The second season of Amazon Prime Video's blockbuster reality competition, Beast Games, has landed, promising another dose of high-stakes challenges for a $5 million grand prize. Hosted by YouTube megastar Jimmy 'MrBeast' Donaldson, the show arrives amidst a legacy of controversy but seems to have swapped genuine edge for adolescent tedium.
From Lawsuit to Record-Breaking Success
The series' debut was shadowed by legal action, with five anonymous contestants from season one filing a lawsuit. They alleged they were kept "underfed and overtired" in an unsafe environment, claims vigorously denied by the production companies and Donaldson himself. Despite this, or perhaps partly because of it, the show became a phenomenon. Beast Games season one is Amazon's most-watched unscripted series ever, attracting a staggering 50 million viewers in its first month.
Season two continues the formula, pitting 200 contestants against each other in a purpose-built arena dubbed Beast City. The colossal cash prize, touted as "generational wealth" by Donaldson, attempts to overshadow any lingering ethical questions. Yet, for viewers, the moral quandaries may be the least of their concerns.
A Mindless Mash-up of Genres
The new season is described as a vibeless and mindless television experience. It clumsily merges the sadistic physical trials of Netflix's Squid Game with the petty interpersonal dramas of Love Island. Contestants form alliances, couple up, and engage in teenage-level feuds while undertaking bizarre challenges, like building towering foam block structures or playing complex dodgeball variants.
The show leans heavily into contrived personal narratives, quickly mining contestants for tragic backstories involving family illness and financial hardship. This emotional manipulation feels standard for the genre, no more cloying than Donaldson's own well-publicised philanthropic stunts online. The overarching tone, however, is one of profound immaturity.
High School Politics in a Floodlit Arena
Beast City resembles a surreal, hyper-lit prison yard with 24-hour Starbucks access, but its social dynamics are pure high school. Contestants are arbitrarily split into "Strong" and "Smart" teams, a simplistic division that plays into adolescent worldviews. The 'Smart' team, which includes a contestant claimed to have an Einstein-level IQ, quickly falters in physical trials.
Drama is manufactured through childish machinations. One player, Luisitin, dedicates himself to avenging his wife's honour from season one by bad-mouthing her rival. Others are offered cash bribes to quit, a tactic that adds a layer of strategic betrayal. The host himself, Donaldson, presides over it all with a rictus grin, sporting the sartorial metaphor of a blazer over a hoodie.
While MrBeast built his brand on extreme online antics, like locking people in isolation for 100 days, Beast Games season two isn't so much controversial as it is prodigiously childish and tedious. The final verdict? It's a spectacle that is certainly cruel in its design, but its greater sin is being "incredibly turgid" – a sad, forced fairground attraction desperately trying to look lively. Beast Games season two is available to stream now on Prime Video.
