Attention all players. Of the 456 players from around the world to enter the dormitory in the first season of Squid Game: The Challenge, 455 of them have been eliminated. As of late Wednesday night, only one player remains in the game.
Viewers got to see who survived the competition to win the most incredibly unpredictable game show ever created for television. Inspired by the South Korean TV drama Squid Game, which Netflix describes as “a violent test of morality and humanity,” participants compete against each other at popular childhood games in hopes of winning a life-changing amount of money. In both the original scripted series and the unscripted game show, the prize pot increases each time a player leaves the game.
Netflix held back episode 10 of Squid Game: The Challenge until last night, which for many, made for the longest week in the history of a television game show. The player (shall remain nameless so as not to spoil the excitement for other viewers – spoiler alert avoided) outwitted the brawniest, brainiest, fastest and the best of them, to cash in on the top prize of $4.56 million in the big reveal Dec. 6.
The games and challenges in the show: Red Light, Green Light; Dalgona, the cookie game; War or the battleship game; chores elimination; Trick Or Treat elimination games; Marbles; Teddy grabbing kiosk game; Glass Bridge; Circle of Trust; button elimination game, and Rock, Paper, Scissors – helped to determine the winner.
For the top player, the Squid Game challenge was about skill as much as it was about luck. After analyzing behaviour, making anxiety-inducing decisions, forming strategic alliances, friendships like the Gganbu gang, the athletes, the women, and learning hard lessons about cooperation, even the inability to blend in, or the consequences of putting an opponent’s needs ahead of your own, to disappointments, betrayals, errors in judgement, and experiencing debilitating self-doubt — the final challenge on the unscripted television series came down to a simple game of Rock, Paper, Scissors in the very last episode. The winner’s ability to anticipate their opponent’s next move allowed them more opportunities to try to open a safe that contained the winnings – a golden credit card. Picking the right key was ultimately based on luck.
The final episodes of both series, episode 10 of the reality competition and episode 9 of Squid Game, are aptly titled One Lucky Day. Lucky as well for the showrunners, both the fictional series and Squid Game: The Challenge have been renewed for a second season.
by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Twitter @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird