Squid Game The Challenge: Why Did the Players Stop Mingle? Was It Scripted to Set up Marbles?

With Netflix’s ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ living up to the name, fame, and intensity of its South Korean parent production, we get a competition series we can only describe as high-stakes. That’s because it revolves around 456 real individuals from all walks of life as they face off against one another in a series of modified children’s games for a chance to walk away with $4.56 million. Amongst these games in season 2 is Mingle – as also seen in the second installment of the original show – only for it to come to an abrupt conclusion as the players refused to play it anymore.

Mental and Physical Exhaustion Drove Players to Bring Mingle to a Halt

Since Mingle was game #3 in the reality series, just 70-odd contestants from the original 456 were left by the time it came around, thanks to the previous games as well as the additional tests. The rules are simple: all players must step on a carousel-like platform for the duration of a short song, preparing for when it will stop because a random number will then be called out loud. They subsequently have to form a group with that exact number of members, rush to the tiny rooms on the outer circle, and then lock themselves in while double-checking the count to survive.

All of this must be done within a minute (it was 30 seconds in the original), so Mingle essentially emphasizes players’ abilities to form quick alliances and make decisions under pressure. If we’re being honest, this game is arguably one of the most upsetting in the franchise because it begs the question of how far one might go to survive, resulting in betrayal and selfishness. The prime examples of this in the reality show are Player 075 Natalie’s strategy to only play for herself, as well as Player 432 Jacob and Player 153 Austin’s alliances turning their back on them.

Therefore, after 7 intense rounds, during which the contestants not only had to make difficult choices but also see some of their closest alliances get eliminated, they were utterly exhausted. They had already even been reduced to a total of 46, so combined with their mental as well as physical feeling of overwhelm, they decided to take matters into their own hands and simply stop. In other words, the remaining players refused to partake in the game anymore; in fact, when the number 2 was announced, they just paired up on the stage in order to avoid elimination.

It Doesn’t Appear as if the Mingle Protest Was Scripted in Any Manner

Since ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ has always been billed as a reality production, with no evidence refuting the same to ever come to light, it seems like every aspect of it is indeed unscripted. Thus, none of the players are given pre-written dialogues, carefully planned alliances, or cheat sheets about the games/tests they would face, that is, until it is actually presented as an advantage. In other words, there appears to be no overt manufacturing or orchestration of events, dramas, etc., even if there is some producer involvement from behind the scenes to ensure every situation is captured perfectly. This is done so the reality can ultimately be relayed more effectively to viewers.

From what we can tell, game #4 was always going to be Marbles in season 2 of the competition, and it wouldn’t have made a difference if the players protested or continued until the last round. After all, once they refused to go on any longer, the number announced was 2, despite there actually being an even number of players remaining on stage, so they had no choice but to pair up. Little did they know they had unwittingly selected their Marbles opponent, which the Front Man had them figure out on their own after having guards present them with a “reward” for their bravery.

The reward was the marbles they played with in the next game, and we believe a version of this series of events would have happened even if the remaining players hadn’t abruptly stopped Mingle. There could have been more rounds to eliminate more people if they had continued playing, yet the final number for the final round likely would have been 2 after an even number had survived. This way, all of them would have had no choice but to pair up, and once again, unwittingly choose their Marbles opponent. The only significant difference is that they likely would have received the marbles/their tool for game #4 as a reward for surviving, possibly even inside the safe rooms themselves, to build further tension.

Read More: Natalie: Where is Player 75 From Squid Game S2 Now?