Posted in: Netflix, Preview, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: netflix, season 2, squid game, squid game: the challenge, teaser

Squid Game: The Challenge S02 Green Light; Meet Your S01 Finalists

With Squid Game: The Challenge officially returning for Season 2, here's a look at our final three heading into tonight's Season 1 finale.

In only a few hours, we will learn who the one person out of the 456 players who started will be to walk away with $4.56 million. But Netflix didn't want viewers to wait any longer to learn the fate of the immersive reality competition series, released an announcement teaser confirming that Squid Game: The Challenge will be back for a second season. And guess what? they've already started recruiting…

Here's a look at the announcement teaser that went out earlier today – and if you're interested in taking part, make sure to get your name & other info over to them as soon as possible…

Here's a look back at the official trailer for Squid Game: The Challenge, with the finale set to hit Netflix today at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT – followed by an in-depth look at the game's final three contestants:

And now, here's a look at what Netflix's TUDUM had to share about our three finalists – Sam (Player 016), Mai (Player 287) & Phill (Player 451) – and the road that each player took to be one of the final three:

Sam (016)

Sam might tower well above the rest of the players when it comes to height, but he's purposefully kept a low profile to make it to the end of the competition. "I grew up a little gay boy in a very religious family," he says. "I'm pretty confident in my ability to hold my cards close to my chest." And he does so early on in the game, letting bigger and bolder players take risks while personally remaining content to exist mostly in the background. Just like the other two finalists, Sam avoids a near-certain elimination in Dalgona by receiving the third most difficult but still precarious star shape. His time in the competition is almost cut short, however, during an especially close call in Warships when a boat he's in takes significant hits.

With the help of some key alliances — including Ashley (Player 278), who saves him from elimination during the Dorm Test of allegiance before Glass Bridge, and Siobhan (Player 023), whom he, in turn, chooses to save — Sam endures. Most importantly, the 37-year-old Florida-based artist has tried to play a strategy of "civil decency" to ward off the chaos of the game, which puts him slightly at odds with Mai (Player 287) after she nominates Ashley for elimination during the Episode 8 dice roll test. "I've been trying to play this game in a way that I'd be proud and [also in line with] how I'd act in the outside world," he tells Mai (Player 287) in Episode 9. "As long as we keep our eye on our hearts and our humanity because we all have that good core." If he wins, Sam plans on getting a large art studio for his work, helping his husband with his film projects, helping rescue and protect animals, and investing wisely.

Mai (287)

Long before her journey on Squid Game: The Challenge, Mai's life had always been about beating the odds. Born in Vietnam, Mai came to the United States as a refugee when she was just 8 years old. Since then, Mai has continued to use the difficult memories to remind herself "to be strong," propelling her through single parenthood, a 20-year career in the Navy, and now, the competition of a lifetime. Along the way, Mai makes friends — and a few rivals as well. During the Dorm Test of allegiance, she "breaks the chain" agreed upon by other women players in the game by choosing to save her friend Chad (Player 286). She and Chad became close early on, along with a few other players, including Figgy (Player 033), Brownie (Player 258), and Cookie (Player 285) — adding Mai "Mai Tai," the group coined themselves "The Snack Pack."

But arguably her biggest clash in the competition is with Ashley over a disagreement about what Mai describes as "selfish" behavior during Glass Bridge. Because Mai questions Ashley's "character," Mai tries and fails to eliminate her in a subsequent game of dice, only to isolate herself from some of the remaining players in Episode 9. Ultimately, the 55-year-old immigration adjudicator is able to leverage suspicions about her gameplay during Circle of Trust, in which she makes the surprise decision to eliminate her ally Roland (Player 418) instead of one of her foes. "This game is all about self-preservation," she says in Episode 9. "I have to do what I have to do to survive." If she wins the prize money, Mai dreams of purchasing a home to spend her retirement in and donating to causes she cares about.

Phill (451)

As a self-described "go-with-the-flow kind of guy," Phill had no grand designs on making it to the final three — let alone winning the cash prize. In fact, the Hawaii-based scuba instructor, who moved from his home country of Brazil to the United States in middle school, never put much thought into how he would navigate any of the challenges until he first set foot in the dorm. "I basically have no strategy going into this," he says. "I'm kind of going in blind. I really just have no idea how this is going to go." And yet, Phill outmaneuvers almost all of his fellow players over the course of the challenges, carving out the star shape in Dalgona, besting Bradford (Player 337) in an emotionally charged Marbles face-off, and guessing who put the gift box on his table not once, but twice during Circle of Trust.

While the game remains as unpredictable as ever, Phill has locked down key alliances that have stabilized his game, including Jackie (Player 393), his fellow finalist Sam, and Ashley, whom he chooses to save during the Dorm Test of allegiance. But he's also had to make some ruthless choices, like betraying his friend Hallie (Player 355) during Circle of Trust in a final stunning twist. Should Phill come out on top in the finale as the winner of Squid Game: The Challenge, he plans on giving away a good portion of this prize pot. "If I suddenly become a millionaire, I wouldn't keep most of the money," he says. "I've personally been helped a lot throughout my entire life by family and friends, and I've never really been able to reciprocate."

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