Guests: None
My Entertainment Score:2 out 10 laughs
I didn’t find this episode very funny. It was interesting and wow did some people have crazy luck, good and bad, but there wasn’t a ton on the fun meter for me. Part of that may be that I find most everything about finance to a mental drain, so the concept for the week had me a little depressed. The fact that they only got through half of the race also made me sad, even if the preview indicated that next week things get a bit more exciting. All in all, this week fell flat for me.
What Happened:
Theme: Running Man Investment Contest
**The way this episode is laid out doesn’t fit my usual review process, so this will look a little different than usual. I am also going to SUPER simplify the spoilers section for all of the stock trading results because to do it thoroughly would mean typing out huge lists of numbers and I don’t see that being entertaining for anyone.**
Opening (start of show- 7:34)
Opening (start- 5:37)
The members arrive and discuss their characters for the investment theme. They chat/bicker while they wait for Haha to arrive. Poor Haha looked very flustered when he rushed in.
Race Explanation (5:37- 7:34)
The members will be given $500 Running Money as starting capital. They will be able to invest in whatever stocks they want from the available options (Eg. H Beauty Company, I Shipping Company, B Entertainment Company, C IT Company, etc.). At the end of the race, the two members with the most money will get prizes. The poorest member will get a punishment.
The members can speculate because the numbers have been condensed from the actual numbers from 2011 to 2020. They have included social issues that could have a bearing on the stock prices for the members to use.
Each year will be represented by a 20 minute time span in which the members can decide what to do. At the end of that time frame, the stock prices for the year will be revealed. At the end of every 3 years, the members’ balances/current rankings will be revealed.
The members will participate in 2 missions, once after each reveal. Depending on how well they do, they will get points that they can trade in at the “Information Exchange” for hints about what might happen to the stocks.
In the Information Exchange, there are 2 levels of hints. The first level is cheaper, but has an ambiguous hint. The second level is more expensive, but will give a sure indication of whether a stock price will rise or fall.
First 3-Year Trading Block (7:34- 46:01)
Warm-Up Mission: Nerve Wracking Money Bucket Flipping (7:34- 12:36)
Two members on opposite sides of the table are given little barrel-shaped toys. Using one finger, pressing on the top rim of the barrel, the member needs to flip the barrel. After flipping the barrel, the member will pass it to the left. They will go around the table until one barrel catches up to the other. The person that ends up with 2 barrels is out. They play 3 rounds to get a bottom three.
This actually looked like a lot of fun. I want to know where to find those toys.
They learn that first level information costs 1 point and second level information costs 3 points.
Trading 2011-2014 (12:36- 45:10)
The members are given the starting stock prices for 2011 and have to choose what to buy before the time is up. They have 20 minutes before the prices change for the start of 2012. They can freely buy in that time with their starting capital of $500 or go to the Information Exchange to buy a hint.
When the 2012 numbers go up, the process repeats except that the capital they have available depends on how well they did the year before. So, if they bought a stock that went up in price, they can ‘sell’ it and use the profit to buy more this year. This will repeat throughout the race.
They showed the members bids and progress as it was relevant, so I couldn’t reasonably block out the years and the results of those investments.
It was PAINFULLY clear that some members knew a lot more about stock trading than others. Jihyo was playing this game completely blind for the entire episode. She started to get some idea of how things worked near the end. Not that the members that understood investing and business necessarily did well...there’s an element of chance and gambling to stock speculation that can put even the best educated person at risk.
The humor in this segment was in the results of each year and the smack-talking in between.
First Results(45:10- 46:01)
The numbers displayed only accounted for the amount they had in stocks. If any members had held onto the Running Money in cash, that would not be reflected. After watching through the trading section, none of this was a huge surprise, but it was nice to have a chart of the exact amount of good and bad fortune that the members had. In some cases, I had expected much worse numbers than I saw.
Second 3-Year Trading Block (46:02- end of show)
Mission For Information Points: Master Debaters (46:02- 1:00:48)
The members will be given three topics to debate. They will draw lots for each one to decide which side they will argue. After a debate, the 30 staff members will hold up a sign saying which side they thought won, majority rules. The winning team members will each get 3 points for each topic they win, for a possible 9 points.
First topic: If Jaesuk and Seokjin were to have a (fist) fight, who would win.
Arguing for Seokjin: Seokjin, Kwangsoo, Sechan, Haha
Arguing for Jaesuk: Jaesuk, Somin, Jongkook, Jihyo
Second topic: Will Jongkook be able to get married in the next 3 years?
Arguing that he can: Jongkook, Somin, Jaesuk, Kwangsoo
Arguing that he can’t: Haha, Sechan, Seokjin, Jihyo
The third topic was not shown.
Trading 2014-2017 (1:00:48- end of show)
The members started to be more active in working with each other as well as trying to trick each other. Jihyo started to get the hang of the game which was nice to see.
Preview- Next week will continue (sigh) and complete (YAY) the Genius Investor Race. It looks like there could be some huge twists and turns. I am curious about who will end up on top! They will also start (or complete) a race centered around Seokjin’s birthday. I’m much more excited for that!
!!!Spoilers!!!
Nerve Wracking Money Bucket Flipping
Jaesuk is eliminated 1st. 0 points.
Haha is eliminated 2nd. 1 point.
Jongkook is eliminated 3rd. 2 points.
Everyone else gets 5 points.
First Trading Block Results
1st Sechan $7,000
2nd Jaesuk $1,129
3rd Jongkook $1,000
4th Haha $910
5th Somin $685
6th Seokjin $552
7th Jihyo $506
8th Kwangsoo $205
*Note: On screen, all these numbers will have an additional three 0’s at the end. The exchange rate from Korean won to US dollars is very roughly 1000 to 1 at any given point, so I generally take off those last three 0’s so that I can relate to the amount.*
Master Debaters
Topic 1- Jaesuk would win team wins.
3 points each to Jaesuk, Somin, Jongkook, and Jihyo
Topic 2- Jongkook can get married teams wins.
3 points each to Jaesuk, Jongkook, Somin, and Kwangsoo
Topic 3- Based on the results, the winning team was Jaesuk, Jihyo, Seokjin, and Sechan.
Jaesuk earns 9 points.
Jongkook earns 6 points.
Jihyo earns 6 points.
Somin earns 6 points.
Seokjin earns 3 points.
Kwangsoo earns 3 points.
Sechan earns 3 points
Haha earns 0 points.
End of Episode
Sechan had well over $45,000 by the end of the episode. He was KILLING it in this episode.