Running Man: Episode 152

by gummimochi

We pick back up with the second half of our Jung Woo-sung Special as he goes through Variety 101  with our cast. He’ll learn the ropes to what it takes to bring on the laughs in variety, although it’s safe to say that he’s already captured our hearts. Then we’re introduced to a familiar face who’s here to pick out the best of the best for his team.

EPISODE 152. Broadcast on June 30, 2013.

Morning, Day 2. Our team leaders, Jae-suk and Jong-kook, go around their bickering merry-go-round as soon as they arrive. The others trickle in one by one in their designated colored Hawaiian shirts, either Red (Jong-kook) or Blue (Jae-suk).

The teams exchange a couple of playful barbs, like the overall unattractiveness of the Blue Team or how Kwang-soo’s cheery morning greeting just makes Ji-hyo feel worse, before everyone gathers together.

Jo PD goes ahead to introduce today’s Early Vacance Race and unveils an array of camping goods behind them. The teams will participate in a series of games and choose two numbers which correspond to an item. They’ll later have the chance to risk it all and win the entire loot in the final mission.

When the boys point out that Hyo-joo is strangely quiet today, she replies that she’s determined to try harder to behave modestly. As in, more lady-like and graceful? Kwang-soo’s all As if.

In the car, Haha wonders if Woo-sung and Jae-suk consider each other as friends* since actor Lee Jung-jae is their mutual friend. That’s not necessarily how it works, they both reply, and Jae-suk adds that doing so will complicate their present relationships.

Or as Woo-sung puts it: “I don’t really like mixing my friends of friends with my friends.” Plus, Jae-suk and Lee Jung-jae are army buddies, which basically makes them bros-for-life.

*(Note: The word chingu/friend here means someone “born of the same year.” Jae-suk is the hyung [’72] to Woo-sung [’73])

Turns out that even best buddies Woo-sung and Lee Jung-jae also speak to each other in jondae out of respect for the other. (Gary and Haha immediately imitate this in the backseat, ha.)

And although he mostly sticks to formalities with his female co-stars, he does drop to banmal to remain in character and in the scene. Then Gary tries this out on Ji-hyo, too. Ha.

At Woo-sung’s guilt over eliminating the castmates before properly greeting them first, the clips remind us of last week’s heart-stopping chase. Which is immediately followed by an image of Woo-sung in ajumma pants. HEE—I can’t wait.

They change into said ajumma pants once they arrive, but leave it to Woo-sung to rock ’em anyway like a runway model. But he’s down to change into a different pattern to bring on the laughs. And that’s why we love you on variety.

But Woo-sung still manages to make ’em look cool whereas everything Gary tries on has me in a fit of giggles. The best part is that you can almost see that envious gleam in Woo-sung’s eyes as he tries to figure out how he can create a more entertaining moment.

Here the teams will participate in a watermelon-eating relay race. In the first round, both Jong-kook and Woo-sung blaze through the largest slices before they hand the tray to their teammates.

Coach Kookie barks at Kwang-soo to consume piece after piece which makes me wonder if the Red Team will actually make him eat the rest himself. Though of course, there’s more juice that ends up on the ground versus his mouth, heh.

He does, and by the time we get to Hyo-joo, she munches on a sliver before crossing the finish line.

Onto the second round and Haha cries that he’s full after a few bites. Ji-hyo picks up his slack, digging through slice after enormous slice. Then Gary munches on another considerable portion before passing the tray on.

HA—did Kwang-soo really just eat one slice and leave the rest for Jong-kook? Well they do say that revenge is sweet.

Jong-kook still powers through even though his teammates have now stuffed five slices in his face at once. But it’s Woo-sung with the considerably smaller pile in front of him who has the lead.

So Jong-kook gripes that Woo-sung is wayy too serious about this game—it’s variety, isn’t it?—to which Woo-sung declares himself as a recruit learning the ropes of variety discipline. Ha.

The Blue Team’s win ties the score 1:1, and Hyo-joo sincerely asks Kwang-woo whether he actually wants their team to win. You know, given his recent display of team sabotage.

As the teams argue over the specific rules of the tie-breaking match, a lot of those rule-bending complaints are targeted at Kwang-soo with his chipmunk-like watermelon-filled cheeks and juice-drizzled chin.

Woo-sung goes off about the rule-keeping, and when his chatty tendencies are brought to light, he fully embraces it. Then when Suk-jin mentions that they share similarities, Woo-sung quickly shuts him down: “No we don’t.”

In the final match, the teams are neck and neck until they get to Woo-sung and Jong-kook… whose slice accidentally falls on the ground. But Woo-sung has already consumed his by then and clinches the win.

The Monday Couple pick numbers for their team and the Red Team tease them for choosing (relatively) inexpensive items. So Jae-suk tries to sprinkle some karmic dust, forcing Jong-kook to choose, too. It backfires and he chooses a TV.

Back in the car, Jong-kook’s teammates acknowledge that their team leader has an uncanny ability to draw people’s attention in with his nagging. Suk-jin sums it up nicely: “It doesn’t make us feel good but it works out fine.” Lol.

Everyone gathers at the second mission, a balloon jump contest, where they will collectively jump to launch one person high into the air. Then they watch the expert demonstrate it for them and he… falls backwards? Hahaha.

It ends up working out in the end, and they all gape as he flies into the air and dives into the water. Haha cries: “How is this any different from bungee jumping?”

Woo-sung volunteers to go first. Although he’s eager and keeps talking in a pleasant tone, his ashen face betrays his underlying anxiety. He takes a large leap… bounces backwards, and we hear a splash. HA, did he just fall in?

Rewind, replay!

He sticks to the story that his fall was purely for variety, and that his team’s nerves are all but dissipated with his dip. But when he gets back up the platform, he cries: “There’s a hole there! You [the staff] should have told me that!” Ha.

Jae-suk is quick to come to his defense, saying how Woo-sung is just particularly skilled with physical gags. Woo-sung readies himself to jump a second time… and ends up in the water again. Oh god, I’m dying.

Jong-kook is able to jump into position for his team, but it’s his teammates, who stand there quaking in their shoes in fear. They finally bring themselves to jump and launch Jong-kook 5.7m into the air. And then the trio slips and slides into the water.

The third time’s a charm for Woo-sung, who finally lands on the balloon properly and gets launched into the air by his three scaredy cat teammates. But alas, his record (5.10m) is just shy to win the first round.

After Junho’s impressive jump at over 6m, Jong-kook can’t help to share the how-tos of balloon. Then Jae-suk flies into the air over 7m. Whoa.

So he doesn’t waste the opportunity to rub it into the other team, and stops to note that they’re finally listening now. Jong-kook interrupts to find out how much Woo-sung weighs, and finds it hard to believe that they’re about the same weight. Yes, but that’s all muscle for you! Jae-suk remarks: “You weigh that much? You’ve gained weight…”

I love how despite all of Ji-hyo’s outward “complaints” towards Kwang-soo, he’s still the one helping her across the balloon. The boys jump in unison and sure enough, Ji-hyo is launched high into the air.

To the naked eye, it looks well over 8m, and she shoots a thumbs up back at the cast, ecstatic. As for the record itself, it hits 7.86m.

Hyo-joo does her best not to let her nerves show as she sits on the balloon, looking high into the sky. She welps in pain after her jump, only to brightly smile afterward: “Just kidding!”

Mr. PD teases the teams a bit (to everyone’s general annoyance) before he reveals that Hyo-joo’s jump was close, but wasn’t enough. Each of the teams pick out some more camping items before settling down for a yummy lunch.

Now with full stomachs, the teams face off in an all-kill wrestling match. We start off with Gary versus Kwang-soo, and the latter hoists Gary into the air. Then he awkwardly squats (ha), and it takes a little tickling to beat his hyung.

Only that Ji-hyo utilizes the same tactic on him in an effort to make him drop her (the rules state that Ji-hyo needs to lose the match for her to win) and even resorts to literally kicking his butt.

She takes the win and smiles at her next opponent: Suk-jin. We know that their past history have put them at odds against each other (with a usual victory by Ji-hyo) and now she gives him a choice at a regular match or a handicapped one as stated above. Suk-jin chooses the latter: “I have to keep my pride!”

At the end, they go ahead with a regular match instead, and as expected Ji-hyo is slick and quick to avoid attacks. She then locks her leg behind Suk-jin’s and sends him to the ground.

Now it’s the ladies’ match and neither woman move when the whistle blows, patiently waiting for the other to attack first. It’s Hyo-joo who takes the first few steps before she launches into her attack and wraps her leg around Ji-hyo’s. Then it’s over in a blink of an eye and Hyo-joo wins it.

We skip ahead to our final match between Woo-sung versus Jong-kook and the men also are at a stalemate. Then it’s Woo-sung who attacks first, but Jong-kook gains the upper hand to push him to the ground. Woo-sung whirls him around at the last second, but Jong-kook still gets the win.

Each teams chooses the last of their camping goods and Jo PD reveals that their final mission is a nametag rippin’ race where they’ll have the name(s) of their items hidden underneath their nametags.

Our final mission takes place at Baekjae historical site and our cast members ready themselves for an epic game. The blindfolds come off and they set out to locate their other team members.

And then we hear of Suk-jin’s elimination? Not that I’m not surprised, but sure felt quicker than usual. Then a quick flashback teaches us that he was outnumbered 3:1 as soon as the game began. Aw, yeah you didn’t really stand much of a chance there.

The remaining Red Team members take for higher ground, and once the Blue Team spots them, Woo-sung wonders aloud: “Should we call them out one by one?”

They make pointed barbs at one another standing at opposite sides of a tiny bridge until Kwang-soo and Haha step forward. Their fight is more like two children in a schoolyard with petty remarks and the occasional slap as the others merely look on.

But when Kwang-soo starts to use a bit of strength to pull Haha towards him, the Blue Team charges forward. It’s chaos as the teams battle it out left and right, and both Kwang-soo and Gary simultaneously eliminate each other.

Jong-kook carefully back away from Woo-sung, but they both grab each other’s backs at the same time. It’s Woo-sung who has the quicker hand and he rips off Spartakooks‘s nametag.

Both Hyo-joo and Junho make a run for it and a little while later, Woo-sung runs straight into Junho’s path. The idol is determined to seek revenge for his swift elimination last night and he evades Woo-sung’s oncoming attacks.

But Woo-sung overtakes him anyway (we don’t get to see how Hyo-joo is eliminated) and the Blue Team wins the mission and the loot.

Everyone gathers together again for the closing, and at the mention that Hyo-joo has her eyes on the espresso machine, Woo-sung jokes that he’ll take the machine and the TV. Heh.

Then we skip ahead to the morning of June 19th and the cast is already aware of their guest, Park Ji-sung (Eee!), and his dating scandal which broke just hours prior to filming. (In short, he’s dating SBS announcer Kim Min-ji.)

So when they hear that there’s another guest today, Suk-jin naturally half-assumes and half-jokes: “It is her [Kim Min-ji]?”

But no—it’s returning guest Sulli (To the Beautiful You) from idol girl group f(x), who looks gracefully pretty in her white dress. The boys heap on the compliments as per usual before our lovable captain makes his appearance.

Ji-sung is given the floor to greet the viewers, and he slightly hesitates at the word “today.” The others toss out ideas including about how he should send a video love letter to his special someone, and Ji-sung doesn’t miss a beat saying, “There’s some big news today.”

The cast continue to tease him about his relationship, saying that he’s a part of the SBS family now (Ji-sung: “I love SBS!”) and understands that he probably wouldn’t pay any attention to idol girls now that he has a ladyfriend.

Ji-sung will lead one of our teams today. As for our other team… that’s when national soccer player Koo Ja-cheol enters and the entire cast all flock to greet him. Aw, poor Ji-sung is left standing there all by himself. We still love you!

Jong-kook makes sure that Jae-suk keeps a firm distance away from his new team captain. But Jae-suk’s approach block Ji-sung from the cameras’ view, and Ji-sung steps in: “You’re in the way…” Hehe.

So we learn that both soccer players are here to recruit some Running Man players to participate in the upcoming 2013 Asian Dream Cup in Shanghai. We’ll have to learn next week who makes the cut to the Dream Team…

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