With Eyes East

Spoilers for Siren: Survive the Island

Boy, that Physical: 100 finale must have left scars on all of us. In the back of my mind, there was such a sense of “contestants vs. producers” throughout that, in the end, it was easy to blame everything on the anonymous, unseen puppet masters doubtlessly manipulating every frame of this so-called “reality” programming to whichever nefarious ends. By the time I’m writing about its spiritual sequel Siren – hoping to give it any kind of boost – proper accreditation never enters my mind. The contestants, sure. Those ladies are badass and I love them. But the bloodsucking producers? No! And I find myself now winding toward an apology not just because the creator of Siren is also a woman, though that certainly helps. Her name is Lee Eun-kyung, and with Siren: Survive the Island, I think she’s done something really great.

Over the past few years, Netflix has been injecting, like, government bailout levels of money into Korean film and television production, which has seen dividends in hits like Squid Game and Kingdom. (Oh, Kingdom. Why??) Anyway, with Physical: 100 counted among those dividends, I’ve been wondering if there’s any sort of Western influence creeping into the decision-making behind which stories are told and how. I can easily see a version of Physical: 100 that sparked a minor, brief controversy for featuring only men, reinforcing reply guys’ fixation on male supremacy in all things but especially muscles. And look, it pains me to criticize South Korea like this, but it pains me further and infinitely that the criticism is required. Granted, their current prime minister believes that systemic gender discrimination doesn’t exist in his country, so who knows what to think?

Just when hopes for an answer were beginning to fade – an answer requiring research – Siren arrives with an actual production backstory. According to Zula.sg, Lee Eun-kyung, whose résumé includes the BTS-starring Dictionary of Useless Human Knowledge, was inspired by contemporary programming like Street Woman Fighter and Strong Girl Bong-soon to push that pattern forward. Why not make a show centering female strength? This, to me, is really amazing, because it speaks to a natural progression that itself speaks to, you know, progress, but it’s also about how, say, representation matters. Women are watching these shows, being inspired. Perhaps these shows are creating an environment in the industry conducive to, and so on, once such and such is normalized, what have you. It’s the kind of thing we’ve been talking about for so long only theoretically.

In the meantime, the result is Siren: Survive the Island, which is a successful experiment. Maybe not with viewership or online engagement, but certainly as a work of art – if we’re to take the purpose of art as “educate and entertain.” Its “story” had heroes and villains, and when the heroes had vanquished the villains, they were left to settle the score amongst themselves. That climactic battle was tearful and joyous and, of course, chaotic. There’s nothing quite like the image of too many hands thrusting forward and grabbing.

The sieges executed with such suspense and excitement that they did distract from sometimes predictable outcomes. The Base Battles were decided long before the siren sounded, coming down to numbers. Four versus three? Four takes it. (Why did Firefighter attack Athlete with three?!) It’s macro strategy, and micro decisions weren’t always translated into gameplay. This is the debut (maybe only) season, so shortcomings like this are half-expected. They set traps that never went off, formed alliances that never collaborated. Team Guard was practically playing a different game off in the far corner of the island. In a similar way, why wasn’t Team Soldier pissed at Team Guard after their notes in the woods were read only too late? Why wasn’t Team Stunt pissed at Team Soldier after that big betrayal? Soldier members ran to aid Stunt and then backed off, and later denied hearing the call for help. Then why’d you run over? Why were you even there?

The meta game of reality competition is something I’m starting to appreciate, especially after watching MTV’s The Challenge, specifically All Stars. On that show, there’s a vote to send players into an elimination match, and maybe Contestant A is pushing to eliminate someone who happens to be Contestant B’s friend, so Contestant B votes for someone else, putting them on bad terms with Contestant A. Now Contestant A has a motive to eliminate Contestant B, but maybe they don’t field enough support, or maybe Contestant B can’t be defeated in elimination. While the generation of those initial motives always feels like a stretch, it’s something. It’s the bad blood, the drama. Physical: 100 was refreshing for its utter lack of interpersonal drama, but that’s because it was a show where the contestants were truly competing against themselves.

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It’s not a Korea thing, as I initially thought. Yes, Asian people are stereotypically polite, but there was definitely bad blood cooking in Siren. I’ve seen the ‘gram; I know they’re all friends now, or at least friendly enough to take photos together, but Firefighter Kim Hyeon-ah was often offended by Soldier Kang Eun-mi’s antics. The latter was certainly antic’ing enough to stir netizen ire, though that would take, like, what, one antic? Really, this is where the rules of the game could feel arbitrary. It’s okay to dig a pit to trip a contestant – or maybe break their ankle? – but throwing a fire extinguisher pauses the game. Medical facilities were prominent on the island, but I don’t know how such aggressive gameplay didn’t result in more injuries.

In the end, Team Athlete comes away with a well-earned victory, though nearly from the start, I was rooting for Firefighter. I actually thought Team Police had a strong start, neutralizing both Hyeon-ah and Jung Min-seon, but they flamed out so quickly, and then again several episodes later on their way back from the Island of Defeat. Team Soldier was the strongest team, for sure, and their semifinal elimination felt very Survivor. They put a target on their back because they were so good. Played smart when other teams played hard, and when hard was the solution, well, they played rough. And why?

There’s a touching scene near the end when Min-seon breaks down in tears. As she talks about the flood of memories, we, too, remember how hard she worked on the first Arena Battle, chopping the wood so Hyeon-ah wouldn’t have to. Of every contestant, I think she wanted it the most. Victory to her was more important than my entertainment at victory generally, and that’s the difference with reality TV. No matter how contrived these situations may be, this person is very real. Another startling omission I made in that Collider article was the prize money, because I missed it and didn’t want to rewind through the first episode. I find out only after watching the finale that there was no prize money. No prize money? Min-seon wasn’t crying because she didn’t get $250,000 or something. She wanted to prove herself. She wanted it all to mean something. And now I’m crying.

By hook or by crook, the game played out to narrative satisfaction. Imagine if Team Police had won the redemption challenge, bearing no relationship with the other teams. It had to be Soldier, although Stunt would’ve also been interesting. I don’t know who to credit with this success, whether the contestants or Lee Eun-kyung, so I’ll say it’s a tie. That’s my kind of reality show – everybody wins! Eun-kyung designed a game that showcased women’s strength and will hopefully inspire the next great showcase. And while it’s close, I have to give MVP to Kim Hyeon-ah. Yes, she made some tactical errors, but she was an incredible leader and a natural on camera. She managed to stand out even in a great cast. So with my humble blog, I want to congratulate everyone involved. Min-seon, it meant something. Good game.