1 Night 2 Days: Episode 431

by girlfriday

EPISODE 431. Broadcast on March 24, 2013.

girlfriday: We start at the end of the last trip, when Seung-woo had complained that Bird only fed them once a day, which led to Tae-woong of all people suggesting a jokgu match. So then they set up for a Staff vs. Cast game of jokgu, with jajangmyun on the line if the cast wins. But if the staff wins, on the next trip they really will only get one meal a day.

javabeans: This is a bad idea, right? A foregone conclusion? A Dog Feet nightmare?

girlfriday: Yes, historically this is an epically bad idea. Each side sets up handicap rules, like the staff having to include the older cameramen, and the cast having to always keep either Tae-woong or Jong-min in play. But when they start, Joo-won turns out to be a black hole too. Did we know this about him? Or is he just trying to be Dog Feet II?

javabeans: I didn’t think he’d be terrible, but I seem to have the pre-existing idea that Joo-won is not especially gifted at game-sports. He’s fast and possibly strong, but not necessarily coordinated. Maybe this is just one more reason Tae-woong loves him so much.

girlfriday: I do love it when the guys play sports because they stop being nice to each other. It’s What the hell are you doing? and Stop that! left and right.

javabeans: Yeah I like the shift in power dynamics, both between the teams and within them. So they’re playing jokgu and suprisingly (for me), the cast gets the early lead. I enjoy the moment when Jong-min keeps messing up and Tae-woong’s contribution is, “Be like me and stay out o fthe way!” Less surprisingly, the crew catches up soon enough till they’re within a point of each other.

girlfriday: It’s pretty great how obviously Bird is booing one team and rooting for the other.

javabeans: In past episodes I’ve been split on the hilariously terrible ref (the lighting director), because if I were treating this like a real sporting match he’d be awful at the job, but his inclusion does add a variety spirit to an otherwise straightforward match. Like when the cast protests a point and he admits, “I didn’t see it!”

girlfriday: Yeah his rules are so arbitrary. Later he calls one of Su-geun’s spikes out, “because it was too hard.” And so when Su-geun apologizes and promises not to kick so hard, he lets it go. HA.

javabeans: Yeah it’s the “You mean it? Okay then” that cracks me up.

girlfriday: Hahahaha, go figure, it’s Dog Feet who loses the game.

javabeans: It’s such an anticlimactic moment, too. The members just sort of stare. “We… lost.”

girlfriday: And then of course Bird gets the crew to chant: “1 Night 2 Meals!” to the losers. Heh.

javabeans: I always find it weird when the show cuts from one trip to a different one, but the next thing you know we’re at the airport for a trip to Jeju Island and the boys do a new intro, sans Joo-won who is late because he’s finishing up shoots for a Drama That Will Not Be Named.

girlfriday: The first thing we see before the intro is all the members either stuffing their faces or talking about having had breakfast, knowing that they’re in for a one-meal day. Sadness.

javabeans: The theme of today’s trip has the guys groaning: Solo trips. And weirdly, the first bokbulbok of the morning: Sleepytime?

girlfriday: Is this because he doesn’t plan to feed them at all?

javabeans: Or he’s trying to be as random and strange as possible? He explains that indoor sleeping rights are determined by arrival order — but not the first four guys to arrive. Nope, it’ll be guys 1, 3, 5, and 7.

girlfriday: What? Lol, that’s certainly random.

javabeans: They actually like that idea because it doesn’t require them to race, and then Shi-kyung realizes that number 7 is a winner. So… are we going to have the slowest race ever today?

girlfriday: Or they just don’t come to basecamp at all, till like the next day?

javabeans: Now I’m picturing six guys sitting in their respective rental cars, refusing to be number 2.

girlfriday: Pfft, Bird gives each guy a spork to wear around their necks, saying that they’re allowed to beg for food from strangers today, as long as it’s just one bite using their spork.

javabeans: Su-geun: “Have you thought about the hurt you’re inflicting on us?” The answer is unsurprisingly no. LOL. They’re prohibited from going into restaurants to beg for food, which leaves them dreaming of random strangers having barbecues on the streets. Oh, so this is Begging For Everything Trip? The boys have to get their own rides from the airport, which leads to a lot of hitchhiking with strangers. It’s so cute how Joo-won starts to ask very politely if this one lady is headed in a certain direction and she interrupts, “Just get in!” She might be dancing on the inside, just sayin’.

girlfriday: Seriously, what’s taking a detour to give Joo-wonie a ride?

javabeans: Seung-woo gets aboard a really friendly bus that’s been taken out by one really big extended family, and they share their many snacks with him. He really lucked out. Shi-kyung, on the other hand, is in a bus of couples and hilariously notes that all the couples are sitting far apart from each other. Maybe that’s what couples vacations are like once you’re older?

girlfriday: Like back to junior high dance, with boys on one side and girls on the other? Tae-hyun giggles as he passes by Tae-woong, who’s still searching for a ride. Tae-woong doesn’t seem like he’s in a big hurry though, and muses that he could just walk the whole way. Cue look of terror on his VJ’s face.

javabeans: Omo, Tae-hyun’s ajumma is ADORABLE. The guys are only allowed to hitchhike for 10 minutes in each car, so they have to all get out pretty quickly. But his ajumma gets on the phone to her unni, explains the mission, and Tae-hyun finds her literally waiting at the curb to take him on his second leg. That’s awesome. She tells her unni, “Let’s do our lunch after you let him off.”

girlfriday: Shi-kyung is the first to arrive at their destination, a horse ranch, where there’s a spinny wheel with a variety of horse-related missions he has to do before he can move onto the next location. Among the options: pet the horse, feed the horse, take a picture with the horse, or all of the above. Oh and the horses are numbered, so they also have to find the exact horse they spin.

javabeans: The boys start seeing others on their way to the ranch, which gets them anxious. Shi-kyung finds his horse, but it keeps running away from him and he needs to take a photo of himself with it, so he ends up chasing it around the corral. LOL, but it’s not as bad as Tae-hyun, who picks the worst mission (doing everything).

girlfriday: Man, he really does have the worst luck. But at least he’s done a horse movie, so he can’t possibly be afraid, right? Jong-min, on the other hand, might be here all day.

javabeans: He basically gives his horse the angry staredown. Good luck with that! Haha, Shi-kyung resorts to that Eiffel Tower maneuver where he’s actually far away but manages to get his head and the horse’s numbered ass in the same shot. That means he’s also first to move on to Destination 2. while Joo-won manages to feed his horse (how can he make that look so cute?) and leaves in second place, which is a slot that requires some strategizing.

girlfriday: Perhaps this is where bonding with Horsital comes in handy. Seung-woo can’t even manage to pet his horse, and Tae-hyun goes around feeding ALL the horses except the one he needs to feed.

javabeans: Jong-min and Tae-woong leave almost at the same time, with Jong-min just in front in sixth place and Tae-woong in last. Jong-min gets a gleam in his eye (since 6th place is bad) and parks his car near the exit, hiding so he can let Tae-woong go first and claim 7th instead. Except… he just waits and waits and waits. Cut to: Tae-woong taking a leisurely break watching doggies, aww.

girlfriday: He’s never met a dog he could just pass by. Also, Tae-woong seems like he’s happy to take last place today and just enjoy the scenery, so for all his waiting and strategizing, Jong-min’s just gonna end up having to do this again.

javabeans: Shi-kyung and Joo-won meet by the roadside near a mountain view area and decide they’re hungry. With luck, a car full of excitable ajummas screeeeeams out Joo-won’s name and offers him snacks, all but ignoring Shi-kyung (except to say in a backhanded way that he’s way thinner in real life, because he looked “so chubby on TV”). Then Tae-hyun pulls up and they screeeeaaam some more, and by this time they know the snacking drill and yell at him, “Spoon! Give me your spoon! Your spoon!” I love happy ajummas.

girlfriday: They’re so cute. Also, how many of them are there in that one car? They hit the ajumma motherlode. Ha, Tae-hyun gets better snacks from the same group of ajummas and Shi-kyung complains that they’re playing favorites. Hee. Meanwhile, Seung-woo is the first to arrive at their next stop, where they have to find a couple to answer three questions the same way.

javabeans: Seung-woo passes his round immediately and wonders at his good luck today. It’s especially remarkable since the other couples found by his teammates all strike out. His thoughts turn to hunger, and he sighs that some food would be great… just as an ajumma is on hand to offer a banana. Wow is he actually going to win today?

girlfriday: He really might. It’d be nice, since (*sniff sniff*) it’s his last trip.

javabeans: I know. (Sob.) I love him in any case, and he’s one of the better losers on the show, but I want to see him go out well. You know, happy and fed and all that. Lol, Joo-won passes his couples quiz but gets told an unsavory tidbit about today’s trip, which he missed hearing earlier since he was late: His accompanying VJ and PD are guaranteed a lunch, so for 20 minutes Joo-won must pause while they eat — and sit next to them while they do.

girlfriday: Dude, that’s so mean. Seung-woo stops at a restaurant to ask for some help with his next mission, and his PD and VJ just park at a table and start ordering.

javabeans: He has to take photos including a diver to fulfill this photo mission, and the restaurant ajumma happens to be a diver, but she’s also hilariously withholding (“I’m busy!”) and he ends up helping wipe down tables while begging her for a photo. He totally got hustled by ajumma.

girlfriday: He sends the photo to Bird, who calls to say he failed because the mission is to capture three things in the photo: a female diver, rocks, and the wind. The wind? How’s he supposed to do that?

javabeans: He complains, “That’s going too far!” Bird: “…no it’s not.” Lol.

girlfriday: Haha, that slight hesitation in his voice is so hilarious. It’s like a split-second war in his head. Do I put my foot down? I’m putting my foot down. Imma do it! Foot going down!

javabeans: Joo-won also gets tripped up on “wind,” but some cleverness with a flying banner gets him around that hitch. Tae-woong actually finds a poster OF divers, ha, and puts a rock on his head while blowing on a tissue to show the wind. HEE. Bird actually has to scratch his head about it, and says, “I feel kind of sketchy about it, but you’ve passed.”

girlfriday: Points for making Bird feel sketchy. Now the only task that remains is finding basecamp and pulling the flag. Here’s where things get tricky, and everyone starts wondering who’s ahead and behind them, calling to try and gauge the order.

javabeans: They’re all starving, too. Joo-won gets some bread, and has to drink water from his spoon. Tae-woong, on the other hand, gets lucky and is allowed to eat a whole tableful of leftovers at a restaurant — I thought the rule was that you couldn’t go to a restaurant for begging, but I guess it’s allowable as long as it’s literally table scraps?

girlfriday: That’s really sad. Though he technically gets the best lunch today.

javabeans: Joo-won looks SO defeated as his VJ-PD team stops for their lunch, and they taunt him with their plates of steaming food.

girlfriday: He looks like he might cry. Is it wrong that I’m enjoying this?

javabeans: He stares at his sad little tangerine, not wanting to eat it just yet, but his PD offers up a trade — 30 seconds of eating if he hands over the tangerine. He takes the deal and gets literally three bites.

girlfriday: Tae-woong really has no desire to win this race — he goes sightseeing and then just plops down in the street for a nap. Su-geun drives around and around, having ditched the race for only one goal: food. He finally hits the jackpot, a village banquet, and goes in with dreams of buffet food dancing in his head. Oh noes, he goes inside and it’s all over! No buffet for you.

javabeans: Seung-woo arrives at the final flag first, and has a pretty good idea that he’s in the lead. But he’s not absolutely sure, and starts to second-guess himself like crazy, which is hilarious (since WE know the truth). He ends up calling Jong-min to check his place in the race, and makes an inspection of the team’s awaiting bus just to make sure it’s really empty before he finally claims his first place. Aw, yay Seung-woo!

girlfriday: Woot! Aw, I’m glad he’s first. I’m sure we’ll get our share of reversals and trickery with the rest, so I don’t mind that he didn’t have any competitors for his spot.

javabeans: The hilarious thing is that the other guys start arriving, but at this point it totally doesn’t matter who ELSE is there with you if you don’t know who was there first, and they are all talking in circles trying to figure out who’s here and who’s pulled the flag.

girlfriday: Muahaha. This is the fun part.

javabeans: For instance, Tae-hyun works out that he’s in fifth place and starts running. Jong-min chases him to try to freak him out, saying that this is the battle for sixth place, trying to get Tae-hyun to yield to him. Then Joo-won comes strolling up as the other two hyungs are in their battle of wits, LOL. But then Tae-hyun goes to the bus to confirm that he’s (only) the third body inside… only Number 2 is a VJ in disguise. Muahaha!

girlfriday: Hee, Su-geun arrived before him, but of course he’s too wily to just pull the flag. Flashback to his second-place arrival, when he decided he’d rather wait, and traded clothes with a VJ. So he’s been standing around with the crew this whole time, watching.

javabeans: I love that Jong-min then hides behind a wall instead of pulling the flag, even though he would technically be third place. If he waits, then picks fourth place I’m going to die laughing. Of course, by this point more and more guys start arriving, which makes the numbering a bit easier, and soon it becomes a battle at the flagpole.

girlfriday: As Tae-woong arrives (and calls Joo-won out of his hiding place, heh), suddenly Su-geun jumps out from behind the camera line and gets to the flag first. Of course that’s when Jong-min jumps out too, so now all four of them are circling each other and getting grabby…

javabeans: WE know it’s for third place… but what do THEY think?

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