Variety Review: Running Man Episode 618
Guests: None
My Entertainment Score: 9 out of 10 laughs
This was the first episode for the new main PD…and she is starting off strong! Scaring the members with a huge, horrible penalty project and then doing it again with a haunted village race. I loved it. If I had to recommend one segment though, it would be the Book of Fate Mission.
What Happened:
Theme: Ghostly War of Coins to start off the Whatever Penalty Project
Opening-Birthday Feast (start of episode- 13:01)
They did a historical theme for the birthday feast. Jaesuk, Haha, and Jihyo all have birthdays around now. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Those three were the aristocrats while the others were the peasants that served them. The aristocrats were given coins to distribute as they saw fit and were told they would be important for the rest of the race.
Fortune Reading - 8:00. The members were given a (fake) fortune reading. It was a hint for later…
Whatever Penalty Project Explanation (13:01- 15:47)
This will be an overarching project that goes on for several weeks. I’m going to post the current standings at the end of each Spoilers Section. Two people will be getting a penalty at the end of the project and the penalties will be chosen from the worst of the worst in Running Man history. For the next several weeks, fans can give penalty suggestions. At the end of the project, the member with the least stickers will be exempt from penalty and the member with the most stickers will take the penalty. The second member to get the penalty will be from among the remaining members.
Ghostly War Of Coins- Race Explanation (15:47- 19:45)
Members are assigned “lifespans” based on how many times they held back their anger during the birthday party. Only Seokjin’s lifespan is revealed at this time. At the end of that time, ‘grim reapers’ will come to remove their name tags and make them ghosts. After getting their book of fate, the members can use coins to bet at certain stations. Each bet will take some of another player’s lifespan to extend their own IF they win. If they lose, they will lose some of their own lifespan. The members that survive til the end win…as far as they know. The members that get the penalty stickers for the penalty project will be chosen from among the members that turn into ghosts. They are told that there are hints in the area to a win condition that will end the race early, so more people can survive.
Book of Fate Mission (19:45- 52:22)
The members, in pre-assigned groups, go to a haunted village in an effort to find their “Book of Fate” which will tell them when they are going to be ‘out’. If they find coins, they can keep them. That would be important later.
The groups are:
Jaesuk and Somin —yes, this goes as well as you would expect.
Jongkook and Jihyo —this one did not go how I expected at all.
Seokjin, Haha, and Sechan —kind of…Seokjin is out before they even start. This went worse than I expected, honestly.
War of Coins (52:22- 1:24:55)
Twist - 1:07:00. The first clue is found. We learn that there are more than the two grim reapers we have seen and that the humans can win if they remove the name tag of the extra one, but they will all automatically lose if they rip a fellow human’s name tag.
Final Results (1:24:55- end of episode)
Preview: “Running Man Round And Around” - It looks like there will be some real-time feedback on cheesy answers from the members in one game along with games to lower their chances on a roulette of getting a penalty sticker for the Whatever Penalty Project. Oh….and there are 7 penalty stickers available next week, so you know it’s going to be a fierce battle!
!!!Spoilers!!!
War of Coins
Seokjin is out before the race begins.
Sechan out
Somin out
Jongkook out
After an all out battle because they figured out who the reaper among them was, Jihyo (the reaper) is out. Jaesuk and Haha win and are exempt from penalty stickers.
Final Results
Jihyo automatically gets one of the penalty stickers for getting caught and losing the race. Jongkook is randomly chosen from among the members that were turned into ghosts to get the other penalty sticker this week.
Penalty Project Standings
Seokjin- 0 (safe)
Jaesuk- 0 (safe)
Jongkook- 1 sticker
Haha- 0 (safe)
Jihyo- 1 sticker
Sechan- 0 (safe)
Somin- 0 (safe)
