Squid Game

The jump rope game was a bitch. There is no way I am crossing a chasm 6 stories up with no rails, much less having to jump to avoid the rope. I kind of figured 456 might sacrifice given all he had been through. He was already in bad shape from the first games. He just wanted to make sure that the baby survived as perhaps a way of redeeming himself a little bit.

I liked the new games, they didn't just go the Saw route of coming up with just more sadistic/twisted games, they changed the way the games work by pitting the two "clans" against each other a lot more than before, even though some people change sides almost every game, in the end several games could have been won much more easily if the people had teamed up. In fact, this time the games could have ended with a LOT more living players if they had been more inclined to cooperate instead of being greedy and trying to rack up more money by killing other players for no other reason than cash, but that was the whole point of these games, showing how greedy (some, most) people can get.

One thing I thought was quite silly was the turn to the dark side of 333 (the baby's father/crypto currency guy). I get that he was never really a standup boyfriend / future father to 222/her baby, and he never really attempts to help 222 during the rope jump game and leaves her to die, but during the last game he reveals he's the father and rightfully attempts to save himself with the baby, but then 2 minutes later he's threatening to toss her off the platform, makes Anakin's fall to the dark side look like a long and deep Shakespeare tragedy in comparison. I get that he needed to die but that seemed cartoonishly evil.

456's sacrifice seemed inevitable. There really was no way to "win" against the Squid Game organization, it's too powerful. Throughout season 2/3, Front Man tries to "break" 456's faith in humanity, and nearly succeeds. It is shown through flashbacks that Front Man's own humanity was basically taken away by his time in the games, in fact it was so thoroughly destroyed he joined the organization himself and went on to lead the games. I think he sees a lot of his former self in 456 and he wants to crush that spark of faith in humanity because he wants to believe he couldn't have done better, that he couldn't have been a better man at the time, that he did the right thing.. and in the end, 456 "wins" by sacrificing himself and being the better man. That's why Front Man decides to get 456's remaining prize money and gives it to his daughter, as recognition that he really won and was the better man. But the games continue.

Of course they kill him. The first season had one winner. It goes to reason that the formula would stay pretty close to the same. This show one ups Game of Thrones in that everybody can die and most do. I can go further in explaining the end if you want, but I assume you might watch it.