Who is Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' runner-up? Finale dubbed 'anticlimactic' as Player 451 loses $4.56M prize money

Mai Whelan won Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' and took home $4.56M
UPDATED DEC 7, 2023
Phill Cain became the runner-up on Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' (@avatarphill/Instagram)
Phill Cain became the runner-up on Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' (@avatarphill/Instagram)

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Player 451, Phill Cain, became the runner-up of Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' Season 1 after Player 287 was declared the winner. The winner of the game was chosen through a game of rock, paper, scissors.

Fans found the finale of the show to be "underwhelming" as it depended majorly on fate and there was no use of brain, wit, or strategy towards the end.

A fan took to Reddit to start a thread titled, "That finale was so underwhelming," and further wrote, "I was like… that’s it?"

In response, one person commented, "The dumbest final game ever lol." Another mocked the Netflix show, "Lol I told my sister 5 mins into the final episode that they were playing ____ as a joke 😂 and it turned out true."

"What the f**k did I just watch??? The game was ridiculous and then the episode was super short time-wise! Holy s**t… this is so anticlimactic. Which is insane because I was soooo excited that the final two were my favorites at this point?" slammed another.

Another angry fan claimed, "I totally thought the final game was going to be some sort of “we can choose to split, one can take all, or we both take all and get nothing. Not sure if I would have been madder if they both got nothing than.. that. Lol."

Phill Cain is the runner-up of Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' (Instagram/@avatarphill)
Phill Cain is the runner-up of Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' (@avatarphill/Instagram)

Who won Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge'?

Mai Whelan was declared the winner of Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge'. She won the game of rock, paper, scissors three times.

Towards the end, Mai managed to choose the right key and opened a locker, which they were both attempting to choose the correct key for as it contained the prize. A red light flashed on her face and the safe had an ATM card inside it.

Knowing that she won the show, Mai broke down into tears. She hugged Phill, saying, "I don't know whether to cry or to cheer. I don't know what to do."

Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' winner breaks down into tears after announcement (Netflix)
Mai Whelan is the winner of Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' (Netflix)

Where is Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' runner-up Phill Cain now?

The musician Phill Cain aka Player 451 has bagged a lot of fame from Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge'. He was recently featured on 'Good Morning America' and 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'.

Besides appearing on different shows for interviews, Phill has also been seen focussing on his music career. He is currently working on new music.

Phill wrote in one of his posts, "been working real hard on some new music that we’re beyond excited to share with y’all. big things coming soon, get stoked. Love, Phill, Morgan, and Tyler."

Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' runner-up Phill Cain is working on his new music
 (Instagram/@avatarphill)
Netflix's 'Squid Game: The Challenge' runner-up Phill Cain is working on new music (@avatarphill/Instagram)

'Squid Game: The Challenge' Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.

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