Running Man Episode 652 Review
Guests: None
My Entertainment Score: 6 out of 10 laughs
I enjoyed the couple games in this episode, but I’m honestly not super looking forward to all the trips. Again, I’m hoping this show finds a way back to its roots. It’s beginning to feel like a watered down 2 Days, 1 Night and that makes me sad.
What Happened:
Theme: Running Tour Project
Opening (start of episode- 3:35)
Note: For those, like me, who don’t know these things, OTT stands for Over The Top. You’ll need to know that for this opening.
Race Explanation (3:35- 4:48) (26:30- 29:40)
Over the course of the year, the show is going to take 7 trips. Each trip will be planned by a different member. This is all that’s revealed in the first part of this time stamp.
The second timestamp segment explains the race for the day. They will be deciding two things in this episode.
1. The budget for the trip. The budget they earn will be used for ALL seven trips. Each trip will have a budget minus the trips that went before them. This means that the first person’s trip could, in theory, use the entire budget which would make the final trips terrible. The base amount that they will get no matter what is $1,000. Note: the transportation costs are automatically covered, so this budget is only for food and activities.
There will be 5 rounds during the day. In each round, the members will be able to choose between 2 options. If all the members choose the same option, the group will earn an additional $1,000 for their collective budget. When there is not a unanimous decision, they will only get $100 times the number of members in the larger group (which means at most, they can earn $600 for a split decision).
2. The first member to create the trip. The most important thing is that at the end of all the trips, there will be a vote to decide the 2 worst trips. The creators of those trips will have to attend a 2 Days, 1 Night staff workshop as a penalty.
To decide who will get to plan the first trip, each member will throw a dice at the end of the day. The member with the highest number wins. However, through the 5 rounds of decisions, the members can earn extra pips (the dots on a dice) if they betray the group and end up in the minority group. There are 6 pips available and those will be split evenly among the betrayers. The pips are stickers that the member can choose to stick on any side of the dice he or she throws.
Trip Planning and Presentation Time (4:48- 26:30)
Presentations - 8:46
Jaesuk - Historical Site Tour with a History Professor…ending in a quiz!
Seokjin - Guam Honeymoon Recreation Trip…Yes, everyone else thought that was weird too, soooo he prepared a second trip to Danyang. His overall desire was to get team tattoos!! I’m somehow getting midlife crisis vibes from him. Oh dear.
Jongkook - LA Trip…where he shows off his friend’s generosity to cut costs. He also recommended a concert of some kind in Vegas to offset costs. Haha
Jihyo - Either a trip around the Han River Park near her house in Mapo OR a temple stay. Haha
Sechan - Seokjin’s 60th Birthday Trip In Advance…WAAY in advance (three years). This would take place in a hotel in Incheon and Seokjin would pay for everything.
Haha - Jeju Island Trip. After a drive, he wants to go fishing, eat what they caught, and have a drinking party.
Somin - Sapporo Lilac Festival. Her presentation was quite good, from a marketing perspective.
First Round: Choose a Team Color (29:40- 40:25)
Members exit one at a time and choose between a green or orange sweatshirt.
Travel - 37:46
Second Round: Greet the Restaurant Owner (40:25- 46:05)
The members leave the bus one at a time. Each must choose to greet the restaurant owner either with a forward roll or bow.
Bonus Budget Round: Picture Chain of Wits (46:05- 1:04:10)
Each member gets 10 seconds to draw a picture. The first member will draw something beginning with a given letter. (The example they show is C and coffee is drawn). The next member must draw something that begins with the ending letter of the drawing from the member before them. (Perhaps in English after coffee, an emu? And then an umbrella?) After all the pictures are drawn, the members will present the drawings and announce what they are. If the chain works, they will earn $200. There are 5 rounds, so $1,000 in total can be earned.
Lunch - 1:01:40
Third Round: Draw a Mole or Not (1:04:10- 1:11:12)
The pips available in this round are increased to 12. Before getting on the bus again, each member has the chance to draw a mole or not.
Fourth Round: The Chair is There and I am Here (1:11:12- 1:18:07)
Everyone wears a blindfold. A chair is dropped loudly by a staff member. If everyone remains standing after a time, the team budget is increased by $300 (in the first round. $500 is offered in round 2 and $1,000 for round 3). The amount of pips given to each sitting member begins at 2 and increases through the rounds.
Fifth Round: Budget or Pips (1:18:07- 1:25:00)
The members must choose between $100 budget or 5 pips. This choice is a little different. If the minority chooses budget, those will get to divide up the total number of pips chosen by the majority. (So, if one person chooses budget, that person would get 5 pips x 6 people. No one else will get the pips).
Final Dice Throw (1:25:00- end of episode)
The members attach their pips and throw their dice. Note: The top 3 highest rolls will get a benefit. The highest roll gets to choose the first trip. Second place gets $500 for only his or her trip. Third place gets $300.
Preview: New TV rating notice race. The members work in teams to design a new TV ratings notice. Then, the teams race to edit the horrible parts out of those designs.
!!!Spoilers!!!
Team Color Decision
6 choose green. -$600 added to the team budget. ($1,600 total)
Seokjin alone chooses orange. - Seokjin earns 6 pips for his dice.
Greet the Restaurant Owner
5 choose to bow. - $500 added to the team budget. ($2,100 total)
Jaesuk and Haha forward roll. - Each earns 3 pips.
Picture Chain of Wits
Round 1: Fail
Round 2: Fail –Time increases to 15 seconds for obvious reasons.
Round 3: Fail
Round 4: Fail
Round 5: Fail…This went so poorly that the staff gave them an extra chance worth $1,000
Bonus Round: Success - $1,000 is added to the team budget. ($3,100 total)
Draw a Mole
4 choose to draw a mole. - $400 added to the team budget. ($3,500 total)
Sechan, Haha,and Jongkook do not draw a mole. - Each earns 4 pips.
Chair is There and I am Here
Round 1: Jongkook and Seokjin each get 2 pips
Round 2: Jaesuk, Sechan, and Somin each get 2 pips
Round 3: Jihyo earns 3 pips
Budget or Pips
6 choose budget. - $600 added to the team budget. ($4,100 total)
Seokjin choose pips. - He gets the 5 pips.
Dice Throws
Note: I’m going to list the number of dots on each side for each person in parentheses. The members moved the pre-existing pips as well as adding their own.
Seokjin: (13 extra pips - 7, 7, 5, 4, 3, 1) - ROLLS 5
Jaesuk: (5 extra pips - 11, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) - ROLLS 1
Jongkook: (10 extra pips - 12, 7, 6, 6, 2, 1) - ROLLS 6
Haha: (6 extra pips - 9, 7, 5, 3, 2, 0) - ROLLS 0
Jihyo: (4 extra pips - 10, 9, 6, 0, 0, 0) - ROLLS 10
Sechan: (6 extra pips - 9, 9, 8, 1, 0, 0) - ROLLS 9
Somin: (2 extra pips - 9, 7, 7, 0, 0, 0) - ROLLS 0
Jihyo - Chooses her trip first, obviously
Sechan - $500 for his trip
Seokjin - $300 for his trip
