Running Man: Episode 105

by gummimochi

What starts off as an innocent MT for our Running Man cast turns out to be a brutal name tag grabbing, fierce t-shirt pulling, and biting hour all centered around money. If I had to sum up this episode, I’d use Warren Buffet’s quote, “Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.”

EPISODE 105. Broadcast on August 5, 2012.

We open on a fantastic hot summer day in Jeju Island where our cast is gathered for a MT (a group outing of sorts – a further explanation can be found here). They’re quickly whisked away straight from the airport to a nice little cottage. And it is NIIICEE.

Kwang-soo points out the “queen-ka” (a female hottie) sign Ji-hyo’s carrying around her neck and she’s like, Where d’you think you’re pointing that finger at? Then Haha pokes that Kwang-soo looks especially unattractive today.

Said the man with the 50:50 part. Kwang-soo (literally) spits back in response.

As the queen-ka, Ji-hyo asks if she’s free to sit by anyone she likes and ex-Monday Boyfriend sing-songily answers, “No.”

He adds, “[I still] have feelings left…” Without a pronoun, the cast interprets the declaration as mentioned and Gary gets flustered in defense.

Ji-hyo’s brought a friend which gets the boys excited, and in walks Han Ji-min (Rooftop Prince). Why am I laughing at their fervent whispers beforehand like, Is that a girl? It’s a girl? It’s really a girl?

They’re absolutely besides themselves and there goes Haha again for a “friendly” hug. Thankfully Ji-hyo’s got her back and she pushes them all away from her friend.

Jae-suk asks about her busy schedule as an actress and she breezes that she isn’t busy since Rooftop Prince is wrapped and all. Hee – I don’t think they were quite expecting that kind of answer.

Mr. PD divides them into two teams (Ji-min: Jae-suk, Gary, & Haha vs. Ji-hyo: Jong-kook, Kwang-soo & Suk-jin) along with some spending cash of $220 each. WHAT? Dude, the day that the 1N2D crew see that kind of cash, it’ll be a party up in there.

We learn that a recent survey reveals that in 2012, a given person will spend about $220. Today’s race will be a “Vaycay Spending Money” mission and the winner will receive the remaining money.

The cast is required to cover their own expenses and as of now they’re all, No big! but we fast-forward to some cuts that hint at some brutal fights to the death. All’s fair in love, war… and money?

In the car, Ji-min apologizes that she hasn’t been keeping up with Running Man because she was filming and Haha retorts in banmal that they’re super famous. They go for a round of mixing jondae with banmal before it’s decided they’ll stick with the latter.

Gary tosses out the loaded question, “Since when were you so pretty?” which Ji-min snerks at. They tell her about Hee-sun’s answer (“Since I was born.”) and Ji-min says with a little eyebrow raise, “Since when I was in my mother’s womb.” HAHA.

They figure that the other team is talking about winning the mission… and we cut to hear them talking about what else? Winning the mission. Y’all know each other so well by now.

They arrive at their first mission location where maknae FD has set up shop by the sea with a variety of items from food to drinks to t-shirts with name tags. They’ve got big fat wallets and Ji-min targets Suk-jin with an aegyo attack for some watermelon. He totally gives in.

The game is a human stepping stone and the queen-kas have one minute to traverse their way to the finish line. Problem is that the water gets deeper the further you go out and pretty soon, their entire bodies are submerged beneath the water.

The seawater gets into their ears and eyes (ouch!) and Jae-suk croaks, “Isn’t there [drinking] water?” Myuk PD: “We sell that.”

‘Cause you see, maknae FD’s shop sells everything – even dry underwear. Delivery’s a no-can-do though.

Coach Kookie runs the gameplan with the team but they barely get three feet before Kwang-soo collapses under Ji-hyo’s foot.

But it’s even worse when Suk-jin is the human stepping stone, wobbling under even the slightest pressure. The man’s in his forties! His back could break!

Looks like they’re going to have to buy some supplies at the shop after all. Now the cast is complaining that they have to buy every little thing including the towels.

Their next idea (maldubaki style) makes me a little nervous not because it involves sticking your head between someone else’s legs but that their heads are still underwater. And trying to hold your breath in saltwater is no joke.

Ji-min’s team heads back to buy some snorkels which turn out work great… until Jong-kook and Kwang-soo have a little fun on their own like pouring sea water into their tube. Not that it does much because Jae-suk shoots it right out.

Their team is just one step shy to the finish line when they run out of time. Frustrated they shout, “Let’s buy the part-timer!” But this help ain’t cheap ($150)! It’s totally worth it though because now they’re blazingly fast and finish well under a minute.

Another thing: how is it that the RM staff doesn’t have to stick his head in the water? Ji-hyo’s team adopts a new trade-off strategy and this time it works. Time to move on!

Back at maknae FD’s shop, Suk-jin the mat hyung who was dolin’ out cash like a boss before now gripes at the extra $20 Kwang-soo suggests he pay for their pension tonight.

Everyone is stuck in their wet seawater clothes and Ji-hyo’s team has already bought up all the dry t-shirts. Jae-suk insists that they won’t buy the extraordinarily marked up price for the shirts and Ji-min coolly plays along, squeezing the water from her shirt.

Things starts to get out of hand when she starts aegyo-bargaining to Suk-jin. He feels bad since she’s the guest and all but his team is all about profit – they’ll be losing money!

They decide to sell Ji-min’s shirt back for $7 and like the expert bargain shopper she is, she quips with a smile, “But we agreed on $6!”

But just because they didn’t rent the pension doesn’t mean they can’t borrow its amenities, right? Jae-suk & Co. sneak into Suk-jin’s room and they hear his show running. Wait… you’re not…

…and they fly the door open to a genuinely shocked Suk-jin. Figuring it’s too small to occupy them all, Jae-suk bursts into Kwang-soo’s bathroom.

Bromance showers?! Why didn’t you raid Jong-kook’s room?!

Haha and Gary naturally find themselves in a position to buy the t-shirts only to find the prices have sharply increased. Ji-hyo handles the dealing, charging for unpermitted shower use and delivery fee.

With extra cash in their pockets, Ji-hyo turns to Suk-jin and tells him that this is how you run a sale.

The boys even bought Jae-suk’s shirt back from the other team for 20 bucks. But before you think that was a sweet gesture, they offer to sell it to him… for $30. HA.

Jae-suk has no choice but to fork over the cash. Once they’re all in the car he retorts that everyone pay HIM $10 as a transportation fee. All these exchanges are messing with my head!

They don’t have any time to lose so Ji-min covers the cost. Haha’s surprised that she actually paid and she shrugs, “I’ll just have to earn it back later.” Smart girl.

Their second mission is to navigate through a maze within 3 minutes with one teammate as their guide. They’ve only got one shot and it’s a $5 penalty every 10 seconds they’re stuck past the 3 minute mark.

Each team picks up a map at maknae FD’s shop (for an incredibly low price of $30) and Ji-min worries that she doesn’t have much cash left. The boys assure her that she’ll be fine since they’re a team.

But this girl has seen her share of Running Man and repeats the mantra, “Trust no one.” True that.

Up on the observation deck, Jong-kook laughs because Gary has the map in his own hands. HA – it’s not like it’ll help from your angle! Suk-jin yells back asking why he brought it up with him and Gary answers, “I don’t know either…”

The map in his hands makes him even more confused and Ji-min’s team is literally running in circles whereas Jong-kook just screams, “Look at the map! Look at THE MAP!” His teammates cry out, “Okay but where are we?!”

They’ve got less than a minute left before they’re going to have to pay. They run into each other, separated by a wall and they excitedly bounce up and down, “How do we get over there?”

Kwang-soo’s height actually comes in handy and soon he’s skip-bouncing in the maze to get a better look. Hee – you resemble a giraffe! He spots the finish line just as Suk-jin grabs the flag.

Ji-min’s team finds theirs eventually as well and it’s just a matter of time (and money) of who can find their way out first.

From our angle it looks like they finish at the same time and Mr. PD announces that the Ji-hyo’s team won by 2 seconds. Remember those 10 second intervals? Yeah, that comes to slap Ji-min’s team in the face because they have to cough up another fiver.

Everyone’s suspicious at the Jeju black pork belly restaurant as Mr. PD tells them to order whatever they like. Ji-min’s team figures they have nothing to lose while Ji-hyo’s team is much more cautious.

And then the VJs start setting up their own table and now I’m getting nervous again – are they going to have to pay for their meal again? Jong-kook: “Hey! I hear the kimchijjigae’s really good here!” Kwon-ryul [Jae-suk’s VJ] “Give us four orders of galbi.” HAHA.

They eat happily but I’M not happy. *stomach grumbles*

Turns out that the VJ’s meal has nothing to do with the mission on hand and the members immediately retract their earlier statements saying, “You should have eaten more!” Heehee.

Bad news bears though because now one of them will have to foot the entire bill ($176). Yikes! Mr. PD adds that if the person doesn’t have enough cash, they’ll choose again from the remaining cast members.

Jae-suk misinterprets this and gives a shout of relief but Suk-jin explains that the member will have to give up all of their money first and then another member would pay the difference. So total allowance left = 0.

The ajumma picks one and Jae-suk’s face grows dim at the lightness of the wallet. Because karma’s a bitch, it turns out to be his. And then Gary’s wallet is emptied too, so Haha hands out allowance to his teammates of a dollar.

Time to rip off some name tags in our final mission location! As an added incentive, there are bonus cards hidden around the building. But these cards are bokbulbok style so they can either help or hurt.

Ji-min’s team is naturally worried about Jong-kook and Haha laughs, “Can’t you leave him out of these games?”

Speaking of, SpartAce agree to stick together which makes the Easy Brothers, well easy prey. Jong-kook defends that having another female around will help his perpetual weakness to eliminate women and Kwang-soo spits out, “I can grab Ji-min noona by the hair!”

The cast tour the aquarium (Haroro squeaks at a group of penguins, “That’s me!”) and that large glass pane with entire ecosystem on the other side leaves me breathless.

Oh how cute – the walrus’ wish is a boyfriend this year and they all point to Kwang-soo. And then she struts her sexy pose for them. Ahh – who knew walruses could be so adorable?!

Kwang-soo bravely steps up and the crowd shouts, “Kiss her!” The trainer feeds the walrus some water so she can rinse her mouth first and then… she spits it right in his face.

Awww, did you just get rejected by a walrus Kwang-soo? (She gives him a kiss eventually and then buries her head in embarrassment.)

Kwang-soo finds a bonus card that doubles his moolah (to $262) and soon after, SpartAce joins them, suspicious after he heard a “Feel, Touch” cheer in the distance.

Too bad that his discovery isn’t kept under wraps because the speakers blare that he’s loaded now making him the prime target of choice.

Jong-kook jumps to the wrong conclusion, thinking that the other team found a bonus card that helped Kwang-soo. And then unfortunately, he pays no attention to another announcement declaring that Ji-hyo’s now out of cash.

Maknae FD’s shop must be a chain if it’s following the cast around everywhere. This time, he’s got cute stuffed animals with the members’ name tags. He’s selling extra lives at a steep price ($100) and when Jae-suk says he doesn’t have enough, Maknae FD replies, “Go and earn it.”

Haha slowly counts out his bills and Jae-suk tells him to wait until he finds a double bonus card before he makes his purchase. Haha defends that he won’t have enough if he finds a “zero” card which is a valid point.

At first I thought that if Haha bought a life and then found a double card, then his total would be less than his original amount but the captions tell us that Jae-suk wants him to buy BOTH of their lives with that money (Haha buys it for himself anyway).

Ji-hyo’s team is heading in this very direction and the Easy Brothers easily buy an extra life. Soon SpartAce joins them and we hear a rriipp… to see Jae-suk has already torn off Kwang-soo’s name tag. At least it lasted you a good 30 seconds?

Kwang-soo is understandably upset and hurt and he bursts, “I feel like I just bought an ice cream and it fell on the ground!” And Jae-suk presses his luck, asking for some money and Kwang-soo’s like, Hyung d’you want me to slap you?

While they’re busy bickering, Jae-suk doesn’t notice that Jong-kook has bought an extra life for himself. Uh oh.

Ji-min excitedly jumps up and down at her triple card and hurries to hide before the speakers oust her about her money. Trouble is that Kwang-soo finds a door locked, exclaiming, “It’s as if someone’s holding the door from the other side!”

Someone is – Ji-min. And then Kwang-soo’s like, “She’s really strong!”

Jong-kook insists that they just want to see her face and Gary, her previous bodyguard, suggests that she open the door since he’s cornered. She complies and then closes it the next minute: “You’ve seen my face. Bye!”

Ji-hyo’s team heads out, leaving Gary to pine at the door, begging Ji-min to open it. But when it opens, he finds her gone. Yep – she ran out like five minutes ago, dude.

Jong-kook and the Easy Brothers corner Haha, citing that he just stood by laughing when Kwang-soo’s name tag was ripped off. That leaves Haha with one life remaining, and as revenge, Haha tears off Suk-jin’s name tag before he runs off.

Now only Jong-kook has a clear advantage with two lives so the Easy Brothers suggest a secret alliance to Jae-suk. Jong-kook’s the richest so if Jae-suk can rip off one name tag, they’ll take care of the other.

They decide to get everyone together to attack Jong-kook en masse and head out.

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Meanwhile, poor Gary is still roaming the halls searching for Ji-min. She’s busy looking at the dolphins.

Uh oh – their secret plan blows out of the water when Jong-kook starts to walk towards Jae-suk’s hiding spot. Jae-suk makes a run for it and the Easy Brothers follow to protect/pretend to capture him.

SpartAce unknowingly runs right into Jae-suk and Haha’s trap. They face off and Jong-kook figures that they’re here to eliminate him. He even invites the trio to do so and Jae-suk sighs, “… Let’s go.”

Then they’re the ones running away again in fear.

Ji-hyo spots the other team up ahead and send the Easy Brothers as lookouts but we pan the camera… and they’re strategizing on how to take Jong-kook out. HAHAHA niccceee.

Suk-jin notices that Jong-kook’s slinked right up to the corner and ushers Jae-suk away in warning. But it’s too late and Jong-kook grabs Haha by the collar…. and he falls in the ground too.

It’s chaos but Jae-suk manages to rip off Name Tag #1 and holds Name Tag #2 in his hands. But Ji-hyo has managed to eliminate Jae-suk first which makes it moot. Jae-suk sticks it back on… and then Kwang-soo rips it right off.

He runs.

It’s like the Discovery Channel here on Running Man – what happens now that the king of the jungle is out of the running?

Everyone’s fair game now as they viciously attack each other. Soon both Ji-hyo and Gary are eliminated simultaneously, leaving Haha and Ji-min against the Easy Brothers. Who knew our final battle would include this bunch?

But these guys are brutal where Ji-min is taking on Suk-jin and Kwang-soo has Haha pinned to the ground. Ji-min isn’t afraid to start biting and kicking either.

Unfortunately, Kwang-soo eliminates Haha and Suk-jin rips off Ji-min’s name tag. The speakers ring and Kwang-soo breathes to Suk-jin that they’ve won. Annoyed that she didn’t get a chance to rip off some name tags, she goes ahead to rip the Easy Brothers name tag for sport, and then turns around…

… and we see another name tag on Ji-min’s back. Haha: “We won!” After the Easy Brothers‘ initial shock, they blame each other for their missed victory.

Ji-min wins it for her team but gets to keep the prize money herself. Suk-jin: “Why don’t you treat us to a meal?”

But more than anything, Jae-suk relays to Kwang-soo about how angry Jong-kook is. Kwang-soo cautiously places a hand on his hyung’s shoulder and Jong-kook breathes, “I’m going to rip off your name tag like a mosaic.”

Eek… I don’t wanna know what that means.

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