Chicago Players Live Through 'Eye-Opening' Squid Game Reality Show

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Each of the contestants who lived through a shared experience of being cut off from the real world and adhering to strict rules for more than two weeks while living in a high-stress environment — not knowing what plot twist was coming next — has come out on the other side having endured their own unique journey.

Byrne says he entered the series with no specific plan, given the uncertainty of what was to come. But in a reality show that divides contestants into camps and cliques (some of which come off as more likable than others), “Squid Game: The Challenge” quickly develops into a collection of storylines. Players who were selected from an initial pool of 125,000 applicants from around the world move through the series while deciding if they will compete with honor or create a path of success for themselves in a game of survival — with an oversized piggy bank filled with cash literally hanging over their heads.

“It really messed with your brain,” Byrne, who lives in Chicago’s Ravenswood Manor neighborhood, told Patch. “I needed to remind myself that I really am in charge of my own fate or my own progress in the show.

“Of course, there were going to be twists and turns that would be out of my control, but my future had not been determined yet.”

Tabitha Willis, a 24-year-old County Club Hills native who is now enrolled in medical school at Georgetown, entered with the same intentions. Willis (Player 456 in the series) describes herself as a chatty, often loud, personality who likes to make people feel comfortable. However, Willis also admits there is a scheming side to her, which she says she was willing to lean into and “weaponize” to extend her personal shelf life in the series.

After first surviving four days of being quarantined inside a London hotel before the games and as players were eliminated from the competition for making contact with other contestants, Willis wrestled with how she wanted to be perceived. After making it through the first challenge — a seven-plus-hour game of Red Light, Green Light that required players to hold their positions for anywhere between 15 and 25 minutes at a time, Willis settled into a small group of like-minded contestants who wanted to fly under the radar, with players who strived to build trust among their fellow competitors.

But given the stakes, Willis realized that how her fellow players may have been perceived initially could change at any time.

“I think everyone, when it comes to under pressure and with that much money on the line, you tend to snap a bit,” Willis told Patch this week. “And you’ll do what you have to do.”

Trey Plutnicki entered the competition with a similar plan but did not do so alone. The 25-year-old Chicago resident was cast in the series along with his mother, LeAnn Plutnicki, who is 64Although they weren’t the only relatives to join the show, the mother and son duo that originally planned to compete on their own without divulging their family ties became one of the show’s most compelling storylines.

Trey Plutnicki (Player 301) says as one of 456 entrants, he never figured to be anything more than a show business “extra.” Yet, that quickly changed as he and LeAnn — a former New York Times editor — found themselves being perceived as their own two-person team that, over a series of episodes, becomes known as a threat poised to walk away with the show’s winnings.

Although that was never the plan, Plutnicki said that appearing together with his mother has created an interesting real-life family dynamic.

“It’s definitely made (the relationship) weird, but it has made it a ton stronger,” Plutnicki told Patch this week. “Obviously, not many people can share a reality television show experience with a family member — much less with their mother. I’m going to show home videos to my kids and I’m going to turn on ‘Squid Game: The Challenge.’ I mean, that’s crazy to me.”

Over 17 days, participants were confined to a large dorm room with bunk beds stacked five high. Having been stripped of their cell phones, watches, and other devices that connect players to the outside world, players were forced to live in a constant state of flux.

With limited meals that Willis described as “horrific,” players often lived hours at a time not knowing when the next alert would be delivered by red-uniformed guards who serve as messengers to let players know what’s coming next. Without normal forms of communication, players are forced to pass time in whatever way they see fit — whether that be while surrounded by fellow players or by choosing to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

That often gave players time to develop strategies of how they would forge ahead. Byrne described the environment as stressful, which often led people to be bonded by a shared traumatic experience.

“It is such a stressful environment that I think some people come across as more abrasive or more egotistical than maybe they are in real life,” Byrne said. “It really is heightened stakes in a situation like that.”

Willis says an environment in which players were periodically given 5-minute periods to go outside “just to see the sun” made for an interesting reality until their time on the series ended and they were sent home after being eliminated from the quest for the $4.56 million jackpot.

“I think it makes people crack a bit and makes people a little more anxious about everything — the world could be ending and we wouldn’t even know,” Willis said. “I think it added to the anxiety to be in that situation where you are missing your family and all of that kind of stuff, but it bonded people. I don’t think I could get to know anyone in that way ever again.”

“Squid Game: The Competition,” while wildly popular with viewers, hasn’t escaped criticism. Outlets like the New York Times and National Public Radio have been critical of the show and conditions in which players are asked to survive. From not being allowed items like lip balm to deal with cold temperatures to other aspects of the shows that have drawn criticism, contestants said that there was no true way of preparing for what they would face.

Applications for the show were accepted in the summer of 2022 but players were not alerted that they had been chosen until sometimes just weeks before filming began in January. Although players said they were given some instructions about what they would face, much of their experience would be lived out in real time.

“I don’t think there was a way to prepare,” Willis told Patch. “The first thing they asked us when we crossed the finish line in Red Light, Green Light was, ‘Did you expect it to be easy? Did you expect us to just hand you $4.56 million?’ No, I did not but I didn’t expect it to be that hard.”

In the 11 months that have passed since filming ended, each of the Chicago-area contestants has returned to their individual reality. Byrne, who works in advertising and who has a background in theatrical production, says participants were asked to not provide information about their participation in the show, forcing them into nearly a year-long silence.

Byrne says that while he was perhaps more loose-lipped about his whereabouts than the show’s producers may have wished, he has been swept back into what he lived through in the weeks since the series debuted on Netflix last month. He says he has heard from high school classmates he lost touch with in the 1990s since the series began streaming and has enjoyed seeing friends soak in the show.

“Squid Game: The Challenge” is not Byrne’s first television exposure after previously competing on “American Ninja Warrior.” But given the complexities of this competition and the strategies that were used by various players to try to keep themselves in the running for $4.56 million, he has found himself traveling back in time while finding himself in the middle of an interesting sociological experiment that is now being viewed by millions.

“For me, I was transported back to high school and not in the best way,” Byrne told Patch. “I had seen these alpha male jock-types (in the show) and I felt the insecurity of high school of being the mostly closeted gay kid and it made me even more focused on finding my friends, and my connections who were not part of those groups.”

Unlike the original “Squid Game” series in which players did not initially identify themselves by name by instead by number, competitors built relationships as they learned the backstories of their fellow competitors. From players who entered the dorm in serious need of the winnings to social media influencers who have large followings and substantial bank accounts, those competing for a reality television championship made for a melting pot of personalities.

Willis says that she entered the filming immediately after her father had undergone a battle with cancer and shortly after she had lost two neighbors in Country Club Hills to gun violence. As a medical student working her way through a prestigious and demanding Georgetown education, Willis says that she brought her own story to a series that thrives on the diversity of its competitors.

“It was eye-opening. “I’m from the South Side of Chicago and people do not go on reality TV shows to compete for $4.56 million,” Willis told Patch. “It was eye-opening and life-changing and opened my eyes to what life could be like – the idea that there are no limits. You can go weirdly compete on a show and go do anything else.”

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Each of the competitors will watch Wednesday’s finale in different places. Byrne plans to take in the finale with friends and family members, unsure of what will play out. Willis is in the midst of finals at Georgetown and is balancing what has been an interesting few weeks since the show dropped with a rigorous academic load.

Plutnicki will watch the finale in New York at a Netflix party with fellow cast members, continuing what has been an action-packed few weeks of publicity appearances around the country. He says he has been recognized at least five different times while working his day job at a Ravenswood bakery. Oftentimes, customers, not realizing he is who they think he might be, will tell Plutnicki that he looks “just like the son on Squid Game” — which he allows them to keep on thinking without divulging his true identity.

Plutnicki said that he will continue to enjoy his 15 minutes of fame as long as the show’s popularity allows.

“It really has changed my life — at least for this month,” Plutnicki told Patch. “No one– at least normal people – don’t go onto a show and think, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m going to go on this show and it’s going to be a smash hit and it’s going to change my life forever.’”

He added: “(The show) did show the uniqueness of our bonds, who we are, and how we played the game all kind of came together in this perfect storm that created something that, I hope, was something worth watching.”

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