I was sceptical as to whether Squid Game, the smash-hit Korean thriller about a fight to the death involving children’s games, could work as a real-life TV show. Early reports suggested that some players were having a miserable time; the producers and Netflix issued a firm denial. But there were many practical reasons to doubt it, and not just the obvious tricky issue of lethal peril. In essence, it is about people playing marbles and punching a shape out of a crispy piece of honeycomb with a needle. Neither immediately suggest compelling television. Yet Squid Game: The Challenge not only works, but may turn out to be the most gripping reality TV since The Traitors.
It is big, in all senses. It begins with 456 contestants, mostly from the US and Europe, and the prize pot will reach $4.56m. Quizshows tend to have a huge prize fund when that big money is largely unobtainable; here, we are told that somebody will actually win that amount, which is absurd. It makes a virtue of its grandiosity. Like its parent show, it ladles on the operatic soundtrack and slow-motion shots. It is an unapologetic spectacle. As the episodes progress, the contestants start to take it all wonderfully seriously, which only adds to the preposterousness.
