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The games are over. Squid Game season 3 came to a close on Netflix with a finale fraught with tension, shock deaths, and a buzzy conclusion – or so I thought.
After scouring social media and Reddit, words like "disaster" were being thrown around. Worse still, it was being compared to Game of Thrones season 8, the internet's favored shorthand for a finale that wasted everyone's time.
Is Squid Game season 3's finale actually that bad? Not really, no. While there are certainly some fair points being made among the sea of bad faith arguments, there's plenty to like about 'Humans Are…' and its frenetic farewell.
Chief among the complaints from Squid Game's final episode (and those preceding it) was the apparent bumbling of Jun-ho and his failed attempts to reach the island in time.
Even without the pretty obvious plot of Captain Park committing subterfuge at every turn to thwart the police officer and his squad, Jun-ho was a rare happy ending in a season filled with tragedy. He never brought his brother back from the brink as the Front Man, sure, but he still got a semblance of closure, a new family member, and a gold card to boot. His character was a crack of light and decency in a finale awash with terror and corruption.
If you have somehow missed the entirety of Squid Game and only watched the finale: capitalism is cruel. Maybe viewers wanted a happier ending where Gi-hun gunned down the VIPs, killed the Front Man, and everyone made it home safe and sound. I don't know. But that was never going to happen. That cynical attitude even extended to the element of the finale that most found unsavory: Cate Blanchett's cameo as the ddakji player in L.A..
Let the games begin
Of course, it may be setting up an American spin-off helmed by David Fincher, but those closing seconds are perhaps a victim of unfortunate timing. If the existence of an American follow-up hadn't been so widely talked about (and it's not even clear if Blanchett would appear in it), it would have been championed as a braver ending, one where the games will continue because no matter how hard you try, there is still evil in the world – and plenty of desperate Players willing to go along with it.
I will admit that Gi-hun's sacrifice and the whole baby/Player 222 scenario was where the Squid Game season 3 ending stumbled slightly.
The good: Gi-hun piercing the steely exterior of the Front Man with his final words. The bad: Gi-hun only achieved his goal of ending the games indirectly, and missed plenty of chances to do so earlier.
The baby, too – while emblematic of a fresh hope for humanity – often backed the Netflix show into too predictable of a corner. They weren't going to kill off a baby, were they? Even if the CGI budget looked like it would crumble at any moment.
Yet, I still loved Squid Game's ending. It may not have been a top-tier series finale like Mad Men or The Sopranos, but I would argue it never could be. It's been purposefully designed to leave a bitter taste in the mouth; that can only be applauded as an artistic choice that did the very opposite of playing it safe.
So, a final plea: go back and watch Squid Game season 3 and its much-maligned finale with fresh eyes. You'll soon find a goodbye that chimes with everything that has gone before it. Remember, characters meeting sad, unsatisfying fates doesn't mean an episode is downright terrible. Life can often be messy, disappointing, and frustrating – but you still have to follow the same twisted rules that Gi-hun and company played by.
For more, check out the best Netflix shows and best Netflix movies you should be watching right now, or read our verdict on the show with our Squid Game season 3 review.
