Squid: The Challenge Season 2 Review – Nothing You See Here is Perfect | TV and radio

THere it misses the point, and then there’s Netflix crafting its Korean hit that twists capitalism around a ruthless competition An actual game show. The producers of Squid Game: The Challenge have previously denied that’s what happened here, pointing out that the series is, in fact, also about camaraderie and how people work under pressure, which is, as I quote, “a critique of how we’re ingrained from childhood to be hyper-competitive.” Come on – it’s a reality show about people doing degrading things because they’re desperate for money, based on a drama about people doing degrading things because they’re desperate for money. If I gathered a bunch of people in debt and recreated Squid Game: The Challenge in my local park, I’m pretty sure I’d go to jail.

The thing about Squid Game: The Challenge that makes everything okay (even though nothing is really okay) is that everyone here is completely fascinated by the amount of money on offer. Its prize money is among the biggest in the game show’s history, with the winner of the first series, May Whelan, cashing a check for a very cool $4.56 million (£3.47 million). It’s the kind of money that makes people feel awestruck, off-the-charts betrayed.

For series two, they’ve made it more ferocious than ever, with the twists thicker and faster and the sob stories more miserable. If there was a brief moment in the first series where it felt as if this whole “cash” thing might not have been an obvious offer to have your cake and eat it, that moment certainly passed.

The undoubted stars of this first batch of episodes (Netflix will release another batch on November 11, before the finale on November 18) are British twins and TikTok personalities, Jacob and Raoul Gibson. The Gibsons, also known as the 431 and 432 players, are charming conspirators who put other tracksuit-clad competitors under their spell during a challenge to count exactly 456 seconds – that is, until they eliminate three other players to keep themselves in the game. People get mad when the losers fall to the ground in a mock death, but well, there’s $4.56 million at stake here, guys!

Like The Traitors – which is produced by the same production company, Studio Lambert – Squid Game: The Challenge has a dark tone (in a pivotal moment in the first episode, Nina Simone plays Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, poking fun at the players’ various tactics and opinions). But unlike The Traitors, Squid Game: The Challenge doesn’t always feel fun. Surely watching someone put together a house of cards should be low-risk enough. But when this guy is physically shaking, and the sweat is pouring down his face like water running from a faucet, while his team’s chances of staying in the game are on the line? Not much. Never before has catching a ball in a cup been so urgent – ​​or so annoying to watch.

Maybe, as viewers, we’re supposed to find the “criticism” in how quickly the players turn on each other, using words like “idiot” and “fraud” to describe each other, and judging who should stay or go based on what they’ll use the prize money for (leukemia research – good! Yacht party – bad!). People say things like “It’s just a game” while gritting their teeth in a way that says “This is too much.” no “Just a game.” There’s a casual vibe to the Stanford prison experience, and seeing how quickly power can corrupt.

But I feel like all of this gives Squid Game: The Challenge too much credit. The final episode of this installment, Mingle, is particularly dark, and is based on a game from the original drama that has been described as one of the most brutal and disturbing. To say the least, it will be very exciting for anyone who has recently been selected into PE.

For a brief moment, I consider whether Squid Game: The Challenge is so bad that it’s good, but I think that would be tantamount to allowing its creators to take it lightly. The way many of the contestants act is appalling, but again, this is a terrible competition. However, I don’t blame the people who signed up to win $4.56 million. Don’t hate the player – I absolutely hate the horrible game.