I made my first mistake watching Squid Game: The Challenge thinking it would somehow be a fun show. I had anxiety watching the original Squid Game, yet I delusionally believed this would be lighthearted entertainment. It isn’t fun but it is compelling. It also proved that Netflix is a master at reality TV shows.
Squid Game: The Challenge has become another in a long list of the streaming service’s reality programming that I love watching. It doesn’t have the same level of nonsensical fun as Perfect Match or the extremely enthralling game complexity of The Devil’s Plan, but Squid Game: The Challenge is riveting and stressful. After each episode, my anxiety grew about five levels but I enjoyed the rush of it.
I want a reality show that makes me feel varying levels of emotions. Squid Game: The Challenge delivers this and that’s one of the reasons it’s worth watching.
It may stress you out but it's an enjoyable ride as a reality TV show. Let me give my spoiler-free explanation.
It Has No Main Character
If you watch enough reality TV shows, then you know that you can figure out who will likely win or be eliminated in each episode based on how things are edited. Additionally, most reality TV shows pick contestants who will last a while and focus on them. This ensures that the viewers grow attached to those deemed the stars of the season. Squid Game: The Challenge throws that technique out the window.
You follow a few characters closely but that doesn’t mean they are the main character. You may grow attached to a character, and then, they are eliminated by the end of the episode. You also never know when and how a character will be eliminated. They can leave the game in an anticlimactic manner.
I am unsure if the creators of Squid Game: The Challenge intended this but this feels like commentary on the randomness of life and death. You can’t predict when someone will die. It could be in a grand, devastating way or just passing on in old age as you sleep. With death being such a major theme of Squid Game, this could be the Squid Game: The Challenge producers’ way of emulating the same feeling of loss.
It’s Unpredictable
Because important characters are eliminated often, everything is unpredictable. You can’t predict who will make it to the end. You can’t predict what challenge leads to an elimination. Also, Squid Game: The Challenge takes things further by not completely copying the original series.
Not every challenge played on the show happens in the reality TV show. Additionally, the producers cleverly add other challenges that keep the same spirit as the ones on the scripted show. Because it’s so unpredictable, you never know what will happen. It’s seemingly heading towards a battle as heartbreaking, thrilling, and complicated as the show’s Season 1 ending.
Squid Game: The Challenge Has The Same Level Of Intensity As The Original Series
Thankfully, no one actually dies on this show (though it did put contestants in terrible conditions). However, the intensity of losing out on the big cash prize still resonates with viewers. You understand the heart-wrenching defeat of losing so much money.
Squid Game also showcased how sometimes survival and wealth involve corruption. The Squid Game: The Challenge contestants don’t reach the same level of infamy and ruthlessness as some characters in the scripted series. However, many betray and hurt each other to guarantee they win the money. Morals only go so far in this show. Plus, everyone willingly participated, which means they knew they’d have to connive to win the prize.
Very few contestants, if any of them, completely escape without doing something that hurts another’s chances to win the money. Because Netflix demonstrates all sides of these contestants, it makes it hard to truly root for or against any of them. They’re villains and heroes at the same time. This feels true to the Squid Game series.
Most of the characters had to do something nefarious to survive. It’s the nature of this game.
I'm Invested In These Contestants
I am a Big Brother fan, so I am no stranger to getting overly attached to reality TV show contestants. Without the help of live feeds, Squid Game: The Challenge makes you truly care about these people.
I watch a lot of reality TV shows, but I only get invested in a few contestants every once in a while. I had several contestants that I wanted to win the money. This could be because the sheer volume of people that you follow ensures that you’re going to care about one or two of them. However, the Squid Game: The Challenge producers chose wisely with whom it showcased.
This is one of the few shows where I had to remind myself that this is just a show and that these people are fighting to win money. Their lives won’t be over because they didn’t win. Inspiring that level of investment is rare, so the team behind Squid Game: The Challenge knows how to tell an engrossing story.
I Felt The Heightened Nature Of The Stakes
As stated, I needed to chill and return to reality while watching Squid Game: The Challenge. A lot of money is great but none of these people lost anything but a chance to become rich. They still have everything from their life before the show. They may even have gained some fame and additional opportunities.
However, when watching the show, you feel that this loss completely destroys their lives. This makes it easy to imagine how heightened the contestants’ emotions must have been competing.
At the time, they must have really thought that it’s all over if they lost. Anxiety-inducing programming is some of my favorite forms of entertainment, and Squid Game: The Challenge creates such a stressful environment to watch that you completely propel yourself into the show. Their stress is your stress.
Squid Game: The Challenge is a great show to watch if you enjoyed the original series. I don’t think it’s better than Squid Game, but I believe it captures its spirit, in both bad and good ways. It’s a must- watch for reality TV show fans and those who enjoy being stressed out while watching TV.
