A Netflix survival show has been embroiled in a controversy over the fairness of its content since the first episode of the new season aired.
The controversial game featured on the first episode of The Devil’s Plan: Dead Again, “Counting Squares,” involves identifying how many rectangular areas within a number grid, divided into multiple squares, have a sum equal to a target number when considered horizontally and vertically.
The difficulty is high because every possible rectangle must be found. For the problem where the target sum was 0, Jeong Hyun Gyu answered “7,” which the broadcast accepted as correct.
Starting from the day after the episode aired, on November 11th, posts appeared online reanalyzing the number grid. These posts listed all rectangles whose numbers summed to 0, asserting there were 8, not 7. Reactions included, “It’s 8, not 7,” and there was speculation that one case was overlooked during problem creation and review. Some even questioned whether the ruling was biased in favor of a particular contestant.
The controversy has drawn extra attention because the producers have emphasized fairness particularly this season. Producer Jung Jong Yeon said at a press conference on the 5th, “We focused on a pure brain game,” explaining that the rules were changed so players wouldn’t be immediately eliminated even if they lost all their pieces, with survival determined by game results instead.
Jeong Hyun Gyu, who won last year’s The Devil’s Plan: Death Room, reflected at this press conference that he had not fully considered viewer reactions from the last season and vowed to prove his skills with a more mature attitude. Being named as a party in this judging controversy from the very first episode puts his resolve to the test.