We love our reality TV shows for one reason or another. It could be because of the drama that unfolds that makes us forget about our problems. Or the idea of peaking into a life that isn’t our own. Or maybe it’s the magic of the camera that makes things more dramatic or happy. No matter the reason, we are drawn to different forms of reality TV in some way, shape, or form. This is especially the case with competition reality TV. Shows likeThe Challenge,Survivor,Big Brother, etc. There is something so entertaining about watching contestants work together (or against one another) to conquer a series of challenges to win a grand prize.
However, no competition show lives up to the Korean fictional web seriesSquid Game, where the characters' lives are at stake for millions. Until now, that is! Netflix has a reality TV show,Squid Game: The Challenge, that is faithful to theSquid Gameshow in terms of sets, costumes, props, and games. Even the guards seem almost emotionless despite them being real people inside that pink jumpsuit. It’s all very impressive to see on our small screens. But have you ever been curious about what happens behind-the-scenes? How long does it take to go through one of the challenges? How far were the developers willing to go to make the show asauthentic as possible toSquid Game? What were the contestants really thinking and feeling when the cameras stopped rolling?
Squid Game: The Challenge Makes Reality an Illusion
No reality show is ever truly reality. Scenes get cut for drama, tension gets added for entertainment, and so on. Contest reality TV shows likeSquid Game: The Challengeare no exception to this. The show’s development team did everything in their power to ensurethe sets and challenges were authenticto those ofSquid Game. Have you seen the creepy, giant doll that’s a carbon copy of theSquid Gamedoll? That took three months to build, including the 3D-printed exoskeleton.
The Challengewas filmed over sixteen consecutive days in London inside a massive studio. There were 456 contestants, exactly like the Korean series, and they were not allowed to leave unless they were eliminated. However, the Red Light, Green Light game, filmed in Europe at Cardington Studios, saw some significant changes. Contest shows cut out a good portion of film to keep the episode’s set time. So, while the Red Light, Green Light game seemed to only last 15 minutes, it was actually a full ten hours of filming.
Even the cookie challenge fromSquid Gamewas recreated to almost perfection. The development chefs forThe Challengeunderwent many trials and errors, trying to create and bake the biscuits to a specific design. The reason that making the cookies was so hard is because the traditional Korean Dalgona recipe is made from honeycomb. Try as they might, the chefs were running into multiple blunders, so they had to use a different recipe to make as accurate biscuits as possible. Everything they did for the contestants' sets, challenges, and arrangements wasextremely faithful to the original show.
Related:Squid Game: Best Moments in Season 1, Ranked
Seeing how far the development team was willing to go to makeSquid Game: The Challengeis impressive. you may tell how much the Korean series inspired the director and the rest of the team. Like withSquid Game, the team used clever camera angles, edits, and cuts to make the show as entertaining as possible. They did their best to perfect every minute detail of the challenges ofSquid Game, and we think they succeeded in recreating the likeness of the games.
Squid Game: The Challenge Faced Allegations of Controversial Treatment Toward Contestants
One of the show’s biggest criticisms is how the contestants are treated throughout the games. It’s similar to theSquid Gameweb series, minus the literal life-or-death stakes. The actors who were the pink, faceless guards inThe Challengeeven underwent specific training. They had to learn certain choreography to act like robotic guards fromSquid Game.
As stated before, the players were not allowed to leave the show unless they were eliminated via challenges. They even went through similar treatment to that of the characters inSquid Game. According to Lindsey Ranks, one of The Challenge’s contestants, she and the other players “got very minimal amounts of sleep.” The food served wasn’t very good either, and they were constantly on edge. She continues to say that, at least for her, the time spent on this show was “very rewarding and fulfilling.” However, not every player was happy with the treatment that they went through just for the show.
Related:10 Series to Watch If You Loved Squid Game
When it comes to behind-the-scenes stuff, as interesting as how the show is made, there are always negative things that happen in the background. At least two contestants wereallegedly injured during filmingwith cases of nerve damage and hypothermia. With Ranks’s statements on their sleeping and eating situations, it’s possible that insomnia and/or malnutrition are added factors. The developers have denied the lawsuits.
The behind-the-scenes aspects are so interesting, particularly regarding competition reality TV shows. So much work and effort go into making challenges, creating sets and props, working through rewards and the like, and editing hours upon hours of footage. It’s the illusion of reality that really draws us to reality TV more so than the drama that happens on screen. It happens off-screen as well.
Squid Game: The Challengewent above and beyond behind-the-scenes to bring forth the Korean show in another life. It shows us how those cruel games could work in reality, including theplayers' controversial treatment. As much as the illusion draws us in, it’s cool to peek behind the veil and see how the “reality” of reality TV actually works.
Squid Game: The Challengecurrently has five episodes available on Netflix, with the next batch airing on Nov. 29, before the finale on Dec. 6. Though unconfirmed, the second season ofSquid Gamemay finally see a release sometime in 2024.
Squid Game
In Squid Game, a mysterious invitation to join a competition is sent to people at risk who are in dire need of money. Four hundred fifty-six participants from all walks of life are locked into a secret location where they play games to win 45.6 billion won. Games are selected from traditional Korean children’s games, such as Red Light and Green Light, but the consequence of losing is death. To survive, competitors must choose their alliances carefully - but the further they go in the competition, the more likely betrayal will rear its ugly head.
