Warning! Spoilers for Squid Game season 3 ahead!
Squid Gamehas officially come to a close with season 3, but how do these individual installments stack up?The Netflix series has been a massive, global success, with each season hitting new streaming records for the platform. However, it’s only natural that one of these installments would stand out in comparison to the others.
Compared to other hit TV shows,Squid Gameis on the shorter side. Gi-hun’s story wrapped up after he competed in two separate games spread across three seasons. Of course, there’s still room to expand with the already confirmed US spinoff, establishing a wider franchise. For now, however, we can take a look at how the seasons ofSquid Gamecompare.
An English-language spinoff osSquid Gameis reportedly in development with David Fincher.
Looking at performance results onRotten Tomatoes, critics have deemed each season ofSquid Game"Certified Fresh.“However,we see a decline in the percentage of positive critic reviews from season to season. Similarly, audience scores onRotten Tomatoeshave declined as well, to the point that season 3 only earned a 50% Popcornmeter score.
Though our ranking isn’t based solely onRotten Tomatoesscores, we agree that there was a general downward trend in quality with each season ofSquid Game. The overarching series is excellent, and there is nobadinstallment within the series. However, some seasons didn’t offer quite as much as one in particular.
2021
95%
84%
2024
83%
63%
2025
79%
50%
3Squid Game Season 3
Squid Game’s 3rd Installment Lost Its Characters Slightly
Squid Gameseason 3 marked the endof Gi-hun’s story. This installment served as the second part of the games that began in season 2, carrying over after Gi-hun attempted to lead an uprising against the guards and the Front Man. The failure of this left Gi-hun entirely broken and no longer willing to fight. However, the birth of Jun-hee’s baby changed everything.
Overall, the third installment ofSquid Gamewas exciting and served as a satisfying resolution to the overall story. Still, there were some problems here that kept it from holding up to its predecessors. A significant disappointment this time around is thatmany of the key players died early in the season. By the end of episode 2, there were few left to care about.
It made some sense thatSquid Gameseason 3 would kill players off quickly. It was necessary that the focus of the final episodes be placed largely on Gi-hun and his personal, emotional battle against the Front Man. However, with so few interesting characters left in the game, it was a challenge to remain invested in the games compared to the two previous seasons.
Additionally, Characters' decisions and behaviors this time around didn’t make as much sense as in previous seasons. This time around, we had more time to get to know these individuals, buttheir decisions inSquid Gameseason 3 seemed to contradict how they were developed in season 2.
A prime example of this is Player 333, Lee Myung-gi. He turned out to be a rather despicable character right off the bat inSquid Gameseason 3, and this escalated to the point that he was willing to kill his own infant daughter. Add in the fact that other characters, like Jun-ho, felt entirely wasted, and it’s evident that character development suffered this time around.
Things looked a tad cheesier than we were used to, and that pulled us out of the excitement.
Finally,Squid Gameseason 3 suffered due to the greater dependence on CGI special effects. Previous seasons used more practical effects for the games, but it seems that season 3 tried to dial things up with the very CGI jump rope event. Ultimately, things looked a tad cheesier than we were used to, and that pulled us out of the excitement.
2Squid Game Season 2
Squid Gameseason 2had the tough job of following up a stellar first installment, and it managed the task exceptionally well. This season’s greatest edge was the characters. Since Gi-hun’s second game didn’t come to a close within season 2’s episodes, we had a lot more time to get to know these characters (both in and outside the games).
These episodes also delivered some excellent new games. Things kicked off with the familiar Red Light, Green Light, but then expanded into other, even more exciting and complex games. These were far more interesting than those introduced in season 3, and they played off of what made Gi-hun’s first games so intriguing.
There are some ways thatSquid Gameseason 2 was even better than season 1. It’s clear that the show’s first installment was set up to be a singular story if it wasn’t renewed. This meant that certain characters and ideas were kept a bit simpler.Season 2, however, took the time to dive a bit deeper. We saw characters like the Front Man and the Salesman with more complexity.
Of course,Squid Game’s sophomore season wasn’t quite perfect. The fact that it didn’t contain a complete story puts this installment at a disadvantage. It very much felt like a part of a whole, andthe fact thatSquid Gameseason 3 didn’t completely deliver on the story retroactively knocks season 2 down a peg or two.
1Squid Game Season 1
An Excellent, Well-Balanced Story
Season 1 wasSquid Gameat its best. This was our introduction to the entire idea, and this meant that there was a significant shock factor involved with this initial season.The concept of deadly children’s games took the world by storm, and the social and economic themes ofSquid Gamehad a deeply impactful effect upon its debut.
Squid Gameexplores the way that capitalismimpacts social morality. This is, naturally, a theme that is carried across all three seasons, but it never came across quite as powerfully as it did in season 1. We saw firsthand the way that people’s desperation for money turned them into something dark and sinister. Season 1 got the shock of this across perfectly.
This first season is when Gi-hun’s character arc was the strongest.
This first season is when Gi-hun’s character arc was the strongest. We met him as an oddly carefree deadbeat. Gi-hun was infuriatingly selfish, and this was made almost worse by his somewhat ignorant joyfulness when he first entered the games. However,it was powerful to watch Gi-hun’s self-centeredness melt awaywhile he participated in the deadly competition.
By the end ofSquid Gameseason 1, Gi-hun was an entirely different character, but this made perfect sense considering everything he had gone through. It was deeply poetic that, while Oh Il-nam’s games were meant to bring out the worst in humanity,they actually helped Gi-hun become a better person. This is an idea that was missing from the following seasons.
Jun-ho’s character was also the best utilized inSquid Gameseason 1. He seemed to tread water in the next two installments, and even in season 3, his investigation only resulted in the Korean games' self-destruction. In season 1, Jun-ho actually managed to get some answers, and the reveal that the Front Man was his brother was a deeply satisfying payoff.
9.2
8.6
Stick to the Team
8.4
8.3
The Man with the Umbrella
8.0
Finally, there were no better shocks inSquid Gamethan those found in season 1.The big reveal that Oh Il-nam was the founder of the games was exceptional, and his dying bet with Gi-hun was a perfect way to pay off the moral relationship the pair developed. Each season ofSquid Gamecame with some fun twists, but this first one just couldn’t be beat.
