Ever since Reed Hastings showed up to an earnings call sporting a green-and-white tracksuit, it was evident that Netflix might have taken away the wrong lessons from the triumph of “Squid Game.” In 2021, the South Korean drama — which was crafted, scripted, and directed by auteur Hwang Dong-hyuk — became an unexpected global hit depicting a dark and violent allegory about capitalism exploiting the desperate majority for the entertainment of a privileged few. Hastings, a wealthy and influential tech entrepreneur, was more akin to one of the masked spectators in the titular game rather than a contestant risking their life for a shot at the prize. However, irony seemed to elude him.
This week, the contradictions deepen with “Squid Game: The Challenge,” a competition series that brings Hwang’s vision to life, sans the mass murder and most of the social commentary. The show is Netflix’s latest solution to an ongoing issue. Without its own legacy franchises, the relatively young company has to put in extra effort to transform its original hits into sustainable sources of intellectual property. “Squid Game” itself will receive a Season 2 at some point next year, also directed by Hwang, but brand-building does not have time for quality control. “The Challenge” is just one part of a multifaceted effort to capitalize on the “Squid Game” phenomenon; next month, fans in the L.A. area can participate in “Squid Game: The Trials,” where they can pay to pretend to degrade themselves for a slim chance to erase their debts. Reality TV and immersive “experiences” are quicker to produce than a scripted production, and both contribute to sustaining the buzz during the long wait.
“Squid Game: The Challenge” mimics the structure and appearance of the original, whittling down a pool of 456 contestants competing for $4.56 million with a series of childlike games. What helped the first “Squid Game” transcend language barriers was its simple, colorful production design, which “The Challenge” faithfully recreates on a U.K. soundstage. The pink jumpsuits, mock playgrounds, and M.C. Escher-like staircases are all there, meant to contrast with the sinister, deadly nature of the tournament, where each “eliminated” (read: executed) contender translates to more money in the pot for the eventual winner. The whole point of “Squid Game” is that in a deeply unequal society, entertainment comes at a steep moral price. The point of “The Challenge” is that, if you don’t think too hard about it, that entertainment is still pretty fun to watch.
How “The Challenge” gets us to care about these personalities is much less endearing. “What’s it like to be able to pay off your house?” someone wonders, shortly before they’re sent home. “The Challenge” sometimes uses humor to deflate its own sense of drama, as when one woman responds to a telltale black spot with a nonplussed “Oh, shit. Really?” But given the money involved, the stakes are still quite high, if not life or death, and the environment ruthlessly intense. As the game design forces contestants to throw each other under the bus or submit themselves to blind, cruel luck, we watch them crack — sobbing, hyperventilating, even threatening to vomit.
The first five episodes of “Squid Game: The Challenge” will stream on Netflix on Nov. 22, followed by four episodes on Nov. 29 and the finale on Dec. 6.
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