Summary
- Squid Game: The Challenge contestants faced grueling and hazardous conditions during filming, potentially causing lasting injuries.
- The living quarters for contestants were intentionally uncomfortable and lacked basic accommodations, like adequate beds and accessibility measures.
- Contestants were provided with small, unappetizing meals that didn’t consider dietary restrictions or preferences, leaving many feeling undernourished.
Squid Game: The Challenge still has a finale to air, but after seeing most of the high-intensity competition series on Netflix, it appears that the alleged inhumane conditions players have complained of were accurate. While there’s no confirmation on whether the conditions were inhumane, Squid Game: The Challenge season 1 appears stark to viewers. The series, which started with 456 players competing for $4.56 million, asked its competitors to accept the conditions for filming when many of them were unaware of what they were agreeing to. While the players could say no, they didn’t go into Squid Game: The Challenge with all the information available.
The series has allowed viewers to see an expansion of the original South Korean drama, Squid Game, which involves real competitors and broadens the horizons of the challenges. Beginning with over 400 contestants, the players were able to gauge the style of the competition during the game’s first challenge. While over half the competition was eliminated during the first game, the competitors were able to understand the scope of the competition. They noticed that some of the conditions were more hazardous than expected. With Squid Game: The Challenge getting intense, it’s clear the players’ complaints have some merit.
8 Squid Game: The Challenge Contestants Suffered Lasting Injuries
Some Reported Nerve Damage
After the first challenge on Squid Game: The Challenge, Red Light, Green Light, the competitors who were eliminated and competitors who were eliminated and others who were still in the game came to agree that the challenge was a grueling one. While some were happy with their experience on the series, others had a hard time wrapping their heads around the conditions for filming. Before Red Light, Green Light, the competitors were held in a cold studio, waiting for roughly 8 hours to film. The competition itself, where some said they suffered lasting injuries like nerve damage, was filmed for another 7 hours.
7 Squid Game: The Challenge’s Living Quarters Are Intentionally Uncomfortable
The Dormitories Were Terrifying
The dormitory where the Squid Game: The Challenge contestants live and sleep was introduced to those who made it through the first challenge. For the roughly 200 competitors, the dormitories were a jaw-dropping sight to behold. With black iron bunk beds spanning six stories, many were baffled by the living conditions they would be dealing with. The living quarters were intentionally uncomfortable, as players are in tremendously close quarters, and the room is purposefully sparse and uncomfortable. The beds also required the ability to go up many stairs, which may not have been compliant with any disabilities or age-related inability.
6 Squid Game: The Challenge Fed Their Contestants Small, Inadequate Meals
The Meals Look Unappetizing & Small
While the living quarters were bland and sparse, the meals that Squid Game: The Challenge contestants were given were also nothing to be excited about. Though the contestants weren’t sure what sort of food would be served to them on the series, it’s likely they weren’t expecting to be eating tiny portions of food they had no say in. The meals provided for Squid Game: The Challenge contestants appear to be small, nutritionally dense meals that don’t consider dietary restrictions or preferences. While they don’t seem to starve the contestants, many likely do not feel nourished by the provided meals.
5 Squid Game: The Challenge’s Games Reportedly Took Hours To Film
The Filming Schedule Was Grueling
For the first challenge, Red Light, Green Light, Squid Game: The Challenge’s initial 456 players were filming for over 15 hours, and the subsequent challenges apparently took far more time than it seemed on screen. It appears that many of the challenges on Squid Game: The Challenge were far more intricate and involved than they appeared on camera, and while this is the norm for reality TV, it’s clear that when contestants weren’t participating in the competitions, they weren’t being treated with the care they deserved. For challenges like the Dalgona Cookie challenge, it likely took close to a full day of filming without genuine breaks.
4 Squid Game: The Challenge’s Contestants Complained Of Freezing Temperatures
The Sets Were Kept Incredibly Cold
Throughout filming for Squid Game: The Challenge, it appears that the players were in just a handful of the studio’s rooms. Stages and studios are typically kept at cooler temperatures due to the heat of the lighting setups required on set, but the temperatures of the Squid Game: The Challenge set were reportedly even colder than they needed to be. Contestants complained of the sets used for challenges and the dormitories being colder than necessary, potentially cold enough to injure the players. While the temperatures caused players to feel as though they were freezing and the competition was dragging on, the games were challenging.
3 Squid Game: The Challenge Has Led To A Divide Between Contestants
Contestants Aren’t Agreeing On The Conditions
After the filming for Squid Game: The Challenge finished, and the final product was ready to be released, some of the cast members began criticizing the production team for how players were treated on the show. While some felt that the conditions on set were inhumane, others thought those complaining were sore losers. The divide between the cast members has been massive, as many have joined the camp of those who felt Squid Game: The Challenge treated them poorly, and those who haven’t are still trying to clarify that people who made it further in the game don’t feel as slighted by production.
2 Squid Game: The Challenge’s Intense Schedule Was Demanding For Players
The Series’ Schedule Was Intense
Work schedules are typically quite different for reality TV, as labor laws aren’t as stringent about an acceptable number of hours when cameras are meant to be on players 24/7. Still, the number of hours that Squid Game: The Challenge players had to film, along with just how long they were competing in games, was exorbitant. The schedule players had to keep was incredibly demanding, especially when they were getting very little rest living in the dormitory with the rest of the competition. Many players complained about how tired they were, especially as the game continued.
1 Squid Game: The Challenge Contestants Are Suing Netflix Over Filming Conditions
Several Contestants Are Fighting Back
After assessing the damage, several Squid Game: The Challenge cast members have chosen to file a lawsuit against Netflix and the production team behind the series over the filming conditions they were expected to work in. While many of the players were eliminated in the first round of the competition, some have complained of injuries sustained during the competition, like back issues, nerve damage, and other lasting injuries. The cast members explained in the suit that the cold temperatures and long wait time became detrimental to their health and that Squid Game: The Challenge producers were aware of the issues but did nothing to help them.
