Squid Game series 3 leaves fans devastated
If you haven't yet seen Series 3 yet, 'SPOILER ALERT!
The macabre survival drama stunned viewers when it first appeared on Netflix three years ago, and was an unexpected cultural phenomenon, drawing millions of viewers into its tale of deadly competition.
Its a lengthy drama full of psychological intrigue and melodramatic twists and turns that will mess with your mind and your soul. The human psyche has never been tested so much, by such a simple concept. The South-Korean language drama Squid Game returned for its third and final season on Friday. Pic: No Ju-han/Netflix
The whole premise of Squid Game is a group of ordinary people, from all walks of life, but with one thing in common, they are down on their luck, in debt, or just dirt poor, and they are offered a chance to take part in a series of games with the chance to win billions (of won). They are recruited from the subway stations of Seoul by the promise of easy money, however, nothing is as it seems.
Taken to an island and given green tracksuits numbered from player 001 to the final participant, number 456, they enter the candy coloured arena full of wonder and excitement. However, after the first game, they realise they have entered a type of hellish reality where they will have to outwit each other, by playing simple childrens games like 'Red Light-Green Light' or 'Marbles', but with deadly consequences for the losers.
So you get the idea. Its a tough watch at times, not just literally bloody, and downright terrifying, but utterly devastating when you realise you are so invested in the back stories of the leading characters, especially the leading man, Korean superstar Lee Jung-jae, aka player 456 – Gi Hun. The macabre survival drama stunned viewers when it first appeared on Netflix three years ago, and was an unexpected cultural phenomenon, drawing millions of viewers into its tale of deadly competition. Pic: No Ju-han/Netflix
When we meet Gi-hun in Season 1, he is not immediately likeable, as he is a bit of a deadbeat dad to his eight year old daughter, borrowing money from his own elderly mother, to take his little girl out for fried chicken for her birthday. He struggles with a gambling addiction and has accumulated quite a debt, but basically he is a good guy who tries his best for his mom, and his daughter. When Gi-hun is approached by 'The Recruiter' to take part in a game with the chance to win billions of won, he sees it as an opportunity to finally get his life back on track.
Now, jumping to Season 3, which I binge watched last Friday and Saturday, it's difficult to know how to describe it, but I would say, gripping, mind boggling, intense and ultimately heartbreaking.
The writer and producers have been slated and critisised for the ending of the Final Series, which sees much loved characters killed off and in some of the worst ways possible, but it's the psychological trauma when teammates have to choose who will die, and who will be spared, that really leaves a scar. Now, jumping to Season 3, which I binge watched last Friday and Saturday, it's difficult to know how to describe it, but I would say, gripping, mind boggling, intense and ultimately heartbreaking. Pic: No Ju-han/Netflix
This was especially traumatic when the dwindling numbers of players were, of course, the best and some of the worst characters, and it made for compulsive viewing.
Even after the horrors they endured, seeing teammates killed off one by one, or sometimes dozens at a time, and despite being given the chance after every game, to quit and escape with their lives, they vote to keep going.
And it's not that they were lulled into some false sense of security or thinking that the game is in any way fair, they were so driven by the desire for the money, and delusional enough to think they could outwit the bosses and survive, they voted to stay. Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game. Pic: No Ju-han/Netflix
Series 3 does not do anything vastly different from Series 1 and 2, but why change a winning formula? However, we do see ALL of the leading characters lose their lives, with a surprising twist in the form of a newborn baby who is included, with her young mother, in the games.
The Emmy award-winning series has been at the top of the Netflix charts for the past three years and has catapulted some of South Koreas finest talent to Hollywood superstardom in a short space of time.
With its pastel coloured sets, a host of very different characters from every walk of life, and very bleak messages about the state of humanity, it makes for compulsive viewing. Series 3 does not do anything vastly different from Series 1 and 2. Pic: No Ju-han/Netflix
Some South Koreans have been commenting on the series on social media and reflecting on the society that inspired the programme, with some people commenting that the show 'actually showed the true feelings and raw inner thoughts of Korean people'. Another social media post said 'It reflected reality so well, like how in real life, at work, its just full of ruthless people ready to crush you. This show nailed it.'
SQUID GAME – SERIES 1, 2 and 3 Now showing on Netflix
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