This article contains spoilers for Physical: 100 season 2 episode 9, "1/100". The uber-tough Korean Netflix challenge show has come to a close and one of the Physical: 100 season 2 cast members has just been crowned the victor.
In Physical: 100's season 2 finale, we watch our final four contestants take on the Final Quest, a series of knockout challenges that ultimately identify which of our 100 contestants had the ultimate physique this time around. Here's a full recap of Physical: 100 season 2 episode 9.
Physical: 100 season 2 episode 9: The Final Quest
The episode opens by revealing the result of the final race from Quest 4: Amotti vs Jung Ji-hyun in the roller race. Amotti builds up an impressive lead, and leaves the wrestler in his wake, easily completing the task of shifting two 150kg rollers first. That means our final four competitors are: Amotti, Justin Harvey, Hong Beom-seok and Andre Jin.
Together, our four finalists reflected on their journeys and discussed what they've gone through to get this far (both in and out of the competition). After that, they prepare to face Quest Five.
This final task is comprised of three separate trials, each of which will eliminate one of them. The first trial is a returning challenge from season 1: the contestants' torso sculptures are suspended by rope, and they have to hold onto their respective statues and keep them up in the air. There's no time limit as such; the first person to drop their torso will be eliminated from the competition.
The sculptures each weigh 40% of their respective competitor's bodyweight: Justin's weighs 34 kg, Andre's weighs 40 kg, Amotti's is 34.8 kg, and Hong Beom-seok's weighs 30.4 kg. The game begins, and each adopts a different strategy to hold out as long as they can, all while the other top 19 contestants watch on from another room.
All four stars look solid for some time. When the challenge looks to finally start taking its toll, it's Justin who loses his grip first. Despite trying to pull his torso higher on the rope, he can't quite get the rope back under control, and he ends up being eliminated first.
After he gets to say some words about the competition (and smashes his torso sculpture), the three survivors head to the next arena for the second round of Quest Five. The three stars face the "infinite squat" challenge next. In the next arena, they're confronted by three structures which are comprised of bars hooked up to large containers, with a conveyor belt hanging over the top.
Sticking with the show's mining aesthetic, it's revealed that those conveyor belts will be used to dump coal into the baskets, and the contestants will be required to carry out weighted squat reps (a whistle sounds to keep their rhythm going). The weight will increase at regular intervals, and they won't stop until someone is unable to continue.
The first set sees the three competitors squatting a total weight of 100kg. Being the tallest, Andre has a large range of movement in the exercise, putting him at a bit of a disadvantage. All three make it through the 30 rep set comfortably...and they're asked to step away as more weight is added.
Set two also ups the reps - they have to complete 40 squats this time around, and Andre starts to feel some lower back pain during the challenge. Nevertheless, all three competitors make it through... and then more weight is added once again, bringing the load up to a whopping 200kg.
The challenge really starts to take its toll; talking after the challenge, Andre admits that he decided he just wanted to make it through this set of 30 reps, no matter what. Through sheer willpower alone, he does so, and the competitors step away for the fourth time.
More coal is dumped into the containers, making them 250kg loads. Sadly, this is Andre's breaking point, as he is unable to lift his container into position to start the fourth set of squats. That means our finalists are Amotti and series 1 veteran, Hong Beom-seok.
The final competition pits those two competitors head to head in a tug-of-war style test of strength. Amotti and Hong Beom-seok enter an arena containing a large, spinning pole. They are positioned at either end and have to push their end around 90 degrees to knock over a post that is in between them, fighting against their opponent's strength all the way. It's the best of three, meaning two wins is all that stands between them and the 300 million won grand prize.
This is a true test of endurance. The first round lasted more than 20 minutes. During that time, Hong Beom-seok managed to get a bit of a lead, putting Amotti on the defensive. Eventually, though, he manages to find a moment to finish the drive and knock the post over.
The pair swap ends on the pole for round two. Hong Beom-seok again manages to gain some ground, but Amotti puts all his might into stopping him from finishing the round. And when the bar becomes elevated on Hong Beom-seok's side (making it harder for him to hold it in place), Amotti capitalizes on the height advantage. With a huge effort, he pushes the bar all the way round to knock the pillar down, making it one-all.
Both of them look exhausted going into the final bout, and the spectators agree the match could be decided on a dime if either of the two contestants makes a mistake. When the round starts, Amotti powers off the mark, and his efforts throw Hong Beom-seok off-balance. Hong Beom-seok loses his footing and falls over, allowing Amotti to claim victory!
The episode ends after our two finalists reflect on everything they've fought through. After that, the voice of the mysterious gamemaster could be heard proclaiming that the search for the most perfect physique would continue. And then before the credits rolled, a teaser for Physical: 100 Asia played out.
Physical: 100 season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
