Running Man: Episode 264

by gummimochi

Our detectives are on the case this week, collecting clues in order to find Client X. While running around the city may be a joyous adventure, it also brings back childhood memories for one of our guests. They’ll need to use their brains to figure out the rules of the game, and work together to find the person who put them on the case in the first place.

EPISODE 264. Broadcast on September 13, 2015.

Case 150913-2. Daejeon. Today’s special detectives? Sung Dong-il and Kwon Sang-woo who are here to promote their upcoming movie Private Investigator. Jae-suk rounds out the investigative pack for the opening, which happens to take place at Sang-woo’s hometown. “But I’ve never been in this neighborhood,” he says.

If the previews are any indication, we’re in for some fun times with the actor, whose appearance on variety shows these days is like a rare white elk sighting. Sang-woo, Dong-il, and Jae-suk are team leaders today, and they’ll need to pick their team members via a game of hide-and-seek.

Meanwhile the others are told to hide because once a team leader rips off their nametag, they’ll have no choice but to join their team. And then Suk-jin points out that the opposite could happen too: “They could see us and choose not to rip off our nametags.”

Back on the rooftop, Sang-woo basically asks the same question. LOL. The PD says there are six members before taking a moment to verify that number, to which Sang-woo fires back: “How many years have you been doing this show that you don’t know how many cast members you have?” Jae-suk: “That’s because he’s always looked to me.”

There’s no limit on team members they can recruit, but that matters little to Dong-il: “I’ve always preferred being the lone wolf.” No one on the roster really appeals to him anyway.

But once they’re in the car, Dong-il’s interest is piqued when he’s told that having Jong-kook as a teammate could be a great advantage. Sang-woo remembers an incident several years back when he saw Jong-kook chilling in a bath… but he and Jong-kook were the only two people in the bathhouse. Hahaha. Cue awkward communal bath of silence.

Haha still hasn’t found a hiding spot—instead, he turns sage-like and provides us with tips: don’t hide in obvious places like the basement or roof. But he better figure out a plan soon because VJ Kwon-ryul (Jae-suk’s VJ) has arrived.

The team leaders begin their search, and somehow Dong-il popping a lollipop in his mouth makes him look even more badass. Jae-suk has a double stroke of luck when he happens to find Jong-kook and Kwang-soo in the elevator.

Kwang-soo’s “I’ll just step out so you two can talk” move backfires as Jae-suk rips off his nametag. But Jong-kook is a little tougher, because the Tiger just pushes Jae-suk away from him every time he draws near.

Before Suk-jin even identifies the guest, he makes a run for it. Sang-woo gives chase despite his recently injured Achilles heel, and quickly backtracks to grab Suk-jin hiding beneath the stairs. Suk-jin’s surprise quickly turns into gratitude when he realizes who his handsome pursuer is… and takes a selfie with him.

Jae-suk is busy talking about how much weaker Jong-kook has gotten when he spots Suk-jin. Sang-woo is literally hiding just around the corner, and they part ways after a quick exchange.

The prime target is Jong-kook, who for some reason is carrying around a golf club. Dong-il grabs him in a bear hug as soon as he sees him, and rips off Jong-kook’s nametag to recruit him. When asked why he’s dropped so much weight, Dong-il replies, “These days, you don’t get casted [into projects] if you’re fat!”

There are still three cast members left to track down, and this is no easy hunt. Sang-woo lights up at seeing Gary, whom he recruits. Kwang-soo can hardly believe his ears when Jae-suk is still talking about how he went easy on Jong-kook earlier. Jae-suk: “I didn’t want to be on the same team as him!” Kwang-soo: “When you came at me, that’s the fastest I’ve ever seen you move!”

Despite Haha’s attempt to blend in, he’s still identified pretty readily. Still, Kwang-soo compliments him because his acting’s gotten a lot more natural, and Haha plays off the moment, all, Man, I was gettin’ lonely!

Haha’s reluctant to join Jae-suk’s team without knowing who the guests are first, but he has no choice in the matter. Ji-hyo dashes through the building before running into a dead-end. Sang-woo ends up recruiting her for his team.

The mission: Find Client X. Our teams: Gray (Jae-suk, Kwang-soo, and Haha) Purple (Dong-il and Jong-kook), Green (Sang-woo, Suk-jin, Gary, and Ji-hyo). First, the teams will face off in Nostril Bowling—the team to knock down the most pins (with the air blown out of their nostrils) gets to head out first.

Jae-suk knocks down three, but Kwang-soo is immediately criticized when he gets the spare. At everyone’s protests, Kwang-soo tries again, but only knocks down one pin. Haha gets zero.

Sang-woo starts it off for his team, but breaks focus when Jae-suk butts in to say that he hopes a huge booger comes flying out. “Hey, that’d be hilarious if that happens!” Sang-woo replies. He happens to be looking at Dong-il when he says it, and the latter gets upset at the informal “Hey!”

But what I love is that Sang-woo takes two seconds to test out how strong the air coming out of his nostril is before trying again. He tries… and totally fails. Sang-woo is sure that a rapper like Gary will do a good job, ’cause yunno, they beat box, and Gary points out that he’s awful at beatboxing.

And then there’s a distinct spray that spurts out of Gary’s nose. HAHAHA. He swears that it’s because he’s got a cold. Big Nose Hyung’s turn results in the teeniest of blows, so it’s all up to Ji-hyo, who offers a ladylike blow.

Dong-il knocks down four pins with one strong blow… which Jong-kook matches. Haha can’t hide his annoyance, but the Purple Team gets the head-start anyway.

Each team will need to travel to five mission stations throughout the city. But that’s not all—once there, they’ll have to figure out the rules of the game on their own in order to acquire hints about Client X.

So it’s a good thing Dong-il’s got Jong-kook, whose sharp skills of deduction will come in handy. Dong-il chooses the closest location first because “my mother told me never to go too far.”

Jae-suk sets his hungry teammates straight that they should head for the closest location first. But Haha does point out how flustered Jae-suk got when he realized that his teammates wouldn’t fall in line with him.

In the car, Dong-il shares how his son Joon recently participated in a Running Man-themed game at school. Kwang-soo had kindly coached him beforehand, but that only resulted in little Joon being eliminated first. Aww.

The Green Team decides to drive to the mandoo restaurant, and passing through the neighborhood near Sang-woo’s alma mater turns the conversation towards his major in Fine Arts. His love for drawing and sports would surely made him popular with the ladies, and he’d love to pick up the craft again if he could.

Jong-kook immediately begins gathering clues upon arrival, while Dong-il points at a huge beetle statue and remarks that he’d love to have one of those if he had a big yard. Not being given direction doesn’t sit well with Dong-il, who asks if things are always so aimless on this show.

Sang-woo walks down memory lane when his team arrives at the mandoo spot tucked in the outside market. The team spots a timer set for three minutes and guesses that they need to make as many dumplings as possible within that time limit. Or maybe they have to play a game versus the staff members. Neither is correct.

As the Gray Team walks through the park, they’re drawn by the music playing in the distance. It’s Jong-kook and Dong-il doing calisthenics to the tune of Korea’s national stretching routine, and so the Gray Team hurries to follow along.

Their bodies act through muscle memory as the guys remark how this song reminds them of their schooling days. Jong-kook and Dong-il get everything right, and thus allowed to move on. Not that they’d tell the Gray Team that, and pretend to have given up instead.

Back at the mandoo spot, the Green Team realizes their actual mission: find all the spelling errors on the sign and order the incorrectly spelled menu items. The crew’s silence only worries them, but thankfully they’ve got it right and acquire a hint about their client: a backpack.

The Gray Team continues with the calisthenics, with Kwang-soo blowing past the fuzzy parts in his memory with stiff movements. They recall the full body move as the “Ben Hur” move, and proceed to kick and credit card swipe at each other.

After being told that they’ve succeeded, each break out into song, and despite the different melodies, the lyrics all share the word “spirit.” They receive the same hint the Purple Team did: a blue-striped shirt.

Jae-suk is again met with opposition when he wants to go to the murals (the next closest location) whereas his teammates wants to go and eat. Haha would rather give up one location in order to pick up the cluster of locations elsewhere: “It’s good you want to work hard, but let’s be smart about this!”

So they decide that Jae-suk can go see the murals on his own, and when Jae-suk breaks into a run, the other two realize that if Jae-suk could drive off without them. They all get in the car, however, and Jae-suk concedes to following his teammates’ wishes.

After rallying together that they’re a unit, Jae-suk pulls up to their next location. Kwang-soo and Haha are too busy browsing the Internet about food, only to belatedly realize that they’re at the mural village. Suffice it to say, Kwang-soo and Haha are NOT happy about it.

The Green Team scours Daejeon Station for clues when a public phone suddenly rings. Gary picks up and he’s asked what colored shoes the PD is wearing today. He gets it wrong, and then Sang-woo tries to buy some time the next time the phone rings so that he can call up his stylist and ask.

Gary’s stylist provides them with the answer, so when the phone rings again, Sang-woo answers with a gruff, “What?” He answers correctly, and the team is rewarded with another hint: sunglasses.

When Haha suggests that they divide and conquer, Jae-suk repeats the suggestion to establish his leadership. Haha also points out possible clues, like a painted tiger and mysterious signs on the ground, which Jae-suk ignores. But Jae-suk does tell Haha’s VJ to come along now.

Haha and Jae-suk take pictures with a butterfly, thinking that might be part of the mission. When Kwang-soo walks in for a picture, the hyungs just walk away. Aww. But Haha’s definitely on the right track today because that butterfly has a “R” sticker on its wing.

Haha immediately pulls rank, telling the others to fall in line. They must all take a selfie together here, he says. But doing so doesn’t give them a hint.

So Jae-suk says perhaps they must take photos of all the murals with “R” stickers. “Why else would they have given us three cameras?”

Jong-kook and Dong-il arrive at the mandoo spot, and they jump at making dumplings. When that isn’t it, Dong-il asks for some water. He’s told to get it himself, which has him wonder if they have to persuade the ajumma.

But Jong-kook thinks that if the water sign is wrong, something else must be too. That’s when they spot the spelling errors, and then praise themselves as they eat.

Over at the mural village, Haha suspects that they must take pictures of all seven colored R stickers. Haha is eager to use any sticker he discovers before Jae-suk as an opportunity to pull rank over him.

It’s actually pretty funny to see Haha spot all the stickers, and the Gray Team picks up another clue: a black cap.

The Green Team and Purple Team run into each other at the bakery, and Ji-hyo spots a sign about the shop’s inception in 1980. Sang-woo tries stuffing a bread into his mouth in one shot, and whoa, it fits. So the team turns to share the bread with members of the crowd, but that’s not quite either.

The answer is to find someone born in 1980 and share a bite with them. The Purple Team pick up on the clue, and they too complete the mission. The teams hurry on over to the other stations to complete those as well.

Speaking of which, Jae-suk is dubious to Haha’s suggestion of having a bite of the bread at the bakery. Jae-suk: “Just because you’ve gotten a few right—” Haha: “I’ve gotten them all right so far.”

In fact, Haha hits the nail on the head by guessing that they need an 1980-er to have a bite. Jae-suk seems surprised to find that his VJ is much younger than expected, but thankfully another cameraman was born in 1980.

Everyone gathers at the final mission location which is equipped with cameras throughout the building. Using the hints they’ve acquired, they must find their Client X. Here’s the catch: only one member per team can search the building at a time, and they’ll be swapping out in a rotation.

Additionally, each team will have only one chance to test out their hypothesis. Each team nominate their first candidates, and when Dong-il sends Jong-kook out, Sang-woo pipes in: “You don’t have anyone else anyway.”

Out of 750 people, only one is Client X. Many of them share similar clues which only adds to the confusion. While Haha and Suk-jin walk around, Jong-kook stays put and surveys the building.

Jae-suk gets dizzy by all the stripes around him, and then Ji-hyo drags a possible candidate behind her. Kwang-soo uses a distracted moment to his advantage to lead the young lady away to the platform… and it’s a match.

Now that the Gray Team has secured their victory, all that’s left is to learn who Client X is. Sang-woo gently takes off the sunglasses… and jumps back a foot when the woman jumps at him.

Aha, it’s his wife, actress Sohn Tae-young, and Sang-woo gets scolded for not recognizing his wife sooner. He tries to save the moment by saying that he felt oddly attracted towards this mysterious woman.

Sang-woo starts sharing a story about how the elevators doors once opened to his wife, who had just come back from a magazine photoshoot, but that’s when Tae-young cuts in to debunk the story.

Tae-young has another story herself, explaining how she decided to walk with one of the male extras to fool Ji-hyo, to which Sang-woo says, “Didn’t I tell you not to hang out with another guy?”

She’d kept this surprise secret from her husband, who says he felt butterflies in his stomach seeing his wife again today. “You didn’t even recognize me earlier!” The victors are given golden magnifying glasses, and Tae-young suggests that they give one to her husband for his poor eyesight. Maybe he’s just always blinded by her radiant beauty.

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