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Running Man: Episode 117

Make sure to get your neurons ready to fire so you can solve the Ultimate Riddle! Our cast is pushed to the limits as they run around town to gather clues. I didn’t realize that it would involve blowing tissues into the air. Did you?

EPISODE 117. Broadcast on October 28, 2012.

Just before dawn breaks, two ghostly girls roam the halls and enter a hotel room. They loom over their first victim, Jae-suk, who silently pulls back, surprised. He turns his head… and sees another ghost. Boo!

He jumps in his bed but what spooks him more is the true identity of the girls. Meet idol girl guests Suzy (Miss A) and Yubin (Wondergirls).

He even pulls back the curtains (“It’s dark.”) to hide his fear (Ji-hyo: “You could turn on the lights.”) and the ladies head out to scare their next target. There, Haha greets Suzy in a groggy voice but more embarrassed that he’s pantsless.

So Jae-suk takes the liberty to pull on his pants for him, nice and high. Keke. High is the new in?

The trick is a roaring success on Ji Sung. Once he registers that he’s been woken up by two idol girls, that gruff demeanor flashes into an instasmile. And Jin-hee’s knee jerk reaction to the scare is to throw a pillow at Suzy. Whoops.

Not only do I love how much the ladies are enjoying this, (Ji-hyo: “This is the most fun I’ve had!”) the cast member’s reactions are even more hilarious as they bury their faces in embarrassment and Suk-jin screams bloody murder. At least Gary learned to kick his nekkid sleeping habit to the curb today.

In the lobby, Haha jokes about whether to pull out his playboy card for just another week in honor of Suzy’s return. He tries out a, “How you doin’?”

Hold your penguin goggles right there, Haroro. I think you’ve got a wifey at home who’d make you see stars. (Note: Haha and Byul have registered their marriage but their wedding is in November.)

Girl idol guests mean that the boys are all googly-eyed, hoping that they’ll be teamed up with the ladies. Ji-hyo’s used to all of this by now and not at all miffed; they’re family after all. Gary swoops in, “You still have me, you idiot.”

We fast-forward through the team selection process and it’s a stark contrast between heaven and earth. Our teams: Green (Suzy, Haha, Kwang-soo, & Jin-hee), Yellow (Yubin, Jae-suk, Gary, & Ji Sung), and Red (Ji-hyo, Jong-kook, Suk-jin, & Chang-eui).

Today’s mission is to Solve the Ultimate Riddle where they’ll pick up essential hints at each mini-mission, The team who solves the riddle at the final mission location is the winner. After last week’s time-traveling confusarama, this sound a lot less complicated.

They climb into their cars and immediately the mood is strikingly different between the idol and non-idol cars. Yubin shares some homemade snacks with her team while gushing about being a longtime Running Man fan.

Chang-eui guesses that Jin-hee is likely making a fool of himself, which is news to Jong-kook, who asks: “Isn’t he usually shy around strangers?” Cut to: Jin-hee in MC Mode: “Suzy jjang!” HA.

Haha walks on dangerously thin ice by stroking Suzy’s cheek and then bursts into the camera, “Go-eun (Byul’s real name) ah, I’m sorry! You said it would be okay if it were Suzy!”

At their first mission station, the Yellow and Green Teams brag about their idol girl (Jae-suk: “Ours gave us snacks!” Haha: “We’re fed by Suzy’s love!”) and there’s nothing you can do to wipe the smile off of Jin-hee’s face.

The morning exercise mission doesn’t seem like a big deal (they have to run a lap while carrying their ladies within 20 seconds) and then SpartAce look at each other. LOL.

HA – though Suk-jin finds it a bit odd that Ji-hyo seems a little heavier to him than normal, he runs as fast as his legs can carry him. It’s only once he lets his burden down that he sees Jae-suk smiling back at him.

Things start to look good for the Red Team after their false start but then Chang-eui slips and falls right in front of Jong-kook. You just have the worst luck, don’t you? Then Jae-suk turns to the camera to address an old Family Outing member, “[Lee] Chun-hee, are you watching?”

Suzy climbs on Kwang-soo’s taalll back and though they’ve got speed, they’re lacking in finesse as Haha drags Kwang-soo by the arm before they lose their footing.

At least someone here is using their noggin’! Ji Sung suggests they save some time by setting up their last guy to stand by the button. Too bad it only works in theory because Yubin slips off.

This idea gets a nod of approval by Coach Kookie who immediately adopts this plan. SpartAce races around the last corner, mere seconds to victory… but Suk-jin falters as Ji-hyo presses the button before the change off. No good.

So the Green Team revises this tactic once more by switching teammates early. It appears to be a fluke at the start but then they come out victorious just two-tenths of a second shy of 20.

They celebrate with their Team Chant o’ the Day: “With Suzy! Our lucky day! Suzy jjang!” So adorable. They pick up a hint, roll the wheel, and head out to their breakfast mission. They’re left clueless (hur) at their hint: 0.

So are the Red and Yellow Teams who just scratch their heads.

Food missions always make me hungry. The Yellow and Green Teams salivate in front of the meat and they’ll need to pass a true/false quiz before they can dig in.

Haha gets the first question wrong (Q: Was Suzy’s character a cello major?) and the look of disappointment on Suzy’s face is priceless. Kwang-soo: “You didn’t watch Introduction to Architecture?!”

But then it’s Haha’s turn to stare at her when she gets a Socrates quote wrong. They finally get two questions in a row right and dig in.

The Yellow Team get a question wrong about Jin-hee (who happens to be the same age with Jung Joon-ha, a comedian) and he’s too busy eating to clarify. Holding some food in front of Jae-suk, he checks in with Mr. PD, “I’m not allowed to feed him even though I want to right?” and then stuffs his face. Hee.

At this rate, it looks like they’re never going to get to eat so Mr. PD makes the questions easier. He hints that the topic is ‘insects’ and Jin-hee mutters, “It’s probably grasshoppers.”

They finally pass (Q: Crickets cry because they’re hungry? A: False) and by now they’re just so excited that they get to eat that Mr. PD’s like, “I guess you’re not curious as to why?” Nope.

Suzy can do no wrong on the Green Team as they ask her to spin the wheel and Kwang-soo balks, “Am I a scarecrow?” Jae-suk: “Yep, like the one in the Wizard of Oz.”

As for the clues, everyone gets inequalities that confuse them (and me) even more. Is there a Math Be Gone formula somewhere?

All the teams arrive at an elementary school and are each sent to find a student. The Green Team’s missing student describes herself as sharing the same name of a famous celebrity. Kwang-soo: “Suzy?” Hehe.

The teams split to find the student who fits their given descriptions and it’s soo cute how excited the kids when they see their variety stars. Jae-suk looks around for a student who’s missing a tooth and he laughs, “He’s not here! They all have their front teeth!”

Meanwhile, Haha leads a classroom of children in a round of animal sounds. “Sparrow! [Chirp Chirp!] Duck! [Quack, quack!] Giraffe! [Traitor, traitor]” Oh dear…

It’s so adorable how all the kids crowd around Jong-kook and try to tear off his name tag. How are you going to fulfill your mission?

Speaking of which, the Green Team finally find their celebrity-name-twin (Kim Tae-hee) and soon, all the teams gather outside with their students. Here, they’ll have to kick a milk carton into the crate.

I love how Kwang-soo leads the crowd into a cheer to chant his name and they get so spirited, that he has to say, “Stop!”

Not that the silence helps any as it bounces two feet away from him. Another miss by Jin-hee and the Green Team succeeds with one milk carton.

That one fierce look of determination is a boy on a mission. He misses, but gets the crowd hyped up when it’s Jae-suk’s turn. The carton hits Kwang-soo and falls flat. No score.

Omg does one of the makeshift placards say “Kim Jong-kook = my hubby?” So so cute. Then Ji-hyo shows us why she’s the Ace as she kicks a carton successfully into the crate, bringing her team’s score to 2 for the win.

Everyone climbs back into their cars and the more hints they acquire, the more puzzled they get. Suzy asks, “Is Running Man always this difficult?”

The Red Team arrives first at the amusement park where they collectively have to get less than 300 on their pedometers… on a moving ride. Are we heading straight for Vomitsville now?

Poor Suk-jin goes flailing (so does his pedometer) and his teammates do their best to stay as still as possible. They fail with flying colors with over 500.

Jin-hee shares a tip with the Green Team and as they spin and bounce around, all you can hear is Jin-hee screaming, “Raise your legs! Raise’ em!” Easier said than done, good man.

Turns out his madman-like tactic actually works with an impressive 10. It comes down to Kwang-soo who needs 44 or less. But wasn’t he bouncing on the floor a minute ago? Kwang-soo: “198.” Thought so.

The Yellow Team is at a snack shop where their mission is to blow tissues into a basket within a minute. This oughta be good – anything that involves a tissue means instant hilarity.

The lengths to which they’ll go to make sure that the tissue doesn’t fall is absolutely hilarious. Like how Jae-suk catches it with his foot and then falls over to catch it again on his chest.

Gary is surprisingly good at this game… it’s just that he flubs at the last second and mistakenly kicks the basket away.

Mr. PD offers a proposition for 3 tissues in a minute or 1 in 25 seconds, and they immediately answer, “One!”

Back to the amusement park where the members look like they’re about to upchuck their lunch. The Red Team pull off a score lower than 300 thanks to Suk-jin.

Coach Jin-hee leads his teammates in another lesson and when they poke holes in his tactic, he’s like, “I know.. but [it works’]…!” So it does and they move on.

The teams try to wrap their heads around the strange inequalities in the car. Jae-suk: “It doesn’t make sense! Two is greater than five?” Then Haha has a revelation, “What if it’s [a counting number]?”

One last mission before the final mission location is a vault horse where they’ll need to get at least 10 points to move on. The Yellow Team are up first and their first two vaulters rack up 5 points.

It’s Ji Sung’s turn next and flies through the air for three points. Yubin looks nervously towards her teammates as they cheer her on. So she jumps… and lands right into the pool. Aw, you may be wet, but you certainly gained some variety points.

(This must be the jump that viewers said was edited. Long story short, the members rushed to prevent the vault from falling on top of Yubin. Looks like things could have been dangerous.)

Jin-hee and Haha jump to get four points total, Suzy rolls off her near-jump into the pool like a champ, and now it’s down to Kwang-soo to get five more points. Let’s see those long legs in action, Giraffe. He jumps… and gets two points.

Jong-kook has a certain reputation to uphold as Spartakooks as Suk-jin half-teases: “Everyone’s getting 3, so you need to get a 4.” Challenge accepted. He scores 4.

Chang-eui pitter-patters towards the vault and jumps… for a two. And poor Ji-hyo gets caught on the vault before she crashes to the ground. It’s up to Suk-jin to go big or go home… but he follows suit and bangs into the mat.

Yes, that’s Gary who jumps long for a five and then flashes a chic pose for the crowd. This is why we love you, Gary. Jae-suk keeps up the streak and then Ji Sung bookends it for his team with a total of 12. Niiice.

With their final clue in hand, the teams run through all the possibilities. Suk-jin thinks, “If 0 is greater than 2, and 2 greater than 5, and 5 is greater than 0? So it wins against 2…” Huh?? Too many numbers!

Then Jong-kook jumps up from the backseat, proclaiming that he’s figured it out. Yes, share with the class!

Their final mission location is the future site of the 2014 Asian Architecture Fair and all the teams sit to crack their riddle. Only the team who correctly solve their riddle will be able to get the chance to solve the Ultimate Riddle.

The Yellow and Red Teams raise their answer high and proud: Rock-paper-scissors. Ohh, so the numbers are the hand gestures? We flash back to Jong-kook yelling out that very answer. Then the Green Team answers the same.

Mr. PD seems honestly surprised that all the teams have figured it out but he’s got a secret card up his sleeve. A rock-paper-scissors battle and each team is entitled to a certain number of participants.

Only k-variety would make this classic game so epic.

The first round of participants step forward and Jae-suk wins the round for his team. If Jin-hee loses, the Green Team is out of the game. The level of nervousness surges as they all throw out the same hands… and then Jin-hee loses. D’aww.

Now it’s four against two between the Yellow and Red Teams. Will Jae-suk keep up his winning streak or will Chang-eui the underdog pull a fast one? Jae-suk wins.

Now the Red Team has one participant remaining as the rock-paper-scissors champ, Suk-jin, steps forward. And with one swift move, Jae-suk wins it. He hollers: “It wasn’t ddakji [I was good at]! It was rock-paper-scissors!”

You may be happy now, Jae-suk. Just you wait until who comes for you next week, Grasshopper…

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hmmmm..cant wait for next week!

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wahhhhhh...

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I'm so ready for the nth Grasshopper Hunt on the next episode. *hides under the blanket* *shivers*

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totally love the this episode! and the tissue! it was so damn hilarious I can watch this for again sometime in the future!

and as for the guest next week?? or is it this weekend? anyways, I'm EXCITED since the gang would be scared and I love PBY!!!!

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lol at gary's pose~

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thanks for the recap....

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this episode has so many funny moments.

the morning "scare" alone was worth a few laughs -- the one that stands out for me was Suk-jin with his bone-rattling shriek. i kept expecting that a half-naked Gary would spring out of the sheets and "scare" the girls instead LOL! and KJK didn't even bat an eyelash after seeing 3 long-haired "ghosts" bouncing up and down in his bed at the crack of dawn!

other highlights:

** i find it oddly endearing to note that KJK is so popular with kids. for some reason, women and kids just flock naturally to KJK (who displays the classic traits of an alpha male).
** kwang-soo being his usual bumbling self is always a rich source of hilarity (Suk-jin, too)
** gary trying to act cool with goofy results during the vault jumping segment
** seriously, i think Ji Jin-hee would make an awesome addition to RM: he's funny, he's smart and has good leadership qualities

what's more, the next episode promises to be awesome (choi min-soo!). can't wait!

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Why half? I had the impression he sleeps fully naked :P

The bouncing is less scary imo, esp with dear, cute YJS joining in the jumping. It was probably done just to annoy him since the sneaky scarier part in front didn't manage to scare him.

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Jae suk, the king of scissor, paper, stone!! :) I like the small games and the interactions. I was just wondering why they edit the part where kwang soo and chang-eui are supposed to be scared by the female ghosts.
Anyway I enjoyed this episode more than the previous episode. I love it that Kim Jong kook is so game for anything, even agree the challenge to jump so far. Yubin fall into the pool of water was edited and I saw how all the Running Man members rush to help her in that video. Hope the PD will be more careful next time as not everybody are as athletic like Spartakook, Gary and Grasshopper. Lastly, the riddle is solved by Kim Jong kook and the two kids!! :) They are so smart. Thank you for the review.

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I was thinking that too! Why didn''t wee see Kwang Soo and Chang Ui waking up? maybe, it was getting late? and it would take time to go from room to room? or had both of them awaken by then?

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Well, the usual assumption is that it weren't interesting enough to survive editing/cutting of scenes. Waking earlier than 'ghosts' visit' is one possibility of being not-interesting.

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i love the wake up mission.love it how their expressions change when they found out who the guess are. LOL at sukjin. jinhee's fanboying over Suzy was priceless.the green team was so much fun with their chant. suzy who was embarrassed to say it at first also joined said it out loud when they won the mission.so cute~ aww..byul said if it's suzy then it's okay.i guess she's not much a threat. heh.. i can't wait for next week.the hunter is back!

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Really enjoyed this ep and I can't wait for the next one. Lol. Running man hunting!

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The game in this episode wasn't even that entertaining, but all the member interactions and little moments made this SO FUNNY.

Also... are Jinhee and Jongkook human? o__o
See: Jongkook carrying Jihyo like a purse slung over his back, not once but twice; Jinhee managing to stabilize himself with the rails of the ride and hold his leg up the entire duration of the ride, not once but twice.

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I think you have to give Song Ji Hyo some of the credit for JongKook feat she had to hang on almost sideways, or it would not have been possible. Jinhee smart worked it out almost at once and the other followed his example.

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I agree. the Spartace (as gummimochi calls them) chemistry was once again on show as Ji Hyo used her upper body strength to hang on, and Jong Kook was still able to run easily holding her like that.

I'm sometimes in awe of these two's teamwork

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The subs I watched did give Jihyo credit for managing to hold on like that

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fun show! who need big expensive props when all you need is a tissue!
I had to say though as soon as i saw 'Commander with Ace piggyback rides and riddles'..how could they lose?
lol then I saw who the other half of the team was..instant level playing field! and all that ..well suffering and it came down to a game of luck..and when he won four in a row..did you see the look the guests where giving him..it was like..is this for real is it fixed..how can that happen ...

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Oh man! When I realised Choi Min Soo was coming I was so happy. He is one of the best guests ever becoz he is crazy! haha...Ji Jin Hee is amazing too! I still remember him from the Assassin episode, where they did the actual hide and seek game! Too bad this one didn;t include the game! =( My fav parts are the ones in the car where Ji Jin Hee teases Suzy, the way they try to finish the running game and the school section.

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Ji Jinhee was so cute, in both episodes! Adding him to my list of favorite RM guests. (the whole Suzy, Suzy, Suzy, Jjang! was really cute, the way Suzy practically died laughing every time.) This episode was full of fun interactions, fun games, and fun experiences. They don't need to go all out with elaborate or special games, as long as the cast keeps the variety going while performing these crazy tasks (i.e. tissue blowing). A while back, I was beginning to find RM episodes blander than usual, but I'm loving the recent ones.

It was cute that they were getting nowhere in the school when the kids kept trying to rip off their name tags :)

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"Hold your penguin goggles right there, Haroro. I think you’ve got a wifey at home who’d make you see stars."

Heh, gummimochi loved it!

Byul = star

hahahaha <3

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Can't wait for the next episode. And damn, funniest part of this whole episode to me was the vaulting part. When Kwangsoo did it and failed and immediately lied down like he was modeling and when Gary did that jump, roll combo into a boss pose. Hahahah I was cracking up big time. So, so, very glad he decided to not go on hiatus from variety.

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Thanks for the awesomely funny recaps, as always! I loved this episode. Ji Jin-hee is one of those classic guests who've seen themselves in the show before and go, "No no, I'm not like that anymore. I'm going to be different." (Shin Se-kyung's second round of Running Man is an example.)

But I loved that it took him no time at all to turn back into his competitive, funny self. Competitive guests are the best guests, as long as they've got a good sense of humor.

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Jisung's reaction after knowing the guests was cute. He was suddenly tamed. Hahaha. It's a pity he wasn't teamed up with his favorite gal, suzy. I didnt get to see his fanboy side.

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Another good episode. If the writers keep this up, RM will live longggg... Anyway, the three male guests were very entertaining another prove even from the last episode. With the addition of Suzy, the episode turned amazing! Ji Jinhee? I don't mind if he were to be an addition to the RM cast... he would be Jong Kook's arch-ace like Sooro in FO.

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I just love how competitive Jin Hee is! LOL

I would love if he was a RM member.

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I was disappointed that there wasn't more running in ep 117. :( Oh well, can't wait for the hunt in ep 118. >:D muahahaha

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Man, the dduk galbi (the meat) looked really good in this episode of Running Man! Made me all hungry watching it. There's an facebook tab that matches you up with a Korean food if you were to be born again as a Korean food. It's pretty cool. Check it out~

http://apps.facebook.com/korea_food

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Grasshopper hunting redux lol

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I kinda miss the old Running Man -- with the one-chance challenges & the punishments!!!

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this episode really funny and interesting...... I like the idea of combining the vault and archery 2gether....
but did anyone realize there are error in terms of editing in this episode? its during gary jump on the vault... the editor is using the same reaction (jihyo and jongkok) on the first jump into the second jumps..... at first I didn't notice it but after a few time I notice Gary suddenly turn his to the back on his second jump cuz he started wit his cap in front during the jump... its nothing big actually just that its an error that should not happen as this is their 117 episode.

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Just got back from vacation and only starting to catch up with my Running Man, but this has to be one of my favorite episodes! It was just so damn funny~ & GARY getting a 5 on the jump and his stance afterwards just killed me! DAEBAK EPISODE!

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Great ep but the producers should do something about the way they group people. SpartAce may be formidable but that's no reason to put the weakest male guest AND Impala JSJ with them. Thus as expected the group got the least screen time again. Too much of Green team fawning over Suzy. It got distasteful very quickly

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Re-watching this once again makes me cringe REALLY QUICKLY, the way a grown man like JJH was overly fawning over Suzy. After the second time, it got really gross and yucky.

Ji Sung should have been in SpartAce's group, to balance things out a bit. Either that or JSJ should have been switched with Gary, Kwang Soo or Haha

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