During the final episode of Squid Game, Seong Gi-hun doesn’t finish his final line, but the show’s creator says that there’s a good reason for that.
Season 3 of Squid Game built to a dramatic and heartbreaking conclusion, as the contestants were narrowed down, the VIPs got involved, and a baby was added to the mix.
You can read our Squid Game Season 3 review, while since that last episode aired, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has been explaining how he got the show to that point, revealing that the climax was nearly very different.
In a new round-table interview, he’s also discussed a line of dialogue that gets to the heart of what the show is about. So SPOILERS ahead…
Why Squid Game couldn’t be summed up in a single line
In the final episode of Squid Game Season 1, Seong Gi-hun asks the Front Man “Why do you do this?” His nemesis responds with, “You like horseracing, right? You people are horses. Horses at a racetrack.”
Gi-hun’s last line in the final episode connects back to this moment, with Gi-hun stating: “We are not horses. We are humans. Humans are…” But he doesn’t finish the sentence, instead throwing himself to his death.
During ‘Squid Game in Conversation’ on Netflix, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk says: “I wanted to bring this line to a conclusion. ‘Because we are human, this is how we should act. This is how humans should be. That’s how we make the world a better place.’
“While writing, I increasingly realized that this couldn’t be summed up in a single line. People are too complex to be defined in such absolute terms. Delivering an overly normative or didactic message can actually limit what this series is really trying to say. So I felt that the rest of his sentence was expressed physically through Gi-hun’s act of sacrificing himself to save that child.”
How ambiguous ending makes Squid Game different
In response to Hwang’s words, Lee Jung-jae – who plays Gi-hun – says: “I thought wrapping up the message would make it easier for the audience to understand, leading them to think ‘So this is how it ends.’ It would bring the story to a definitive close, or so I thought.
“Because the message is left open-ended, it feels like we’re in an ongoing conversation with the viewers. It wraps up with a conversation, asking the audience, ‘This is what I think. What do you think?’
“So I think many people will feel this series is clearly different from other shows. How can I put it? Instead of being presented forcefully, I guess the message felt extremely subtle, and it seemed to permeate the series quite carefully.”
Squid Game Seasons 1-3 are streaming on Netflix now. Read more about why the show is “dangerous” for North Korea, how Hide and Seek breaks an unwritten rule, the secret meaning behind the show’s shapes, plus why there won’t be a Season 4. You can also find more new TV shows streaming this month.
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