Squid Game: The Challenge's 'Master Manipulator' Has A Brutal Ending

At the start of Netflix's 10-episode "Squid Game: The Challenge," 456 entrants are all competing against one another in a series of games inspired by the streaming service's hit drama "Squid Game" to be the sole winner of a $4.56 million prize. As is the case in almost every reality series — and especially one with such major financial stakes — heroes and villains emerge based on how they treat their competition. Player #161, named Lorenzo, is a natural villain from the get-go, describing himself as a "master manipulator" destined to become a multimillionaire.

When Lorenzo ends up eliminated, it's not the result of failing in competition, but something altogether more brutal. Tasked with picking three contestants to eliminate in an Episode 4 challenge, the surviving cast members at that point land on Lorenzo as one of their final choices. Making matters worse is the fact that Player #374, named Andy, effectively singles himself out for elimination and accordingly ends up chosen. Lorenzo, then, is one of just two cast members at that point deemed worth eliminating because their competition simply doesn't like or trust them.

That said, his behavior leading up to this incident makes the manner of his elimination altogether unsurprising, given just how willingly he wrongs some of the other players.

While viewers are pretty much immediately aware that Lorenzo is altogether uninterested in playing nice with his competition, his outright hostility toward his fellow cast members becomes apparent when, during a mealtime, he takes more than his allotted serving. Fortunately for the rest of the cast, executive producer Tim Harcourt specified in an interview with Netflix's Tudum blog that this act didn't mean another cast member went without food that day. Nevertheless, Lorenzo is the sole player to take more food than allowed.

Things get worse for Lorenzo when, earlier in Episode 4, the matronly Player #302 named LeAnn finds a stash of apples, and with a little bit of help, cuts them up to distribute to the other players. Not only does Lorenzo refuse an apple slice from LeAnn, but he criticizes the very fact that she's showing kindness to her competition. Surprising no one, LeAnn is the first to propose Lorenzo's elimination. Others soon follow suit, resulting in what could be considered karmic punishment for Lorenzo's behavior up to that point. Apparently, he's not as good at manipulating people as he says he is.