Squid Game recap and review: Season 3, Episode 4, "222"

"222" comes out of the gate hard, fast, and brutal, and then finally gives us a break. This is the weakest episode of the season so far, in large part because whenever Squid Game strays from the actual Squid Games, it loses some of its power. But there's no arguing with the first sequence, which drops us right into the middle of the Jump-Rope game.

This is basically the new version of the glass bridge game from season 1: players deal with some obstacle while crossing over a deep pit; this time it's a metal jump rope that sweeps away anyone who doesn't have their timing down. The last episode ended with Gi-hun crossing the pit with Jun-hee's baby in tow. Another player, number 096, followed right after, only to turn around and push the next person to make it across into the pit. He's "playing the game."

This is a harrowing twist that puts everyone else on edge. Do they charge Number 096 and risk getting pushed to their death? That seems to be the only option, but Player Number 100, the guy closest to the finish line, can't make a decision. I wanted to scream at the rest of the players jumping in place to retreat before they get too tired. The cruelty displayed by 096 is catching; another person further back pushes one of his fellows into the pit, and the herd starts to thin. The whole thing is maddeningly tense.

Of course, Gi-hun won't stand for this kind of rank unfairness. He brawls with 096, even gouging a finger into the man's eye before flipping him onto the narrow bridge in one of the more action flick-like moves we've seen on this show. 096 is swept into the pit, which at least clears out one obstacle.

All of this is tremendously exciting; Squid Game continues to top itself when it comes to creative set pieces. But the reason we care is still back on the other side of the bridge: Jun-hee, the new mother with the busted ankle; there's no way she's getting across the narrow bridge on her own. Gi-hun has promised to come back for her once he got her baby safely across, but even before the game started, I think we all doubted whether that was possible. What was he gonna do, cross the bridge with her on her back, jumping all the while?

But still, I couldn't shake the idea that maybe, maybe, there was a way she could make it. Myung-gi, the father of Jun-hee's child, offers to do...something, but even if she were willing to work with him, it's physically impossible. And after he killed Hyun-ju in the Hide-And-Go-Seek game, she is not willing to work with him. I still think he might have it in him to have a redemption arc, but I don't blame Jun-hee when she spits in his face.

Instead, Jun-hee puts her faith in Gi-hun. He really is willing to come back for her, but she knows that if he does, they'll both die. She tells him to look after her baby, and prevents him from doing the stupid noble thing by stepping off the edge of the arena and plummeting onto the hard floor below.

A confederacy of assholes

Killing Jun-hee is a big risk for the show, because apart from Gi-hun himself, she was the last player worth rooting for. Everyone left is nameless, selfish, or Min-su, who's mostly a creature of pity at this point. We're near the end of the game, and these episodes have a meaner edge than at the same point in the first season.

At the behest of the VIPs, the organizers throw in a late-game twist by making Jun-hee's baby compete, figuring it will add a wild card factor. If you doubted how abhorrent the remaining players are, you'll be convinced once they decide to murder the infant in a fit of greedy indignation; only the intervention of the guards stops them. Apparently, no more player-on-player violence will be tolerated. Not that I had any illusions, but this change underlines how arbitrary and capricious the rules are. Oh, NOW they're gonna stop players from killing each other.

There's one game left, and the players are given a hint before they vote on whether to continue: in the final game, they get to decide who lives and dies. As long as at least three people die, the remaining players will split the prize money between them. Gi-hun and an inscrutable Min-su are the only players who vote to leave, meaning that we're moving on. The remainder of the asshole brigade hatches a plan: whatever the next game is, they will fix it so Gi-hun, Min-su and the baby die, allowing the rest of them to walk away with bushels of money.

I'm betting that the rules of the final game will complicate things, but put a pin in that for now. We get one final twist when the Front Man summons Gi-hun to his chamber and gives him two things: a dagger and an offer. If Gi-hun kills all the other players save the baby in their sleep, he and the infant will be allowed to leave with the winnings, since the final game can't be played with less than three people. Also, Gi-hun finds out that the Front Man is actually Player 001, and his shocked reaction is pretty funny.

It's bleak times for Squid Game, even bleaker than I expected. Save Gi-hun, all the likable characters are dead, from Jun-hee to Hyun-ju to Yong-sik to Geum-ja. The show has always had a dim view of human nature, but watching Player Number 100 toast the games while the remaining players eat their fancy dinners, a Squid Game tradition afforded for the few who make it this far, proves that we're dealing with a different variety of creep this time; 100 almost seemed eager for a chance to put his life on the line, even if it means risking everyone else's.

Gi-hun alone retains any semblance of a moral compass, but it's under stress. It cracked during the Hide-And-Go-Seek game, and the Front Man seems to want to shatter it. By giving Gi-hun the means to kill everyone else in the game, he's putting Gi-hun's morality to the test. The Front Man chose to become a monster years ago, and somewhere deep within him, he still feels shame for that. Why else would he try and get Gi-hun to sink as low as him, if not to feel vindicated for his shitty choices? Why else would he spare his brother Jun-ho from death at sea? Sure, the Front Man is willing to kill Jun-ho if he gets too close to the island where the Squid Games are being held, but he wouldn't need to take that precaution if he'd let Jun-ho die back at the end of season 1. The Front Man has a conscience, but it's shrunken and weak.

Meanwhile

And Jun-ho is really close to finding the island, so close that he and his crew have to die. Choi Woo-seok is able to slip away from the police long enough to tell Jun-ho that Captain Park, the fisherman who's been ferrying the team around all this time looking for the island, is actually working with the Squid Game people. Knowing he's been made, Captain Park calls headquarters and gets the go-ahead to slaughter everyone. Happily, Jun-ho harpoons him to death before he can quite finish the job.

Meanwhile, in another subplot, No-eul the rogue guard almost gets away with Gyeong-seok, the player she knows from the outside. They're both cruising towards the mainland in a speedboat when her boss calls No-eul to try and talk some sense into her: even if they reach the shore, not only will he still be able to kill Gyeong-seok, he also knows about his sick daughter, who won't be safe. The daughter is the reason No-eul has sympathy for Gyeong-seok in the first place, so what is she to do?

We're not sure yet, but I have my ideas. For now, she decides to return to the island but sends Gyeong-seok on his way. The last we see of her, she's sneaking into a drain pipe. I think there's only one explanation for this: if she wants to stop her boss from making good on his threat to come after Gyeong-seok and his family, she'll have to make sure he's in no position to do so. I think she's planning to kill the guy and maybe a lot of other Squid Game employees besides. Despite everything, I still think we're driving towards a semi-happy ending here, which means the Squid Games are going to go down, just like Gi-hun wanted. No-eul could be a huge part of making sure that happens.

Finally, we have to touch on the VIPs, who I just find plain unconvincing. The acting for the VIPs is noticeably worse than for everyone else on the show. The dialogue is cringier; see the one guy's recurring insult about another VIP "looking sexy when your mouth is closed." The drama on Squid Game is heightened beyond anything we see in real life, but even in that context, the VIPs feel cartoonish.

I'm not sure what to chalk this up to. I wonder if it's an issue of translation. Perhaps Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is not used to directing actors in the English language. Maybe their lines were originally written in Korean and then translated into English, which could account for why they sound so awkward. But I'm just guessing; all I know is that the VIPs aren't working for me, which is a shame since they're so key to the show's overall message.

Even if that wasn't a problem, the reality is that this episode becomes less interesting whenever it focuses on anything other than the players, which it does a lot. In the Squid Games, anybody can go at any time. But on the boat, I know that Jun-ho is going to live, at least for now. I'm intrigued by No-eul's plotline, but it's clearly on its way somewhere it hasn't arrived yet.

Episode Grade: B-

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