New challenges await contestants in Netflix's 'Physical:100' season two

Television

Published: 05 Mar. 2024, 09:00

New challenges await contestants in Netflix's 'Physical:100' season two

A scene from the first season of the hit Netflix survival reality show ″Physical:100,″ where 100 contestants compete to determine the ″perfect physicality″ [NETFLIX]

The highly anticipated second season of the hit Netflix survival reality television show “Physical:100” will be released on March 19, and the quests featured this time will offer new challenges for the contestants vying to sit on the throne of the last person standing.

Titled “Physical:100 Season 2 – Underground,” the second season of one of the most successful Korean reality television shows produced by Netflix will take place in a set resembling an underground mine, with entirely new quests that the 100 contestants will need to battle through.

“In the first season of ‘Physical:100,’ we set the first quest as one that everyone could equally compete in,” Jang Ho-gi, the head producer of the show, said during a recent set tour with reporters. “To let the contestants all participate in a similar quest for the first round of the competition, we chose a running quest, where everyone runs on a treadmill for as long as they can. You will see the 100 contestants all running together on a treadmill, and it will be a sight to see — something that I personally thought was very moving.”

Contestants with various body types and weights ranging from 44 kilograms (97 pounds) to 200 kilograms will all compete in the same first quest, according to Jang.

Jang Ho-gi, head producer for the first and second seasons of ″Physical:100,″ speaks to local reporters during a set tour of the second season [NETFLIX]

Another key quest sees contestants trying to steal a ball from other contestants in a field larger than two football fields combined.

“We installed actual grass used in real football fields here at the arena, and also put a lot of effort into installing safety equipment,” Jang said. “What’s different from the first season is that there are three arenas for the same ball-stealing quest in the new season. The first of the three arenas for the ball-stealing quest is to test the agility of the contestants, while the second arena is set above a large pool of water, and the third arena takes the shape of a cage.”

The three different arenas for the ball-stealing quest will altogether test the physicality, strength, agility, speed and endurance of the contestants, Jang said.

Not only the arenas and fields for quests, but also the hallways and rest spaces on set were developed to fit the underground mine theme, according to Jang.

“I felt that it was important to build the set so that the people would feel that they have entered a different world, so that they could get immersed more in the quests and the entire competition,” Jang said. “So the main arenas were important, but just as much were the spaces between those main arenas. We have an area off the hallway of the main set where we set up life-size torso sculptures of the contestants, and when they win a quest they come and hug the sculptures, and if they lose, they destroy their sculptures. I think this adds a nice touch.”

Jang Eun-sil, left, and Cho Jin-hyung, two contestants from the first season of ″Physical:100,″ speak during a set tour of the second season of the show [NETFLIX]

The first season of “Physical:100,” which came out on Jan. 24 last year, topped Netflix’s rankings globally and reached No. 1 on the non-English language show chart after racking up more than 192 million hours viewed in just six weeks.

Although the show was marred by controversy surrounding the criminal pasts of a few contestants and the runner-up of the competition taking issue with the results of the final quest after he lost, accusing the producers of favoring the winner, the show’s overall popularity swiftly greenlit a second season after the release of the first.

“The essence of our show is having people of varying physical body types come together to explore the meaning of the perfect physicality, an important theme that will never change in ‘Physical:100,’” Jang said. “What I especially kept in mind while preparing for the second season was that the contestants in the second season will likely come to the set having already analyzed the first season. I most focused on breaking the expectations of the contestants and really giving them a challenge.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]