TV fans torn between bingeing Netflix hit series or ‘anxiety-inducing’ drama this weekend

TV viewers are officially in two minds after finding out that two of the biggest dramas of recent years have both come back this week.

Netflix hit series Squid Game returns for its third – and apparently final – season on the same day that American drama The Bear comes back for season four.

South Korean series Squid Game initially followed 456 cash-poor contestants of a deadly game that had a £30million prize fund, with the last person left alive declared the winner.

Initially released in 2021, the Lee Jung-jae thriller became a worldwide hit, with the iconic outfits from the series providing memorable Halloween costumes.

As for The Bear, the Jeremy Allen White show followed the chaotic everyday existence of the members of staff working at an Italian sandwich shop.

The acclaimed drama got off to a fast start and hasn’t slowed up since, with fans and critics both loving the high-octane kitchen drama for three seasons.

On Reddit, LeeJTam put it simply and clearly: ‘I love this show but man it gives me serious anxiety sometimes… But this show is amazing even with all that.’

Its fourth season dropped on Wednesday night, with all 10 episodes of the latest batch released at once, giving fans just days to catch up before Squid Game comes around.

It’s left TV fans on social media feeling excited and anxious but also over-stimulated and a little lost for time – they’ve almost got too much TV for them to choose from.

On X, @Baymob said they were aware that ‘Squid Game season 3, The Bear Season 4, and [Marvel series] Ironheart [are] all dropping this week,’ accompanying their post with an image of someone having two smartphones pressed against their head.

@JackHammer10 said: ‘The Bear Season 4 [on Wednesday], Squid Game Season 3 on Friday, the F1 movie on Saturday. We are eating great this week.’

@BathTubBum also noted the close release schedules – ‘they’re all out in the same week’- and shared a humorous image of a small dog with its mouth full of spaghetti.

Elsewhere, @JRafeTruther spotted that not only were Squid Game and The Bear being released in the same week, but that they were both being released during Pride Month.

‘Squid Game season 3 and The Bear season 4 during Pride Month? Oh, I am gonna be so insufferable,’ they posted.

@JimmyTurtle worried that releasing Ironheart this week would affect its chances with viewers: ‘Releasing this the same week as The Bear and Squid Game? Yeah, not a great choice.’

Metro recently spoke to the creator of Squid Game, Hwang Dong-hyuk, about the future of the franchise, and he revealed where the story could go following the conclusion of season three.

‘This is just some ideas that I’ve been throwing around during production. But there’s a three-year gap between season one and two, since Gi-hun turns away from the plane,’ he said.

‘So I’d like to maybe look into the lives of those behind the mask, the Front Man, the Recruiter and Captain Park. How did they meet? What did they do during the three years?

‘How did they stay on top of Gi-hun and whatnot? So that’s something that I’m thinking about. I have to make it!’

As for season four of The Bear – well, maybe Metro‘s Sabrina Barr might turn you towards Squid Game this weekend after saying the series ‘still whets my appetite, but season 4 isn’t searing hot’.

The Bear still contains ‘enough to warm my heart, but not enough to give me that feeling of satisfaction I so sorely crave’.

Watch Squid Game on Netflix. Watch The Bear on Disney Plus.

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