Though season 1 of “Squid Sport” was a large crucial and rankings success, there was one aspect that rubbed viewers the mistaken method: the VIPs. Within the seventh episode, “VIPs,” a handful of (largely American) wealthy guys go to the video games to spectate. They’re impolite, jaded, and their jokes had been bizarre and unhealthy. A variety of this felt intentional, like a part of the writers’ commentary on how wealth could make you a worse individual, but it surely nonetheless did not make for nice viewing.
That is why a variety of followers had been relieved when season 2 of “Squid Sport” did not contain these VIPs, but it surely seems they celebrated too quick. The VIPs did not seem just because season 2 solely coated the primary few video games of the competitors; in season 1, they did not present up till the penultimate recreation, and that certain appears to be the case once more as we head into season 3. In a current promotional tweet for the third (and sure remaining) season, dropping on Netflix June 27, followers obtained one other glimpse of the VIP room. The main focus of the image is on the Entrance Man, however one of many masked VIPs may be seen within the background.
Put together for the ultimate recreation. Here is your first have a look at Squid Sport Season 3 pictures, premiering June 27. #NextOnNetflix pic.twitter.com/3j8yUaOccK
— Squid Sport (@squidgame) January 30, 2025
It is clear that regardless of the penultimate occasion of this 12 months’s “Squid Sport” could also be, these obnoxious VIPs will as soon as once more be round to supply their obnoxious commentary. Will they be the identical VIPs from final time, or will we discover out that the video games are attended by a brand new group of evil wealthy individuals every time? And maybe extra importantly, will these VIPs be fleshed out greater than they had been in season 1? Season 2 made the daring alternative of giving one of many pink guards her personal nuanced storyline, one that actually helped shine an additional gentle on how these video games function. Maybe the ultimate season of “Squid Sport” will give the VIPs an identical remedy.
Why the VIPs in ‘Squid Sport’ season 1 weren’t that unhealthy
To be truthful to the VIPs, I’ve lengthy since believed that the backlash to them (particularly from American viewers) was a bit excessive. Sure, the jokes they made had been eye-roll-inducing more often than not, however that undoubtedly felt intentional. As season 1’s Oh Il-nam (the previous man, AKA Participant 001) identified within the finale, being extraordinarily rich turns you into somebody with nothing attention-grabbing to speak about, and that certain appears to be the case with the VIPs. These guys have zero charisma and fairly actually nothing of curiosity to say at any level, which according to the present’s critique of the 1%. They’re so wealthy and highly effective that they’ve nobody of their lives to inform them that their jokes are unhealthy, and since they haven’t any actual issues they’ve by no means wanted to develop a lot of a persona. (As for whether or not the intentionality behind their grating conduct makes it any higher? That is as much as you.)
The opposite large criticism in regards to the VIPs is that almost all of them come throughout as unhealthy actors, and their dialogue feels prefer it was written by individuals who aren’t that acquainted with how People speak. One will get the sense that the present did not hassle to ensure the American actors had been good, as a result of they assumed a non-American viewers would not actually know or care if their strains had been inauthentic or poorly delivered.
However as former /Movie author Hoai-Tran Bui identified on the time, this remedy of the present’s American characters is just about precisely how American reveals typically deal with its Asian characters. Korean followers of “Misplaced” needed to put up with how the actor for Jin clearly wasn’t actually Korean, simply as Hispanic “Breaking Dangerous” followers needed to make peace with how Gus Fring’s actor clearly wasn’t Chilean. The remainder of the world has all the time needed to put up with seeing themselves portrayed with inauthentic accents and inauthentic dialogue in American films; with “Squid Sport,” a variety of American viewers noticed the reverse for the primary time. It wasn’t probably the most flattering expertise, certain, but it surely was nonetheless enjoyable to see a present the place the tables had been turned.
