Squid Game season 3 episode 3 recap: closing in on the Captain and a dangerous game of jump rope

Squid Game season 3 marks the final instalment of the hit Netflix show, bringing the story to an undoubtedly intense close.

Picking up where season 2 left off, Gi-hun, aka Player 456, and the remaining players must battle through the final deadly games to fight for their survival. With Gi-hun personally seeking his revenge against Front Man. Meanwhile, Jun-ho continues his search for the island, hoping to reunite with his brother and free any survivors before it's too late.

With the 45.6 billion won prize continuing to divide players, Front Man and the VIPs watch on as they take on game after game to pay off their debts in the outside world. But, at what real cost?

Here's a recap of everything that happened in Squid Game season 3 episode 3.

The episode opens on the dead players being retrieved from the arena after hide and seek and laid into coffins. A red player tries to overpower a guard and another female guard shoots him to death. More guards turn up and they’re excited to kill who is left alive. In the main room, Player 333 is waiting for Player 222 to come back. Player 124 asks him if he’s seen Thanos’s necklace. He’s panicking and tells the guards he wants to go back in to get it, but they refuse. Player 125 comes back and he has it hidden in his hand.

Players 149 and 222 finally return, holding the baby. She’s limping on her broken ankle. Elsewhere, the female guard has dressed Player 246 up as a guard. But, he’s struggling with his injury. She tells him to deal with it if he wants to live. Meanwhile, the baby is crying so Player 149 tells Player 222 to try feeding her. The guards come in and congratulate the players. 110 players have been killed. There’s only 25 players left, 43.1 billion won, leaving 1.724 billion won to each player if they stopped now. The guards call for another round of voting.

Front Man sits with the VIPs at a dining table. The VIPs are revealed to be the guards they brought in to murder the remaining red players who didn’t manage to kill anyone in hide and seek. The ones excited to kill. One of the VIPs didn’t make it in time to take part because his helicopter was late. The female VIP accuses him of being drunk, that’s why he was late. They congratulate Front Man on what he’s done. They raise a glass to Chairman Oh. The officer in the room is called out by an alert and replies to his walkie-talkie. He’s told they’ve lost contact with the operating room. He tells the guard to go down and check it out.

On the boat, the drone pilot flies the drone up into the sky. Woo-seok calls Jun-ho and tells him that he’s asked all the local fishermen and no-one knows anything about Captain Park or even who he is. He says it’s suspicious. He says it’s like Captain Park doesn’t even exist. He gives him another warning and Jun-ho says he has to go. On the island, the screens are brought down to the VIP table for them to watch the voting. Front Man tells them that players will want to see how much money they can get and won’t want to vote against the majority. 16 players currently hold O badges meaning they should want to continue.

The vote begins and Player 124 changes to wanting to leave. But, Player 125 swaps to stay. Player 149 tries to beg with the players to leave. She says they can have her share of the money and split it. She says they can’t let a young mother and her baby die. She begs on her knees, but players continue to vote to stay. Meanwhile, the guards arrive in the operating room and find all the dead bodies. On the stairwell, the female guard hands the man a key with 16 on it. She tells him to follow the soldiers and that to be careful of the surveillance camera in his room. He leaves and she jumps up towards a vent. The vote comes to Gi-hun and again, he refuses. The vote concludes and the majority decide to continue to the next game.

The VIPs are talking over Player 149’s plea to leave. They laugh about how she killed her own son to save someone she’s only just met. The officer checks in on the operating room. They blame the surgeon for the death of the guards, number 16. Meanwhile, the man hiding as guard 16 enters his room. The officer comes to check if guard 16 is in his room and he’s shown that he is.

On the boat, Captain Park suggests they head back as the tide is coming in. Jun-ho says they should bring the drone back, but then he spots something. He recognises the beach and tells Captain Park to take them to it. In the main room, Player 149 brings Player 222 food and tells her to eat. She agrees, but she goes to apologise for being the reason Player 149 killed her son. She tells her not to apologise and that she needs to just focus on her baby.

The officer wants number 16 brought to him and he also wants number 11, the female guard, tracked down. As he stands in his dark room, she tells him that number 11 is right here as she holds a gun up to him. She broke in via the vents. He asks her if she killed the men in the operating room and she nods. She wants guard 16 to patrol the outer perimeter with her and tells him that he’ll get her a boat. He still thinks guard 16 is the doctor and wonders how she knows him. She says that to make him look good in front of the VIPs, that he should just let them disappear.

Jun-ho arrives on the island. He hallucinates Front Man shooting on the beach and then climbs up to the cliff edge and remembers him shooting him there. He calls into the boat and tells them they’ve found the place where he was shot. He says the island must be nearby. Captain Park listens in.

In the main room, Player 149 goes to speak to Gi-hun, still chained to his bed. She tells him again that it’s not his fault. She sits by him and tells him life is unfair. Bad people ruin it all and good people always blame themselves. She explains her son always blamed himself. She says once she shouted at him for being so weak. She said after that, he tried to kill himself. She took him to the hospital and prayed for help, all for her to kill him in the end.

She tells Gi-hun that he can look after the players that are left. But, he tells her, he can’t. She says the baby needs him to help her, at least. Player 222 and her girl need Gi-hun to help them survive. She begs. Elsewhere, Woo-seok and his friend arrive at a house. He says he needs to prove Captain Park is a traitor. His friend warns him that he shouldn’t break in. Woo-seok loads a gun and tells his friend to keep a lookout.

He goes up to the house and the letterbox is stuffed full. He pulls out a letter addressed to Park Yeong-gil. He jumps over the wall to break in and a dog is tied up and starts to bark at him. He ducks round it and breaks into the house. The next morning, the guards are ordered to wake up ready for roll call. Hidden in guard 11’s breakfast is a key to the boat. The officer then tells another guard to go back down to the operating room because he feels like something is off.

In the main room, a coffin is brought in. Gi-hun looks across the room and sees that Player 149 has hanged herself overnight. Player 222 cradles her baby and cries. Elsewhere, the guard calls to the officer and tells him the doctor, guard 16, is actually dead. They realise Player 246 is now hidden in guard 16’s clothing. Inside Captain Park’s home, Woo-seok notices photos on the wall of fishing trips with friends. He recognises the man in one of the photos as the man in the suit, the recruiter, that shot his boss. He turns around to see the dog has gotten inside. It bites him and he shoots it to death.

In the main room, the players are told the fifth game is about to start. Player 124 is struggling without the pills from Thanos’s necklace. Player 222 can’t stand to leave her baby behind, so takes her with her. Injured, Woo-seok tries to escape but notices a covered hole under the dog house outside. It’s filled with money and a guard’s outfit. He’s disturbed by the police arriving.

Meanwhile, as the players head to the fifth game, Gi-hun offers to hold Player 222’s baby. She tries to refuse and he says she might accidentally hurt her, so he should take her. She agrees and then limps up the stairs behind him. The VIPs discuss how she’s at a disadvantage. One VIP says he’s bet on her for the next game, joking that he was drunk when he did it, but he thinks she might be able to survive.

Front Man offers to show them what the next game is. He lifts the screen and shows them their viewing window looking right at it. The red light, green light doll is there and a male doll is standing opposite her over a bridge. Player 222 begins to blame herself for the deaths of her friends, but Gi-hun tells her they all chose to take part in the games. It was everyone’s choice. He tells her he has a daughter and raising her makes up some of the greatest moments of his life. He says he’ll help her.

The VIP who voted for Player 222 is mad that he’s at a disadvantage. Another VIP suggests putting the baby in the game because a mother would do anything to save her child. The other VIPs like the idea and they all clap as the players arrive. The players enter and stand behind the red light, green light doll. There’s a rope across a bridge with a gap in the middle. On the other side, the male doll is holding the other end of the rope.

The fifth game is introduced as jump rope. Each player has to make their way across the bridge while jumping the rope as it swings round and round. They have 20 minutes. The order they cross is up to the players. Gi-hun tells Player 222 to sit and rest. Her ankle is even worse than before. The boy and girl doll start to swing the enormous rope. Gi-hun tells Player 222 they should go together. He tells her to leave the baby there to get afterwards. The guard tells him that all players have to make it across the bridge. Player 222 tries to argue that her baby is not a player, but the guard says she is now.

Player 100 tells them they’re wasting time, so someone needs to go first. Another player tells him to go. Player 222 tells Gi-hun to take her baby across. Player 125 asks Player 124 if he’s sick and he tries to push him away. So, Player 125 shows him he has Thanos’s necklace. Player 124 begs and apologises. Player 125 throws it onto the bridge and tells him to go and get it. So, he does. The VIPs get excited as they see a player has finally started to move. Player 124 retrieves his necklace and when he goes to open it, he sees there’s no pills left. He’s knocked off the bridge and killed by falling to his death. Player 125 holds the final pill in his hand.

Then, Gi-hun takes Player 222’s baby and says he’ll come back to get her once he’s across. She tells him he doesn’t have to, but he says she won’t be able to go alone with her bad leg. Gi-hun has tied a sling from his jacket across his chest and cradles the baby inside. The VIPs can’t understand Gi-hun’s motive. Not only does he have to jump the rope, he also has to jump the gap between the bridge. He makes it across the gap. And then, he makes it across the bridge with the baby. Player 333 watches on.

There’s only 12 minutes left, but when Gi-hun goes to head back, other players have started heading across the bridge. Player 096 makes it across the bridge, but as another player almost makes it too, he pushes them off.

All episodes of Squid Game are available to stream now on Netflix.