Final Squid Game Season: What to Expect This Summer?

Netflix

Alright, folks, ready for the final round? The one that’ll twist you inside out again, make you worry about the characters like they’re family, and then, maybe, just maybe, leave you sitting in the dark with only one question: "That’s it?!" Season premiere on June 27th, only on Netflix!

Squid Game Season 3 is the finale. Yep, the show that first blew up Netflix, then slightly disappointed with its second season (well, not everyone, of course, but there were complaints), now promises an "epic conclusion." And if the creators are to be believed, it’ll be epic not only in scale but also in its level of brutality. Meaning, if you thought the second season pushed all boundaries, then in the third, they apparently decided that boundaries are for the weak.

Who’s coming back?

Almost everyone who survived (and there aren’t that many of them, by the way). Lee Jung-jae is back as Gi-hun—the same guy who seemingly should have "destroyed the system" but, in fact, has only successfully lost to it so far. By the way, there’s a fairly common theory (but it’s just speculation) that he won’t break the game but become a part of it. That is, imagine: after everything he’s been through, he suddenly puts on a mask himself and says, "Welcome, players!" Harsh? Harsh. But very much in the spirit of the show.

Lee Byung-hun (the Front Man, who is also the brother of that missing detective) and Wi Ha-joon (the police detective, shockingly killed by his brother in Season 2, returns in the Season 3 trailer, possibly in flashbacks or a classic K-drama resurrection twist) are also returning. Their family drama is one of the most unresolved storylines, and if it’s not wrapped up in the finale, viewers will definitely stage a riot. Or at least write angry tweets.

What’s new?

As many have noticed—a baby. A baby’s cry is heard in the teaser, and everyone immediately decided it was the child of player #222 (Kim Joo-hun). So now, in addition to adults willing to kill for money, there will be an infant in the game. This is, of course, a new level of emotional terror. Previously, characters died in children’s games—now, apparently, we’ll have to watch a real baby nearby. Although, maybe it was Gi-hun crying from despair, it’s not clear yet.

In the final credits of the second season (yes, the second one that has already been released), there was a hint of what awaits us in the third. Three new players, the creepy doll Young-hee, and some new boy doll (maybe her younger brother? Or a sinister upgrade?) flashed by. Plus, that ominous traffic light—green/red, like a signal: "Well, ready for the next round?"

The wealthy, perverted viewers hardly appeared in the second season, but shadows in masks flicker in the trailer. Does this mean they will again be betting on the deaths of players while sipping wine? Or maybe one of them will turn out to be a key figure? For example, the one behind this whole system? (Personally, I’m still waiting to find out that the Front Man is just a pawn, and the main villain is some CEO in a gold mask).

What will the finale be about?

The creator of the series, Hwang Dong-hyuk, doesn’t hide it: "It will be the most brutal and emotionally heavy game." That is, if in the first season we gasped when players dropped like flies in "Red Light, Green Light," and in the second we worried about Gi-hun’s fate, now, apparently, something even more merciless awaits us.

And yes, the theme of social inequality will not go anywhere. The series has always been not just about deadly games, but about the desperation of people who have no choice. About a world where honest work no longer guarantees anything, and quick money is the only chance.

Conclusion: What awaits us?

— Even more psychological pressure.

— The return of the VIPs—which means even more cynicism and social satire.

— New games—possibly related to trains or choices.

— Gi-hun’s finale—either heroic or tragic.

— An unexpected twist. Because Squid Game without a dirty trick is like "Red Light, Green Light" without gunshots.

Personally, I expect the finale to either blow our minds or leave us slightly bewildered. There’s no in-between. But one thing is for sure: it won’t be boring.