1 Night 2 Days: Episode 428

by javabeans

EPISODE 428. Broadcast on March 3, 2013.

javabeans: It took a couple moments for me to remember where we were in this episode — and then I saw that plastic house. OMO. This is ultimate humiliation day! *Squees in excitement* *Wonders if that makes self bad person*

girlfriday: *nods*

javabeans: *Doesn’t really care*

girlfriday: But before we can get to the humiliating center-of-town clear plastic house that’s going to be some unfortunate soul’s home for the night, Bird announces that they have another trip to take. At night?

javabeans: Aw. *pats girlfriday on head for naive question*

girlfriday: Are you gonna do this whole friggin’ recap in gestures??

javabeans: *Yoda smile of inscrutability*

girlfriday: Stop it!

javabeans: Muahaha. Finally, a crack in the girlfriday armor. *Poke*

girlfriday: I’ll recap this myself, I will!

javabeans: Nooooo. But who will be there to lavish praise on Shi-kyung’s… petulant and hungry grumpypants ways? Must get back in the game. Focus, ‘beans, focus. I do enjoy how their nighttime trip takes them on a cold, dark trek up a big hill, and they’re trying, god bless ‘em, to spin this in a positive way.

girlfriday: Yeah I’d be whining a lot more. They do get rewarded with pretty scenery when they get to the top though, with the city lights below.

javabeans: PIFFLE. It’s not a reward if it’s not drinkable, edible, or cuddle-able.

girlfriday: Cuddles! I choose cuddles!

javabeans: Which means the cast got shafted, since they’re left with mostly attempts at glass-half-full optimism, which are betrayed by sniffly noses and suspiciously long pauses. Note to editors: Sunny captions don’t work when the cast faces are miserable.

girlfriday: They ask Bird why he’s brought them here, and he says it’s their 1-year anniversary. Aw. And now I’m sad that one year marks the end for Bird and Seung-woo.

javabeans: I know! It puts the episode retroactively into (a different) perspective to know the new news that we have impending departures.

girlfriday: Oh no, montage of happy memories! Waaaaah.

javabeans: The thing is, the news hadn’t broken when the episode aired. But now that we know it, it’s not happy-nostalgic but more like… funeral-nostalgic?

girlfriday: Sadness. But since this isn’t actually a farewell episode, the boys do a little light-show to say thank you to the audience, and then we relocate to basecamp for sleepytime games.

javabeans: I do enjoy the recurring joke about Seung-woo being So Ji-sub in I’m Sorry, I Love You — purely because of his headband.

girlfriday: Yeah the MISA jokes are cracking me up. Seung-woo (in mock angry voice): “I’m SORRY! I love you!” Bird says that four members get to sleep inside tonight, and three losers will have to sleep in the clear plastic house they put up in the center of that town square. “You mean the place that looks like an ice rink?” Tae-hyun starts complaining left and right that he can’t sleep in those conditions, and then adds, “Wait, why am I thinking I’ll sleep there?” Ha, because of history?

javabeans: Yeah, the track record is not comforting. Bird introduces the bokbulbok under the theme “Goddess of Fortune,” and every game will be left to luck. Which… is sort of not news here, since the very meaning of bokbulbok is “Luck, No Luck.” Though I suppose it’s good news for those with clear weakness, like Joo-won and trivia, Jong-min and speech, Tae-woong and… feet.

girlfriday: Also hands? It makes Seung-woo especially happy that the games won’t be skill-dependent in the least. The first round is just choosing odd or even when Bird throws a die, and I love that the boys argue it out like there’s a logic to it. Shi-kyung: “Tae-hyun’s choosing even? Then I’ll do odd!”

javabeans: This is why you lose at bokbulbok. No thinky! Aw, and finally a Shi-kyung track (“My Goddess”) is a soundtrack moment! If you ask me, they don’t use him enough. Then again, you’re asking me.

girlfriday: *ignores you*

javabeans: The level of concentration fixated on that ONE rolled die — it’s pretty intense. As is the look of dismay on Jong-min’s face to be on the wrong side of it. Lol, of course the boys find a way to argue something as simple as a die toss.

girlfriday: When it comes down to Seung-woo vs. Su-geun, this time Bird says they have to guess the exact number rolled on the die.

javabeans: Why does that seem so hard? Its not a bad probability… it’s like… um… one-divided-by-six percent… but seems so difficult.

girlfriday: It’s even funnier that Seung-woo says with such certainty that it’ll be 2, only when Shi-kyung says he’ll roll the die instead of Bird, he’s like, “Then it’s 4! For sure!”

javabeans: WHOA. Someone wins! It’s four, which is Seung-woo, which despite the not-impossible odds seems amazing to me, since the chances that ONE of their numbers would surface is… some mathy number that isn’t tiny… but it seems like such a huge victory.

girlfriday: It’s also the seemingly psychic last-minute switch to 4, just because it was Shi-kyung.

javabeans: Which in itself was an arbitrary choice since it’s not like Shi-kyung has a *thing* about four. But this means Seung-woo is the first member to secure a safe spot indoors, away from the humiliating tent of humiliation.

girlfriday: The next round is with yut sticks.

javabeans: Should we explain this game? I feel like it comes up often enough to merit a sidebar. Yut nori, or “Fun with Yut” I guess (or Yut Game) is a traditional game played at the (Lunar) New Year. In my family it’s hardcore, we have a tournament with prizes and shit. Fo’ serious.

girlfriday: Yut’s really no fun unless somebody’s losing an eye.

javabeans: Basically you have four sticks. You throw the four sticks into the air (depending on the crazedness with which your family plays this game, there are rules on how you are allowed or not allowed to throw said sticks) and depending on the way they land, you get a number — one, two, three, four, five, or minus-one. The throw’s results allow you to move a certain number of spaces around a “track.” Two teams play against each other, and the first team to get all their “players” (say, four little tokens) around the track wins. In my family, you might win twenty bucks or a refrigerator. Like I said, HARDCORE.

girlfriday: Wow, a fridge? I gotta play with your family.

javabeans: Well, I have a huge family and there’s a pretty generous buy-in for the Yut Nori prize pot. New Year’s used to also include talent shows for the kids — HARDCORE yo. Be glad you weren’t a part of the annual cello play-off.

girlfriday: I’m cringing retroactively for Past You.

javabeans: Past Me would appreciate it, if Present Me weren’t repressing the memory.

girlfriday: So the boys split up based on whether or not they think Seung-woo can toss a mo (five), and then again for Tae-woong… who actually gets a mo in one try! Is it just me or are they really lucky at all these luck games?

javabeans: Maybe it’s the universe’s way of making up for the deficiency in the other games.

girlfriday: It’s down to Tae-hyun vs. Jong-min, and this time they have to guess the exact number that Su-geun will toss. Lol, Tae-hyun loses again. I’m sensing a theme here. At least Seung-woo and Jong-min get to sleep inside after having to bus it here earlier in the day. Bird says the next round will be whether or not Jong-min can eat a lemon and whistle in three seconds, and Jong-min’s like, “What? Why? What’d I do?”

javabeans: Aw, Jong-min. Also, based on his track record I’d bet on failure.

girlfriday: Hilariously, Su-geun just ups the ante for no reason. “He can do FIVE!” Lol, poor Jong-min. He tries, but fails a few lemons in.

javabeans: Who would think of a game pitting one falsetto against another? This makes me sad Bird is leaving.

girlfriday: Sadface.

javabeans: So it’s Tae-hyun versus Su-geun and they work their way up the scale, note for note.

girlfriday: This is randomly hilarious. Hahaha, at one point Su-geun’s voice changes from raspy to clear, and the guys are like waitaminute… Turns out he’s miming the high notes while Joo-won sings them from behind.

javabeans: I thought Joo-won was gonna play at first, and it turns out he really should’ve. They move on to the next game: whether Seung-woo can thread a needle in ten seconds. Dude, this show can seriously make something out of nothing. Maybe that’s its secret?

girlfriday: Yup. That and suffering. Heh, the biggest part of the challenge for Seung-woo isn’t even the fine motor skills, but his poor eyesight.

javabeans: Haha, I feel like this is such an easy task, but maybe I should talk in ten or twenty years. The other boys comment on how cool Seung-woo looks even at this very mundane task, and then he says (still totally cool), “Shi-kyung… I’m sorry. I can’t see it.” I love that the point of this game is not whether you can DO the task, but whether you can bet on the right person to do it or not.

girlfriday: The next one is awesome: whether or not Tae-woong can kick a jaegi at least three times.

javabeans: I feel mean for going with Team: NO.

girlfriday: Awwwww, everyone bets no (to the tune of “I bet he can’t kick four this YEAR!”), but Joo-won’s like “I believe in hyung~!”

javabeans: Awwwww. That’s so adorable, given that Tae-woong’s own manager declared, “If he kicks three times I’m WALKING to Seoul!”

girlfriday: Hee. If there was ever a moment for Joo-won’s hero worship to kick in, this is it.

javabeans: It’s clearly a case of love over reason, fo’ sho’. Which, I suppose, is twu wuv.

girlfriday: Omg, so tense. But Tae-woong says very coolly, “Joo-won-ah, you’re sleeping indoors tonight.” He sure knows how to throw a cool line…

javabeans: One… two… three… FOUR…! And the count doesn’t even matter at this point because Joo-won hug-attacks him. AWWWW.

girlfriday: Aaaaaaaaaah!

javabeans: Tae-hyun actually looks *betrayed* for it, having bet on “Hell naw.”

girlfriday: Ha, and then Su-geun declares it Tae-hyun’s fault that he’s on the losing side too, like he’s a plague of misfortune.

javabeans: If anything this would confirm Tae-hyun as the magnet of bad fortune, since he can’t catch a break in ANY situation, whether it’s one with or without any advantage.

girlfriday: Birthday cake! Bird presents the boys with a cake for Su-geun and Seung-woo’s birthdays, and they even get cute Seung-woo-themed rice cakes from his fan club.

javabeans: How weird is it to see them given cake to eat with bare-handed? Of course, as soon as Su-geun takes his first bite with his bare hands the utensils are handed out. Who wants to bet that wasn’t entirely accidental timing?

girlfriday: It’s so perfect. He just stares with frosting face, all What the hell, Bird? After cake, Bird explains that there will be a morning mission for breakfast.

javabeans: Doesn’t Shi-kyung just have this special expression JUST for food related concerns?

girlfriday: Yeah he really looks at food lovingly too, like, Just you wait, I will put you in my belly where you belong dear! The outdoor sleepers dillydally, but finally get kicked out of the room. Time for the humiliation… PWAHAHA. Omg, it’s worse than we thought. They made these giant ID tags surrounding the plastic house. Like zoo animals. But far more embarrassing.

javabeans: Omo.They really did run with the zoo theme, with the signs reading, “Please do not feed” and “Sudden flashes may startle the celebrity.” It’s so sad how Tae-hyun’s placard reads, “Currently in his sixth week of sleeping outdoors.”

girlfriday: Lol, Shi-kyung’s card: “Body length: 2 meters.” The zoo wording is cracking me up.

javabeans: The boys laugh at first… and then start complaining once it sinks in that some of them are really, truly, humiliatingly, spending the night here. (Those being Su-geun, Tae-hyun, and Shi-kyung.) “But tomorrow is Saturday!” “This is really going too far!” Their sole consolation: “Well, this is better than the igloo…” How funny is it that Jong-min, from his indoor room, shouts out to Su-geun (in the plastic tent), “Hyung! Happy birthday!” HA. He doesn’t sound malicious….

girlfriday: But he makes up for it later with a sweet video birthday message for Su-geun… which he then repeats into every single camera. Ha.

javabeans: With each message, Jong-min gets progressively smirkier and smugger. It’s great. At first it’s all earnest and concerned, and then it turns into, “MUAHAHA.” Then again, maybe the “sucks to be you” undertone is just inevitable when you’re the indoor-sleeper and Su-geun is the plastic house exhibit.

girlfriday: The other boys join in on birthday messages — the indoor boys to Su-geun, and the outdoor boys to Seung-woo.

javabeans: Ha, did Seung-woo just work in his (defunct) variety program show into his message? I guess that’s what happens when your show title is a common phrase, but I’m also pretty sure it’s no accident.

girlfriday: It must be his default setting.

javabeans: It’s funny how the outdoor sleepers are also filming their “Happy Birthday” messages (for Seung-woo, sleeping indoors), only this bunch is a lot less chipper and gleeful. We fade into the nighttime montage, with 10cm’s background song reminding us, “What a tough night, what a deep dark night… all right, stop pretending to sleep…” Pwahaha.

girlfriday: Morning rolls around, and ha — the wake-up song is Lion King. Let’s check in on the zoo animals… They stir awake one by one, and then we see sped-up footage of the crowd that’s been gathering all morning. Oh noes.

javabeans: You mean, oh YES. Humiliation aside, can you imagine if you just happened upon the scene of the shoot of this nationally known show, and were on hand to witness this special brand of abasement? There are giggles all around as Shi-kyung stirs awake and pokes his head out.

girlfriday: He does NOT look amused.

javabeans: Tae-hyun awakes, and writes into the frost gathered on the plastic: “I am ashamed.” And then there’s “Bird PD is…” but frustratingly, I can’t read the rest!

girlfriday: Maybe it got blurred out in post because it was too crass.

javabeans: When he does emerge, it’s to excited squeals. But I dunno, calling out his Jeon Woo-chi magical catch-phrase just seems mean to me, as though you’re saying, “I thought you were a superhero.” I might be reading into this.

girlfriday: Heh. Maybe he broke a fanboy’s heart.

javabeans: Joo-won gives out a hug to a teenage girl, who just. Won’t. Let. Go. Can you imagine?

girlfriday: Already there. Lol, they have to pryyyyyy her off.

javabeans: Breakfast time! The cast gathers in front of a palace for one more bokbulbok, which is a special palace version of Bingo. The staff has hidden nine stamps in various places around the palace grounds, and finding them is key to filling in the Bingo chart.

girlfriday: They can either get three in a row for bingo, or go to one of the two Stamps of Fate, where you have a 50-50 shot between a winning stamp (instant breakfast, no need for bingo) or a losing stamp (instant out, no chance of breakfast).

javabeans: Gah. I just ate. I’m now hungry. This show is seriously hazardous.

girlfriday: It’s also mean because I always want the things they’re eating, and who’s got the time (or cooking skills) for that?

javabeans: There is a distinct taunting quality to the food presentation.

girlfriday: The game starts and the hyungs run furiously, while Joo-won stands around pouting that running fast does him no good in this game because he can’t read the hanja for each location. I’m laughing, and yet, this would be me if I were playing this game.

javabeans: Omagahhh so cute: Tae-hyun is presented with a choice of two stamps. But since he has to commit to a stamp blindly, he calls his son to ask: “Left or right?”

girlfriday: Adorable. Well that’s one way to avoid your unlucky streak. Put it on someone else.

javabeans: Joo-won, who is standing by, wonders whether Son has inherited Dad’s propensity for bad luck. Haha.

girlfriday: Hee, bloodline misfortune? It’s not a k-drama!

javabeans: Then we cut to Seung-woo at the same station, only he chooses the other stamp, on the left. The result… Tae-hyun shouts his son’s name (adorable) as he reveals his stamped choice: [UNREADABLE] HAHAHAHA. Not enough ink!

girlfriday: Oh nooooooo! It DOES run in the family!

javabeans: His stamp is meant to read: “LOSE.” Though perhaps the sentiment is more accurately “Neener neener.”

girlfriday: Seung-woo chose the winning stamp, so he gets to walk back shouting his victory as the other boys run around.

javabeans: How true: Seung-woo says triumphantly how luck works better for him than, yunno, skill. (On the other hand, Jong-min sees Seung-woo win his instant ticket to breakfast and doubles his efforts, saying that he’s better off trusting his efforts than luck.)

girlfriday: Pfft, Tae-hyun calls Son back to complain, petty and cranky. Hee.

javabeans: Poor kid! Although I bet if Tae-hyun were Dad, I’d know not to take it personally. Hee. The bingo race continues. And I mean race literally, with running and elbowing.

girlfriday: Turns out half the boys are running back just to get new bingo charts due to mistakes, so the race goes on. At one point Tae-woong runs off the map entirely and his cartoon icon just disappears. Where’d he go? Seung-woo, Su-geun, and Jong-min win seats at the breakfast table, and there’s one spot left. Tae-woong runs in for the dramatic finish… only to ask for a new sheet.

javabeans: Lol. That’s one way to undermine yourself. I love the moment when a triumphant Seung-woo and Jong-min head over to claim their breakfast, going, “We’re all about luck! Screw skill for us!” Cut to: Tae-hyun, sighing. He gets neither luck NOR skill.

girlfriday: Joo-won wins the last seat at the king’s breakfast table, and they totally leave Tae-woong behind, still running around trying to stamp his bingo chart.

javabeans: The winners (Joo-won, Su-geun, Seung-woo, Jong-min) are presented with their kingly table. For the others, well, Bird asks: “Do you know what table of leftovers means?” Ooh. Burn. I’m not sure Shi-kyung will be able to handle this.

girlfriday: It does make breakfast pretty entertaining, with the running commentary from the losers to stop eating this or that.

javabeans: Don’t you think this setup makes for seven cases of heartburn?

girlfriday: I dunno, the winners don’t look like they give a crap.

javabeans: That’s true enough. The winners do pay a minimum amount of lip-service, saying, “I feel bad to the losers… OM NOM NOM.” I’m not sure it’s even the minimum.

girlfriday: Yeah it ranges from outright mockery (Jong-min) to silent if-I-don’t-acknowledge-you-you’re-not-there (Joo-won). Soon Shi-kyung is like inches away from the table, practically drooling over the dishes.

javabeans: I’m so glad that for whatever reason he decided to abandon all pretense of upholding his image. Because his Dickensian look of longing is priceless.

girlfriday: It starts to get really sad for the losers, who look like they’ve been waiting for hours, when it’s really only been minutes.

javabeans: Fiiiiiiiinally, Bird asks, “Do you relinquish your table?” The satisfied kings nod, and the beggars take over. For the sake of this show’s continuity I’m glad there’s anything left there.

girlfriday: The losers start going to town on the leftovers, and the kings are like, “Why does it look so delicious, whatever Shi-kyung is eating?”

javabeans: Isn’t it funny how they’re stuffed (ostensibly), having already finished, and yet this aura of petulance descends, just because one of the losers appears to be enjoying this too much?

girlfriday: It’s this awesome moment of Wait, WE are the winners! Act appropriately!

javabeans: I feel like there is a valuable life lesson in here. That even if you are the losers, if you act like the winners you have won. And alternately, if you are the winners, if you give an inch you die.

girlfriday: Shi-kyung really does eat deliciously.

javabeans: Yes, it’s really a case of quantity over quality. Don’t care what it is, just care that I can eat it. He would make some wife really happy. Aside from the obvious reasons of being married to Sung Shi-kyung, I mean.

girlfriday: One by one, he starts to pile up the empty plates in this impressive tower.

javabeans: It’s amazing how it makes me wish I could eat like him. Just to be that satisfied whenever something filled mah belleh. Su-geun (on the winner’s team, watching): “Did we lose? I think we lost.”

girlfriday: After breakfast they go on a trolley tour that ends back at that archery practice field they were at yesterday. One of the targets is filled with balloons, with each of the members’ names on them.

javabeans: Bird announces that there have been lots of complaints about the unfairness of who gets to go home early. Nods of agreement all around. So today… they’ll all get to go home together. Or, I suppose, NOT.

girlfriday: They’ll play for one driver (the loser) who will personally drive the other six boys home. The downside, for someone like Joo-won, is in having to take a tour of Seoul before circling back to where he started because he lives five minutes away. Su-geun has the opposite complaint: that they’re sending the marrieds home too early. Bird: “You can go elsewhere on your own.” Tae-hyun: “Then we’ll get caught! It’ll be on tv!”

javabeans: Time to shoot. The balloons, I mean. This does not get off on the right foot, with one missed arrow after the next. Fiiiinally, one balloon pops. Aw, my jagi-ya did a good job.

girlfriday: Well he had a kingly breakfast. Dude, this is gonna take all day. Eventually, the board gets FILLED with arrows (seriously, there must be hundreds of them)

javabeans: Okay, Tae-woong’s reaction to popping his balloon is adorable. He’s so proud. I’m so proud for him, given his track record with, well, everything.

girlfriday: Finally two balloons remain: Joo-won and Su-geun. Ha, they live on opposite ends of the city. They each aim for their own balloon… and Joo-won kills his first. Heehee, his celebratory dance is awesome.

javabeans: Ha, it is. It’s like this super-low “I am so boss” strut. Wow, Bird tells them they shot four hundred arrows. I didn’t think the board looked quite that full… but then again I guess not all the arrows made it to the board.

girlfriday: It turns out to be a good result logistically speaking, since Su-geun lives the farthest, and if he drops everyone off there’s no backtracking. They pile into the van, and drop Joo-won off first. As they pull away and watch Joo-won wave goodbye, Su-geun laughs: “It’s like an after school tutoring bus.”

javabeans: Jong-min goes through all these verbal backflips trying to explain why his home is the most reasonable next stop, and it’s funny because he’s just trying SO HARD. He gets let off after Seung-woo, then Shi-kyung, and it’s cute how excited Tae-woong is to go home to the new wife. Only when he rings the door, it just rings and rings… “Is she… not home?” Cue sad song. (She was in the bathroom, apparently.)

girlfriday: Tae-hyun is the last to get dropped off, and awwww, his kids are outside waiting for him. So is his wife, but she hides the second cameras appear.

javabeans: That’s pretty adorable. Su-geun is trying to get the boy to talk to him and laments the fact that he doesn’t even have his wallet (to bribe him for his affections?). What cracks me up is that it’s obvious the boy is this motormouth in real life, but he totally clams up in front of the cameras. His wife is crouched in hiding around the corner, and Tae-hyun tries to get her to come out so they can actually walk home now, telling her they can cover her face in post-production. She just calls out, “You go home first!”

girlfriday: As Tae-hyun and the kids head inside, his son turns back to call out to Mom in sageuk speech: “Come here!” Haha, watch daddy’s dramas, do you?

javabeans: He even role-plays them!

girlfriday: Su-geun is the last to go home, and signs off in the car. Till next time!

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