Running Man: Episode 101

by gummimochi

It’s a CSI special on Running Man this week as the cast hunt down the thief who’s made off with their gold. You’re going to want to lay low to find out who the culprit is. But just when you thought you figured everything out, the story takes us down a whole new unforeseeable path…

EPISODE 101. Broadcast on July 1, 2012.

One minute in and we’re already revealing gold? Your pockets sure roll deep Running Man. Turns out their gold provider is so thankful and such a fan of the show that he’s provided a little bonus this week.

Their mouth hang open and Ji-hyo gets caught glancing at the goods.

We start off breaking off into teams to find today’s guests hidden somewhere in the park. Jae-suk and Kwang-soo run into a group of adorable children who recognize Jae-suk: “Ajusshi I saw you on the TV!” As for Kwang-soo: “You’re the stupid ajusshi!” Aww, kids can be so brutally honest.

Gary and Haha set out in search of female guests when a strange figure hunched behind a bush attracts their attention. Meet singer Kim Bum-soo and it’s hilarious how he’s all, Hey guys what brings you here! while the Secret Garden OST plays in the background.

Trying to hide their disappointment, Haha asks: “Are the people from your company here?” and though they joke around, unable to accept the reality that Bum-soo is here for Running Man, they accept it anyway.

Meanwhile Jong-kook and Suk-jin discover their teammate – singer and songwriter Yoon Jong-shin, on the carousel. Neither seem particularly thrilled to be teamed with the other.

Thanks to Kwang-soo’s tall stature, he spots a rustle in the bushes introducing us to our final guest: singer Yoon Do-hyun. I love it how he doesn’t even try to hide and answers, “It’s me.”

The newly formed teams gather together again introducing each others’ teammates as the Rocker, the R&B singer, … and the Judge (Jong-shin was a judge for Super Star K).

They naturally question where Ji-hyo is but they answer their own question to find that the gold… is gone. That’s right cleaned empty from its casing.

The culprit? You guessed it – Ji-hyo.

Actually the note (“Sorry guys I’m taking the gold’) is signed CSI = Chun Sung-im, Ji-hyo’s birth name.

Her mission is to transport the gold safely to the final mission location. If she does, the gold is hers. Her eyes widen, nervousness settling in her voice, “They’re all coming after me?” Yes, but you’re the Ace!

Given a clue to her first mission, she set off to Jamsil.

The boys are given essential tools to hunt Ji-hyo down but as soon as they get going, Jong-shin asks when they’re gonna eat. Have you seen Running Man before? You gotta earn your keep.

Jae-suk’s team pulls up towards them and makes a jab at Jong-shin’s permed ajumma-like hair that he looks like a hamster. Jong-shin plays along, (“We’re going to the vet! I’m getting my heartworm shot!”) Hee – at least you don’t take it personally.

Ji-hyo arrives at the Han River, her mission here to find a secret agent who will call her by her real name when she introduces herself. The place is huge and the responses she gets range from utter silence to this one woman who figures out there’s a secret phrase and she starts rattling off, “You’re pretty! You’re ugly!” Looks like you’ll have to keep searching.

She gets pretty close with a group of bicyclists but no nice. But then… there’s a cook who looks oddly familiar. Hey, it’s Martial Arts PD!

He silently shows her via cards that she’s currently bugged and the others are tracking her location. Sure enough, she discovers the GPS-tracking phone in her bag.

Maknae Martial Arts PD will distract them and after he hands her a vital item for her mission, he directs Ji-hyo towards the helipad to meet her next informant.

Count on the ex-Monday Couple boyfriend to spot Ji-hyo right away when they follow their hunch that she’s at the helipad. Ji-hyo’s surprised that they caught up with her so quickly.

But she’s just far enough that they miss her by mere seconds as she waves the gold inside the helicopter. They throw up their hands at the missed opportunity.

She’s clearly in no rush because she circles around a few times, watching the boys sigh at having just missed her. Ji-hyo laughs: “The oppas glared at me!”

The boys marvel at the grand scale Running Man‘s taken for today’s mission. Haha: “At this rate, she’ll be on a submarine!” and the entire conversation honestly sounds pretty forced and scripted. Variety shows are semi-scripted but you don’t have to make sound so obvious.

They notice that Ji-hyo’s ping hasn’t moved in a while and Do-hyun dully wonders, “Maybe she got off at a 5 minute walking distance from here.” So that YOU don’t have to move? Pffft.

And then he just takes his sweet ol’ time a few steps behind his teammates. I guess this is also explains why you stuck around playing the piano in the Sherlock Holmes episode. Then he just starts rambling to the camera adding his own variety commentary.

The boys follow the ping and soon discover Martial Art PD and use playground torture tactics like sticking a finger in his ear until he caves in. I love how Bum-soo and Do-hyun just sit back while the boys rifle through Martial Art PD’s apron. Bum-soo:”Who’s hee?” Do-hyun: “Dunno. Must be a celebrity.”

He leads the cast to where the crime scene took place. However, they can’t just step inside… they have to limbo their way in? I don’t recall CSI ever having to do that. Jong-kook gripes about the condition and the mat-hyungs are like, “We don’t bend like that.”

Oh poor Kwang-soo. Limbo requires a certain finesse and he keeps getting caught in that awkward position where you can’t bend backwards any further but you can’t back away either. He just trembles there before his long giraffe legs give out.

HA – Jong-kook complains that his clothes restrict him and Kwang-soo jokes that he should wear his pants as a shirt instead to give his huge guns some more room. Jong-kook dismisses that idea and Gary cries: “Then just walk around naked!”

He fails and is at the mercy of endless teasing from the other members. How can a simple game revert a group of grown men to act like little kids? It amazes me.

Back to the mission at hand and Bum-soo clears the tape with ease. My eyes burn a little as Haroro yanks up his shorts to gain a little flexibility but he passes, picking up a bag before his team scurries off.

Once they’re in the car, they figure out that Ji-hyo must have dropped her tracker on purpose.

Looks like the gained time might work against Ji-hyo who gets off a wee bit too far from her desired location. She doesn’t let that stop her and starts running.

Back at the Han River, Do-hyun’s tips really make Jae-suk even MORE like a Grasshopper while trying to limbo. They harp on him for trying to bounce his way under but just when Mr. PD offers to increase the height, Jae-suk’s team clears the mission and are on their way to the next mission location.

Ji-hyo arrives at the cafe and receives another mysterious black card from the secret agent. They’ve prepared her getaway car but the key is somewhere hidden within the cafe.

She searches the place up and down and discovers the key. Only that it’s not THE car key she needs. Oh no and the boys are on their way!

Thankfully the next one she finds turns out to be the real one and she starts to pull out of the cafe… and guess who – it’s Haha’s team who spots her conspicuously shiny red ride. ‘Cause secret agents ride in style don’tcha know.

They try to catch her by foot but Ji-hyo drives off, leaving them in the dust once more.

Are they going to try and limbo every time there’s police tape? They have to gear up before they enter the crime scene but they’re short on supplies and they decide to lift Bum-soo in the air.

Bum-soo falls over the chair he was sitting on and keeps his feet in the air as to not contaminate the scene. To help him back up, Haha has to flip him around back onto the couch.

The cast are left to scour the places for hints that lead them to a note. HA and some of the clues say, “Stupid” and “mehrong.” Haha’s Private Eye team discovers the note hidden beneath a shell.

In the car, Haha mentions if it’s true that Captain Gary used to date the suspect, Ji-hyo. It makes him stop mid-bite and then they play old clips of the Monday Couple. What a cruel joke, world.

Gary plays along, pretending to show concern towards the offender: “I wonder if she’s running away okay. She could be catching the bus soon…” Quit playing games with my heart!

He acknowledges that it’s all in the past and vows to tear off Ji-hyo’s name tag by his own hands.

They’re quickly approaching the bus terminal where Ji-hyo is about to rip her hair out, trying to track down her secret agent. When she does find him, he sends her off just as Haha’s team arrives.

Here the cast will have to find the witness who just saw the secret exchange between Ji-hyo and her informant by sketching their physical description.

They all have different witnesses and their sketches are pretty funny. The best of course is Do-hyun’s drawing which is like a cartoon infant. Do-hyun: “Cute lips? Okay! (draws teeny lips) Small body? Sure! (draws itty bitty body)” Kwang-soo: “Is that a hamburger?” AHAHA.

Not that Jae-suk’s picture looks any more telling. All three drawings end up pretty similar to each other as if they had drawn portraits of the witness throughout her lifetime from infancy to childhood to old age.

And then Do-hyun gets a little upset when their potential subject doesn’t recognize his song. “It was Number 1 for five weeks…”

Jong-kook’s team is the first to identify their witness who informs them that Ji-hyo’s on her way to KIST (Korea Institute of Science and Technology). Soon all of them are on their way and Haha wonders if there’s a spy today.

Gary admits that he’s super transparent and Bum-soo admits that he is as well. Meanwhile Do-hyun worries about how well the other guests are getting along and Kwang-soo tells him, “Hyung, worry about yourself.”

When they arrive at KIST, the final mission, they’re handed paparazzi photos of Ji-hyo receiving the mysterious black items. Hilariously, Do-hyun just looks at the jewelry case and believes it must be an accessory, “Earrings, a necklace, ring or watch…” and his teammates tell him to look closer.

Ji-hyo continues to roam the halls while the cast members comb the rooms in search of her. She stumbles into a library where a humanoid robot slowly walks towards her… and then identifies her as CSI. Woah, so cool.

Kibo, the humanoid robot has some shocking news to tell: the gold she has on hand are fakes. She gapes but methinks it’s moreso because of the talking robot than the news that the gold ain’t genuine. Or at least that’s why my mouth is still hanging open.

We rewind to one hour before the opening where our three guests struggle to open their secret case. Jong-shin: “Is this it? Is this the test!?” They’re told that the gold in the opening are fakes and the real gold is stashed in a secret location and its their jobs as the criminals to find out where.

Then Jong-shin comments: “You should have done this last year. The price of gold was better then…”

Aha and so they employed one of the cast members (Ji-hyo) to do their dirty work to lead them straight to where the real gold is hidden… Sneaky, sneaky.

Kibo informs Ji-hyo that the real gold is hidden here at the mission location and in order to find it, she’ll need to pour water over the mysterious black cards. Once she does, they reveal “da” “gu” “na.”

Now armed with the knowledge that she’s carrying the fakes, she vows to find the real ones.

A few of the cast members find similar black cards of their own but it’s beyond them how to read them. Like how Kwang-soo just puts it over his eyes. Hehe.

Okay, I’m convinced that these guys are the worst. criminals. ever. Jong-shin draws suspicion by acting alone, constantly surveying his surroundings. Then their not-so-secret meeting gets crashed by Haha: “You’re not going to stab me in the back later, right?” Bum-soo: “Of course not!”

Lastly, Jong-shin tries to sneak-attack Haha who turns around just in time. He’s so obviously awkward as he tries to play it off.

Who’re you trying to fool, guys? The cast has done this for over 2 years – they’ve pulled every trick in the book.

Aww, Ji-hyo’s taking a catnap when Jong-shin catches up to her. Before he can say anything, she figures that the guests are helping HER out today. Oh honey, you’ve got it the other way ’round.

Hold up there you guys. First you pretend that you’re capturing each other to ward off suspicion and now you’re confessing that you’re on the same team? Er – what’s Haha to think?

They get caught up on their own words which just confuse Haha even more ’cause now he’s hearing two versions of the same tale. Omg, this plan might be so brilliantly stupid that this might become brilliant again.

It’s nearly brilliant because they use that confused moment to their advantage and grab for Haha. But Gary’s nearby and when Bum-soo slips from his grasp, it puts Do-hyun in a dangerous situation resulting in his elimination.

So Bum-soo has to run for his life. Worst. Spies. Ever.

That means that the Ace has to be the one to take the lead and she has an idea…

Ji-hyo stays out in the open as she talks with Jae-suk and Kwang-soo who try and coax her to strike a deal with them, fiddling one of the black cards with their fingers.

Kwang-soo eventually agrees to meet her alone which sounds awfully fishy to me. Once inside, he agrees to trade black cards with Ji-hyo and follows her around the corner…

And then Jong-shin and Bum-soo both jump to attack him. Both Kwang-soo and Bum-soo eliminate each other simultaneously.

Gary and Haha relish in the 2:1 advantage versus Jae-suk, idling around until Ji-hyo comes along and says, “Are you going to tear off his name tag or what?” HAHA.

The three reconvene in an office where Ji-hyo tells them about the real gold. The problem is that they still don’t know how to read the card. So Gary breathes on it and the little moisture shows him there’s more than what meets the eye.

Knowing that they’re catching on, Ji-hyo gets up… and locks the door. Then she calls out, “Come out so that we can eliminate them!” The camera pans over to just over the cubicle…

…and out pops Jong-shin who doesn’t quite instigate the same amount of fear Jong-kook would.

They decide to take it outside but then Haha swipes the black cards and they discover a few more character. What could it all mean?

All signs points to Cloud Bridge and Wooden Door.

Ji-hyo fills in Jong-kook and Suk-jin about the current situation as Gary discovers a strange wooden door that leads outside…

Haha and Gary follow the door outside and find a safe hidden underneath some tarp as the others are running…

…and Haha cracks the safe open, revealing the real gold (in the shape of a Running Man) inside. Bromance victory hug, ftw!

Elsewhere, a mysterious voice picks up a call to learn that the Worst Spies Ever have failed their mission.

He says, “I guess I’m going to have to step in…”

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