This article contains spoilers for the first five episodes of Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge.
Player No. 229 Phalisia has drawn the ire of the Squid Game: The Challenge fandom after she abruptly ended the games of No. 232 Rick and No. 243 Stephen, and the latter wants to curb the hate she’s been receiving.
First, let’s remind folks what happened during episode 5, “Trick or Treat.”
Rick and Stephen forged a bond early in the reality competition show and became an inseparable duo. Their father-son dynamic was light and infectious in a game that was fueled by high stress and emotional eliminations.
But, Rick and Stephen’s demise was perhaps the hardest elimination fans had to stomach through the first batch of episodes.
Phalisia had taken stock of the “Gganbu Gang,” an all-male alliance with Rick and Stephen at the helm, and she said in a confessional that she wanted to break up the group. “I’m a watcher,” Phalisia said in episode 4:
“Seeing all these male-dominant alliances form, it rubs me the wrong way. Being married to a woman, a strong woman, we deal with this every day. When I see this here, it pisses me off. This is not what we’re here for.”
Well, Phalisia got exactly what she wanted.
Later, she volunteered as one of five players to take part in a dormitory elimination test. After randomly selecting a jack-in-the-box, each contestant took their turn opening theirs to see what was inside — either instant elimination, the power to eliminate other players, or an advantage for the next challenge.
An extremely emotional Phalisia was the last to turn the toy’s mechanism. But to her relief, she wasn’t booted from Squid Game: The Challenge. Instead, she was forced to crush the dreams of three others. First, she picked No. 130, the guy who snagged the advantage right before her turn.
Then, she turned her gun on the beloved duo. She called out Stephen’s number, and then Rick’s. Both men left the dormitory shocked that their game was over.
Stephen and other Squid Game: The Challenge stars defended Phalisia
Since then, Phalisia has been showered with hate from numerous viewers for her decision to eliminate the fan favorites.
But, during an online meetup with members of his Gganbu Gang (Rick wasn’t there), Stephen reminded the Squid Game: The Challenge community that it was just a game, and No. 229 did what she thought was best for her individual game and her chance of winning $4.56 million.
“I’ve been hearing things about Phalisia. Stop being mean to Phalisia. If you’re in the comments, leave her alone and tell your friends to leave her alone. She made a good move. It just wasn’t a cool move — it was a good move.”
No. 204’s Dan also chimed in, calling it a “game move” and Phalisia a “super nice lady.”
“I’ll tell you what, and Marcus (No. 209) can attest to this. She came up to Marcus and she came up to me afterwards and she said, ‘Listen guys, I apologize. I know those were your boys.’ And we said, ‘Listen, it’s a game move. You did what you got to do.’ Now, we had our sights set on her later if we ever had a shot. But, she’s a super nice lady — you can’t be mad at her for that. You’re right, Steve, Get off her back, everyone.”
Several other contestants have come to Phalisia’s defense. Bee, player No. 018 who appeared on fans’ radars as a successful captain during Warship, wrote on X:
“You were so clearly stressed up there. I could see it. And then boom, you composed yourself and you took the shots you had to take. Didn’t miss a beat. There were no good choices, only logical choices.”
Dash, player No. 141 who was eliminated during the same dormitory test as Stephen and Rick, also took to the platform to help simmer down the disgruntled viewers.
“INFURIATED with the racist hate & death threats towards @Phalisia2 & her beautiful family. She’s a TRUE friend with a HUGE heart. 229 is a BAD ASS unafraid to do what’s best for her game. Sending vile hate over a GAME MOVE is SICK. PLEASE do better.”
Phalisia has remained active on X and has done her best to disengage with the hate. And in a Nov. 27 post, threw out the idea of her, Stephen, and Rick getting together on a social media platform to hash things out. And if it does happen, expect both men to be accepting of her choice.
Rick spoke with Screen Rant a few days back and although he was having difficulty getting over his unceremonious ousting, he said Phalisia had “every right” to eliminate them.
Regardless, Phalisia is still in the running for the seven-figure grand prize. Episodes 6 through 9 are scheduled to release on Netflix on November 29, and the finale will follow a week later.