- Squid Game season 3 was supposed to end in a different way
- Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk altered its finale because its ending “didn’t line up with me”
- Netflix fans has largely expressed disappointment over the show’s climax
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has revealed the hugely popular Netflix show was originally going to end in a different way.
In a Variety piece published yesterday (June 30) and three days after the survival drama’s final season landed on Netflix, Dong-hyuk explained why he decided to change Squid Game season 3’s ending.
Full spoilers immediately follow for Squid Game‘s final episode. Turn back now if you’re not caught up.
Discussing the decision to kill off protagonist Seong Gi-hun in one of the best Netflix shows’ finale, Dong-hyuk admitted he was initially going to let Gi-hun survive. However, he said he altered the original outline for the series’ last chapter amid the increasingly dystopian state of the world in the year 2025.
“When I was planning seasons 2 and 3, I had no intention of having Gi-hun die,” he revealed. “The idea that I had in mind was that Gi-hun would make it out alive in one way or another – he may become the winner – and he would go back to see his daughter.
“But, in the writing process, and looking around at what was happening in the world, I realized that’s not how the story could end,” he continued. “That kind of unhappy ending, seeing what was happening around the world, and seeing Gi-hun’s journey and his destination, I think it just didn’t line up for me. I thought that a better fitting story and closure to the story of Gi-hun’s journey would be for him to sacrifice himself for future generations. So, I had the baby in the story and created the ending with Gi-hun sacrificing himself.”
Comment from r/television
Gi-hun’s demise is one of many controversial moments that have irked Netflix fans since season 3 was released.
Indeed, various threads have popped up on forums like ResetEra, and Reddit pages including r/Netflix, r/Television, and r/SquidGame, as viewers vent their frustrations over and/or debate the incredibly successful Netflix TV Original’s finale. Chief among audiences’ anger is Jun-hee’s baby being crowned the winner of the games’ latest iteration and that unexpected Cate Blanchett-starring scene that appears to set up a US-set version of the titular, life-threatening game show.
Addressing whether he ever gave consideration to killing off Jun-hee’s baby as part of the plot, Dong-hyuk steadfastly stated: “The fact that I brought a baby into the story was not for the baby to be sacrificed. The baby was brought in as a symbol of the future and the next generation, the world and also our human conscience, all of which we have to protect. That’s why I brought in a pregnant character and a baby being born in the story.
“There was never a moment where I thought about that, because that would have been way too dark. Also, the baby symbolizes the fact that, for the future, we have to be able to oppress some of our greed, and sacrifice some of our own convenience and what is ours. That’s what I wanted to say and the baby is a symbol of that.”
As for Blanchett’s hiring as US version of The Recruiter, and whether her cameo has any ties to the Squid Game project that famed director David Fincher is reportedly developing, Dong-hyuk added: “That scene was in my mind towards the end of my writing process for the script. I did want to think a little more about who to bring onto the scene. I knew I wanted to have a woman recruiter, because I thought it would be something different and a little more impactful.
“Because it’s just one line and it’s a moment that you get to see this person, I wanted someone who had the charisma that could dominate the screen in an instant. I’ve always been a big fan of Cate Blanchett and all of my producers are as well. They really wanted her. As for offering the role to the particular actor, that happened after we began shooting.
“It’s not related to that,” he said of Blanchett’s appearance and whatever form Fincher’s project takes. “All I wanted to have was just an impactful ending, and that’s all that was to it. Honestly, I haven’t heard officially from Netflix about David Fincher creating a Squid Game. I have heard the rumors of course though. But, again, it was just the ending that I wanted for season 3.”
Do Dong-hyuk’s comments make you look at Squid Game 3‘s ending differently? Or do you wish Gi-hun had survived? Let me know in the comments.