In May 2023, I wrote a review for The Banner on the first season of Physical: 100, a Korean reality TV competition show on Netflix. After watching the first season, I concluded that the show represented a small, but significant paradigm shift in the reality TV genre. Unlike its game show counterparts, Physical: 100’s competitive motivator was not the significant cash prize given to the sole winner at the end, it was the competition itself.
This motivation endures into the next season as well. Released on a staggered schedule beginning with the first set of episodes premiering in March 2024, Physical: 100 - Season Two maintains the same competitive honor as its inaugural season. With a brand new set of contestants, save for Hong Beom-seok (the firefighter who was unceremoniously eliminated early in Season One), each of the athletes represented their respective fields of sport with dignity and honor. Whether professional rugby players or Olympic wrestlers, strategy and gameplay took a backseat to fair play, dedication, and commitment to their craft. Even when facing certain elimination, every single contestant completed their task challenge to the best of their ability, refusing to succumb to exhaustion or inevitable defeat. The theme of this second season is “Underground,” and the challengers all lived up to its gritty and grimy namesake.
At the end of the Season One review, I had two hopes for the future of Physical:100: that there would be another season, and that the previous season would continue to spark a small revolution in the way we watch competition-based reality TV shows. These are still my two-fold hopes as we look forward to Season Three. (Rated TV-14 for violence, innuendo and cursing. Netflix)
About the Author
Daniel Jung is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary and an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. He lives in Northern California, where he serves as an associate pastor at Home of Christ in Cupertino.