THE new episodes of Squid game, the challengeavailable on Netflix from November 29th, they raise the level of conflict between competitors. In the reality show inspired by the Korean series 63 players remain. At this point they wage war against each other, even playing a little dirty. In the end only three will remain.
Squid game – the challengethe sixth episode: Goodbye
After the first five episodes, there are 63 remaining contestants. For them there is the challenge of one game of marbles, a twenty-minute one-on-one. The two friends, mother and son, challenge each other: losing is bad, but winning also leaves a feeling of guilt. There is a couple who cannot agree on the game until the end, then they play, ending in a draw, but they are both eliminated because they cannot decide who will go through.
Once the race is over, rhetoric such as «Now make me proud of you”, “go and win your challenge”. One winner declares “it was horrible”, the other says “we still have to rework”, as if it were mourning the death of his grandfather. Phrases in favor of the camera or true feelings? We will never know. At the end of the game there are 31 left.
Once the race is over, the cruel test begins: players must elect a team leader which can qualify a competitor for the next round. The latter in turn will have to choose another and so on. The remaining nine will be eliminated. Here comes the alliance between women: in a clear minority compared to men. But one of them will not respect the pact.
“Squid Game: The Challenge”, an image from the seventh episode. (Netflix).
Friends and enemies
In the seventh episode the contestants they have to cross a glass bridge, passing over large boxes. Some resist, others open, making the player fall and eliminating him. Obviously whoever goes first is at a disadvantage. Order is established from fishing for soft toys (that of amusement park machines).
Each plush has a number (1 means that you will cross the bridge first), whoever catches it attributes it to another competitor. And here comes embarrassment about the choice and revenge.
One step closerthe eighth episode
During the glass bridge game, the contestants decide to distribute the risk equally. The first player chooses a square that makes him fall and keeps him in play. The second follows him, but it is he who takes the second step, risking being eliminated. The pact is signed but someone doesn’t agree and incorrectly decides to maintain the original order.
Purna, one of the contestants of “Squid Game: the challenge”. (Netflix).
The ninth episode: Circle of trust
In the ninth episode, a guessing game based on trust takes place. The players are blindfolded, sitting in a circle, each at a table. One of them, indicated by the jury, must place a package on a competitor’s table. Once undressed, he will have to understand who did it. If he guesses correctly, he eliminates the indicated player, otherwise he leaves the game. The three final winners will compete for the prize of 4 million and 560 thousand dollars in the final episode, which will be on Netflix on December 6th.
The characters: Mei, Sam, Phil, Purna, Hallie and Tj
As the number of competitors is reduced, the various characters take space and their character emerges. There is Mei, the Vietnamese woman that as a child she saw an American soldier pointing a gun at her. She now works at the immigration office. In the challenge, she is willing to do anything to move forward.
Sam is a homosexual boy grew up in a very religious environment. Having come out, he abandoned his relatives to join a new family. He plays very correctly. Phill is a young, very sweet boy who avoids conflict and confrontation as much as he can. As a child he was bullied. Purna is the son of a Nepalese refugeewho grew up in hardship, much loved by the group.
Tj is a former basketball player professional who at a certain point in the game is elected captain. Hallie is a young girl. She grew up with a twin. In the game she does everything to avoid being noticed and is convinced that no one fears her.
Squid game – the challenge It’s nice but a little cloying
Squid Game, the challenge it’s not as compelling as the South Korean series. But as in the series the focus is on psychologies, their facets, different characters and different approaches to the world, values (does loyalty or money matter more?). Some of the contestants’ statements seem like something out of a cloying American film: “I love you, remember that,” “make me proud of you,” and, frankly, you can’t hear them.
Someone has questioned the educational value of the series, in which you do everything for money but then regret it (in favor of the camera). “After all, we are all good people, we should remember that,” says one of the contestants. Well, perhaps the meaning is this: when faced with money, good people forget that they are good people. But this is the reality. And luckily, unlike the Korean series, no one dies here.
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