Reactions to the controversial "Squid Game 3" are mixed among international viewers.
While Netflix's "Squid Game" Season 3 has been released worldwide, foreign media reports indicate that opinions are divided.
The 'Squid Game' season 3, unveiled on the 27th, is a story about 'Gi-hun' (played by Lee Jung-jae), who loses his closest friend in the game where he participates again with his own objectives; 'Frontman' (played by Lee Byung-hun), who infiltrates the game while concealing his identity; and the ultimate fate of the participants who managed to survive in that cruel game.
Time magazine commented on the announcement of Season 3 of "Squid Game," saying, "Netflix took a big hit by casually delaying the conclusion of Season 2. However, fortunately, director Hwang Dong-hyuk has regained control of the project, and in the final season, he wields his inherent ruthless charm to deliver a powerful blow. While exposing a world where money takes precedence over humanity, it also pulls us, who casually enjoy such a world, into complicity as co-conspirators."
The Financial Times noted, "It still offers addictive immersion with its fast-paced development and sharp direction," Bloomberg commented, "This series raises questions about what resilience remains in us," and The Decider stated, "Season 3 contains the most shocking twists but ultimately focuses on human dignity."
However, harsh criticisms continued. The New York Times of the United States stated, "It is one-dimensional and predictable." The Guardian of the United Kingdom commented, "Satire is gone, and it does not contain the sharp message as in season 1." The Hollywood Reporter mentioned, "It is an unpleasant journey to gain a few insightful lines, and the process itself is an unpleasant experience," as they reported their reviews.
The Guardian newspaper stated that "despite a noticeable drop in quality after season 1, viewers' passion was not significantly affected." However, they also noted, "if season 2 and season 3 had been combined into one, it would have made for a much stronger season. Cruelty has become even more intense, and violence continues endlessly like relentless torture, with the satire felt in the early seasons gradually disappearing. Many of the remaining participants are nothing but cruel and horrific characters devoid of conscience, willing to kill without hesitation. While there is certainly entertainment value, it does not carry the sharp message that season 1 did."
The New York Times also criticized it as "one-dimensional and predictable." The process of Junho (played by Wi Ha-jun) finding the island where the game takes place remains a meaningless subplot up to the conclusion, and the scenes with masked VIPs are not only even more cartoonish but also have no meaning at all. It was stated that "Director Hwang Dong-hyuk is still skilled at directing action sequences, but his imagination is lacking in this aspect. The last two games themselves are underdeveloped, and the only suspense comes from the victim's choice."
The Hollywood Reporter stated, "Season 3 is a journey that offers only a few insightful lines, and the process itself is generally an unpleasant experience. Unlike the first season, it remains bleak and hopeless until the end. If the new characters introduced in Season 2 felt disappointingly sparse, then Season 3 doesn't even attempt to enrich them further. The commonality among all of them is that they appear more like pawns being moved on a chessboard rather than complex humans with agency and inner lives."
The most negative feedback came from a Hollywood reporter who expressed negative opinions even as signs of expanding the 'Squid Game 3' universe emerged. Regarding the final scene set in Los Angeles, they said, "Squid Game seems to have ended the series like shifting gears," and added, "I hope the final scene serves only as a small decoration to wrap up this work rather than as the beginning of a new chapter."
'Squid Game' concluded with its series finale on October 27th, four years after its initial release. The series accumulated approximately 600 million views (calculated by dividing the total viewing time by the work's total running time) across seasons 1 and 2 combined. Additionally, measured by cumulative viewing hours, season 1 and 2 together reached 2.205 billion hours (as of 91 days post-release), while season 2 alone recorded 1.3801 billion hours. In total, both seasons accumulated an astounding 3.5853 billion viewing hours.
In particular, Season 1 has made it to the list of Netflix's most popular series of all time, including both English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries, and has maintained its position. Notably, after the release of Season 1, it swept major American award ceremonies, and at the 2021 Emmy Awards, which are the highest authority awards in the American television industry, it won six awards. The "Squid Game" craze has led to the popularity of games featured in the drama and various aspects of Korean culture on a global scale, helping to establish the globalization of K-content and significantly contributing to expanding the share of the K-content industry.
Joo Il Kang, Reporter joo1020@kyunghyang.comⓒSports Kyunghyang ( https://sports.khan.co.kr ) Prohibition of unauthorized reproduction and redistribution
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