they can be, they ultimately don't reflect with any satisfying degree of depth vis-à-vis the show's central point, which is whether human beings are inherently good or bad, especially when faced with the prospect of becoming extremely wealthy at the expense of others. To be clear: Hwang is under no obligation to provide straightforward resolutions to his storylines. Life usually doesn't explain its ambiguities, and television shouldn't be expected to, either. In fact, sometimes it's better when it doesn't. (Hi, 'Severance'!) This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But an Emmy-winning, critically acclaimed series should craft an ending that carries emotional weight. 'Squid Game' ultimately whiffs on that front, opting to close out with a final scene that contains an extremely high-profile actor making a cameo appearance – and no, I won't spoil it – rather than leaving its audience with anything genuinely surprising or profound to ponder. This final season follows three primary plot strands to their inevitable collision: Gi-hun and his fellow competitors on their journey through this iteration of Squid Game; police officer Hwang Joon-ho (Wi Ha-joon) and his crew's attempt to locate the island where the games take place; and the efforts of Kang No-eul (Park Gyu-young) to learn about her estranged daughter's whereabouts by working undercover as one of the armed, pink-jumpsuit-clad guards in the game. We watch knowing these strands will eventually intersect, yet when they finally do, there's something anticlimactic about it. Instead of fireworks going off, it's like one sad sparkler lights up, then quickly fizzles out. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. This is unfortunate, because there are some genuinely suspenseful and moving moments in the episodes that lead up to that conclusion. The push-and-pull between doting mother Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-sim, in a deeply heartfelt performance) and her grown, irresponsible son Park Yong-sik (Yang Dong-geun) provides some of the most wrenching moments in the series. An extremely depraved version of hide-and-seek, which really should be called hide-or-get-murdered, fully succeeds in its attempt to raise the blood pressure of the audience. It also takes place in a beautifully rendered space deliberately evocative of Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night.' Production designer Chae Kyoung-sun continues to build wildly imaginative sets that adhere to the general 'Squid Game' aesthetic, which is best described as part-Stanley Kubrickian dystopia and part-Barbie's Dreamhouse as designed by a slightly deranged Mattel employee. The games themselves – including a jump-rope challenge in which contestants fall from a great height to their own death if they miss a skip – still succeed in making recess seem far more diabolical than we ever dared imagine. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But as eye-popping and shocking as 'Squid Game' can be, it ultimately never reaches any conclusions about humanity that weren't depressingly obvious from the jump. Con artists gonna con. Society is always going to place the poor and disadvantaged at the bottom of its priority list. The privileged and wealthy will always view such people with disdain and indifference. And yes, the purely decent folks will continue to do their best, sometimes even from beyond the grave, to try to inject hope into this sick and diseased ecosystem. If only those righteous souls could stop people from hurting and killing each other, and stop the rest of us from watching all that hurting and killing as if it's entertainment instead of what it actually is: an ongoing tragedy. Toronto Raptors Music Sunshine Girls Canada Toronto Raptors
Business Upturn
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
Squid Game Season 3: 5 crucial things every fan should know before watching the final chapter
By Aman Shukla Published on June 27, 2025, 10:39 IST The final season of Netflix's Squid Game drops on June 27, 2025, bringing the curtain down on a global sensation that's kept us glued to our screens. This South Korean thriller, packed with heart-pounding games and raw human drama, has redefined TV storytelling. If you're gearing up for Season 3, these five insights will get you ready for the epic conclusion without spoiling the surprises. Let's dive into what makes this season unmissable, based on the journey so far in Seasons 1 and 2. 1. Gi-hun's Fight Carries a Heavy Toll Seong Gi-hun, brought to life by Lee Jung-jae, is no longer the broke gambler we met in Season 1. After surviving the deadly games and walking away with millions, he's haunted by what he's seen. Season 2 shows him hell-bent on taking down the game's shadowy organizers, but his plans come at a brutal cost—friends lost, hopes shattered. As Season 3 begins, Gi-hun's on a razor's edge, driven by guilt and a need to end the bloodshed. His arc will pull you in, so keep an eye on how far he's willing to go. 2. The Games Get Wilder and More Twisted The show's signature is turning childhood games into life-or-death nightmares. From the chilling Red Light, Green Light in Season 1 to Season 2's chaotic Mingle Game, each challenge ups the stakes. Season 3 teases a new spin on Red Light, Green Light with a creepy new doll, Cheol-su, joining Young-hee. Expect games that mess with players' heads as much as their survival instincts, with stakes that feel bigger and more personal. Knowing the games' brutal creativity will help you brace for what's coming. 3. The Front Man's Secrets Run Deep Lee Byung-hun's Front Man is the masked mastermind pulling the strings, and his story gets murkier every season. Season 1 dropped a bombshell about his past with detective Hwang Jun-ho, while Season 2 blurred the lines between player and puppetmaster. In Season 3, his role in the games' shadowy world—tied to the mysterious VIPs—will take center stage. Pay attention to his cryptic moves; they're key to understanding the power behind the games. 4. New Faces, Old Wounds Season 3 brings back fan favorites like Gi-hun, Jun-ho, and tough-as-nails players like Kang Dae-ho and Cho Hyun-ju, who survived Season 2's carnage. New players, like those wearing numbers 96 and 353, will shake things up with their own stories of desperation or defiance. The absence of characters like Gi-hun's buddy Jung-bae, lost in Season 2, will hit hard. Getting a sense of who's who and what drives them—greed, survival, or something else—will make the drama pop. 5. It's Still a Mirror to Our World Squid Game isn't just about surviving deadly playground games; it's a gut-punch commentary on money, power, and inequality. The show lays bare a world where the desperate fight for a cash prize while the ultra-rich watch for fun. Season 3 digs deeper into the global reach of the game's creators and the moral lines players cross. Going in with an eye for these themes will make the finale hit home, especially as Gi-hun takes on the system itself. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
Cosmopolitan
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
When Does ‘Squid Game' Season 3 Come Out on Netflix?
The third and final season of Squid Game is just around the corner, and we can't wait. Season three of the K-drama will center around the rivalry between Gi-hun and Hwang In-ho, also known as the Front Man. Expect lots of new challenges and characters, including Cheol-su, a new giant doll who was teased in the post-credits of season two. Cheol-su will play a significant part in the "Jump Rope" game, similar to the doll Young-hee in "Red Light, Green Light". In the final season, the contestants will fight for their lives in even deadlier games, with the show's writer/director Hwang Dong-hyuk telling Entertainment Weekly, "I wanted to focus on how [people] have to preserve their humanity amidst this intense competition." So, when will the episodes drop on Netflix? Here's everything you need to know so you don't miss a moment... Squid Game season three will come out on Netflix on Friday, June 27th. There's no point staying up until midnight to wait for the episodes as they won't be available until 3 AM ET/12 AM PT, but that means that you have a whole weekend of bingeing ahead of you. Not based in the US? Here's all the times the series lands on Netflix where you are on 27th June: There are six episodes in the third and final installment, and you're in luck as all six episodes will be available to stream on Friday!
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
The third and final season of 'Squid Game' is coming to Netflix. Here's a recap of the first two installments.
The final season of "Squid Game" is coming to Netflix on Friday. Season three begins directly after the shock ending of season two. Here's a recap of what you need to remember from the first two seasons. It's been four years since "Squid Game" hit Netflix and became a global sensation. On Friday, its ends with its third season. The first and second seasons of "Squid Game" follow Seong Gi-hun, who stumbles upon a competition where debtors play children's games with deadly twists for the chance to win billions of South Korean won. Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of "Squid Game," told Entertainment Weekly that the final season, which was filmed at the same time as season two, will wrap up Gi-hun's story, including his battle against the organization that runs the competition. Here's what to remember from seasons one and two before watching season three. Seong Gi-hun wins the games in season one, but decides to stop them In season one, Seong Gi-hun, a divorced father in a lot of debt who lives with his mother, is approached by a mysterious man in a suit who recruits him to participate in a game with a huge financial reward. He and 455 other contestants are taken to a secret location, where they first compete in a Korean children's game called "Red Light, Green Light" with a twist: if they lose, they're shot dead. After the game ends, the guard tells the surviving contestants that they have a choice: either compete in five more games to win a share of the prize pot, which increases each time a player dies, or vote to leave the game. They decide to leave, but many return because they are desperate for money, including Gi-hun, who needs to pay for his mother's diabetes treatment. In the following episodes, Gi-hun competes in increasingly difficult challenges. He makes strong bonds with some players but is forced to turn on them, and survives a riot triggered by the players realizing the prize fund increases even if they kill each other outside the games. In the final challenge, Gi-hun faces a childhood friend, Cho Sang-woo, in a Korean playground game called Squid Game. The friends became enemies after Sang-woo killed their ally, Sae-byeok, the night before the final, to get more money for the prize fund. After a vicious fight, Sang-woo stabs himself and dies so Gi-hun can win the prize. Instead, a dejected Gi-hun returns home to find that his mother has died, and he becomes a vagrant. At the end of season one, Gi-hun's attitude changes. He buys a ticket to visit his daughter, but on the way, sees the recruiter for the games still preying on people in debt. Gi-hun decides to turn back to stop the games for good. Gi-hun gets stuck in the games in season two In season two, Gi-hun uses his money to pay people to track down the organization running the death games and to help find Sae-byeok's mother, whom he believes is in North Korea. After two years of searching, Gi-hun's former creditor, Mr Kim, and his employee, Choi Woo-seok, find the recruiter of the games and follow him. They are captured, the recruiter kills Mr Kim and confronts Gi-hun in his home. The recruiter and Gi-hun play Russian roulette to prove who has better luck. Gi-hun wins and uses a card from the recruiter's pocket to call the organization and set up a meeting. Gi-hun hopes to meet and capture the leader of the games, but the plan fails, and the organization captures him instead. Refusing to accept defeat, Gi-hun asks to be put back into the games, hoping his allies will be able to follow him using a tracker in his teeth. The organization intercepts the tracker, so Gi-hun is forced to compete again without help. Season two only covered the first half of the games, so the third season will cover the second half. In season two, contestants can vote to leave with the prize money, but this causes friction In season one, contestants were allowed to leave the games after the first challenge without collecting any money. In season two, however, players can vote after every game. If the majority votes to leave, the prize will be evenly split. Gi-hun admits he has won the games before and tries to persuade people to leave, but they doubt him and see him as a threat. Over time, tensions develop between those who want to leave and those who want to stay to earn more money. In the season two finale, a vote ending in a tie leads to a brawl in the men's bathroom. Some players die, which is an advantage for the group that wants to leave, so the group that wants to stay launches an assault in the night, killing many opposing players. Gi-hun and his allies decide not to fight during this assault and use the chaos to surprise the guards, steal weapons, and start a rebellion. The rebellion is unsuccessful, and Gi-hun's close friend Jung-bae is killed after the rebels are captured. In the trailer for season three, the game-makers appear to have kept Gi-hun alive to force him to continue the games, but he seems to have lost hope after Jung-bae's death and the failed rebellion. Player 001 is an infiltrator working for the organization In "Squid Game," players are often referred to by the numbers on their jerseys. In season one, an elderly man named Oh Il-nam is given the player 001 jersey. He becomes a close friend of Gi-hun during the games, but sacrifices himself so Gi-hun could advance in the competition during the marbles game. In the season finale, Il-nam invites Gi-hun to meet him and reveals he faked his death, that he created the games, and decided to compete because he was dying from a tumor and wanted to feel alive again. Il-nam tries to persuade Gi-hun that the game is just and to lose faith in humanity's goodness. Instead, the conversation energizes Gi-hun to believe in people again, leading him to help Sae-byeok and Sang-woo's relatives. In season two, the Front man, who led the games in season one, enters the competition as player 001. He befriends Gi-hun to learn his plan and persuade him that the games are a necessary. In the finale, he joins the rebellion to overthrow the game makers but sabotages the attack by dividing the rebels, killing two players, and faking his death. In season three, the Front man retakes his position as the masked leader of the games and we'll discover if Gi-hun learns of his betrayal. There were 95 players in the final episode of season two, before the riots and rebellion While several named players died in the rebellion and riots in the season two finale, a few remain who could be important for season three. Dae-ho, a marine, and Hyun-ju, a former special forces soldier, returned to the sleeping area to collect more bullets during the rebellion, so they are the only rebels to survive alongside Gi-hun. Jang Geum-ja and Park Yon-Sik, a mother and son duo, and Kim Jun-hee, a heavily pregnant player, are also allies of Gi-hun, who did not participate in the rebellion. Season three will also feature morally gray characters from season two, including the shaman Seon-nyeo; the bully Nam-gyu; Min-su, a shy young man; and Myung-gi, the father of Jun-hee's baby, who will do almost anything to get more money. Detective Hwang Jun-ho is trying to find the games' island to shut it down Hwang Jun-ho is a detective looking for his missing brother. In season one, he follows Gi-hun to the island where the games take place and infiltrates the organization as a guard. During his investigation, Jun-ho learns that his brother, In-ho, competed in the games. Before Jun-ho can escape, he is cornered by the Front man and his guards. The Front man removes his mask to reveal he is Jun-ho's brother, In-ho. In-ho offers Jun-ho to join him in the organization. Jun-ho declines, and In-ho shoots Jun-ho off a cliff. A fisherman called Captain Park saves Jun-ho and assists him in trying to re-find the island. In season two, Jun-ho teams up with Gi-hun, a team of mercenaries, and Woo-seok to search for the island, while Gi-hun is stuck in the games. In the season two finale, Captain Park secretly kills one of the mercenaries, revealing that he also works for the organization. Therefore, in season three, Jun-ho, Woo-seok, and the mercenaries will somehow have to outmaneuver the mole in their team to find the island. There's a secret organ-harvesting group within the organization In season one, some of the guards secretly sold organs they took from dying contestants. This backfires because they use a player within the games to be the doctor who takes out the organs. They offer him hints for the next game as a reward, but he eventually gets scared and tries to escape. All the guards and the doctor are killed. A new organ-harvesting group emerges in season two, using a doctor working as a guard. However, No-eul, a woman from North Korea searching for her daughter, keeps getting in the way of the operation. The operation's leaders attack and threaten her, causing her to stand down. No-eul also knows player 256, because they work at the same theme park and she has interacted with his sick daughter. This plot line was not relevant to the main story in season two, but may pay off in season three.
