Perhaps this issue will be addressed in next week’s Season 2 finale. beast games. But at this point, it feels oddly out of place for Episode 8 of the show to relocate from Beast City to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I mean, couldn’t you just build an enclosure literally anywhere, full of soundproof glass pods surrounded by flashy purple neon, like a gamer’s fever dream? The pods have money counters that display each player’s store name, which would also be very similar if this were the atrium of a closed mall. It will be necessary to determine whether there is any point in moving to the Middle East. But in the meantime, I’m going to miss Beast City.

Whatever our opinion of the setting, it’s home to Season 2 Episode 9 (“Trust Nobody”), which sees the final 10 players desperately bribing each other for funds to determine the final six spots. That’s correct. After 40 days of competition, surpassing 190 other players and surviving both the Captain Bribe and Show mini-games,survivorafter being buried alive and giving up his position as Master of Coin for a top-secret 500,000 salary, alliances being built and broken, large sums of money being changed hands, Monica and Jim’s Beast City romance, everything that happened led to this outcome, as they somehow avoided all the X’s and only grew stronger. MrBeast talks to the pod people. “The only way to move on is to get other players to vote for you.” Go to the phone.

call a friend

Auguste says he understands something. Everyone is piling up the cash they earned in the last episode into their pods, and the totals read are above. Except for one pod that reads zero. “Monica is lying,” he tells us, and we know he’s right. “She took bribes. She has money.” His first call was made to Monica, who immediately denied his claims. (It’s smooth; her gameplay is always on point.) Auguste’s second call is to share her suspicions with Nick, a fellow confederate. The third phone call is to Jim, and his gregarious personality almost reveals his girlfriend’s secret. Auguste tries to take advantage of this and calls Monica back. (“Jim almost told me.”) And while his hunch is completely correct and we love Auguste’s confidence here, it doesn’t translate into votes. beast games Nick is also shown saying he will vote for Auguste before voting for Tyler. The latter’s sincerity was a fiasco in the “fair share” challenge, not to mention the adorable overload of his kids invading Beast City with hugs, propelling Tyler into the finals with a total of eight votes. He will oversee the rest of the case from the foot of the $5 million pyramid.

Guard, please wait another 30 minutes! In the second round, Nick says he will try to push Auguste through, and Auguste begins offering Cory a $5,000 bribe. 5 grand? Champ change. Because Hannah is here spending all the money she has on a crazy push to the finals. It’s like giving Monica and Jim $28,000 each to get their votes. She basically flips her bag over. But Hannah says you have to be willing to give it your all and believes her Cube life story is an achievement. beast games OG and Season 1 winner Jeff Allen advised us to be bold in these later rounds. Hannah becomes the second Season 2 finalist.

Pod Money (will do anything for you)

Suddenly, my contact number disappeared. In Round 3, players will hop from pod to pod to secure votes in person. “It’s much easier to lie to someone over the phone,” says MrBeast. And Auguste’s faith turned to despair. Please don’t vote for Monica and Jim like you used to. He pleads with Kady in the pod. “They messed everyone up.” This is all while Monica plays for the next round with the steady confidence in her decision-making that she displayed from the beginning. However, Auguste and his moves are cooked up again as Jack deploys the Hannah strategy, turning the spigot on the pod’s money hose and spraying it everywhere. His strategy as a survivor of Team Smart was to bribe for days, and it won. Jack defeated the next closest player, Corey, by 5 votes to 2.

beast games It has always been fundamentally about money, but cash now dominates everything around it, as there are no smart or strong challenges or other leverage left. “This game is brutal,” Corey tells MrBeast. His oath was honesty, but if he had to buy votes, so be it. Cory achieves his goal, and Jim declares that he will spend a fortune on what he calls “Operation Sugar Mama”, aiming to get Monica into the finals. To her credit, Kady endured his aggressive guilt and kept his vote for Auguste, while Brett pre-sold the next round of votes to Cory. Round 4 involved 10 bribes, with more than $160,000 being moved from pod to pod and player to player. And in the end, it’s Auguste who finally makes the grade. He spent every penny to do it.

Tick-tock, mister. nick

Episode 9 is out of time. There will be an end too beast games Let’s tease the Season 2 finale before we get the full story. With Tyler, Hannah, Jack, August, and Cory secured, five players remain in one open spot. And then MrBeast confuses the issue in dizzying fashion, cramming everything we’ve been watching into one win-lose round. Phone calls, pod begging, and face-to-face bargaining are all effective, but so are blatant lies.

Brett immediately makes an offer. $25,000 for everyone, $30,000 each to guarantee his spot or secure three votes. But his victory won’t come quickly. Kady ends up voting for Brett, but Nick also received $33,000 from Monica, even though Jim and Nick took his cash. Additionally, Jim tells Beast over the phone, “This is payback.” Brett received $250,000 in episode 8, but is this more than his fair share? Now, Jim eats Brett’s $30,000 for lunch and lies about his vote. “He’s crazy to think I’d vote against his girlfriend,” Nick cringes, with the Beast City lovebirds on one side and Brett and Kady on the other. Once again, he was the decider.

There are 10 players remaining. Only five people are safe.

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of alternative weekly publications, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.