7 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Squid Game After Season 3

Squid Game is one of Netflix’s best original shows, and after its massive first season, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn’t watched it once. It took a while for the second and third outings to come out, but both brought Seong Gi-hun’s story to a close in 2025. And while Squid Game season 3’s ending fits the themes and tone of the series, it brings up some harsh realities upon a rewatch.

It’s no secret that some viewers found Squid Game season 3 disappointing compared to its predecessors. And whether you agree or not, the conclusion does alter the way you see the story while revisiting it. Unfortunately, there are some difficult truths about the show that only come up once you’ve finished it. These complicate Squid Game‘s legacy slightly.

Jun-ho’s Story Didn’t Need To Continue After Season 1

image made by Yeider Chacon

Gi-hun is the show’s lead, but Jun-ho’s narrative rivals his in Squid Game season 1 — an impressive feat, considering Wi Ha-joon’s character isn’t participating in the high-stakes tournament. Jun-ho tracks down the island while searching for answers about his missing brother, and he manages to infiltrate the competition as a guard. The whole thing is gripping enough to keep viewers invested.

Squid Game season 1 ends with Jun-ho realizing his brother is the Front Man, then being shot and falling off a cliff. And much to the relief of viewers, he manages to survive this incident. However, after watching seasons 2 and 3, it’s safe to say that Jun-ho’s story didn’t need to continue past season 1.

While everyone was rooting for Jun-ho to return, the second and third outings don’t make his comeback worthwhile. He teams up with Gi-hun to infiltrate the tournament, but he spends the majority of Squid Game season 2 searching for the island. And by the time he actually reaches it in season 3, Gi-hun is dead.

Add in the fact that Jun-ho never properly gets to confront his brother, and one has to wonder why Squid Game bothered to keep him alive. Sure, he winds up with Jun-hee’s baby at the end of the series, but another character could have taken on that role. He’s also the reason In-ho detonates the island, but again, that’s something that could’ve been triggered by any other resister, including Gi-hun or No-eul.

Squid Game Needed To Spend More Time On The Front Man

Lee Byung-hun as In-ho wearing a suit while his eyes water intensely in Squid Game season 3

Jun-ho never confronting his brother isn’t just disappointing for his character arc; it also weakens In-ho’s storyline, which could use more detail overall. Squid Game season 1 does a great job creating mystery around the Front Man. When we learn that he’s Jun-ho’s missing brother, we want to know why he’d participate in this terrible competition.

Squid Game season 2 makes In-ho even more interesting, as he joins the tournament as Player 001 — and shares some seemingly genuine moments with the other players while he tries to convince Gi-hun that humanity is inherently selfish. The second outing drives home how complex Lee Byung-hun’s villain is, and he plays him perfectly.

However, we simply don’t get enough insight into the Front Man after his betrayal at the end of Squid Game season 2. The flashback to him winning the tournament needs to be longer for viewers to fully empathize, and he requires more interactions with Gi-hun and Jun-ho to fully capitalize on the emotional impact.

Sadly, when season 3 comes to a close, viewers will still have questions about In-ho that are likely to go unanswered. That’s a shame, as he really is one of the Netflix series’ most fascinating characters.

The VIPs Didn’t Contribute Enough To The Story

Squid Game VIPs in the Elevator wearing golden masks

The arrival of the VIPs in Squid Game season 1 serves a clear purpose: it reveals that there are powerful people funding the eponymous games, and it tells us that other versions of them are happening outside South Korea. This is intriguing world-building, but seasons 2 and 3 don’t do enough with it. In hindsight, it feels like a means of setting up a sequel or spinoff, but not much else.

Due to clunky dialogue and a distinct separation from the main plot, the VIPs feel misplaced, even in season 1. However, this gets worse when they return in Squid Game season 3, which doesn’t utilize them to their full potential. They don’t have much of an impact on the plot; the only real impact they have is deciding Jun-hee’s baby will become a player, and that order could’ve come from elsewhere.

Otherwise, the VIPs don’t face justice for their terrible actions, nor do they contribute much to the overall plot. It’s possible we’ll see more of them if Squid Game‘s American spinoff comes to fruition, but their role in the main series feels dissatisfying.

Squid Game’s Darkest Twist Backfired On The Ending

The baby wears 222's and 456's green jackets in Squid Game season 3 — The baby wears 222’s and 456’s green jackets in Squid Game season 3

“The Starry Night” is one of Squid Game‘s best episodes, and it delivers the Netflix show’s darkest twist: that Jun-hee has her baby in the middle of the tournament. Things get even wilder when the VIPs agree to have the baby compete as a player. This turn of events originally suits the story’s brutal and bleak message, but it winds up backfiring.

Although putting Jun-hee’s baby in the tournament seems like a good way to up the stakes — and it gets Gi-hun to the ending the writers envisioned for him — it also takes the focus off the series’ lead. This resulted in complaints that the show stopped being about Gi-hun, and to be fair, that is the feeling one gets during the final installments.

Placing the baby in the games also meant that the characters we loved couldn’t make it to the end of Squid Game season 3; none of them would have fought Gi-hun about keeping her alive. This ensured that only unlikable characters were part of the last round, and that took some of the emotion out of it.

Squid Game Never Topped Its First Season

Gi-hun looking angry and determined Playing Red Light Green Light In Squid Game

Squid Game‘s first season shocked the world when it debuted, and now that it’s over, it’s safe to say that neither of its follow-ups surpassed it. That’s not to suggest that season 2 and season 3 are bad; both are interesting additions to the story, and they offer closure for Gi-hun after his initial win.

However, ideally, a TV show will get better and better with each passing season. That’s not the case with Squid Game. Season 1 set the bar too high, and this made it so that Squid Game‘s later seasons couldn’t reach its heights. The divisive nature of season 3 didn’t help, leaving the series with a complicated legacy overall.

Squid Game Seasons 2 & 3 Don’t Bode Well For An American Spinoff

Cate Blanchett as the American recruiter smiling in Squid Game's series finale — Cate Blanchett as the American recruiter smiling in Squid Game’s series finale

Squid Game seasons 2 and 3 taking a step down from season 1’s near-perfect run doesn’t bode well for potential sequels or spinoffs. Although an American spinoff isn’t confirmed, season 3’s final scene lays the groundwork for a return to the Netflix show’s world. But the divisive nature of its later outings doesn’t inspire confidence in such a project.

Again, seasons 2 and 3 aren’t bad by any means. However, if a spinoff continues the trend of becoming more and more divisive, it could hurt Squid Game‘s legacy in the long run. Expanding the franchise comes with big risks, and it could backfire if handled poorly.

Gi-hun Didn’t Accomplish Large-Scale Change By Returning To The Games

Perhaps the most devastating reality now that Squid Game is over is that Gi-hun’s return to the tournament doesn’t accomplish as much as he hopes. Gi-hun wants to bring down the competition — and those behind it — from the inside, but his plans are set up to fail from the very beginning.

While it’s somewhat satisfying that Gi-hun proves the Front Man wrong about humanity, his actions don’t have large-scale consequences. He’d almost have been better off using his winnings to help people out of poverty instead, negating a few individuals’ need for desperate measures like the games.

Instead, Gi-hun stages an uprising that results in many of his fellow players dying — something that might have been avoided had they continued to vote. The only person he truly manages to save is Jun-hee’s baby, and while that’s worthy of applause, he has to sacrifice his own life to do it.

Squid Game season 3’s final scene proves that the tournament and its supporters are still active, driving home that one man cannot break the violent cycles of poverty and oppression. Sure, Gi-hun’s plans lead to the island’s destruction in a roundabout way, meaning the competition might be done in South Korea, at least temporarily.

Even so, it’s tragic he doesn’t have a bigger impact after all his efforts. And given that Jun-ho’s arrival is what sparks the island’s destruction at the end of Squid Game, one has to wonder if Gi-hun really needed to reenter the tournament to accomplish this.