Running Man: Episode 229

by gummimochi

Aww, let’s all give the resident grump a hug. Never has someone being so ill-humored and crabby been so entertaining to watch than with Lee Seo-jin. His droll delivery and no nonsense at all the ridiculous facets of this show adds an extra charm that makes me snort in response and giggle for the entire episode.

What’s better is that all the cast wants to do is love him and play with the peevish mat hyung. Accept the bromance invitation, Seojinnie!

EPISODE 229. Broadcast on January 11, 2015.

It’s a blustery cold morning as Day 2 breaks in Incheon. Prior to the opening, Seung-gi meets with Taek PD alone to receive his own secret mission: eliminate Chae-won and the Running Man cast members undetected. “This smells of betrayal,” Seung-gi breathes.

He’s at a clear disadvantage since the cast members know every in and out of nametag ripping in their four and a half year experience—thus, his special guest will be helping him out today. Enter Lee Seo-jin affectionately known as Seojinnie, whose first words are, “Why are there so many cameras in here?” and then “I really didn’t want to come.”

Not thrilled about having to physically exert himself, Seo-jin shifts all the responsibility to Seung-gi: “…you run,” “…you rip off their nametags.” He’s already aware that Jong-kook isn’t easy to take down, adding, “Just tear my nametag off first.”

They’re given a heads-up about the opening mission that will keep the other eight occupied; should they complete this nametag mission, they’ll acquire a special bonus. Catch is, they must both be present for any eliminations to count. Seung-gi to Seo-jin: “Hyung, I think you’ll have to do some running.” Seo-jin: “Are you out to make me hurl?”

They’ll have to be extra careful since any bit of suspicion will count against them. Seung-gi wonders if he should pull the members aside in a room to get the job done, and Seo-jin says that’s where he’ll be waiting. Hahaha.

The official opening takes place half an hour later, and while the atmosphere is warm and lively despite the cold, we see Seo-jin (who’d been all grumpy about this mission) keeping close watch in the lobby.

Seung-gi tries to keep his reactions in check as the others receive their opening mission to find the hidden cards and use them to figure out a puzzle. It sounds pretty mathy, and when Chae-won inadvertently knocks knees with Jae-suk in an effort to copy his comic “Let’s go!” pose, the guys congregate around her to check if she’s okay.

It appears the others have already read the news about Seo-jin’s guest appearance today, much to Seung-gi’s surprise. His voice falters as he searches for a good explanation, and Taek PD swoops in to answer that Seo-jin will be joining them later since he’ll be coming straight from the airport.

Seung-gi plays dumb at the half-truth (apparently Seo-jin was traveling overseas; he just came in earlier than the others think), and those words are legit enough for the others.

With that, they head out, and Seung-gi hangs back to text Seo-jin that he’ll be bringing in people soon. The response? “I got it, so let’s finish this up quickly so we can go and eat.” Ha.

Ji-hyo finds a number card right away and so do a few others. Seung-gi is in total panic mode and he’ll have to hurry if he even has a chance of completing this mission. Of course, Seo-jin has no idea as he yawns in boredom-jet-lag.

As soon as Jong-kook disappears, Seung-gi draws attention to Seo-jin’s presence to Kwang-soo. Our giraffe steps inside to say hello, which is when Seung-gi rips off his nametag. It doesn’t even register to Kwang-soo that he’s been eliminated at first, as he’s told to take a seat.

It’s only when Seo-jin matter-of-factly tells him that he’s here to yunno, oust everyone in a nametag mission does Kwang-soo realize that Seo-jin and Seung-gi are in cahoots with each other. Kwang-soo points out that their separate mission is meaningless then, to which Seo-jin says he couldn’t care less about that.

Chae-won fortuitously walks into the same room a little later. She’s startled to see her actor sunbae casually sitting there, and has a belated response to her nametag getting torn off. When Kwang-soo teases her for being super dense just now, she returns, “…what about you, Oppa?” Ha, true—she certainly has a point there.

Seo-jin is encouraged to move to a different location, since it’s only a matter of time until the others catch on and suspect. Chae-won worries that Seo-jin won’t get any airtime at this rate, but that’s honestly the least of his worries: “I don’t want to be on air. I have no selfish desire [for airtime] on this show.” Pfft, how is everything that comes out of his mouth so hilariously grumpy?

Chae-won: “We have to promote our movie, go on.” Seo-jin: “I’m a special guest! Why would I promote anything?”

Interestingly, Chae-won makes sure both Seung-gi and Se-jin have left before talking to Kwang-soo in hushed whispers. What’s more curious is that Suk-jin points out how flustered Seung-gi looked earlier, and looks up to see Kwang-soo and Chae-won signal that they’re both eliminated. Oooh, there’s another secret mission, isn’t there?

Two hours earlier. The Running Man cast and Chae-won are told of Seung-gi and Seo-jin’s spy mission, which elicit a laugh out of the all-too experienced Jong-kook: “How embarrassing.” Their mission is to be eliminated without arousing suspicion, and in practice, it also takes a few awkward seconds for Chae-won to realize that she’s already been eliminated.

Ha, so that explains why Kwang-soo had to stifle his laughter, remembering how her reaction was a beat too late then too. It actually makes this mission a lot more amusing as Jong-kook points out Seung-gi’s odd behavior.

Our experienced cast has already caught on to the idea that the “spies” are pulling them aside one by one, so they decide to humor their guests. Jae-suk heads up as the sacrificial lamb, playing his part to a T in front of Seo-jin.

I love how Jae-suk calls Seo-jin “Three Meals Hyung” (a reference to the just-completed cooking variety show Three Meals A Day) and again, Seo-jin says matter-of-factly that he’s just doing as he’s told.

Haha’s surprised reaction is spot-on, as well as Ji-hyo’s. She remarks on how Seo-jin gives off airs like a man born of privilege—someone who doesn’t like getting sweaty or the cold. He wouldn’t be the least bit sorry if someone else is freezing next to him, rather boasting about the many layers he’d wear to keep warm.

Now only Gary and Jong-kook remain, and the two barely get to work out a strategy before they’re approached by Seung-gi and Seo-jin. Gary makes a deliberate show of stepping aside, and Seung-gi’s doesn’t pick up on why.

So while our spies think that they’re being covert, our cast finds their behavior just plain funny. Seung-gi’s practically giggling with “victory” so close at hand and Gary runs around for him before pretending to be scared to greet Seo-jin.

Seo-jin goes ahead to rip off Gary’s nametag, saying that they can go and eat now. “So you eliminated me like this because you wanted to eat?” Gary asks.

Seung-gi is totally pleased with himself, thinking that he was an admirable spy. Gary lets him believe it, and it’s only when the eight are declared the winners does Seung-gi believe the truth. “I knew it was too easy!”

Seo-jin’s face is neither excited nor disappointed, just, So what? Then it’s time to announce teams, and Seo-jin looks super uncomfortable despite Jae-suk’s insistence that they’re friendly. The Today’s Love costars are paired together, and then Seo-jin gripes over the overacting between Kwang-soo and Jong-kook.

Haha isn’t all that excited to be teamed up with Suk-jin, and lastly the Monday Couple are paired off together.

All of our couples are given small pouches to wear for today’s Couple Race. Seo-jin looks even more hilarious when he wears his off-the-shoulder instead of like a crossbody, but he’s most uncomfortable about Jae-suk’s constant efforts to look chummy together.

There are 15 pairs of different number and operation cards randomly divided among our five couples. The team that gets rid of all their cards the fastest at the final mission station will be declared today’s victors. In order to that, the top three teams from each games may trade cards with other teams to create pairs which in turn will cancel the other out.

Everyone heads out and the Haha-Suk-jin couple stop Jae-suk and Seo-jin to share a name acrostic: “Hey there. Seojinnie. We really love you!” Seo-jin just tells Jae-suk to drive away, and Haha remarks that Seo-jin really didn’t enjoy it.

In his car, Jae-suk offers to return the favor to Haha, an idea Seo-jin flatly turns down. But they end up pulling up to Haha and Suk-jin’s car and Jae-suk starts, “Hahaha,” then nudges Seo-jin. He ends up yelling, “Don’t do that!” (the phrase “Hajimah“). Heh, a perfect fit.

Once they all gather at the ocean shore, our teams are informed of their first game: My Love Piggyback Ride. Here, one person will crawl under a net, jump to grab a sandal in a pouch and climb onto their teammate’s back. From there they’ll be carried and must successfully kick the shoe into a basket.

The first place team that completes this mission needn’t participate any further (in this game). Jae-suk tries that line to appease Seo-jin, who then whispers at him to go be their runner. Hahaha, he really doesn’t want to work up a sweat if he can help it.

I do realize that a viewer who’s not familiar with Seo-jin’s grumpiness that Korea now knows him for (from Grandpa Over Flowers) could possibly find him off-putting. Despite his outwardly crankiness, he’s already shown that he works hard once he decides to do so. He doesn’t, however, seem to enjoy the acrostic of his name any better when Jae-suk repeats it.

Haha crawls through the net first—when he plucks off another team’s pouch, he cleverly tosses it far away. He tries again, but his short stature works against him. Seung-gi and Chae-won are the first ones to kick their sandal… that lands inches in front of them.

All the couples try to kick their sandals in, and Ji-hyo gets pretty close… until Seo-jin interferes and kicks it out. That’s a pretty accurate interference attempt—look who wants to win now. But Jong-kook and Kwang-soo are the first ones to succeed.

Chae-won and Suk-jin cheer their teammates on (“I’ll treat you to a meal!” “I’ll buy you a house!”) which spurs Jae-suk to ask for some encouraging words. “Do a good job, do a good job,” Seo-jin returns.

Since Haha is too short to reach his pouch, he tosses a shoe at it. That’s smart, and the others copy that same method. And as expected, Seung-gi lives up to his heodang status by overshooting his first shoe, then the second wraps the pouch around the pole even further. LOL, what luck.

The Monday Couple nearly gets their sandal into the basket. They try again and snag second place. Jae-suk has to remind Seo-jin of their promises to switch places for this upcoming round, and when Seo-jin threatens to leave, Kwang-soo envelops him in a backhug. Aww.

Jae-suk has had enough of Seo-jin’s prickly personality, finally letting his pent-up rage burst: “Who’s the one that casted him?!” All arrows point to Seung-gi, who’s flanked on both sides by men in their forties.

Jae-suk momentarily slips up by calling Seung-gi as Seung-jin (a combo of Seung-gi and Seo-jin), blaming the mix-up on his frustrations at Seo-jin. Seo-jin get called out for not looking like he’s ready to run, and then when the whistle blows, he moves at a pace of a brisk walk.

It’s great how the captions would like to point out that this is the first time Seo-jin is crawling under a net on a variety show. He knocks down the pouch, and Jae-suk promises to get it on the first tray. He doesn’t, and Seo-jin immediately drops him.

In the time Jae-suk outs Seo-jin for his peeved state, the young’uns score third place. First place gets to switch two cards while second and third places can exchange one. While the teams are busy going back and forth about their stash, Seo-jin tells them to just get it over with already.

Jong-kook and Kwang-soo are overtly pleased to end up with a pair that third place Chae-won gives them. So the Monday Couple attempt to break up that pair, only to fail in doing so.

Kwang-soo inadvertently ends up giving up a card that helps out Jae-suk and Seo-jin, but unlike the tight hug between the Tiger and Giraffe, Seo-jin just pushes his teammate away, uncomfortable by the proximity. Another switch still has Seo-jin and Jae-suk end up with one pair anyway.

In the car, Jae-suk says that Seo-jin’s poker face confused everyone else. But Seo-jin isn’t all that interested in winning today (or so he says), wondering what all the fuss is about in exchanging some cards.

Kwang-soo deduces that the other team must have another 7, judging from their expressions from when they both received and lost that card. Kwang-soo passes by Haha’s car, saying that he doesn’t see Suk-jin. Eep, they didn’t leave him behind, did they? HA, nope—he’s just snoring peacefully in the car.

So it appears that Seo-jin and Ji-hyo are former costars from the historical drama Gyebaek. When she gets teased for something she allegedly said back then, Ji-hyo threatens to out his secrets. Unperturbed, Seo-jin counters, “Who do you think will have more secrets—you or me?”

Jae-suk takes it upon himself to invite Seo-jin’s niece to watch them film. Aw, she’s a fan of Kwang-soo’s. Seo-jin finally cracks a smile in front of his niece.

This second game is entitled Lovey Dovey Backhug, where they’ll have 60 seconds to move five of a selected object while handling large poles in a backhug position. Jae-suk and Seo-jin are up first with plastic shower seats, and it almost looks like Seo-jin is enjoying himself.

But when the seats keep slipping out of his grasp, Seo-jin resorts to pushing the seats under the table. They manage to get one before time is up. Haha and Suk-jin are worse off with having to deal with lipsticks, but at least Suk-jin keeps a smile on his face despite his growing annoyance. Caption: My name is Big Nose. I’m a man who doesn’t know what it means to give up.

And that when the tide starts to turn because Suk-jin gets a good grip on the lipsticks as the others cheer him on. Although he gets all five on the table, he’s way over the time-limit. Seung-gi is chosen to take the lead after some back and forth, though the others doubt that he’ll do a good job.

To their surprise, he picks it up, his face totally focused. At the last moment, Chae-won feigns a fainting spell to try and be funny; I feel like intentional humor just doesn’t land the same way unexpected variety moments do, and she’s fortunate(?) enough to fall back onto the ground moments later.

Switching places doesn’t help, and when none of the other couples succeed, it’s back to Jae-suk and Seo-jin. They pick another relatively easy item (pots) and the others are quick to point out the competitive and focused look in Seo-jin’s eyes.

Seo-jin kicks Kwang-soo away when the latter attempts to interfere. And despite Kwang-soo’s efforts, Seo-jin and Jae-suk succeed. Seung-gi and Chae-won grab second place, and Kwang-soo tries to put a positive spin on their item: lipstick.

Suk-jin offers some advice from the sidelines—not that they need it because the pair succeed in moving all five mere seconds before time is up. Suk-jin stays positive, though, telling the viewers that today’s just not his day and they can tune in next week.

Jong-kook is displeased with the card he and Kwang-soo acquire from Seung-gi and Chae-won. The latter two end up with a pair after their switch, and the others catch a nervous-looking Seo-jin trying to sneak a peek. Jae-suk, however, is pleased by the Bo-chun Hyung (an abbreviation of “Dimples Angel,”) and does a good job preserving his delight at getting another pair.

Taek PD announces that two couples have a matching pair and that one couple has two pairs. In their respective cars, Jong-kook and Kwang-soo believe that they’re tied with Seung-gi and Chae-won, and the Monday Couple guess that the team that’s gotten the most chance at switching cards — Jae-suk and Seo-jin — are currently the ones in first place.

Jae-suk and Seo-jin take a trip down memory lane by listening to ’90s club hits. Seo-jin says their generation refer to the nightclubs in their day as “night” with their rock and blues music while the young’uns go to “clubs” with their electro dance music.

Our teams arrive at their final mission location, where they’re told to hand over their matching cards and yell “Clear!” Jong-kook asks if they have to, and Kwang-soo requests a nice CG effect to accompany it.

Jae-suk makes Seo-jin redo the action when the latter tosses his cards in. Kwang-soo and Jong-kook get the CGI smoke effect they’re looking for and wonder where their cards have gone.

Here, our teams will be ripping off the numbers or signs of operation they need to create a match, exchanging it for another card. Those matches will only be acknowledged if they place both cards and announce the particular card “cleared.” Again, the team that clears all their cards the fastest, wins.

Seung-gi and Chae-won circle around the Monday Couple, who try to keep their own numbers hidden. It turns out the Monday Couple is a primary target for Jong-kook as well, and when Ji-hyo asks if she has something Chae-won wants, Chae-won cries that she didn’t even get to see yet.

Seung-gi tries to sneak up on Gary and Ji-hyo, only to find himself targeted by Jong-kook. Spartakooks grabs the number he needs. Elsewhere, Jae-suk finds himself trying to fight off Suk-jin and Haha alone (because Seo-jin is sitting around somewhere else).

Haha rips off the 5 off Jae-suk’s back to get the first match, leaving Jae-suk with a division sign. Seo-jin lets out a dry laugh when he hears that he must enter the arena now. He saunters down the room, stopping to comment when Jong-kook runs down the escalator to catch someone: “He’ll win, I guess.”

He peeks around the corner to see Chae-won lying on her back (to protect her numbers) and somehow sits back down to remark how the kids are running around for nothing. Ha.

After Jae-suk fails in grabbing the 4 on Chae-won’s back, they’re joined by a few others who realize that the 4 is the last card Jae-suk needs. She manages to get away. Not too far off, Seo-jin is targeted by Haha and Seung-gi—his attempt to pull rank is futile in this 2:1 attack and gets his 4 card taken away by Haha.

Now Seung-gi has reason to go after Haha and tries to employ Seo-jin’s help. Seo-jin walks away, all, You guys figure it out.

He and Jae-suk approach Jong-kook and Kwang-soo and break up into 1:1 battles. The others use this distraction as an opportunity to attack one another, and then Jae-suk grabs the division sign he and Seo-jin need for the win.

Once everyone gathers together again, Jong-kook points out that Seo-jin didn’t join in with his teammate to dramatically “clear” their last card. Seo-jin isn’t interested in sticking around for the closing, but gets dragged back to do it.

He raises his arm without making the sound effect, and then says a dull “clear,” to Jae-suk’s disappointment. He gets wrangled to at least do the booming aftereffect, and then takes his gold ring prize. In fact, he swipes Jae-suk’s portion, pocketing one and giving the other to Chae-won.

The others tell Seung-gi that he can come collect his goal next time, to which Seung-gi jokes: “Give me my backlog of gold.” After he and Chae-won offer some final words, Seo-jin says he didn’t like this show already, but now “I hate it even more.” I’d say those dimples of yours appear betray those words, good sir.

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