Squid Game: The Challenge
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This recap covers episodes one and two, Green Light, Red Light and The Man With the Umbrella.
What does it mean, exactly, for Netflix to adaptSquid Gameinto reality television?
K-dramas have long been aglobalphenomenon, but U.S. viewers tend to focus exclusively on English-language programming.
(At the time, that was equivalent to around $38 million.)
(Without the killing, of course.)
The news that this adaptation was happening filled me with bile.
Frankly,Squid Game: The Challengedoesnt feel very promising at the outset.
It begs the question: Are we watching high-end cosplay?
The confessionals only deepen that sense, which the show uses as its primary narration and storytelling unit.
Its likeWilly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, one player says.
Going after the golden ticket.
Whos not in debt?
she says, speaking in a setting designed to look like an interrogation room.
Were facing a recession.
Im not getting paid at work for this.
But … youre dreaming, youre taking a chance.
Whats that like to pay off your house?
To pay off your car?
pour into the playground set, which is dotted by those red-tracksuit-wearing facilitators with those eerie shape-stamped masks.
Everyones in awe of the replica; everyones nervous about the kickoff.
Already, the shit-talking begins.
Were introduced to a smattering of players.
Theres a mother-son combo, Trey (301) and LeAnn (302).
Theres Jada (97), who claims to be a great people-reader.
Were also introduced to Player 432, Bryton, who immediately gives off the vibe of a heel.
You control your destiny, he says in the confessional.
All right, guy.
Almost immediately, we see a spread of strategies that turn out to be pretty interesting.
So you have clusters skipping sideways, keeping hands in pockets and close to the body.
Others practically hug the wall.
I like some peoples idea of hitting the floor and lying prone when Chantal turns back.
(Additionally, it was allegedly so cold during filming thatseveral players needed medical attention.)
Is it giving theater-kid energy?
But it nevertheless provides the intended dramatic effect.
Chantal completes her recitation and turns, wiping out a first wave of players.
The sequence is punctuated by sounds ofpop, pop, popas the scene cuts between the eliminated.
Elimination can come quickly and randomly.
Chase (242), best bro of Stephen (243), also goes down.
Stephen is devastated, but basically goes, Oh well.
A host of other unidentified players bite the dust, too.Pop.
The first person to go through is Player 107, followed by a wave of people.
I did this because of her, he says in the narration.
I wanted her and I to have an experience, and she might not make it.
I know the show is milking this tension, but my heartstring is pulled.
But LeAnn does ultimately make it.
Or, at least, this is the beat where I start wondering, Is this … not bad?
Its a spitting image of the same room in the show.
Groups and cliques naturally form.
Bryton (432) begins to curate a group of follower jocks.
The two mullets, Stephen (243) and Kyle (101), find each other cute!
and soon, they are joined by other men of grand follicular expression.
Trey and LeAnn stick together, each others number ones, and they survey the room warily.
Among them is Rick (232), a retired physician and endearing grandpa key in.
The doors open, and an armada of red tracksuits emerge in formation.
Their spokesperson informs the room, via digitized voice, that its time to take stock of whos left.
There will also be tests of character in the dormitory.
Some will provide opportunities to grant others advantages; others will be chances to eliminate.
Now we have a social game on top of everything else.
Id have no problem, LeAnn, a stone-cold killer, tells her son.
My personality is outgoing, he says in the confessional.
Its almost selfish because I love myself so much.
I find Bryton both annoying and fascinating, an Ayn Randtype figure.
Anyway,LeAnn would be far from the only person with a distaste for Bryton.
We learn a bit about Kyles hang-ups in the confessional.
Theyre given a choice to grant one player an advantage or to eliminate someone outright.
The choice will be anonymous and announced the next day.
This strikes me as an interesting moment.
Kyle, in particular, looks sus as hell.
Dani only fares marginally better.
Red tracksuits dole out containers of whats basically a rice bowl.
Later, he also scrounges other peoples leftovers.
The nutritional chicanery does not go unnoticed.
Back in the confessional, we get a bit of backstory from Lorenzo.
Hes clad in a knitted dress and knitted hat, all adorned with knitted daisies.
At the end of the day, we are not here to play fair, he says.
We are here to play a game, and Im going to play by any rule that I want.
(Or cordiality.)
Im shorting his stock.
Bedtime arrives soon enough.
In the morning, Bryton goes hunting for the snorer.
Alas, I imagine being a snorer might be enough grounds for some people to target for elimination.
Everyones chilling when the red tracksuits reemerge.
Its time to announce who Dani and Kyle secretly eliminated.
Its Mothi (200)!
Offed for the reason of simply being too friendly.
Frankly, the choice makes little sense to me relative to the other options on the table.
Axing Mothi feels like a hedge against a future that hasnt happened yet.
Kyle doth protest too much.
I immediately feel awful, Dani tells us.
However, its $10,000 added to the bank.
Much of the room boos as Mothis weight in cash falls into the piggy, as they should.
Were off to the next challenge.
The lucky four: Players 166, 328, 98, and 170, whom we dont know.
Several players called it: They must now deal with the Dalgona, or cookie, challenge.
Any breaks or cracks in the shape, and theyre out.
Because the umbrella has nuanced little curves, its the hardest.
The four are given two minutes to decide who gets which shape.
Of course, no one wants the umbrella.
The answer for these four is no.
She breaks the pattern and assumes the star.
In the end, 98 refuses to comply and lets the clock wind down.
To their shock, all four get eliminated.
Player 288 proposes an alternative form of resolution: a foot race to the shapes.
But that breaks down as well, with the group melting down into an argument.
Theyre toast, too.
This is where episode two, The Man With the Umbrella, picks up.
And lemme tell ya, Spencer isnt looking good right off the bat.
But the fear in his eyes is palpable.
This isnt going to be pretty.
We get some backstory on Spencer.
A mamas boy, generally sweet-natured, perhaps a little too naive.
When the clock starts, Bryton immediately goes after Spencer, having previously identified him as a weak link.
Spit into someone elses cookie, like, he says.
Its a meaningless deal because the game plays out shape by shape.
As much of the waiting room erupts in excitement, Spencers line is crestfallen.
Back in the arena, Spencer starts to gag, a bodily reflex under pressure.
Team Circle goes first.
Sounds of licking fill the air.
Everyone entered the competition has watched the K-drama, so they know that saliva is a good tool.
It breaks down the cookies integrity for easier carving.
Team Triangle is next.
Im not sure I agree with that.
Bryton, Lorenzo, and young Hulk Hogan are shown making it through.
Back in the dorm, were shown several other players annoyed with Brytons survival.
The show sticks close to Dani here.
Its all a windup because Dani fails the Dalgona trial.
I chose to hurt somebody instead of help someone, and karmas a bitch, she narrates.Pop.
Mullet Stephen (243) and the lines rep survive.
We arrive at Team Umbrella.
Mullet Kyle (101) is here, and like just about everyone else, hes morose.
As you might imagine, the casualty ratio is enormous.
Mullet Kyle breaks his cookie, completing the karmic circle.
Both of Mothis executioners are now out.
He gags repeatedly while working on the cookie, which eventually cracks.
Back in the dorm, the tally.
Sixty-nine players were eliminated in the challenge, bringing the remaining number down to 119.
The pot is now $3.37 million.
A few things happen here.
First, the formation of a new clique.
Mullet Stephen is sad about losing mullet brother Kyle, and he heads off in search of newfound family.
Second, some backstory for LeAnn.
Third, a little drama.
Turns out, the answers not really.
What he gets instead is a tray of cheeseburgers and fries, which gets descended upon by other players.
(Shout-out to Jada for swiping a whole-ass burger.)
Husnains disappointed, but when the phone rings again, he eagerly pounces on it a second time.
Perhaps he forgot that this was meant to be a sadistic game.
Two minutes are on the clock.
