Running Man Episode 542 Review

Before I begin, I would like to apologize for how late this article is in coming out. I unfortunately live in a place that was affected by some severe winter weather this past week and I was without electricity for 72 hours. Thankfully, everything seems to be back up and running and I should be on time next week.


Guests: Yoon Jonghun (actor), Ha Dokwon (actor), Park Eunseok (actor). These three had starring roles in the hit drama “Penthouse”. 


My Entertainment Score: 9 out 10 laughs

The guests this week certainly pulled their weight in adding new flavors to the comedy of the show. I was pleasantly surprised by their quietly competitive demeanor and have decided to try out some of Eunseok’s dramas (so good job on promoting your new show haha).

Beyond that, the Running Man team did a great job this week of finding new games that I’ve not seen before or updating games that we all know and love like the name tag ripping or quizzes. I recommend this episode.


What Happened


Theme:  2021 Running Man Neighborhood Athletic Meet


Opening and Guest Introductions (start of episode- 14:14)

Opening (start of episode- 4:20)

This is the usual greeting chatter and playfulness. The members arrived in scattered groups, so there was ample time for pranks and individual check-ins on each member’s well-being.

Guest Introductions (4:20- 9:12)

As expected, each guest was introduced briefly and given some interest.

Race Explanation and Team Announcement (9:12- 14:14)

The cast will be split into teams that will compete to earn trophies in various games. The three members with the most trophy stamps at the end of the race will get prizes while the member with the least will have to receive a penalty along with any other one member of his choice. This is independent of teams, so the winning members may not be on the same team and the losing member may be on a team with a winning member. 

Each team (neighborhood) will have a ‘lightweight’ member, a ‘middleweight’ member, and a heavyweight’ member and the teams will be named after the lightweight member on that team. 

The two younger actor guests have no ‘verified data’ as first time guests and are labelled “Hooligans”. (hahaha). The hooligans (to begin) choose which team they want to join. The teams with a hooligan will have to draw lots at the end of each game. One person (potentially the hooligan) will not get any trophy badges. On the other hand, a team without a hooligan will each get double trophies for that round.

After each mission, there is an opportunity for the hooligan to change teams and give his ‘hooligan’ label to a different person. Can anyone say hooligan merry-go-round? I’ll explain the mechanics of this when it is relevant. 


Teams:

Team Gyeongsang

Lightweight: Jihyo

Middleweight: Sechan

Heavyweight: Kwangsoo


Team Gyeonggi

Lightweight: Somin

Middleweight: Haha

Heavyweight: Dokwon

HOOLIGAN: Eunseok


Team Gangwon

Lightweight: Seokjin

Middleweight:Jaesuk

Heavyweight: Jongkook

HOOLIGAN: Jonghun


First Mission: Quiz for Each Class (14:15- 52:00)

Arriving on Site (14:15- 15:49)

The members changed into their team uniforms and arrived at the first game site when they were ready. This provided another opportunity for everyone to chat and goof around.


Game Explanation (15:49- 17:28)

Four quiz rounds are played: one for each weight class and then the hooligan round where the team without a hooligan will have a player repeat. Each round has two questions.

After a question is asked, the players can buzz in to answer. They have the option to answer or, if they don’t know the answer, they can hold up a sign that says “Combat”. In that case, if one other team chooses combat, an immediate round of name tag ripping begins. 

A correct answer is worth 5 points. An incorrect answer is worth negative 1 point. Each name tag a player takes is worth 2 points.


Game (17:28- 48:23)

I’ve said before that I love quiz games on these shows and this one added in the drama of name tag ripping, so it was a win in my book! The added saga of Eunseok’s trophy stamps was a bonus I adored.


Hooligan Decisions (48:24- 52:00)

One member from a team with a hooligan will bet a number of trophy stamps, while the hooligan does the same. There are 3 possible outcomes. 1) Both bet the same number. In this case, the hooligan will stay on that team. 2) The hooligan bets higher. In this case, the hooligan will give the ‘hooligan’ status to one of the members of his team and send them to a different team. 3) The team member bets higher. In this case, the hooligan will have to leave the team. The stickers that are staked in the game are gone forever.


Second Mission: The Birth of Foot Table Tennis (52:00- 1:08:09)

Game Rules (52:00- 53:49)

The members had lunch while the rules were being explained.


The game, as you may guess from the title, is a combination of several other games. The members play in paired teams. There is a ‘court’ which looks like a table tennis table, except that the table is lower than usual and is arched like a bridge. When a team sends the ball over the net, it must land in that court to count. After that, a team needs to send the ball back over within 3 touches. Touches can be made with any part of the body except the hands and one bounce can be used as a touch. The bounce can be on the floor outside of the regular court when it’s in the middle of a volley. The little animation that the show uses is excellent for showing how the game works (52:29- 52:59)

The first team to 11 points is the winner of a round and the rankings will be decided by the number of points the team gets in all the games combined.


Game (53:50- 1:05:26)

It was really fun watching the members play this. There was a decent amount of slapstick as the members discovered how the ball would move on the curved court and were clumsy in general. On top of that, it was a game none of them had tried before, so there was a steep learning curve while they tried out different strategies and play styles.

They did not show every round of the game.

The first round shown is Jaesuk and Jonghun vs Sechan and Kwangsoo.

The second round shown is Jongkook and Jonghun vs Haha and Eunseok.Jongkook and a bouncy ball...yes!


Hooligan Decision (1:05:27- 1:08:09)


Final Mission: Catch Me If You Can (1:08:10- end of show)

Game Explanation (1:08:10- 1:09:22)

They developed this game after seeing the World Tag Competition which combines parkour and tag. In a space filled with large padded shapes (the kinds you would see in a gymnastics gym), the teams will send in 2 players at a time. One team will be the tag team and the others will try to avoid them. The taggers have to pop the balloons held by the 4 other players. There is a 2 minute time limit on each round. The team that pops the most balloons fastest wins.


Game (1:09:23- )

This whole game looked like a lot of fun! I want to try it.

First round: Taggers-Jaesuk and Jonghun. Runners- Haha, Eunseok, Kwangsoo, and Sechan.

Second round: Taggers- Somin and Seokjin. HAHA. They did not plan this as well as they could have. Runners- Jongkook and Jihyo, Haha and Dokwon.

Third round: Taggers- Eunseok and Dokwon. Runners- Sechan, Jonghun, Kwangsoo, and Jaesuk.


Overall Game Results (1:17:02- 1:18:49)

The first place member’s prize is a hanwoo set. For those who may not know, Hanwoo is prime Korean beef and sets are well loved prizes.

The second place member’s prize is a handon set. This is a pork set.

The third place member’s prize is a tteok set. You may recognize that from tteokbokki...tteok means rice cakes. 

Penalty (1:18:50- end of show)

As it is the lunar new year, the punishment was flying kites (a popular pastime for youths at that time of year)! The two members only had to get their kite up and prove it was flying to be free of the punishment and allowed to go home. Do you think it was fast and easy for them? 


Preview: Running Man Investment Contest: Genius Inventors. It looks like we won’t have any guests next week...and I have to admit to a lack of enthusiasm about the race, but I’ll check it out and let you know how it plays out.

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