Variety Review: Running Man Episode 599

Guests: None

My Entertainment Score: 6 out of 10 laughs

This wasn’t, strictly speaking, the funniest episode ever. That said, I enjoyed watching it because the concept was so good. Also, the penalty this week was a real throwback to the early years when the members had to go out in various embarrassing outfits and complete some task, so that was fun.

What Happened: 

Theme: How much do you want to spend?

Opening (start of episode- 3:30)

Race Explanation (3:30- 6:00)

The members are going to go to several ‘courses’. At each, they will have to collectively pay for the services. They can choose how much (or little) they will pay. The last person must pay the remaining balance aka the worst loyalty game ever. 

For these payments, they will choose preloaded debit cards labeled with the names of various staff members which have between $10 and $200. The catch is that the amount will not be revealed to them until the end of the day.

As far as winning for the day, the members must aim to have between $0 and $10 left on their chosen card. If they encounter a ‘insufficient funds’ at any point, they become ‘slaves’ and wear a costume. For the rest of the day, they will use their personal debit cards to pay and must do as the rest of the members say. On the other hand, if they have over $10 at the end of the day, they will be eligible for the penalty along with the ‘slaves’. 

First Mission: Convenience Store (6:00- 23:00)

The members are allowed to freely make purchases at a convenience store. Mostly they choose snacks and drinks, but there are some odd choices in there too.

10:21-They play a quick round of silent 007 to decide the payment order and then pay. 

19:27- Travel to the next location.

Second Mission: Color Consult (23:00- 49:18)

The members all receive a color consult…which went over…well with them. I don’t think any of them are going to follow the poor woman’s recommendations, but it was funny to watch her try.

43:00-They play Fact Check Check to decide the payment order and then pay. For the game, they are given a keyword and must give ANY fact related to that keyword, without repeating a fact. Opinions obviously don’t count. Points are used rather than having a person be ‘out’ at the first mistake.

48:30- Travel to the next location.

Third Mission: Lunch (49:18- 1:06:00)

51:46-After ordering, they wear dentist mouth pieces and attempt to blow out 100 candles to decide the payment order and they pay.

1:02:06- Travel to the next location. On the way, they vote for the members who will get the facial massage in the next round.

Fourth Mission: Massage (1:06:00- 1:16:59)

For the sake of humor, the members that get a massage are able to pick another member who they will give a massage to. I’ll put the names of everyone that got a massage here and you can guess who had what roll: Seokjin, Jaesuk, Sechan and Somin. 

1:11:40- They gloss over the members doing a pain test (massage) to decide the order for payment. 

Final Results (1:16:59- end of episode)

The amounts on the cards as well as how much was spent is revealed. Anyone up for the penalty had to play the pop-up pirate game to determine ONE person that would get the penalty. The penalty was to wear a slave outfit to a convenience store nearby where they have to buy something. 

Preview: 600th Episode Special- Viewer’s Special. It looks like the members are doing things that the fans requested.

!!!Spoilers!!!

Convenience Store

Sechan pays successfully.

Jongkook pays successfully.

Jihyo pays successfully.

Jaesuk pays successfully.

Haha pays successfully.

Somin pays successfully.

Seokjin becomes a slave when his card has insufficient funds. He started with only $10.

Color Consult

Jaesuk pays successfully.

Jongkook pays successfully.

Sechan pays successfully.

Jihyo pays successfully.

Haha pays successfully.

Seokjin pays with his personal card.

Somin becomes a slave when her card has insufficient funds. She began with $80.

Lunch

Jongkook pays successfully.

Sechan pays successfully.

Jihyo pays successfully.

Jaesuk pays successfully.

Seokjin pays with his personal card.

Somin pays with her personal card.

Haha was left with no balance to pay, which means he’s in danger of having too much money at the end of the day.

Massage

Jongkook pays successfully.

Somin uses her personal card and messes up EVERYONE after her by taking most of the balance.

Haha pays successfully.

Sechan successfully pays.

Seokjin, Jaesuk and Jihyo are left with no balance. teehee

Final Results

Jaesuk:

Used- $55.20

Start- $120 He failed to get under a $10 balance.

Haha:

Used- $108.40

Start- $190 He failed to get under a $10 balance.

Sechan:

Used- $45.30

Start- $200 He failed to get under a $10 balance.

Jihyo:

Used- $10.60

Start- $60 She failed to get under a $10 balance.

Jongkook:

Used- $29.90

Start- $30 SAFE FROM PENALTY

***Jihyo gets the penalty.***