There are two things that a good competition show must avoid at all costs:
1. Being too predictable
2. Being totally ~unpredictable~
An obvious outcome lacks stakes and amounts to nothing more than a waste of time, while an obscure outcome leaves the viewer feeling unrepresented and unsatisfied. After all, a well-executed competition doesn’t just pit contestant against contestant, but also viewer against viewer, and viewers against themselves. That “I KNEW IT” feeling you get when you correctly guess the winner, or when the rankings reflect your personal assessment closely enough for them to make sense?
That’s no accident. That’s by design.
And Mnet threw it all out the window.

Stray Kids were always going to win. That was evident from round 1, when it became clear that fanbase size was the biggest determinant of success. To their credit, they did give performances ~worthy~ of winning, but due to popularity privilege, we’ll never know if they rightfully ~should~ have.

As for the rest of the competitors—despite being on more equal footing in terms of popularity, their rankings still lack significance due to their placements being primarily decided by voters who aren’t representative of the general public.
I don’t know about you all, but I am neither a K-pop idol nor an industry expert. It should come as a surprise to no one that the performances I enjoy will likely differ from those preferred by individuals who possess a trained eye. I can’t see what they see unless they explain it to me, which Mnet apparently can’t be bothered to make the time for in their nearly 2hr long episodes, so instead of feeling validated by the rankings, I’m just left feeling excluded and confused.
Which is to be expected, yes. I’ve come to anticipate that much every now and then. We can’t all be right ~all~ of the time… but I’m not used to feeling so blindsided all the time, either.

And don’t even get me started on the selection criteria for the contestants. In what dimension is it fair to require one competitor to earn their spot while all the others get to join with zero barriers to entry?

Ugh. Just throw the whole tv station into the trash.