In Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2, Player 98, Matthew, revealed a calculated strategy of emotional manipulation to survive a high-stakes nomination. The law enforcement officer from Brooklyn was forced to choose a fellow contestant for elimination, a decision that would put his own fate on the line as well. His subsequent emotional plea to the other players, which he later confessed was a tactical move, has become a defining moment of the season’s fourth episode.
The Boiler Room Dilemma
The tense situation began when Matthew (Player 98) was summoned to the boiler room and given a critical mission. He was instructed to nominate one fellow player for elimination, with a major catch: the chosen player would not face the vote alone. The entire dormitory would then vote to decide whether to eliminate the nominated player or Matthew himself, putting his own position in the game in immediate jeopardy.
In a private confession, Matthew revealed his thought process. “I’m trustworthy, but I also have the ability to manipulate someone if I needed to,” he stated. “This could be my last chance to speak out and have the players feeling for me. And if they can feel for me as a person, I may have a real chance of them voting for me.”
A Stage for Strategy
Returning from the boiler room, Matthew immediately gathered all the players on the stage in the dormitory. As he walked up, he began crying, an emotional display noticed by many of the fellow contestants. He sobbed as he addressed the crowd, explaining the difficult position he had been placed in.
“It’s a rough game. When I went to the boiler roomโฆI was told that I had to put myself up against somebody else and that a vote must happen. So later tonight, it will be me or another player. And later, we’ll see who the other player is,” he announced. Crucially, he did not reveal to the group that he had been given the power to select the nominated contestant himself.
Reflecting on the moment, Matthew later confessed, “I start to cry, and I see the other players start to feel it. Felt like that worked in my advantage.” He admitted he was actively seeking sympathy to influence the upcoming vote.
The Players’ Divided Reactions
The emotional speech had its intended effect on many in the dormitory. Several players were visibly moved by his display, coming over to comfort him as he sat alone, seemingly overwhelmed. However, not everyone was convinced by the performance. Player 324 expressed suspicion, feeling that Matthew was deliberately playing everyone to secure his own safety.
The scene highlighted the intense social dynamics at play, where trust is a commodity and every action is scrutinized for hidden motives. For Matthew, a police officer who described himself as someone who runs toward gunshots when others run away, this was a different kind of challenge.
The Nomination and Vote
When the time for the vote arrived, Matthew made his choice official. He selected Player 431, Raul, as his nomination. This placed both Raul and Matthew himself at risk of elimination. Raul, a content creator from Bristol, UK, had entered the game alongside his twin brother, Jacob (Player 432). The brothers had known their twin status might make them targets, with Raul noting prior to the game, “When you’ve got a bond like we do, nothing’s going to break us.”
The dormitory then cast their votes to decide who would stay and who would go. The result was a decisive victory for Matthew’s strategy. He received 55 votes to stay, while Raul received only 16, leading to Raul’s elimination from the competition. The successful maneuver demonstrated the power of social strategy in the high-pressure environment of the game.
The High-Stakes Environment
Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 features 456 contestants competing for a $4.56 million prize, the largest cash prize in Netflix history. The competition is known for its grueling conditions that test more than just game skills. Contestants have described the intense psychological pressure, with Player 110, Melissa, revealing, “The level of intensity when you are strapped into a squid vest, I don’t think you can understand what that feels like. My heart would immediately drop every time.”
Sleep deprivation and poor living conditions added to the challenge. Jacob (Player 432), Raul’s twin brother, explained, “I was running on like two hours of sleep a day, not knowing what time of day it was. It got to a point where I was just so tiredโฆ I started hallucinating a little.” This environment of extreme pressure forces players to adopt drastic strategies for survival, with Matthew’s emotional appeal being one of the most striking examples from the season.
The first four episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 are available to stream now on Netflix, with additional episodes releasing on November 11, 2025.
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