'Squid Game's' creator and star explain Season 3's message about democracy and greed

This nonfiction contains galore spoilers for Season 3 of Netflix’s “Squid Game.”

“Squid Game” is simply a twisty, twisted thriller, with ordinary, financially stressed radical playing children’s games to the decease for the amusement of the hidden wealthy. Beneath that surface, creator, writer and manager Hwang Dong-hyuk has been embedding sociopolitical commentary amid the daze and awe of protagonist Gi-hun’s (Lee Jung-jae) idiosyncratic roller-coaster ride; the characters’ desperation arsenic the saga ends forces those messages to poke done the slick, candy-colored exterior.

“It was a effect of elevation of the themes and stories,” said Hwang of those ideas becoming much intelligibly voiced. They “became much upfront and aggravated conscionable arsenic a earthy people of the communicative unfolding.”

The planetary phenomenon, inactive Netflix’s most-watched non-English amusement ever (its archetypal 2 seasons are No. 1 and 2 connected the streamer’s all-time list, with astir 600 cardinal views to date, according to Netflix), ends connected its ain presumption with the merchandise of its 3rd and last play Friday. And what an arc everyman Gi-hun volition person completed. How amended to correspond Hwang’s themes of end-stage, winners-and-losers capitalism, with its warping, destructive power, and however the ill-intentioned tin exploit democracy’s flaws, than to picture an mean idiosyncratic buffeted by the unseen manus of symptom for profit?

“You tin accidental this is simply a communicative of those who person go losers of the game, and besides those of america who are shaken to our halfway due to the fact that of the chaotic governmental landscape,” said Hwang, who with Lee, spoke via an interpreter connected a video telephone earlier this period from New York. “I wanted to absorption successful Season 3 connected however successful this world, wherever incessant greed is ever fueled, it’s similar a jungle — the beardown eating the weak, wherever radical ascent higher by stepping connected different people’s heads.”

Lee Jung-jae arsenic Seong Gi-hun successful last play of Netflix’s “Squid Game.”

(No Ju-han / Netflix)

Gi-hun’s hands go bloodied successful the contention successful Season 3, Hwang said. “That’s the archetypal clip helium kills idiosyncratic [in the games]. This idiosyncratic who symbolized goodness, the archetypal misdeed is present connected him due to the fact that of what nine has done to him,” helium said. “How does helium prime himself up from that? That’s the bosom of Season 3. In a way, we’re each enactment successful this concern owed to the capitalist nine and chaotic governmental situation. Gi-hun symbolizes what each of america spell done these days.”

When we conscionable him successful Season 1, Gi-hun is down and out, an inveterate gambler. Through Season 1’s horrific gantlet of murderous kids’ games, his exterior is scraped distant with a rusty borderline until each that’s near is simply a flawed but bully man. Gi-hun is idiosyncratic who sees what helium believes with clarity, portion becoming the abruptly affluent champion of the games.

But aft helium reaches that peak, Season 2 plunges him backmost down the roller coaster arsenic helium becomes obsessed with vengeance against the elite voyeurs who money the crippled and the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), who oversees it. Righteous choler carries Gi-hun to the brink of his extremity of destroying the games, lone to spot it each brutally dashed. Season 3 finds him a breached man, adjacent catatonic with guilt. Without him to usher the little bloodthirsty players, the games volition participate a fearsome signifier of all-out mayhem, from which unexpectedly emerges a accidental astatine redemption for the battered protagonist.

“All of those changes wrong Gi-hun are depicted successful specified infinitesimal detail” successful Hwang’s writing, said Lee, “so nuanced and with truthful galore layers. You’ll spot Gi-hun person a alteration of heart. Sometimes his beliefs volition beryllium shaken. But contempt each of that, helium volition proceed to conflict to find anticipation and his will.

“All of those changes wrong Gi-hun are depicted successful specified infinitesimal detail, truthful nuanced and with truthful galore layers,” Lee Jung-jae said of his quality and Hwang Dong-hyuk’s writing.

(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)

“All I tin accidental is, I’m a precise fortunate man. You don’t travel by characters similar Gi-hun each day. It’s been a existent honor,” helium adds.

Lee’s nationalist appearances successful enactment of “Squid Game” person provided an astir comic opposition with Gi-hun. He’s movie-star handsome, elegant, ever sharply dressed. On the show, particularly arsenic Gi-hun deteriorates successful Season 3, he’s wrecked.

“Jung-jae went connected this highly harsh fare for implicit a twelvemonth truthful helium could truly portray, externally, the symptom and the brokenness, to truly explicit however famished and barren helium is, some mentally and physically,” Hwang said.

Gi-hun isn’t the lone idiosyncratic the games destroy. Another hallmark of the amusement is its deft improvement of characters into instrumentality favorites, coupled with its “Game of Thrones”-like willingness to unceremoniously termination them. Viewers volition beryllium sharpening their pitchforks erstwhile trans commando Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), a.k.a. Player 120, dies ignominiously successful Season 3. Hwang is already braced for the backlash.

“It’s not maine who did it! It was 333,” helium exclaimed, blaming the murderer.

Hwang said erstwhile helium watched the archetypal assembly edit of that death, “I wrote and directed and everything, I knew it’s coming, but it was inactive painful. It was like, ‘Oh, travel on, travel on.’ ”

“For immoderate characters, I would spot them spell and I’d consciousness truly bittersweet … I would think, ‘Director Hwang is specified a cruel man,’” Lee said.

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1. Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon) successful Season 3 of “Squid Game.” “I wrote and directed and everything, I knew it’s coming, but it was inactive painful,” Hwang Dong-hyuk said. 2. Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri), a large contestant successful the games, was different casualty. (No Ju-han / Netflix)

When Hwang asks what decease successful peculiar made him consciousness that way, Lee doesn’t hesitate to mention different beloved character, large contestant Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri), calling that Season 3 decease “heartbreaking.”

Lee’s sensitive, evolving crook arsenic Gi-hun — profoundly quality amid the madness, paranoia and execution acceptable successful agleam greenish and pinkish surroundings — has made the quality the perfect litmus trial for Hwang’s critique of an economical strategy designed to nutrient titanic winners and losers who look annihilation. He’s a surviving awesome of Hwang’s themes.

“I consciousness similar Director Hwang is genuinely an artist,” Lee said. “I mean thing akin to a concept artist. Because erstwhile helium creates his visuals, not lone are they highly pleasing to the eye; helium focuses connected the meaning down them. He [stacks] images connected apical of 1 another, astir arsenic if gathering a Lego castle. Each small artifact has meaning: each dialogue, each editing travel and [each usage of] the philharmonic score.”

As Season 3 reaches a boil, immoderate of Hwang’s symbolism becomes little subtle. In 1 game, contestants clutch keys suspiciously resembling crucifixes arsenic 1 subordinate leads others with fervor, for amended oregon worse. One character’s infinitesimal of triumph occurs earlier a painted rainbow (rainbow flags are besides associated with the LGBTQ+ assemblage successful Korea). And Hwang’s nuanced critique of ideology comes to the fore.

“I consciousness similar Director Hwang is genuinely an artist,” said Lee Jung-jae of the show’s creator. “I mean thing akin to a concept artist. Because erstwhile helium creates his visuals, not lone are they highly pleasing to the eye; helium focuses connected the meaning down them.

(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)

Unlike Season 1, successful which contestants had 1 accidental to ballot to extremity the games, successful Seasons 2 and 3, votes are taken aft each contest; arsenic much players die, the cookware swells larger and larger. With lone a people oregon truthful of participants left, a ballot to discontinue means each would permission alive, and with important cash. Voting to proceed means, explicitly, they volition termination to go obscenely wealthy.

“In the past, astatine the clip of elections, contempt our differences, we each came together; determination was much tolerance done the process of conflict,” Hwang said. “I don’t deliberation that is anymore the case. Rather, elections [have lone driven] societies into greater divides. I wanted to research those themes successful Seasons 2 and 3; that’s wherefore I included the voting successful each round.”

Hwang loudly calls retired the flaw of ideology that allows the barest of majorities to taxable each to nightmarish policies — adjacent much nightmarish for those who voted against them. The ruthless winners support reminding the others successful Season 3 it was a “free and antiauthoritarian vote.”

“That is not to accidental that I person a antithetic answer,” helium said. “I wanted to rise the question due to the fact that I judge it is clip for america to effort to find the answer. In Season 1, I looked astatine the flaws of the economical strategy that creates truthful galore losers owed to this unlimited competition. In Season 2, I depicted the nonaccomplishment of the governmental system.

“Coming into Season 3, due to the fact that the economical strategy has failed us, authorities person failed us, it seems similar we person nary hope,” Hwang added. “What anticipation bash we person arsenic a quality contention erstwhile we tin nary longer power our ain greed? I wanted to research that. And successful particular, I wanted to [pose] that question to myself.”

And what has helium found? Does helium inactive judge successful humanity?

“Well, I don’t person the answer,” Hwang said. “But I person to admit, honestly, I deliberation I’ve go much cynical, moving connected ‘Squid Game.’”