‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Crowns a New Villain

Squid Game: The Challenge might’ve been designed to test its players’ instincts under pressure, but in its second week it’s striking how dedicated the players in this Netflix series are to working together. After a grueling game of marbles that admittedly did bring out the worst in a few players, the remaining contestants have shown a shocking amount of solidarity. During Episode 7 and 8’s Glass Bridge challenge, however, one player’s selfishness seemed to put off some of her fellow contestants—and viewers.

The Glass Bridge test comes straight out of the original Squid Game: The players must cross a bridge made from two side-by-side rows of large glass squares. Each step on the bridge is a game of chance: One square in the pair in front of a given player is made from solid glass, and the other will break beneath their feet. (Apparently, professional stunt workers did all of the falling.)

As set up in the original Squid Game, this challenge naturally puts players at the front of the line at a disadvantage. One by one, they must guess their way across the bridge for as long as they can until they inevitably run out of luck and fall through. In The Challenge, however, one player comes up with a new way to navigate the bridge: Everyone must take one chance on a step they don’t know, and if they succeed, the next player will overtake them, thereby distributing the risk across all players instead of concentrating it on those in the front.

It’s an honorable idea, and surprisingly, almost all of the players go for it—enough for the group to decide that’ll be their path across. But one player, Ashley (#278) does not like the idea at all. When it comes time for her to overtake the fan-favorite player Trey (Player 301), she refuses—which rubs some of her competitors the wrong way.

Ever the mensch, Trey does not force another player to leapfrog past him instead of Ashley; after trying and failing to obliquely shame her into doing her part, he jumps a second time and successfully lands again. Still, she refuses to overtake, so he jumps a third time—at which point he falls to his “death,” much to the horror of his fellow players.

At this point, Ashley is in a bind: According to her own rules, she should be forced to cross as much of the bridge as she can on her own. Instead, she takes one leap of faith, succeeds, and insists that other players pass her once her turn is done—the same thing she refused to do for Trey. Stunningly, they do so without challenging her hypocrisy. Critics and viewers have been less generous and called out Ashley’s lack of team spirit.

While most players seem content to let Ashley’s self-serving maneuver slide, one player can’t help but bring the incident up again. During the next elimination test—a dice game in which each player must choose whether to send themselves or someone else home in the event they roll a six—Mai (Player 287) bucks the group’s suggestion that they all nominate themselves and chooses Ashley instead. This riles Ashley, who chooses Mai right back after she survives the round.

Because neither Mai nor Ashley goes home during that game, the tension between them begins to grow. Mai fake-apologizes to smooth things over, and Ashley pretends to accept it. Even in that moment, however, Ashley passes on a chance to take the high road. When Mai points out that her refusal to overtake Trey seemed to signify a lack of camaraderie, Ashley insists that she did take her turn like everyone else. That might technically be true, but everyone who watched the game also knows that she only did so when forced.

Fortunately for those seething at home, Ashley faces her comeuppance in Episode 9’s Circle of Trust. In that game, players sit blindfolded in a circle while the guards pace around them, tapping them on the shoulder one round at a time. Chosen players must pick up the wrapped gift box at the center of the circle and place it on the desk of one fellow player. The giver goes home if the recipient correctly guesses their identity, and if not, the recipient goes home.

Although Ashley tries to fake out Mai by pretending to be guilty after the box lands on her desk, Mai correctly surmises that it wasn’t her—and to boot, she correctly identifies the player who did give it to her. Ashley, meanwhile, gets caught placing her present on Player 451, Phill’s, desk. When Phill correctly identifies her, Ashley at least goes out as a good sport.

“I was trying not to look all worried and shifty,” Ashley said with a sigh as she made her exit. “You know, I will never win my Oscar. Came so close, but not close enough.”

Going into next week’s finale, we’re down to just three remaining players: Mai, Phill, and Sam (Player 016). It’s anyone’s game now, and if these players have proven anything, it’s that they’re here to win. Let’s just hope the ending isn’t as gut-wrenching as the original’s.