Despite viewers’ divided reactions to the show’s finale, Netflix is celebrating Squid Game Season 3 reaching new records for the streaming site.
Netflix claims that Season 3 had a “record-breaking debut” since it was the first series to ever rank #1 in all 93 of its major markets in its first week of release. Additionally, the new season has surpassed Netflix’s record for the most views a show has received in its first three days of release.
Squid Game Season 3 received an incredible 60,100,000 views and 368,400,000 hours of viewing for the week ending June 29, according to Netflix’s publicly available statistics. Although Netflix has also claimed to have “all three seasons certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes,” this assertion is only true when examining critical ratings as opposed to user reviews.
Squid Game’s third season user rating on Rotten Tomatoes is just 50%, which is a significant decline from the audience reception for the first and second seasons (84% and 63%, respectively).
Some fans have criticized Squid Game Season 3 for its erratic character development and pacing, especially with regard to Player 456’s hero Seon Gi-hun. Critics have also pointed to more embarrassing scenes involving non-Korean VIPs from the games, as well as a general feeling that the program isn’t as interesting or shocking as its highly anticipated first season.
Then there is the issue of the show’s surprising cameo at the end, in which a Hollywood star makes an odd appearance that some fans have deemed completely unnecessary. This is a clear attempt by Netflix to imply that the franchise will go on, now far beyond the original plot that its original creator had in mind.
Naturally, Netflix’s desire for more from Squid Game is not surprising. Overall, the series has been a huge success for Netflix; the first season is currently by far the company’s greatest TV release ever, and the second season of Squid Game is only surpassed by Wednesday’s first season.
However, by extending the series to its third season—and even beyond, should rumors that David Fincher is already working on a US spin-off materialize—could Netflix be going overboard?