#squidgame speculations

[radashes]

Kdrama Series Review: Squid Game Season 3

I just finished Squid Game Season 3—the final season—and I have a lot to get off my chest. If you haven’t watched it yet, just pause here. Go finish. Come back emotionally wrecked. We’ll talk.

Spoilers ahead, obviously.

🟢Let’s start with the good stuff:

007 & 149’s bond wrecked me: The bonding between the son and mother was so good. I cried. We knew one of them wasn’t making it, but the execution was brutal. And so well done.

Kim Jun-hee (222) giving birth: I was expecting this plotline, but her child entering the game? I didn't expect that. It actually weirdly worked. Wild choice, but I respect the boldness.

Seong Gi-hun (456) giving death glares at Kang Dae-ho (388): It was just hilarious. I loved it.

Hwang In-ho (001) was actually a pretty cool and calm-headed character: Honestly, I was way more interested in what he was doing than half the main players.

Cho Hyun-ju dying was actually so sad to watch: Something about it felt so familiar, and then I realized—it echoed Ali’s death from Season 1. The scenes were completely different, but Cho was actually a good person and a good player, just like Ali was. And if you know, you know. It wasn’t just sad—it was gut-wrenching in that familiar Squid Game way.

🔴What Didn't Work:

The games this season felt… underwhelming. After how intense Season 1 and 2 were, these challenges didn’t have the same creativity or pressure. At times, it almost felt like they ran out of ideas and just went with the same formula: climb something → fall off → die. It was like they took the mirror bridge game from Season 1 and copy-pasted it over and over.

The final game was straight-up disappointing. It wasn’t clever. It wasn’t thrilling. It was basically “stand there and push someone.” That’s not a game—that’s a middle school hallway fight. I got bored halfway through watching it.

The ending didn’t hit like it should’ve. The moment that baby entered the game, I had a sinking feeling they were about to give us a forced, “innocence wins” type of finale—and yeah, that’s what happened. No stakes. No real surprise. Just a safe, obvious choice.

The FBI/undercover storyline added nothing. It took up so much time and yet went nowhere. You could cut all of Hwang Junho’s scenes, and the plot would be exactly the same.

VIP scenes were a drag. I don’t know who told them we needed more of those slow, awkward conversations, but it wasn’t me. Every time they popped up, the pacing crashed.

And then they hit us with “the game continues…” scene, like it’s supposed to be dramatic. Bro, what do you mean it continues? 456 is dead for no actual good reason, no one's fighting the system, and the cycle just goes on? That's not an ending—that's just giving up.

🎀What I Wished We Got Instead:

The Front Man joining the game again—maybe as some twisted redemption arc—and dying to end the cycle.

Gi-hun (456) stepping up as the new Front Man and reshaping the system. Give the man a legacy.

The baby and her father, Lee Myung-gi (333), surviving and winning. Or better yet—Gi-hun surviving with the baby and becoming the father he couldn’t be to his own daughter.

OR… if they were going full dark—blast the whole thing down. No survivors, no trace, no continuation. Just closure. That would’ve been cruel, but it would've made a point.

🎀Final Verdict: 🌟 3.5/5 stars

There are things this season did right—mostly the emotional beats—but it lost the tension, the cleverness, and honestly, the heart of what made Season 1 so good. It tried to go big with themes but ended up playing it safe.

🎀Watch it for:

That mother-son arc (you’ll cry)

Kim Jun-hee’s birth plot

You want to add this series in your 'Watched' list

🎀Skip it if:

You’re tired of every “game” being a variation of push-and-fall-to-your-death

You want a finale that actually feels earned, not handed out with baby tears and slow music

You’re not emotionally prepared to watch a literal baby in a death match (yes, that actually happens)

⭕️🔼⏹️💰💀 Will I rewatch season 3? No. ⭕️🔼⏹️💰💀 Am I glad I finished it? Barely. ⭕️🔼⏹️💰💀 Do I still recommend Season 1? Absolutely. That one made sense.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I���m going to go rewatch Season 1 and pretend this was all a bad dream.

[lanfykins]

burr being in squidgame makes so much sense bc he was always broke and shit with money LMAO

Burr was terrible with money on a weirdly epic scale. The dude spent money he didn't have on *things he didn't even want* because he apparently had no ability to say no to pushy salespeople.

So in that sense, Burr being in Squid Game makes sense. But on the other hand; Squid Game contestants tended to be there either because they really wanted money, or because they were desperate and saw no other option. Neither of those is really true of Burr.

Burr didn't want money; he wanted... honestly, I'm not even sure what he wanted. But the most notable thing about Burr is that he *never* ran out of plans. Land speculations, steamships, wood vinegar; he thought "every thing possible to adventure and perseverance" (Hamilton) and he got other people caught up with him. So I'm not convinced he would ever have been desperate enough to join the game.