Squid Game: The Challenge Recap: Epic ‘Falls’ and a Fiendish Circle of Trust Narrow the Field to 3
Squid Game: The Challenge this week culled the field of players from 63 to a mere three (!), following some heartbreaking Marbles matches… a precarious walk across a Glass Bridge… a few rolls of the Dice… and then a fiendish game called Circle of Trust.
Who were you most disappointed to see dropped (sometimes quite literally!) from the reality competition? And who are you rooting for heading into the finale?
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I reckon y’all are still at different stages in your binge of the first nine episodes, so I will once again keep this recap easy-breezy and spoiler-lite. (The finale drops next next Wednesday, Dec. 6.)
The second wave of Squid Game: TC episodes picked up with Episode 6, “Goodbye,” where 31 pairs of picnic pals trekked to that sandy little neighborhood from the Squid Game drama series and chose their game of Marbles/rules. TVLine’s Nick Caruso, one of our reality-TV experts, had warned me that the Marbles episode was “heartbreaking,” but to me it was rarely that. I mean, sure, they played up the “drama” of Trey/301 having to best his momma LeAnne/302 or vice versa, but at the end of the day, if either of them made it to the very end, that family is getting a financial windfall. I wasn’t buying it.
Marbles just seemed sloppier than the drama series’ version, partly because there are no set rules — and that one pair of competitors frittered away nearly the entire time limit just debating what “game” to play! I also found myself yelling at people to tamp down the sand, if they were playing a game that needed some “action” from the marbles.
Coming out of Marbles, I think that production made a mistake. The male guard voiceover said that “32” players had been eliminated, as the tote board scrolled from 63 to 31, but since the guy with the surfer hair had failed to pair up for the picnic, only 62 left to play Marbles — and thus 32 (31+blondie) now remained. Am I insane…? UPDATE: As a commenter noted, I missed a double elimination.
After Marbles, there was a test in which Coach JT/182 volunteered to go first, and chose someone to move forward with him — and so on, until only 20 were left. One of the noteworthy losses here was the bald guy from the Gganbu Gang, who was counting on one of his bros to pick him (but didn’t).
That test spilled over into Episode 7, “Friend and Foe,” with the “saved” 20 heading over to the Glass Bridge challenge. In the drama series, the players were presented with a line of mannequins wearing numbered vests, then each grabbed one unaware of what was next. Here, the players used a claw machine to grab a teddy with a vest nestled inside, and then assign that numbered vest to another player — knowing that Glass Bridge was up next.
The way the players approached the Glass Bridge was less frenetic, of course, than in the drama series, which became a brutal free-for-all as the clock ticked down. There was an attempt to be rationale and have each player make a 50-50 decision to step forward onto one glass pane or another — though Ashley/278 postponed her turn doing that just enough to put a target on her back.
Glass Bridge, for my money was far more intense than Marbles, partly because the “drops” were so abrupt and clean and dramatic. (Did they land in a net? On the world’s largest air cushion? Spoiler alert: The falling bodies were actually stunt doubles, ugh.) Anyway, Trey and Jackie/393 were among the heartbreakers here.
Glass Bridge spilled over into Episode 8, “One Step Closer,” and led to another “test” in which the remaining 12 took turns rolling a die. Before each roll, they nominated another player (or themselves) to be eliminated, if a “6” came up. Dice continued until a “6” was rolled three times, leaving us with nine players.
Episode 9 invited the players to enter a new game hall and form the titular “Circle of Trust,” seated at grade school-type desks and wearing blindfolds. From there, one player at a time was tapped on the shoulder by a guard, removed their blindfold and took a gift box from a center pedestal and place on the desk of another, blindfolded player. If the recipient correctly guessed who gave them the box, the giver was eliminated, if they were wrong, the recipient got the boot. Let’s just say that Mai’s experience as an adjudicator came in handy, while one of the other players who made it into the final three twice correctly ID’d who had targeted him.
Next up: The season finale, which the promo tells us will involve fancy clothes, a delicious dinner, and then the champion-crowning Squid Game face-off itself. Though probably not “to the death.”
Grade the Squid Game reality series below, and then vote for your pick to win (from the final three) at the spoiler-hiding link here.
Also: Vote here for your pick to win!
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