Running Man Episode 653 - 654 pt. 1 Review

Jun 12

Jun 12 Running Man Episode 653 - 654 pt. 1 Review

Guests: None (Brief, but impactful, appearance by Lee Yikyung, actor)

My Entertainment Score: 7 out of 10 laughs

It was really good to see the members moving around! I was also pleasantly surprised by the Haha-Somin team and the Jihyo-Sechan team chemistry. I would have enjoyed a couple more games over all.

What Happened:

Theme: TV Notice Revision Race

Opening (start of episode- 20:22)

The episodes begin with the three teams meeting in three different locations. Each team is given time to design a TV rating notice for the show.

Teams:

Seokjin, Jaesuk, and Jongkook
Haha, Somin
Jihyo, Sechan

I won’t describe the plans that were created as they are twisted beyond recognition by the end.

Plan Presentations - 12:00. The teams gather up and present their ideas to one another.

Race Explanation (20:22- 21:45)

Each drawing is split up into the number of pieces equal to the number of people on the team, meaning there are 7 pieces in total. Those are hidden in the vicinity and the teams are given hints on the locations of the pieces. Hints were given at the start of the race, for completing a mission, and at random. Mini-missions are given for the team to earn revision tickets. With that ticket, one member can edit part of a drawing when it is found. It’s revealed later, but the revision ticket allows one member to draw/write alterations as much as they want within 30 seconds. Teams are free to move, eat, and use tickets until the time limit on the race runs out. Any unused tickets are forfeit at the end of the race.

Revision Race (21:45 of episode 653- 37:40 of episode 654)

Because this race was so free moving and teams split up, crossed paths, and had missions edited into more than one segment, time stamps were impossible to do with any accuracy. As such, I’ll give time stamps for the start of missions.

32:14 of episode 653 - First round of missions. Missions were given by a random draw. Meet with a celebrity and grant them a wish. Jihyo and Sechan’s team got this task. Meet with citizens to counsel one about a concern. Satisfaction rating at the end determines a pass or fail. Haha and Somin’s team got this task. The team of three needed to find anyone to eat a meal with them. At the end of the meal, they had to answer a question about their meal partner to pass.

5:29 of episode 654 - Second round of missions. Karaoke with a random citizen was the team of three’s mission. Jihyo and Sechan did a group jump rope mission with 3 citizens. Haha and Somin’s mission was for Somin to hold Sechan’s hand for 30 seconds without raising suspicion.

Final Results (37:40 of episode 653- 46:07)

**This was a fun way to determine the winner.**

Each picture was put in a frame with a shredder at the bottom, like the famous Banksy artwork. Each artwork is attached to 4 buttons. One button will do nothing, one button will shred the entire picture, and two buttons will shred only half the picture. The members take turns choosing a button and the last picture with any part unshredded is the winner.

Rating Notice Make-Up and Photoshoot (46:07 - 1:01:08 of episode 653)

Preview: Somin’s Choice. A special race for Somin who has been blocked from being on any team with a male guest she showed interest in. Two special guests are here: the good, Kang Hoon, and the less…desired, Cho Saeho. The prize for one guest and one lucky member is a meal with Somin after the race! (Or wait…is that a penalty because they can’t go home?)

!!!Spoilers!!!

Final Result

Haha chooses #1 - Shreds half of the Seokjin-Jaesuk-Jongkook picture.

Seokjin chooses #9, but accidentally pushes #8 - Nothing happens.

Jihyo chooses #12 - Nothing happens.

Somin chooses #3 - Jihyo-Sechan picture is half shredded.

Jaesuk chooses #7 - Nothing happens.

Jongkook chooses #9 - Haha-Somin picture is completely shredded.

Jongkook chooses #2 - Jihyo-Sechan’s picture is completely shredded.

The team of three wins the race. The costumes will be:

Seokjin - dressed in a suit with an ET face. –Serious kudos to the make-up team that did the ET face on Seokjin!! So good!

Jaesuk - Jimmy Jib Camera.