Squid Game: The Challenge, Netflix's latest and currently most popular reality competition, dropped four new episodes earlier this week. The show has a total of 10 episodes, and with only one episode remaining, it's time to take a stroll down memory lane.
The show started with 456 players, and after a series of challenges, competitions, tests, and more, it's down to the final three, Mai, Phil, and Sam, and only one will take home the grand prize of $4.56 million.
The three of them strategized, compromised, and fought tooth and nail to become finalists, however, there were others who put up an equally good fight.
While that list is long, there is another, much shorter one, of players who became known for all the wrong reasons. These players became known as the villains of the show due to various factors, including selfishness, rudeness, or simply being arrogant.
Bryton, Dylan, and Ashley became known as the villains of Squid Game: The Challenge
Squid Game: The Challenge season 1 started with 456 players. While not a lot of players got adequate screen time, due to the show having such a huge cast, some players stood out more than others. While some of these stood out for the right reasons, such as TJ Stokes, Trey, and LeAnn Wilcox, others became the subject of negative chatter.
Bryton (Player 432)
Bryton Constantin, player 432, entered the game with great confidence. In the first game itself, Red Light, Green Light, he was asked about his number and said that he got 432 since he was "number 1." However, it wasn't his confidence that rubbed people the wrong way.
In episode 2, player 198 called him a "frat boy" in passing, and Bryton wasn't too happy about it. He confronted the Squid Game: The Challenge cast member in a corridor and told him that while he may not have put his hands on him while filming, he might if they were elsewhere. After the incident, many players weren't too happy and noted that they'd eliminate him if they were given a chance.
Dylan (Player 065)
While Player 065 didn't get much screen time during the initial episodes, he was featured a lot during episode 6. He was paired up with player 399 for marbles, and their indecisiveness led to both of them being eliminated.
Player 399 was upfront about not being good at games involving throwing and tried finding a middle ground with the cast member. Dylan believed she was trying to trick him, and he refused to fall into the "trap."
Despite her trying to come up with different solutions, the Squid Game: The Challenge cast member told her that she was being "unreasonable" and that he couldn't "keep arguing with a brick wall."
Despite Player 399's calm demeanor, he told her not to raise her voice. With less than 8 minutes remaining, player 399 caved and agreed to a throwing game. Both made two successful shots, and although Player 399 made the first successful shot into the basket, Dylan stood his ground. Their inability to decide who won resulted in both of them getting eliminated.
Ashley (Player 278)
Ashley was one of the nine remaining women in the competition and was heavily featured in episodes 6 to 9. The cast member received backlash for being "selfish" during Glass Bridge.
During the challenge, the contestants came up with a plan that would ensure that each player had a 50-50 chance of survival. It included one player only having to jump on a new tile once.
Ashley was fifth in line, after players 182, 221, 301, and 077. While the rest of them stuck to the plan and stepped up, when player 278 had to step up, she remained quiet. Trey, player 301, continued jumping onto tiles since he didn't want everyone to be eliminated because of her.
While fans could get behind the Squid Game: The Challenge cast member not wanting to take that chance, they were really unhappy when she told the other players to step up after taking the chance only once since the player in front of her was already eliminated.
Squid Game: The Challenge season 1 will air its season finale on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, on Netflix.