This article contains spoilers for Physical: 100 season 2 episode 5, "Back From Hell". The Physical: 100 team has continued to put the Physical: 100 season 2 cast through their paces as the search for the ultimate physique continues in the Korean Netflix challenge show.
The fifth episode of the series begins by revealing the results of the remaining Maze Conquest match-ups. After that, the losing teams headed into a gladiatorial arena, where the losers took part in a test of strength... and a handful of them won the chance to dodge elimination. here's a full recap of how Physical: 100 season 2 episode 5 played out.
Physical: 100 season 2 episode 5: Second chances
We begin with the results of Quest 2 in the maze. Although their fate hung in the balance at the end of episode four, Team Hong Beom-seok managed to return their fallen supplies to the scales and won their game in the end.
Afterwards, we see Team Jung Ji-hyun take on Team Lee Jae-yoon. Before they enter, Lee Jae-yoon's team feels the pressure; their opponents are a team of professional athletes, and their leader gives them a pep talk. When they enter the maze, both have the same strategy to just target two zones. The problem is that both teams decide to commit to trying to capture Zone 3, making it the swing zone for the match.
At the 10-minute mark, Team Lee Jae-yoon is in the lead. Jung Ji-hyun's crew begins trying to block and keep hold of the others so that they can try to overtake them. Unfortunately, Team Lee Jae-yoon ended up adopting the same tactic, so they can run the clock down and defend their lead. Although Jung Ji-hyun's team made a final push for supplies, Team Lee Jae-yoon came out on top in the end.
After that, we briefly see some of the action from the final fight: Team Kim Min-su vs Team Andre Jin. Kim Min-su's crew feel they have the strength advantage; Team Andre Jin think speed will be their secret weapon. We don't see much of how the match played out; Zone 3 again ends up being the battleground, but Team Andre Jin ends up progressing to the next round.
After the titles, the 50 competitors enter a huge arena which is filled with sand. In the center, there's a circular platform of wood and the outer edge of the arena is ringed by ten pillars. The five winning teams watch from above as the 25 losing contestants enter the arena.
The losers face Quest 2.5, a redemption challenge. This challenge is a test of strength: they will compete to grab hold of one of the pillars across four rounds. At the end of a round, each competitor who possesses a pillar will progress to the next round. Importantly, each pillar only ensures one person's survival; the pillars all have a symbol painted on them, and the person hugging that symbol earns control of the pillar if more than one person is holding it when time runs out.
Each round also removes some of the pillars, to whittle down the group. Round 2 only has five up for grabs, Round 3 features two pillars, and the final round is a one-on-one brawl for a lone pillar. The winner of that final bout becomes a new team leader and gains the privilege of saving four competitors from elimination to form their new team.
After an intense first round of brawls, ten survivors progress: Kim Min-su, Jung Ji-hyun, Kim Amugae, Lee Jun-ha, Ha Moo-kyoung, Jang Jun-hyuk, Kim Jee-hyuk, Amotti, Lee Jang-kun and Kim Hyeong-kyu. Hwang Choong-won was almost part of the lineup, but he left his pillar to help his former teammate, Lee Jun-ha in the final seconds of the round... and his pillar was stolen.
In Round 2, bodybuilder Kim Min-su grabs a pillar. Crossfitter Amotti tries his best to steal Kim Min-su's pillar but gives up the chase and decides to help someone else, hoping that his sacrifice will mean he gets chosen by the overall winner. Elsewhere, Jung Ji-hyun and Lee Jun-ha have an intense back-and-forth over another pillar, but the gold medallist wrestler Jung Ji-hyun wins out. Survivors for Round 2 are Kim Min-su, Jung Ji-hyun, Kim Jee-hyuk, Jang Jun-hyuk and Lee Jang-kun.
The third round is the toughest yet. Kim Min-su finds himself fending off two other competitors, who decide to deal with the bodybuilder before trying to claim the pillar for themselves. Kim Min-su is removed, but slams back against the pillar... but Jung Ji-hyun manages to get his body between him and the pillar so he can cover the symbol and progress.
Since Jang Jun-hyuk fends off his competition, the final round sees the high school wrestler taking on Jung Ji-hyun (his former team leader). Before the round starts, Jang Jun-hyuk bows before him. The two wrestlers briefly vie for position on the pillar, but tumble away from it and hit the ground. There, Jung Ji-hyun uses his years of experience and technique to control Jang Jun-hyuk. The younger competitor tries to keep Jung Ji-hyun in the grapple (and thus away from the pillar), but Jung Ji-hyun makes it to the pillar with just ten seconds left in the round.
After his victory, Jung Ji-hyun gets the honor of forming a new team. The new leader surprises the other contestants by opting not to choose his former teammates and instead forms a new team comprised of the other losing team leaders. He selects Amotti, Lee Jang-kun and Kim Jee-hyuk. The episode then ends with the four stars agonizing over the final spot on their team, but we have to wait until the next episode to find out who they choose.
Physical: 100 season 2 is now streaming on Netflix. If you're desperate to see more from the series, check out our guide to the Physical: 100 season 2 release schedule so you know when the next batch of episodes will drop.
