After the breakout success of the Netflix K-drama, Squid Game, a reality show like Squid Game: The Challenge was an inevitability. Although one could easily argue the new show’s existence proves Netflix completely missed the point of the original Squid Game, it’s out, and the winner will win the largest single cash prize in game show history.
I can’t blame the contestants for wanting to compete on a game show inspired by a capitalism-critiquing drama when the cash prize is as high as $4.56 million; but it feels a little on-the-nose (read: dystopian) for Netflix to make a franchise out of the show. The second season hasn’t even come out, for starters!
If we ignore the dystopian aspect of basing a game show off a show where people die trying to earn enough money to pay off their debts, Squid Game did have some challenges that honestly looked like a lot of fun. When you watch the show — don’t worry if you haven’t: It’s not required viewing if you want to watch Squid Game: The Challenge — it’s hard not to be curious about how you would fare in the competition. Now, these challengers can satisfy their own curiosity and try to win that $4.56 million.
Who is the winner of Squid Game: The Challenge?
As of this writing, Netflix has only released five episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge. Netflix will release another four episodes on Nov. 29, followed by the final episode on Dec. 6. Unfortunately, we don’t know who wins the entire challenge just yet.
We might not know who takes that $4.56 million prize, but we can narrow it down a bit after the first five episodes. The show began with a whopping 456 contestants (typing that out, I now realize that’s a play on the prize amount), but now only 70 players remain.
Similarly to the drama, the game of “Red Light, Green Light” ended with a majority of contestants eliminated. Thankfully, these ones only had dye packs in their shirts to imitate death, so the stakes were much less dire. The Dalgona game ended with another round of eliminations after players failed to etch out the shape in their candy.
The next five episodes will feature more challenges from Squid Game, culminating with one winner. 70 players are left, but only one can take home the $4.56 million. Who will beat the odds and survive the remaining games? We don’t know yet but we’ll be watching!
You can watch Squid Game: The Challenge on Netflix.