Late in the first season of Netflix’s “Squid Game” — two-year-old spoiler alert, I guess — an elaborate, deadly contest among 456 needy contestants is revealed to be an entertainment for the viewing pleasure of a handful of crass, wealthy “VIPs,” who watch the gruesome proceedings wearing golden animal masks.
You could look at that situation and see a dramatization of the way a decadent system exploits desperate souls.
Or you could look at it and say: All that production effort and they couldn’t monetize the show for a bigger audience?
For everyone in the latter group, there is now “Squid Game: The Challenge.” The reality spinoff, whose first five episodes premiered Wednesday on Netflix, keeps the drama’s kaleidoscopic set design, its outfits and many of its competitions.
It gets rid of the messy murder business — sort of — along with most of the uncomfortable ideas.
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