Hide and Seek breaks an unwritten Squid Game rule and it’s brutal

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The third season of “Squid Game” has debuted on Netflix, introducing three lethal new trials. Among these is a variation of the classic game Hide and Seek, though as usual with this series, there’s a shocking, heart-rending surprise in store for players.

From start to finish, Hwang Dong-hyuk has demonstrated his exceptional skills as a TV show writer, with Squid Game maintaining its high standard throughout. As previously stated in our top-rated review, “Season 1 was outstanding. Season 2 surpassed it. Season 3, surprisingly, is even better.

At its heart, the Netflix series delves into sharp social criticism and intricate ethical quandaries; however, it is the games that form the backbone of the show. Ranging from Red Light, Green Light to Mingle, these games skillfully tap into our collective nostalgia for childhood.

However, Season 3’s Hide and Seek cranks up the terror to a maximum level by compelling players to transform into the very monsters they were originally pursuing. Be aware, there are potential spoilers that lie ahead!

Squid Game Season 3 turns players into killers in Hide and Seek

From the get-go, Squid Game has unfolded in a chilling yet predictable pattern: contestants are eliminated when they lose the game. It’s not that they’re instructed to eliminate each other; instead, it happens due to loss, desperation, or treachery – triggered by failure rather than command.

However, unlike conventional Hide and Seek, this instance discards the tacit understanding that violence is incidental to the game. Here, murder isn’t merely an outcome; it forms the very essence of the gameplay.

In this setup, players are divided into two groups: one team, often referred to as ‘the Blues’, receives a collection of keys and a specific objective – they must either find a means to exit the playing field within half an hour, or endure until the 30-minute timer expires.

Meanwhile, members of the red team receive knives… along with a harrowing task. Their objective is to locate and eliminate at least one individual from the blue team, or face execution by the guards if they don’t succeed before time runs out.

The setup is surprisingly straightforward, yet it fundamentally overturns the moral foundation of Squid Game. Instead of being mere pieces manipulated within a corrupt framework, leading to deaths due to randomness or stress, the participants are now forced to take lives in order to stay alive themselves.

There’s a certain eerie feel to this transformation that stands out. In Red Light, Green Light, it was a robotic child that indiscriminately killed numerous players. On the other hand, deaths in Glass Bridge were more about luck. However, in this game, one person’s survival hinges on another taking up a weapon and brutally attacking someone else.

This change has an unsettling uniqueness to it that catches the eye. In Red Light, Green Light, players were brutally massacred by a robotic child. While in Glass Bridge, death was largely determined by luck. But here, one person’s life depends on another choosing to pick up a weapon and stab someone else.

To set the record straight, certain participants seem to embrace this situation wholeheartedly, even stepping outside the guidelines to succeed. However, for the majority of them, it’s an unwanted choice they didn’t ask for.

Not just one sneaky surprise, the game offers another: it allows VIP players an interactive feature at the game’s conclusion. Instead of regular gameplay, they don the roles of pink guards and eliminate any surviving members from the opposing red team.

For the first time, they’re not merely onlookers reclining in golden masks while sipping champagne served from makeshift human furniture – they’re active participants, viewing the proceedings as a personal human safari of sorts.

After Seong Gi-hun returned to the game, it seems as though Hwang In-ho has been attempting to undermine his faith in human kindness.

By the finale of Squid Game Season 2, he made sure Gi-hun witnessed his closest companion’s death, blaming him for the tragedy. The game Hide and Seek seems to be another tactic aimed at extinguishing whatever hope is left in him.

In this context, it’s not merely another obstacle; rather, it represents the most ruthless action by the Front Man yet, pushing decent individuals towards wickedness and aiming to annihilate whatever remnants of Gi-hun’s humanity remain.

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2025-06-27 14:49