Cameos from past characters in Squid Game on Netflix can be quite difficult given the nature of the show and that basically all of the players die except one until there's a winner. However, it's still possible for the writing team to get creative to bring back a fan-favorite, and that's what we got in the final season!
Now don't get me wrong. Cate Blanchett on Squid Game? It was epic and definitely the moment I didn't know I needed! The multi-award winning actress was only in a small scene and had a couple of lines, though those were enough to evoke the feeling a recruiter on the series is supposed to give you. She's brilliant! Even still, the show featured another cameo that, I'm sorry, we liked a bit more.
Squid Game season 3 delivered a fan-favorite cameo for us viewers who have loved the show since the start, and that was Sae-byeok (Player 067). Of course, she unfortunately died back in season 1 after being one of the three finalists of the games that year along side Gi-hun (Player 456) and Sang-woo (Player 218).
She's shown to be wary of trusting anyone and mostly keeps to herself, but she has a sweet side underneath it all. Sae-byeok was determined in the games, and was smart and strategic. Her backstory was really sad, her family being North Korean defectors. In trying to escape, her father dies and her mother is caught. She and her younger brother are left, separated from her and that's why she's in the games. To try and get enough money to reunite with their mom. Unfortunately, she isn't able to do so.
Eventually, she and Gi-hun also form a friendship and her death honestly was hard on all of us. I don't know fan who doesn't love Sae-byeok. Well, actress HoYeon Jung returned in Squid Game season 3 episode 5, "◯ △ □." It was a quick cameo, only lasting a few seconds. But it was no less important. As Gi-hun is struggling with potentially killing the rest of the players in their sleep after the Front Man gave him a knife, a vision of Sae-byeok appears telling him not to do it because he's not that kind of person.
Even if it wasn't long, it was still great to see her on our screens again and the character included in such a pivotal moment for the main character. It also came full circle as the season 3 finale showed that eventually, their mother was able to leave North Korea and she reunited with her son, just like how Sae-byeok always wanted. That definitely made our hearts so happy especially with the tragic end our lead character faced.
Squid Game season 3 is now streaming on Netflix. Check out a list of all the season's recaps, here.
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