Running Man: Episode 245

by gummimochi

When the toys go missing, it’s up to our cast and a hip-hop duo to track them down and restore the children’s happiness. Of course that means they have to go through some pain themselves, but our cast members will go through any lengths to ensure a child’s smile and laughter at the end of the road. Will they be able to recover all the toys in time?

EPISODE 245. Broadcast on May 3, 2015.

With Children’s Day just around the corner (May 5), our cast gathers at a toy store… only to find empty boxes. Save for one containing iconic hip-hop duo Jinusean whom they release from the life-size CD case.

Regarding Sean’s hair, Kwang-soo says it’s been awhile since he’s seen a guest who used that much product. Evidently Papa YG (aka Yang Hyun-seok) identifies Sean as the “least fun person he knows,” and when Jong-kook says YG isn’t all that funny himself, Jinu says otherwise.

Gary: “[YG] is funny when he goes with the beat.” Cue: an imitation of YG’s head grinding like a millstone on K-Pop Star.

Time to announce teams: the ’90s trio aka Jinusean and Jong-kook, whom Jae-suk calls the “old timers.” Jong-kook takes a moment to point out that Jae-suk wasn’t even popular during his Turbo days, to which Jae-suk says Jong-kook doesn’t even remember the fact that he was the MC at the Turbo fanmeet.

Anyhow, back to teams: Jae-suk and the Easy Brothers (Jae-suk: “I think I know what our roles are today”), leaving Haha and the Monday Couple to team up.

In today’s Toy Race, the group must track down the missing toys, which will then be donated in the victors’ name. That idea appeases the ever-philanthropic Sean.

First stop is an elementary school, and pffft—are our teams wearing capes? Jae-suk and the Easy Brothers complain about having to wear sky-blue baseball caps (which match their color scheme, natch) which looks doubly hilarious paired with Haha and Gary’s pink get-up.

It looks good on Jinu, however, and Sean says he became a singer on pure luck whereas Jinu is the visual. HA, see you are funny!

Here our teams must find three grade-schoolers based on the sound of their voices. Whoa, there are kids who recognize Jinusean? All the children are adorable, especially little Seung-hoon who confidently says the voice on the recorder is his while wearing a frowny expression on his face.

And when the Pink Team says they’ll be leaving together, Seung-hoon breaks into a wide smile. So cute. The little girl the Green Team is looking for turns out to be a Jong-kook fangirl by the name of Ye-ju.

The rest of the class helps the Blue Team identify Hyun-woong, who keeps masking his own voice. He sticks with it even though his intro to the rest of the cast. Aww, the kid’s just shy.

For our first game, the teams will have to guess the ’90s pop song titles the kids will sing and act out songs onscreen. The first team to get to three points, wins. Jong-kook brags that Ye-ju is an aspiring singer, Seung-hoon just gives a quick nod to indicate that he’ll do as told.

Seung-hoon is up first, and all three teams guess incorrectly. But once Seung-hoon starts mumbling some of the rap lyrics, Kwang-soo correctly identifies it as Jinusean’s “Tell Me.” Jinu says there should be some handicap in place, but the others retorts varietyland has changed—nowadays, you just go for it.

Everyone is able to catch on after Ye-ju sings just a few bars, which the Green Team identifies as Fin.K.L’s “Forever Love.” We jump ahead to when the Blue Team leads with two points and patiently waits for Hyun-woong to give them clues. They identify the last song and grab first place.

Seung-hoon mimics JYP’s “Don’t Leave Me” dance down to an adorable T, and the Green Team picks up another point with Ye-ju’s help. Guessing H.O.T.’s “Candy” puts the Green Team in second place.

Haha gapes at the oh-so-great clue his team has been given (our country), and Gary wonders why the other teams have so much to whisper about.

The Green Team hash out their clue (Children’s Day) in the car, where Sean reminisces about the places he’d visit as a child. They believe they should head towards an amusement park, which ties into the Blue Team’s clue of “screams and laughter.”

The first team to successfully escape the cavern by completing the stations along the way will win the second mission. Their first game inside is entitled “Face Off,” where the staff will pick a number from 1 to 30, a team representative will throw a die, then turn a crack to that corresponding number which will dictate a literal pie to the face. Last team surviving, wins and chooses the next path they wish to take.

Pies to the face can only mean hilarity up ahead, so I’m totally game for this mission. Suk-jin and Sean volunteer for their teams, and our lovable Mung Ji-hyo momentarily spaces out when her name is tossed into the mix.

After all three throw the die, Sean turns the crank for the first time. It’s not like he’s that unlucky that he’ll be hit with cream right away, right?

He’s safe, and Suk-jin can barely contain his pounding heart with each progressive crank. The counter keeps us informed but nothing happens with turn 4. And it looks like Ji-hyo’s luck has changed when the sixth crank lands a pie in her face.

Watching Gary clean her up prompts Jae-suk to ask if they’ve reignited their onscreen romance. And then Gary jokingly nominates her again for the second round.

Gary steps in, and Sean gets teased for his exuberant response at rolling a one. Sean opts to turn the crank first, positive that it couldn’t possibly be a one. All three men are safe in their first pass, and Suk-jin says he kept his eyes closed because it hurts more to get hit with your eyes open.

Jong-kook is teased for his old school “Shoot!” line, but it’s Gary who sits in the hot seat before turning the crank once more… and gets creamed. We rejoin the festivities after Haha is eliminated too, so the Pink Team goes ahead to choose the next number.

Coach Kookie points out that all that heavy cream makes an elongated splatter time, to which Jae-suk says he can get hit then. And then Kwang-soo joins in and says they should swap it out for dung since Jong-kook’s a health nut.

They’re really just asking for it at this point, and Jong-kook starts pulling Jae-suk away. Jae-suk (to the VJ): “Film this! Kwon-ryul!”

Suk-jin’s been having a pretty lucky run so far despite the high numbers he’s been rolling. But Sean rolls a high number too, so it’s a 50/50 chance. Suk-jin turns the crank slowly, and when the PD asks him to get closer to the camera, he asks in return: “Why? So you can get a good shot when I get hit?”

But nothing happens on the fourth crank or by the end of his turn. Every turn is a stressful one for Sean, who hits 10 without incident. Kwang-soo takes a moment to fill the hand with more cream…

…and not a moment too soon as the next crank hits Sean with cream. HAHAHA.

Suk-jin’s lucky streak only continues when he beats Jinu, though he wonders if he can truly beat Jong-kook. Oh man, how great would it be to see a cream-faced Spartakooks?

They go back and forth between turns, but in the end, it’s Suk-jin who gets creamed.

So it’s Jong-kook vs. Jae-suk next, and Suk-jin says his face smells like a birthday cake. Jong-kook decides to sit in the hot seat first, so Jae-suk makes sure there’s PLENTY of cream for him.

When Jong-kook gripes that he’s wasting it, Jae-suk replies, “How can it be a waste when you’re the one getting hit?” HA.

The Blue Team waits with great anticipation with each passing crank. Six turns later, nothing happens. And when Jinu takes it upon himself to rearrange the cream, he echoes Jae-suk’s earlier words: “You’re the one getting hit.”

It’s four cranks for Jae-suk, who prays to the cream to take it easy on him. But the last turn is the (un)lucky one and Jae-suk is out.

The hyungs advise Kwang-soo to go against his gut feeling, and both Kwang-soo and Jong-kook pass their first turn. Kwang-soo and his half-opened eyes feel confident about completing his turn, but the last one is the kicker. Splat!

And now Suk-jin realizes that they should’ve gone with Kwang-soo’s instincts. Annoyed, Kwang-soo yells, “See I told you! You don’t let me do what I want!”

The Green Team are given first pick to a tunnel to choose, but the others only grow more impatient as time passes. Haha: “We’ll go ahead and pick if you haven’t decided.” All the teams decide and then they’re off.

Navigating the labyrinth-like passageways is a challenge, but the Pink and Blue Teams arrive first to hear their next game: the trio will jump fifteen times together while trying to preserve as much water in a cup above their heads.

Things are mess from the start, as the Blue Team loses half their cup just from the first two jumps. It gets a bit better the second time around, until Suk-jin’s fallen hat trips them up. Hahaha, nearly all of the Green Team’s water spills over on the very first jump.

But they buckle down into focus mode and are the first to succeed and head out. So while the other two teams are busy jumping, the Green Team heads outside and receives their hint.

It’s nightfall by the time our teams are greeted by that trademark prickly acupuncture mat at their third mission station. They’ll be playing 3:3:3 dodgeball, meaning the team stuck in the middle will be at a disadvantage (until they’re eliminated and can attack from the borders).

Haha tells the Blue Team that being in the middle will be incredibly entertaining for TV, plus they can get their revenge once they’re eliminated. Suk-jin: “We haven’t been able to get revenge for the past five years. So why would we today?”

Heh, it’s been a while since we’ve heard the painful cries of guests walking on the pricky mat for the first time. With the Pink Team stuck in the middle, the Betrayal Trio teams up, but then a poor pass results in Haha’s elimination. Kwang-soo earnestly asks, “You know I meant to just pass it to you, right, hyung?”

A group apology is enough for Gary to switch targets, but then he tosses the ball to Haha, who gestures at the Blue Team. Gary feels bad about seeing Jinu in pain, but he throws and Jinu catches it with a smile.

Suk-jin volunteers himself as a moving target for Jong-kook, who takes the opportunity and eliminates him. Jinu looks like he’s seen a ghost when the ball lands in Gary’s hands again. But then Gary ends up eliminating him anyway.

Kwang-soo breaks that so-called alliance when he attacks Gary, who returns the favor in kind. When Jinu’s shot hits the ground, Jae-suk claims to have been hit… perhaps to get off the acupuncture mat faster. Everyone else claims otherwise.

Suk-jin gears up for his next shot to Jong-kook, who’s unable to catch the ball. Kwang-soo’s the most excited about this elimination, recanting the tale in lofty detail. Now it’s down to either Kwang-soo or Ji-hyo, who steps on his foot when he tries to hide behind her. Twice. OUCH.

Ji-hyo starts rolling him onto the ground too before rolling away so Jong-kook can get a clear shot. And with Kwang-soo’s elimination, the Pink Team grabs first place. Ahahaha, Suk-jin tries to dribble the ball with his knee, only for it to hit him in the face.

All of our teams seem to have a pretty good guess about the final location based on their clues, and indeed—it’s the amusement park Everland. There stands a giant robot… and a ticking time bomb?

It’s up to our teams to discover the clues hidden throughout the park. With those, they must figure out the order and diffuse the bomb within 30 minutes. The team who succeeds this — and they’ve only got one shot at this — becomes our victors.

The Blue Team heads out and finds that the green wire comes first, and the other two teams arrive about two minutes later. Each team put together their hints and their heads, and Suk-jin guesses that it’s green, blue, yellow, white, then red.

The Pink Team figures out an order around the same time, and everyone runs back, regardless of whether they’ve figured out the clues or not. The Pink Team is the first to cut all their wires… but the timer keeps going. Oh no, they got it wrong.

The Blue Team cut their wires in the aforementioned order, and that stops the timer at 21 minutes and 41 seconds. The underdogs celebrate, and the missing toys are returned to their rightful places.

Thus, the toys will be donated under the Blue Team’s names, but then Jae-suk asks that it’s made under Sean’s name instead. And Suk-jin’s, because he asked too.

Guess who’s coming to play next week, you guys…

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