Apparently, I don’t hate reality TV or game shows anymore because Physical 100 has suddenly grown on me considerably. When I started this show, I was so skeptical about it because I always find “reality” television massively fake, and I didn’t think a show about physical strength would really catch my eye. However, as the show progressed, I realized I’m quite keen on competitive spirit (I did love “Next in Fashion,” but there are probably other reasons for that one). It seems that I unconsciously started to choose favorites, and ultimately, the results were very satisfying to me. It seems as the weeks progressed, it was not just my interest that was piqued by the show, but the intensity of the competition grew more fierce too. I suppose that does make one more excited to keep watching. The final two episodes of Physical 100 are high on adrenaline and intensity, but most importantly, there’s a lot of drama, which makes you feel like you’re present in the arena with the contestants. With that said, I’ll jump straight into episode 8 of Physical 100 Season 2.
How many contestants go to the final round?
At the end of episode 7, the monkey bars exhausted a couple of the contestants, leaving an open ending for who will be the final 5 to join the top 15 in the competition. After struggling a lot, Sung-Bin lost his grip at the last moment and fell, twisting his ankle on a hard edge. However, lucky for him, Jong-Hun was unable to make it back a second time after feeling exhaustion take over. Resting with his feet on the bars just for a bit because Sung-Bin fell, Jong-Hun tried to push himself and make it across, but ultimately, it was Sung-Bin who slowly pushed himself thanks to the massive support of his teammates. Now, four teams remain in the competition: Hong Beom-Seok and their team, Lee Jae-Yoon and their team, André Jin and their team, and Jung Ji-Hyun and their team. As the number of participants reduces, the competition takes a more extreme turn. With four teams left, it is now time to eliminate your own teammates for the survival of the fittest four. This is the ultimate challenge because, after gaining strength from the support of each other, you must now clash with your friends and well-wishers.
It’s a challenge of strength, and of course, people have their eyes on certain players; however, the results were quite astonishing. In this challenge, participants have to run from one side of the arena to the other, drag a roller weighing 150 kg back to the spot they started from, then run back, bring another, and finish the round on the other side. Now, this still sounds okay; however, the real challenge is that you do this until only one participant in your team succeeds. So, 4 rounds x 4 for the winner (my legs hurt watching this). Before the challenge begins, it’s announced that a member of Andre Jin’s team will drop out for the Asian Games. This gives them a safety net with one less round. The first round is Beom-Seok’s team, and this ends up being a tough competition between Gibson and team leader Beom-Seok. However, it’s a challenge of endurance, and evidently, Beom-Seok has the upper hand there, though I felt a pang of sadness seeing Gibson lose because he was kind of like an underdog hero.
On Jae-Yoon’s team, Justin Harvey is miles ahead of the rest of the group and wins with ease. Though Andre’s team has it easy with one contestant less, he ends up struggling to win because Park Woo-Jin is a close second, who unfortunately loses his streak in the last moments of stress. Finally, it’s the round everyone is excited to see because it’s the strongest team in the competition. It seems Ji-Hyun’s plans came straight to bite him in the back because he chose the strongest participants in the competition, only to compete with them to get to the top. This is a race like no other because all five are equally strong in one way or another; however, Ji-Hyun has the disadvantage of his short height. Still, he manages to make it in the top 2, to everyone’s surprise, defeating Min-Su (Thanos), Jee-Hyuk (a rower), and Lee Jang-Kun. Ultimately, though, it’s Amotti who emerges victorious in a tough challenge, hoping to win the competition for the people who helped him get his second chance in Physical 100 season 2.
Who Are The Final Four?
The final four are Amotti, Justin Harvey, Hong Beom-Seok, and André Jin. It seems the competition has just begun, though, because the challenges immediately intensify tenfold in the final quest. Round 1 of the final quest is for the four contestants to hold up their ceramic torsos in the air (far from the ground, ya’ll) with a weight of half their body mass. So if Justin weighs 100 kg, the sack will weigh 50. Whoever drops their torso to the ground first is eliminated. This is a cakewalk for Amotti, who is a cross fitter, and for Beom-Seok, the firefighter. However, we see Andre and Justin struggle a little. Ultimately, it’s Justin who drops his torso first.
At this time, I found myself rooting for Amotti because he’s a cross-fitter and clearly seems to have the upper hand, though Hong Beom-Seok returned for a second season. It’s funny because Justin was the most arrogant in the top four, not in an exasperating manner but simply in a competitive spirit; however, the other three have more Asian sensibility and aren’t vocal about their drive to defeat others; they instead prefer speaking about their own strengths in a more subtle manner. However, in round 2, because it’s about squats, Amotti suddenly looks much more confident because it’s something he does regularly, and what I’ve noticed normally in these kinds of competitions is that the arrogant always come out losers (not that I’ve seen many, but you know what I mean). Luckily for Amotti, Andre ends up losing because of his massive height when they reach a weight of 250 kg (yikes).
How Did Amotti Become The Winner?
In the final round, the two finalists have to push a pole. Okay, that sounds much easier than it is because it’s basically two people trying to push a pole toward each other in a circular motion until they reach the midpoint of a clock. It’s about strength, but it’s also about endurance because both of these guys are as strong as each other, both physically and mentally. It’s a best-of-three situation, and round one goes to Beom-Seok. The contestants eliminated from the lot of 20 cheered for the final four. Now, they cheer on as both finalists strive to win Physical 100. The first round took 20 minutes because both the boys held out until Amotti lost balance. However, round two is much faster, and Amotti gets the momentum to defeat Beom-Seok easily. This gives him an upper hand, and the winner of Physical 100 season 2 is Amotti. Not only does he get to take home 300 million won, but he also gets the title of ideal physique amongst Olympians, athletes, actors, public safety officers, CEOs, and people from all walks of life in South Korea. I suppose if you’re looking for some sort of motivation to get fit, this is the right show to watch. It’s not simply about looking fantastic (like I imagined it would be) but it’s also about pushing yourself to limits you’d never reach on your own. I guess, the real winner of a competition is one who beats their own battles, no? Nah in this case it’s the dude that takes home 300 million won.
