Squid Game: The Challenge season two review – nothing you see here is OK

Cash-strapped people forced to do shameful things because they’re desperate for money? How can this rot be real? If I recreated the idea in my local park, I’d surely end up in prisonThere’s missing the point, and then there’s Netflix making its capitalism-skewing Korean hit about a ruthless contest into an actual gameshow. The producers of Squid Game: The Challenge have previously denied that’s what happened here, stating that, in fact, the series is also about camaraderie and how people work under pressure, and is, I quote, “a critique of how we are ingrained from childhood to be ultra-competitive”. Come on – it’s a reality show about people doing humiliating things because they’re desperate for money, based on a drama about people doing humiliating things because they’re desperate for money. If I rounded up a load of debt-ridden people and recreated Squid Game: The Challenge in my local park, I’m pretty sure I’d be put in prison.The thing about Squid Game: The Challenge that makes it all OK (although really, none of it is OK) is that everyone here is completely mesmerised by the amount of money on offer. Its prize is among the largest in gameshow history, with the winner of series one, Mai Whelan, cashing a cheque for an extremely cool $4.56m (£3.47m). It’s the sort of money that makes people go gaga from the off, and the treachery is off the charts. Continue reading...

Comments

Culture

Daniel Day-Lewis hits out at Brian Cox over method acting criticism

Independent

Comments

Similar News

I had no hope for Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 – then I became addicted

Culture

Daniel Day-Lewis hits out at Brian Cox over method acting criticism

Seth Meyers responds after Trump says host’s criticisms of him are ‘probably illegal’

Your chance to bid on Will Ferrell’s iconic Elf costume and classic film props

Paul McCartney reveals new details of life after The Beatles split

David Harbour says it’s important to accept his ‘slip-ups and mistakes’

Strictly star Ore Oduba reveals 30-year battle with porn addiction that started at age nine

Lewis Capaldi revealed as Role Model’s London ‘Sally’

David Olusoga: The gentle historian who’s made it to the Celebrity Traitors final

Morrisons Christmas advert 2025 review: depressingly bland festive fare

Charlene White targeted with ‘vitriol and racism’ again for not wearing a poppy

Nick Mohammed claims Traitors co-star kicked off after having ‘basic human right’ removed

Ex-BBC controller claims he was told Tess Daly’s Strictly replacement by top TV exec while in hairdresser

Charlene White defends decision to forgo poppy on Loose Women: ‘Disagreement does not legitimise the abuse’

Huge BBC star throws hat in ring for Strictly host job

‘Most hated man in the world’ joins major WWE faction before WarGames

I had no hope for Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 – then I became addicted

Westlife: ‘We’re bigger than ever 25 years on’

I’m a Celebrity 2025 line-up rumours, from Jack Osbourne to Ruby Wax

Kim Kardashian says she is poised to discover bar exam results after six years studying law

Guillermo del Toro and his cast on his very intimate new Frankenstein: ‘This is autobiographical for me’

Anthony Hopkins: We Did OK, Kid review – A memoir that falls short of capturing the depth his career deserves

Britney Spears deletes Instagram after clash with ex Kevin Federline

From troubled childhood to alcoholism: Seven revelations from Anthony Hopkins’ moving new memoir

Top Gear co-creator says Ofcom breach was because team got ‘giddy on their own popularity’

Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively officially ends

Reese Witherspoon says hosting first SNL after 9/11 was ‘too much responsibility for a 24-year-old girl’

Boots Christmas ad 2025 review: why does Puss in Boots have a west country accent?

In ‘Kyoto,’ Seeking Consensus to Save the Earth but Veering Off Course

Martin Scorsese leads tributes to ‘great improvisational actor’ Diane Ladd

Who is Alison Limerick? The singer behind the 2025 John Lewis Christmas advert

Will Ferrell’s Elf costume among iconic film props to be auctioned

John Lewis Christmas advert sees a father and son bond over 90s hit

John Lewis has gone full Adolescence in its 2025 Christmas advert

Paul McCartney reveals self-doubt after The Beatles split

Carly Rae Jepsen announces first pregnancy with husband Cole M.G.N.

David Duchovny: 'I fell in love with London while filming – but my jaw dropped watching Naked Attraction'

John Lewis Christmas advert 2025: Is this the solution to the male loneliness crisis?

Paul McCartney ‘didn’t really know how to be in a band’ after The Beatles split

Will Ferrell’s Elf costume could fetch up to £200,000 at auction

The John Lewis 2025 Christmas advert is here and finally back to its tear-jerking best

BBC presenting favourite ‘in final talks’ to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on Strictly

Conor Maynard alleges Charlotte Chilton ‘slept with another Traitors star’ in latest paternity row claim

Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd dies at 89

Linkin Park to headline 2026 Download festival

Between Halloween and Thanksgiving is another holiday: Jersey Week

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Grateful Dead Singer, Dies at 78

Diane Ladd, Oscar-Nominated Actress and Mother of Laura Dern, Dies at 89

The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in November

Hollywood icon Diane Ladd, mother of Laura Dern, dies aged 89

Twilight director on ‘uphill battle’ of launching the iconic franchise as a woman

Diane Ladd, Oscar-nominated actor and Laura Dern’s mother, dies aged 89

‘Catastrophic’ flood in A$AP Rocky’s $11 million NYC condo leaves unit below ‘uninhabitable,’ lawsuit says

Hollywood icon and Oscar-nominated Diane Ladd dies aged 89

Reese Witherspoon says hosting first SNL after 9/11 was ‘too much responsibility for a 24-year-old girl’

'I love living inside a project for a long time,' says Richard Linklater

Climate Activist Who Vandalized Degas Case Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison

Justin Baldoni’s $400 million lawsuit against Blake Lively officially ends

Dame Prue Leith reveals U-turn on weight loss jabs after calling them ‘the wrong answer’

‘I’ve played queens in Hollywood – my powerful historical drama will surprise viewers’

What have David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown said about each other in the past?