Beast Games season two criticised as childish and lacking energy

A review of Beast Games season two says the Amazon reality challenge, created and hosted by Jimmy Donaldson (known as MrBeast), is “mindless” and “vibeless”, mixing elements of Squid Game-style sadism with Love Island-style coupling and feuding. The reviewer notes the show’s Gladiators-ish challenges and the 200 contestants who live and compete in the heavily floodlit “Beast City”, where players build towers from foam blocks, play convoluted dodgeball and take part in a Bluff challenge.

Contestants couple up, seek revenge on rivals and are frequently pressed to disclose personal tragedies, including claims that some hope to use the prize money for cancer treatment or rare-disease care. Season two splits players into Strong and Smart teams, a division the review says seems adolescent and of uncertain purpose; as challenges grow more physical, more members of the “smart” team begin to fail.

The review also recalls that the first season prompted a lawsuit from five anonymous contestants alleging they were kept “underfed and overtired” and that the set was unsafe, claims that production companies and Donaldson denied, yet the show still drew 50 million viewers in the month after its release.

Key Topics

Culture, Beast Games, Jimmy Donaldson, Amazon Prime Video, Beast City, Squid Game