Squid Game 3x06 Full Reaction!
Added 2025-07-18 19:38:22 +0000 UTC
Comments
Yeah, keeping up with the shows is its own difficult time, especially when work schedules go differently, as they have recently. Can’t imagine how hard it is for Jess. Not having the time or space to myself, I can very easily see my having that Newman response if I tried taking up reacting. Or at least if I did it solo. If I was reacting with someone else, maybe that’d help some. I also was perfectly fine with the original miniseries idea, and the signs of that are still there. Had a good feeling of The French Connection, which I was ok with that ending. The best part of these two subsequent seasons has been the new characters with the great character focus, and I did really get into In-ho’s arc. Hear you on this being about the best possible outcome of it builds to Gi-hun staring down In-ho, saying, “So, maybe, ordinary people don’t crack. Maybe... it’s just you.” No argument about the boat plot. Seen some memes on that one. Can’t speak to the Lost of it all, though I got Miller’s Crossing vibes from the refusal to answer, hence the quote in my own comment. Plus, it’s not too dissimilar to Byung-hun’s character in A Bittersweet Life refusing to answer the “why” of it all, even when pressed, “No, none of that stuff. Tell me the real reason why.” Well, if that baby looked like the cgi monstrosity in Junior, I think they would have listened to you on that one. (And very generous of the show to give you a veritable village of the damned with the cgi to have your running gag, which I got a laugh out of.) We have the similar thing with No-eul, though I’m glad that the dad lived. Seeing Jess react to the plotline, I just kept thinking, “This just isn’t doing it for me like it is for Jess. But she’s really living for it, fair enough.” Shared calling out No-eul for not giving any shits about the other players. It did sort of finally balance out when Gi-hun sacrificing himself saves her, thus that’s another life that Gi-hun saved. And if nothing else, the dad lived so that’s something. But no, I would not call it a redemption arc for No-eul, hence the not begrudging the Christian Bale response from you that I can hear it as I’m reading it. Saye-byeok’s family was a welcome surprise. Byung-hun continues to be great, here well sold by how he plays it so well of In-ho doing his best to do right by those he owes. Certainly, he commits to that rather than enjoying mojitos in the Maldives, like how Ji-yeong talked about with Sae-byeok. (Think their heads would have exploded seeing In-ho unmasked.) Ok, good, I wasn’t the only one spoiled by the Cate Blanchett of it all. Like I said, I had to do a double take to process that the image was real. Could see this being Lydia, good note there. The thought process I get. Hear you on the lingering stare into the camera part. As to the ddakji confusion, one it sounds a reasonably easy game to explain, two, I also assumed it was done so there was no question of what’s happening in the ending. I doubt this ties into the theoretical American version of this show. Still on the fence if it’s a good idea to do that in the first place, though if Fincher is in fact involved, it would be intriguing to see what he could do with it. Oh, yeah, there was a lot more good than bad with these two extra seasons. Had a great time seeing it, sharing it with Jess, and everyone else. Loved hearing what Jess had to say about it. All in all, a great time. Second Jess enjoying this load off her mind for a month.
Thomas Corp
2025-07-19 00:19:03 +0000 UTCI figured you were going with Bane for a moment there. Never seen that movie, but the setup is definitely intriguing. Hwang himself actually spoiled that Gi-hun would die a few days before the season's release, saying in an interview that he was looking forward to seeing how the fans took it. Which granted, is not exactly the hardest twist to see coming. Though he's also said his original idea was that Gi-hun would again be the only survivor with no other details. My favorite review line is that they thought Cate was actually Anna Torv for a while, given her existing Netflix connection. And now I kind of want to see her in the American version somewhere.
Ryan
2025-07-18 23:39:34 +0000 UTCKeeping up with these three shows at once has been a task even not filming any reactions, so I fully support your taking a whole month off. Reminds me of when I briefly tried to do it myself, but didn't last long because every day the shows pile up more and more and more, and you've got to get them out, but the more you get them out, the more they keep coming in, and then the barcode reader breaks, and then it's Publisher's Clearinghouse Day. I stand by what I said when these two seasons were first announced: this should have been a miniseries that just left to our imaginations what Gi-Hun could do to bring the games down. But when Hwang had to make a concrete answer for that, he went with probably the best option he could: Gi-Hun himself is in no position to do it, but what he can do is change the soul of someone who's in that position so they're willing to carry the work on. So this whole thing has been building up to him being able to metaphorically look In-ho in the eye and say "There is a difference between us. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back at us, you blinked." The only downside is that means the entire boat plot has been building to nothing more than an unanswered "Why did you do it?", and Sun and Jin from Lost have given me more than enough long builds to nothing from Korea, thank you. I'll just imagine he came back with "The only reason anyone does anything: it seemed like a good idea at the time." The rest of the game itself suffers a bit from how little investment I have in the CGI baby over a zucchini in the first place. Go ahead and drop David Zellaby over the edge, see if I care (and my thanks to the show for giving me the setup for that running gag and enough space to really play it out). And am I supposed to feel happy for No-eul saving this one guy after she had zero problem gunning down so many other people? Oh, good for you, and how was it? I hope it was good, because it's fucking useless now, isn't it? I don't know how much we actually needed a 20 minute epilogue after that, but it's all good stuff taken on its own, and Sye-byeok's family was a very welcome surprise. Plus it confirms that In-ho's change of heart is fully genuine with the lengths he goes to give everyone as happy an ending as possible, as little as that might be in some cases. And we end with a scene that was technically spoiled for me, but I 100% assumed it was a joke, so I was still able to be surprised. And it does make a little too much sense that this is where Lydia Tar would end up once she had to deal with enough nerds. And I can definitely follow the thought process of bringing Cate in: the recruiter in Korea was a big movie star too, and if you want someone who can come in as a brand new character and instantly command the audience's attention, she definitely has that. But on the other hand, the way she stares right into the camera like she's telling us "Yeah, it's me, drink it in" took me right out of the moment, and it's also pretty weird that American homeless people are still playing ddakji. My best guess is Hwang figured using an American game would lead to a bunch of fans questioning if this really was another version of the games and he'd have to make an awkward announcement confirming it. And the real elephant here is whether this is a full MCU level tease for the American remake by David Fincher that's been announced, which everyone at Netflix has sworn up and down isn't the case. The one thing that leads me to believe that is I doubt they have the money to hire Cate for a larger role; otherwise they very much come off as telling us the other pilots are okay. For something that shouldn't exist, I'm still happy for the most part with the time I spent with these two seasons, and getting to see it along with you was a huge bonus. Now go enjoy this load off your mind for a month.
Ryan
2025-07-18 23:31:12 +0000 UTCBefore even talking about the finale, the words of thanks that you offered. Never entirely sure that I’m a man who deserves the thanks you give, but I do appreciate the words imparted. You say that this is a fandom that gets you, and that does sound like a high compliment. I hope the fans do likewise appreciate the sentiment, Jess. I do hear you on the thing about understanding the tears, and how that would mean a lot. Now to this final hour of Squid Game. Wise assessment on the tears for this one compared to last episode. Start with the dad getting rescued, and him giving the general direction of the island. Saw that you were worried about the dad, and I was not. By that I mean, Jun-ho still needed information, so even if the dad was an actual guard, Jun-ho would have stayed his hand initially. Love how your worry dissipated quickly. No-eul had the good burn party. You were on the side of encouraging No-eul to have a few drinks, whereas I got slightly aghast for In-ho, saying, “That’s his good stuff!!” I probably would have indulged in a cigar or two in her place. I don’t even smoke, but if I was dying anyway, it couldn’t hurt. The game finishes in quite a dramatic fashion. Don’t blame you for having no trust in crypto fucker. Though I must say that you were much kinder to crypto fucker than I was, though I saw that he did start to lose you when he was being Mother Goose over here telling stories, as you put it. Though yeah, when he dangles his own kid over the edge as he did, any benefit of the doubt you gave him was gone. Like I kept thinking: He had to pay. Chief amongst everything, he had to answer for your girl. Shame that we couldn’t arrange it so you could transport through the screen and have a go at him yourself so as to avenge your girl. I’d join you on that, and I’d take a page from In-ho’s book by quoting to crypto fucker, “I will kill you when you are in the most pain. When you’re in the most pain, shivering out of fear, then I will kill you. That’s a real revenge. A real complete revenge.” (Jesus is that movie fucked up, yes?) Could see In-ho, if he heard me say that, suppressing a smile at that, saying to himself, “Son of a bitch. He stole my line.” And it speaks to your character with even holding such hatred for the fucker for what he did to Hyun-ju, you still acknowledge the great character moments. Kind of you to assess that even he didn’t know if he was bluffing or not about dropping his baby. I share the zero tears over him going splat. We both clocked the button not being pushed, and it started to really get to me how you started crying in realization of what that meant. Bringing us to Gi-hun: We both assessed that Gi-hun would live at least until the final episode. Few thumbnails of other reactors inadvertently confirmed that, and given the saddened expressions, fairly certain I was that his number was going to be up before the credits rolled. Jung-jae sold everything so well in those final moments. And in his final act, he assures that the baby lives, delivers the perfect fuck you to the VIPS, and inadvertently saves No-eul. Even if one happens to think she didn’t deserve it, he still saved her, and that’s worth something. The death itself: See, you had the stronger tears and heartbreak over Gi-hun’s death, and I’m curious at my own subdued response. Am I THAT cold hearted anymore? Christ. I got sadder seeing your reaction to the death than the death itself. Mind you, it was late at night following a very busy day when I saw it. Factor in how I went into this fairly positive that it would be fairly probable that Gi-hun would die. Even so, you surpassed me, emotion-wise, when it came to the death of Gi-hun. Byung-hun perfectly sells In-ho’s gracious defeat and respect given to Gi-hun. And In-ho was ready to blow the place up more than Kamino got blown to bits. You’re not the only one with the criticism about wanting more of a Cain and Abel confrontation, which does happen, but doesn’t progress much given In-ho holding the cgi baby. Quite the move In-ho had of not answering Jun-ho yelling, “WHY!?” Doesn’t even offer the enigmatic explanation, “I don’t know. Do you always know why you do things?” Nice that the dad lives, and his daughter is ok, love your relief at that. No-eul now has hope. The scene with Sae-byeok’s family, we had a strong response there. Good to see you happy about Woo-seok. Jun-ho gets left with the baby that either became real now that she’s involved in a scene where the show won’t get sued to oblivion for using a real baby. Or they had a more convincing prop. Or maybe they just improved the cgi. And as Jun-ho sees, In-ho said of Gi-hun, “He beat me. Straight up. Pay her. Pay that baby her money.” Just the big highlight, along with how strong your love for Hyun-ju is, is the words you had for Gi-hun and In-ho. Your love for the arc that Gi-hun had, can’t improve on any of what you said about it. The journey seeing your reactions to Gi-hun were most wonderful, Jess. I believe that you speak true that In-ho knows who the good men in the world are. He just also knows that he’s not one of them. The feeling is familiar. Good on him to impart Gi-hun’s suit and money to his daughter. The daughter gets me with her response to In-ho telling her that Gi-hun is dead. That weight of the reality that your dad is dead, she sells that one well, and you see her process that. Bringing me to how I was not ready for In-ho to still live by the end of this, I already made peace with him dying. And instead, the villain lives, and I don’t know how to process, especially as he does not end the show in the fully victorious manner. With that, the final scene where he sees that the games live. They did mention something about branches of the game as I recall. The scene also comes complete with the big reveal that those running these games have Cate Blanchett in the budget. Disclosure time: I was spoiled on the big surprise cameo if not necessarily the full context. Images of Cate began to circulate in earnest, and eventually, I saw that, did a double take, saying, “...the hell?” You had not strictly speaking the most dramatic reaction, and you were more befuddled which is oddly comforting. Love the silent acting from Byung-hun and Cate that indicates In-ho and this American (Though it sounded like Cate used her natural Australian.) recruiter they know who the other is. Rather downbeat final scene. And thus concludes our Squid Game journey which was a pleasure and an honor to have shared with you, Jess. You talked about favorites. As I knew, Ali and Hyun-ju reign supreme for you. I haven’t quite finished ranking myself, though I have an odd top five that has two rough ties. Tied for first is Mi-nyeo and Guem-ja, and tied for fourth is, it’s between Yong-sik and Hyun-ju. In-ho rests comfortably at third, which I’m sure you would have words about. You might even ask am I happy about that. OF COURSE I’m NOT happy about that. Need to get back to you on the rest of the top ten, though I’m fairly certain that Il-nam would be in there. (Despite the actor being a creep.) I don’t mind how even when trying to wrap things up, your loquacity about your love for Hyun-ju was strong. I did not find it annoying. Better than me when I get started on Palpatine discussions. Thank you again for the marvelous Squid Game journey shared, Jess. It all meant a lot to me.
Thomas Corp
2025-07-18 21:42:32 +0000 UTC
