Review: ‘Squid Game’ Season 3 Episode 5 “○△□” 

Season 3, Episode 5, titled “○△□,” directed and written by Hwang Dong-hyuk, follows the duration of the final game of the 35th Squid Game, though it does not conclude it. At first glance, the final game appears deceptively simple, yet it demands murder and betrayal as each finalist is pushed to their limits, fearing for their life. This fear is amplified by the trauma of surviving the previous five rounds, especially for those who have already lost their humanity in their pursuit of wealth. The final game, like the rest, is deadly.

The central theme of this episode is paranoia. The finalists are trapped in a psychological nightmare where trust no longer exists. They do not know who to align with, who to fear, or who to kill. This paranoia forces them into horrific decisions, including voting and random draws to determine who should die in each of the final three rounds. It is a psychological state engineered by the Front Man, who has deliberately designed each round to strip Gi-hun of his humanity and force him into moral collapse. Gi-hun came close to this collapse when he killed Dae-ho during Hide and Seek, but his values returned once he shifted his purpose from saving everyone to protecting Jun-hee’s baby at all costs. Because of this clarity, Gi-hun does not fall into the same paranoia as the others. He has a singular mission, and nothing will stop him from completing it.

Sky Squid Game

The sixth and final game, Sky Squid Game, is played by the remaining finalists: Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), Jun-hee’s baby, Myung-gi (Im Si-wan), Min-su (Lee David), Jeong-dae (Song Young-chang), and four others. The rules are deceptively straightforward but disturbingly cruel. Players are placed on three different elevated towers shaped like a square, a triangle, and a circle. On each platform, they must push others off in a brutal contest of strength and survival. If one or more players fall during a round, the remaining players advance to the next tower. Only three players are required to die for the game to end, allowing the remaining six to leave victorious.

In the first round on the square tower, Myung-gi kills a hallucinating Min-su, who is suffering from the effects of prior drug use. This allows the rest to proceed to the triangle tower. However, paranoia escalates, and the situation spirals out of control. As fear consumes the players, betrayals erupt. Everyone, except Gi-hun—who is focused solely on protecting Jun-hee’s baby—turns on one another. The violence results in the deaths of all remaining players, including Jeong-dae, who is killed either in self-defense by Gi-hun or out of calculation by Myung-gi. By the time they reach the final tower, only Gi-hun, the baby, and Myung-gi remain.

The Officer Fights No-eul

Meanwhile, No-eul (Park Gyu-young) remains on the island and urges Gyeong-seok (Lee Jin-wook) to escape by speedboat in hopes of reaching the Coast Guard or the nearest port. Determined to erase all traces of Gyeong-seok’s identity, No-eul infiltrates the quarters of the Officer (Park Hee-soon) and holds him at gunpoint, demanding to be taken to the Front Man’s archive. She intends to destroy Gyeong-seok’s file and prevent any future tracking or retaliation.

A violent confrontation breaks out between No-eul and the Officer, resulting in his death. No-eul locates Gyeong-seok’s file and prepares to burn it along with the rest of the records. However, as she searches through the Front Man’s archive, she stumbles upon her own file hidden within a registry of Pink Guards. This discovery shakes her and hints at a deeper connection to the games’ infrastructure. Elsewhere, Gyeong-seok successfully escapes pursuit by the Pink Guards and is eventually rescued by Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), who arrives just in time to pull him to safety.

Rating: 9/10