Squid Game: The Challenge
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(That happens in episode six, Gganbu, in case youre wondering.)
This made sense to me.
That pushes them to fully buy into their endgames if they werent already bought in.
Something similar happens in Goodbye.
And so when they come out the other side, they carry something resembling survivors guilt.
This has downstream effects.
Perhaps they are now likely to be more vicious toward people not deemed on their side.
Perhaps they are less likely to see other players as full people.
Mother-son duo Trey (301) and LeAnn (302) get emotionally squared away before facing off.
She tells him that shes rediscovered a huge part of herself through the experience.
LeAnn loses to Trey, and he moves to the next stage.
Both are intimately aware of what the other stands to gain.
Phalisia loses; I wasnt supposed to win, says Ashley.
Its sweet seeing two dudes squeezing out as much time as they can to be around each other.
Mikie wins and progresses.
He loses, karmically.
Young Hulk Hogan, who skipped the Marbles sequence due to being left alone for the picnic.
Sometimes it pays to be left high and dry!
Everyones depleted when its time for the tally: Thirty-one players remain since 32 were eliminated.
The pot is now $4.25 million.
True to his character, Coach TJ volunteers himself.
Chad isnt too pleased when he learns about this development when he rouses from his nap.
(Honestly, understandable.)
Gganbu Gang Dan overhears this fomenting dissent and tries to inch in with Chad.
If I were TJ, I wouldve opted for a more secular method to decompress.
A yoga circle maybe?
This precipitates the emergence of a feminist movement within the dormitory.
Will the solidarity hold?
Time for the test.
Only 20 can move to the next portion of the game, meaning 11 will be eliminated.
She saves Bee, who saves Amanda, who saves Jackie.
Starting to see whats going on, the men start sweating.
Friend and Foe picks up with Phill complying as he saves Ashley.
(Amanda remains displeased.)
But Ashley doesnt play ball with the womens coalition either, echoing Mai in prioritizing a personal relationship.
She selects tall, cool, calm Sam, with whom she has a bond.
Sam, though, picks Player 23, resuming the chain, who in turn saves Player 51.
However, instead of going with the last woman standing, Hallie, she saves Charles (221).
But Charles knows whats up.
Representation matters, he says.
And so I will continue to respect whats been going on here today.
This leaves five slots.
The remaining men, including Trey and Gganbu Gang Dan, are fully sweating it out.
Gganbu Gang Dan is out, along with the rest of the unnamed men.
With only 20 players proceeding to the next round, the pot is now a whopping $4.36 million.
Listen: I would quite literally puke if I came close to that much money.
More downtime, which means more character development.
Mai has a heart-to-heart with Coach TJ, to whom she pledges loyalty … though perhaps not completely sincerely.
He is my supporter, she says in the confessional.
Do you hear that?
Its the sound ofSquid Game: The Challengeturning the knife ever so slightly.
Charles is leading the dorm in a frankly hilarious cheer SQUID.
Hur, hur, hur, hur.
One is a trap door; the other is solid.
In the show, people fall through the fake tile and splatter to their deaths.
We just see them plunge into the abyss.
There is, of course, a cruel twist.
The first … say, eight people are practically on a death march.
Everyone in between has a theoretical fighting chance.
Once again, the twist mechanic offers an interesting opportunity to see some decision-making frameworks in action.
(This mirrors Jesses moral rationale behind his first elimination target in the jack-in-the-box challenge.)
Ashley gives the sixth slot to Purna because she just met the man the other day, thats it.
When Purna pulls the fifth slot, he responds to her in kind.
There has been a leader here in every way possible, she says.
I dont feel like anyone else is more capable than this person to lead us.
Charles gives the third slot, also a death sentence, to Trey, working off a random choice.
Reader, Ill be real with you.
The Glass Tile challenge is abravurasequence.
Idreamedabout it on Thanksgiving Eve.
Yes, there can only be one winner in this system.
But Rolands plan offers a means to transcend those cruel incentive structures.
Its an opportunity for greater humanity within an inhumane game.
And it doesnt even make sense!
She wouldve been on a death march either way without the new framework.
Youd have to readjust the math, but youd stand a chance of reviving Rolands plan.
I got a headache watching this sequence the first time through.
Rolands plan clicks into place.
But the losses are still shocking and painful to watch.
In a karmic turn, Jackies lands on the wrong side of the 50-50.
Player 23 fails as well, as does Mikie.
The last elimination is sweet, emotive James, who screams No!
on the way down.
Mai feels guilty about James, as he seemed to follow her guidance on the tile choice.
Its a bittersweet moment for the remaining players, who celebrate their survival.
Were down to 12 players.
The pot is now $4.44 million.
Two quick asides here.
First, Chad making Mai choose his tile kinda feels like a horrible thing to do to your buddy?
How does she feel about her actions in the Glass Tile challenge?
What is the story that she tells herself about herself beyond that moment?
Alas, we get none of that.
Downtime, which means more backstories.
Ive always wondered how players of reality game shows such as these feel at this stage of the experience.
Would I be feral and maniacal?
A husk of my former self?
All of the above?
For the most part, everyone looks tired as hell, which sounds about right.
Some start to strategize and note remaining alliances, which also sounds about right.
The next morning, wefinallyget some background on relaxed, happy Purna.
Is this the start of a winners edit or another self-eulogy?
Perhaps theres no such thing as a winners edit on this show.
The game will continue to rotate until three players are out.
This, too, is an opportunity for a more humane game.
Frankly, its not the smartest move.
But the gamble doesn’t work since the rest of the room feels content with the self-nomination strategy.
Mais thirst for … justice?
Her integration into the full villain edit is complete.
