‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Review: Netflix’s Twisted Competition Series Finds Surprising Depth

Proma Khosla
·4 min read
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If “Squid Game” had you turning in moral circles, then buckle up for the spinoff.

“Squid Game: The Challenge,” a reality series inspired by the bleak life-and-death competition in Hwang Dong-hyuk‘s Korean thriller, might seem like an ill-advised experiment; after all, “Squid Game” was about the rich and powerful exploiting the poor and disenfranchised, forcing them to die in the pursuit of money while playing sinister, life-sized children’s games.

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And while “Squid Game: The Challenge” does raise questions about the puppeteering of the average citizen in the service of entertaining the masses, it’s also a sharp expansion of the “Squid Game” world through both production design and the stories and relationships elicited by the competition. Mercifully, “Squid Game” works pretty well as a reality contest, discomfiting only when you remember its inspirations (and when blood packs on the players’ uniforms explode to simulate their violent deaths, a somewhat tasteless production decision).

“Squid Game: The Challenge” follows the same format as its predecessor, subjecting contestants to games from the original series as well as new additions and twists on the familiar (necessary to keep the hardcore “Squid Game” fan — audience or contestant — on their toes). One of the new challenges is a live version of Battleship that largely resembles wizard chess. Some games start with a small but equally stressful exercise, like picking or assigning teams. In between tentpole challenges, contestants have the opportunity to win advantages or eliminate others through smaller tests held in the dorm (with “Squid Game” Season 2 still in the works, might some of these modifications make an appearance within the actual show?).

The final prize pot clocks in at $4.56 million — the largest single cash prize in reality TV history. Netflix cast the 456 players through an open call, and though few are highlighted compared to the total, they have some remarkable stories. Highlights include a Vietnamese refugee, a woman who gave her brother a kidney, various parents eager to build better lives for their children, and a mother-son duo competing together for as long as they can. When not competing or hanging out in the dorm, they participate in classic reality-show confessionals, talking to camera about their lives and backgrounds and giving the emotional play-by-play of specific moments in the game. This staple of the genre fits surprisingly well into the competition, and of course distinguishes “The Challenge” from “Squid Game” itself.

And the most crucial thing “Squid Game: The Challenge” imbibes from its inspirations — reality competition as a genre as well as “Squid Game” — is the suspense. Some of the manufactured tension borders on cruel as episodes continue, while music and editing ramp the stakes up high enough to elicit gasps. Between the looming, faceless guards and simmering alliances and enmity, the show is as much about mind games as the other kind.

Without the looming threat of death, the dorm scenes start to feel like summer camp, where friendships and cliques form while the contestants get to know each other. It’s a shame that the show’s format doesn’t lend itself to showing more of the down time and how some of those relationships develop; when they enter the spotlight in later episodes the characters feel unfamiliar and their closeness unearned because they were off-screen for so long. As the numbers dwindle, the players emphasize teamwork as much as solo strategy — sometimes more — evoking the camaraderie and spirit of sports. They cheer each other on, hug and say “I love you,” sob when their friends are eliminated because it was never just a game.

Though it might not be life-or-death (despite multiple players using this exact phrase), “Squid Game: The Challenge” builds a tight, compelling competition, and one that viewers will have to watch week-to-week (a five-episode premiere, four episodes the week later, and finale the week after that). And credit to Netflix for knowing exactly what they’re doing; don’t be surprised if you start a “Squid Game” rewatch immediately after this one.

Grade: B

The first five episodes of “Squid Game: The Challenge” are now streaming on Netflix, followed by four episodes on November 29, and the finale on December 6.

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