25

Running Man: Episode 259

Our cast will stop at nothing this week to grab the three open spots for the Running Man Production’s latest drama. Following good direction, looking good for the camera, and assessing one’s acting skills are just a few measures of performance, when really we’re just watching for the competition and moments of hilarity that the rigorous audition process can offer.

EPISODE 259. Broadcast on August 9, 2015.

Everyone is looking extra spiffy for our red carpet opening today and posing for the 360 degree camera. Resident announcer Kim Hwan introduces our cast, who sit down for what looks like a press conference. Kwang-soo announces that Suk-jin will be playing his late grandfather in an upcoming drama.

Apparently Jae-suk has some movie experience of his own in the 1994 film Tirano’s Claw. Suk-jin: “You were the claw, weren’t you?”

All jaws drop at the sight of a beautified Ji-hyo, and then the group is joined by today’s guests: actresses Cha Ye-ryun (She’s So Lovable) and Le Yo-won (Empire of Gold). Apart from her debut days as a teen sixteen years ago, Yo-won hasn’t really appeared on variety shows since.

Today’s theme centers around Running Man’s own drama special: “Why Do You Change Your Couple Rings Every Day?” It will be a casting survival race today—to fill one of the three silhouettes in the drama poster.

Hahaha, the PD on the project is none other than Maknae FD Dong-wan, who announces teams: Blue: Jae-suk, Haha, and Yo-won (Jae-suk: “So I’m the hero and he’s ‘Bangja’ [the servant].”), then Red: Jong-kook, Gary, and Ye-ryun. Our last team is Orange: Suk-jin, Kwang-soo, and Ji-hyo.

Kwang-soo can’t get over the lacy see-thru cutouts on Ji-hyo’s dress, which she points out: “He keeps giving me weird looks!” Heee.

Gary mentions his brief stint (with Jong-kook and Kwang-soo) in the movie Wonderful Radio, and Jae-suk mentions his list of cameos over the years, along with one with Yo-won… which she doesn’t remember, and Jae-suk says that was just a bit.

After the previews show us that this group is in for a rough day ahead, then the teams climb into their cars. Yo-won marvels at all the cameras, telling her teammates that she watches a lot of variety.

That spurs Jae-suk to ask why she doesn’t appear on variety shows then, to which she replies that the pressure to perform well is so great. She agrees that she appealed to a lot of women when she debuted because of her slightly boyish charm, but she’d receive offers to play more ladylike roles.

When Jae-suk nods along politely, she immediately asks, “Really?” Haha.

In their car, Ye-ryun admits that she has a masculine given name—chances are they’ve got guy friends with the same name. Once Jong-kook and Gary hear it (Park Hyun-ho), they both agree that it’s pretty common.

Our first mission will require some coordination and teamwork: two members will navigate an obstacle course on opposite ends while the third shouts out instructions. The goal is to get both members sitting on the couch in the fastest time to win. Ye-ryun guesses that she’ll do the yelling, and Jong-kook jokes, “Why d’you think you’ll do the shouting?”

The Blue Team is up first, and Yo-won decides to start off with Jae-suk, who blindly steps over cones and bends under the limbo bar. But Jae-suk needs to jump to grab a hat next, but every jump will cost him. In Pain. Why thank you, acupuncture mat.

Yo-won confesses that her depth perception is a bit off, then turns away to turn her attention to Haha. ‘Cause Jae-suk can figure it out on his own, right?

Her instructions are simply, “Walk forward until you hit a table that has a lipstick on it and use it.” No how many steps forward or anything ’cause he can figure it out. And when Jae-suk gets to the balloon, she doesn’t quite tell him where it is in relation to him: “Just pop it.”

She does the same thing with Haha, giving him direct but maybe not the most helpful instructions for a guy who’s blindfolded. They log 5 minutes and 12 seconds.

Ye-ryun ends up shouting directions after all, which are clear… if only Gary and Jong-kook can hear it above the others yelling at one another. So Jong-kook decides to follow the pathway’s edge to direct himself. So smart.

Since Jong-kook is doing perfectly fine on his own, Ye-ryun turns her attention to Gary instead. She warns him about the mat and offers specific instructions on where his body is in relation to his task.

Her direction is clear and kind to the very end, even telling them to hold hands before sitting down on the couch together. But their time still slower: 5 minutes and 37 seconds.

Lastly, it’s our Running Man trio, and Ji-hyo rolls up her card like a makeshift loudspeaker. She starts Suk-jin and Kwang-soo off at the same time, but neither of them can figure out who’s she’s talking to at any given time. So when she screams at Kwang-soo to jump the hula hoop three times, Suk-jin jumps in place. LOL.

The confusion is ongoing, and somehow Kwang-soo walks completely off-course. When Ji-hyo tells Suk-jin to put back the cones he’s tipped over, he lifts them above his head instead.

We skip ahead to the seven-minute mark, when Kwang-soo blows up at the instruction to take the chip “he can see”: “What chip can I see?!”

I love the use of the split-screen of Kwang-soo biting that chip to a giraffe eating, and then Ji-hyo is seconds to losing her cool when he blindly searches for the lipstick that falls off the table. Lastly, Suk-jin hits himself over the head with a gourd shell prematurely. And all that took sixteen whole minutes.

Winning the first game earns the Blue Team two chance coupons, and they reminisce on Yo-won’s “Just figure it out on your own!” approach. In the Red Team’s car, Ye-ryun agrees that she tends to get along with guys pretty well, easily establishing an oppa-dongsaeng or noona-dongsaeng relationship on set.

Gary brings up drinking coffee at a cafe, and she playfully cuts in asking if he’s asking her out for coffee. Gary doesn’t skip a beat: “What d’you mean by that? Are we starting up a loveline?”

At their next mission location, the cast will be tested on their fashion style: once the whistle blows, a male teammate will jump into the pool and retrieve a colored t-shirt for himself and his female partner. They’ll both run to the appropriately colored corner to take photos. The first team to get photos of all four colors (green, pink, yellow, and black) in their specific order, wins.

Any game that involves brute strength is advantageous for Jong-kook, whom Kwang-soo worries about because the shirts might not fit him. Gary: “Ready us a 4XL!”

Jong-kook keeps a firm hold on Jae-suk and Kwang-soo so that he can push them back as soon as the whistle blows. Even with the momentary delay, Jae-suk and Ye-won get their photo first. Kwang-soo punches Jong-kook back into the pool, and then the ladies rush over to stop Jae-suk and Yo-won to snap their second photo.

And while the other teams take their photos, Jae-suk tries to untie the green shirt. A minute later, Jong-kook runs up to try and steal it away from him. Then Ye-ryun tries literally pulling the shirt off of Yo-won’s back.

It’s turns into an all-out war between them over the green shirts, enough that even Kwang-soo gets confused. Eventually Jong-kook comes out with the shirt, and Yo-won tells Jae-suk to steal it from him already.

So Jong-kook proposes that Jae-suk hold down Kwang-soo long enough so that they can get their third photo, then they’ll hand over the green shirts Jae-suk and Yo-won need. They come to an agreement and surprisingly keep it too.

While Jong-kook jumps on Kwang-soo, that gives Jae-suk and Yo-won enough time to run and take their final fourth photo and win the first round.

After the Orange Team wins the second round, we skip to the third round where both men will be in the water and is worth two points. There are four t-shirts of each colors and both the Orange and Blue Teams are looking for the green shirts first.

While they’re fighting over the last two shirts, the Red Team snaps their first, second, and third photos. They’re willing to wait out the battle until their last colored shirts (green) become available. Five minutes later, the Blue Team finally snap their photo in their torn shirts.

Hahaha, Kwang-soo gets desperate enough to take the green shirt off of a VJ’s back. But there’s no need now, because the Red Team swoop in for the win. Still, second place is up for grabs, and it’s the Orange Team that snaps it up.

There’s a crowd waiting for our group when they pull up for their third mission which will test their acting skills. Each team will need to film all five scenes to pass. so let’s take it one scene at a time.

The first scene is based off of the classic trope of money figuratively and literally thrown into someone’s face, so here the ladies will try to collect the necessary amount in a wind turbine booth in one minute.

As the money flies around them, Yo-won and Ye-ryun have trouble reading the exact amount they need. Both actresses tell the staff to write out their numbers properly. But Ji-hyo gets the correct amount, so her team moves on.

We follow them to the next classic scene of someone throwing a glass of water at another person’s face. Here one person will chuck three glasses of water, which will then be squeezed out into another cup. Surpass the green line, and you’re good to go.

Remember that flower mask we saw a while back? Well Kwang-soo has the honor of wearing it, and when the first throw yields no results, Kwang-soo throws himself to the hit the next time. But even the third doesn’t amount to enough in the end.

Back in the wind tunnel booth, Jae-suk and Jong-kook count their bills before the latter reaches out to steal Jae-suk’s cash. It quickly devolves to a brutal match, and then Jae-suk chomps down. The fact that you can’t hear Jong-kook scream makes it doubly hilarious.

Jong-kook spins around and around until he finally manages to steal Jae-suk’s cash, leaving him with nothing. The Red Team arrives at the second station a minute before the Orange Team moves on.

At the third station, the team must collect a “family,” meaning asking passersby for their participation. The Orange Team spreads out to find someone in their 50s, 20s, and a grade-schooler.

Meanwhile, you can see the veins popping out of Jong-kook’s arm as he squeezes water into the pitcher. Yeah, you can say his team passes with flying colors on the first try.

Back to the dinner table where everyone must successfully spit a watermelon seed onto their own faces. Things look good until Kwang-soo accidentally spits out his seed while delivering his line.

The Red and Blue teams hurry to cast their own, and the Red Team opts to use one of their coupons now. It’s a good one: three out of six people get to start off with a seed stuck to their faces.

Jong-kook is up first… but totally fails. So much for using up that chance to their advantage. At Jae-suk’s remark that all his exercising did nothing for him, Jong-kook readies himself right behind Jae-suk when it’s his turn, and blows the seed off of his face.

When the Red Team is up again, they use up another chance. The kid chooses… a dud. Aw. So the team goes for it anyway, and succeeds. At the fourth station, one person will swipe everything off of a table in fury, and the others will be responsible to catch at least 10 items in total.

Jong-kook angrily clears the table, but it turns out he’s a little too strong, as one bouquet hits Gary full in the face, and his teammates are only left with two items.

They run out of time when the Orange Team shows up, and eventually the Blue Team catches up. Jae-suk piles everything into one lump, some of which lands in Haha’s basket, only to pop out again. Ah, so close.

The Red Team uses their third and final chance to be a wee closer, and Haha and Kwang-soo point out how some items have been conveniently tucked into each other. They’re barely left with any items.

The Orange Team’s chance card is a dud, and Kwang-soo invites the crowd to curse him out, which only angers him. The Blue Team gets lucky in getting much closer by using their chance, and their acting skills brings down that number from 10 items to 8. And this time they hit the jackpot with 18 items.

Which means this team who has always been trailing last in this game is now the first to move on to the fifth and final station. Problem is, they run into congested traffic.

Over at the fourth station, Ye-ryun ups the ante by slapping Jong-kook across the face to express her rage-filled acting. Kwang-soo rallies the crowd to encourage her to slap him harder, and so she does.

But thanks to that, they only need to catch six items now, which they get easily.

It’s back to the SBS building for their final audition, and the Blue Team gets mobbed by screaming sasaeng fans and the media upon their arrival. While the welcoming is awesome, the team needs to get up to the third floor.

Once there, a script gets shoved into their hands. Unable to hold it any longer, Jae-suk pops into the bathroom. Then the trio enters the studio, where they’ll read their lines in getting married and make a collective star gesture together.

Yo-won and Haha march down the line for their “wedding” that Jae-suk will officiate. They rush through the ceremony in case the other teams are on their way.

The Red Team has already made it to the third floor, and when the Easy Brothers stop for a little fanservice, Ji-hyo drags them along.

But it looks like everything is over when the Blue Team makes their six-pointed star gesture together, and win the game (and the roles). Deciding that they have time to kill, the Blue Team hurriedly sneaks off to hide.

So they sit and watch the Red Team arrive and complete the final mission before heading downstairs through the back. The Red Team is already sitting in the seats when the Blue Team pretends like they got caught in traffic and complete the mission again.

The Red Team appears looking victorious just then, and then Taek PD declares the Blue Team as today’s victors. The trio is awarded with their actor fold-up “chairs” with their own nametags, and a bit of gold to sweeten the win.

RELATED POSTS

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

25

Required fields are marked *

Yo Won did okay for someone who, for most of the show, looked like she wished she were somewhere else.

. . . And this was AFTER the production staff edited the footage to make her look less bored.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Ji hyo looked fabulous at the beginning. Loved Kwang Soo's reaction to her dress. Priceless.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

HaHa - so funny when he said "it's real skin!" He thought it was flesh toned fabric. Cute

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Was I the only one that was bored this episode? Honestly, the only team that was interesting was the orange team. The red and blue team were too quiet even with the most talkative people on their team.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Running man really, really needs a change in their production crew. This was an entirely forgettable episode among an increasing number recently. I've been a loyal viewer since 2011, but their games the past few months have been mini-obstacle courses that inevitably devolve into messy free-for-alls. Some games lack coherence and are based entirely on chance (the Amber/Nickun episode deciding who had to swim across the Han river/ who gets cream pies smashed into his face / Ji suk Jin and Kim Jong kook facing off in a battleship style game). They had the entire snsd / Big Bang members on the show and decided to overturn their idol images by making them ugly (snsd in mud, distorting big bang's faces), but never played up their dynamics or gave us insight into what they were like as genuine people. Every time they have younger female guests on there's a dance-off. Running man members are all great friends and realistically, after 5 years, don't really care who wins at games like these so as the viewer, why should we? They don't necessarily have to bring back bells-hide and seek every episode - I understand the physicality would take a toll on them. But now that their personas are old hat and the Monday Couple's love line has all but disappeared, perhaps some intelligent mind games that play up their relationships and camaraderie or lack thereof when betrayed. Strand them on an island and make them battle royale their way out with chopsticks, shut them in a room and have 1v1 mini games. Who knows? The PDs need to throw the members a bone (or several) to work with. It was never about the quantity of guests and missions but quality, and always the priceless interaction between the cast that kept us transfixed and gave us such hilarity.

0
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

I have to agree in everything you've said. There's no lie detected and the accuracy is unreal hahaha

I never thought that Jo PD and Myuk PD's departure would lead to the eventual troubles RM has been facing. I thought that the cast members and the remaining staff already got the formula that made RM so popular to many, but to no avail, these past episodes without Jo PD or Myuk PD has shown how capable these two PDs are in their jobs to the point that its evident how much have changed without them in charge. I feel like the staff uselessly puts their resources onto large scale sets of relay games to try and engage the viewers but it all just ends up being a huge pile of mess when each member creates their own antics based on their by-the-book characters.

I love RM and I wish they can improve the show because it has been a part of me for as long as I remember. I know I'm going to be really upset if RM happens to be off air. Thankfully, they gained so many fans internationally that it seems obvious that SBS has no choice but to let RM on air for as long as possible.

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

actually, international fans mean nothing to RM as we don't bring any revenues in for SBS. only korean viewers do coz they are accounted for in the impotrant ratings.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The wind turbine booth game is really popular here in my country, it's funny and exciting but I don't why it looks boring here. Maybe our version had real money on it instead of paper money and they will get as many as they can in limited time instead of specific amount. And sometimes players put the money they get inside their pants or shirts lol.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

His reaction was funny. Maybe noona was too sexy in his opinion. The woman with YJS & HaHa was uncomfortable & impatient at times. I wonder if she had fun? Not sure if they were promoting a project but their appearance didn't peak my interest at all.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The most boring episode from 2014., the producers are sooooooo lazyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, never tries new things, its a shame.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Looove Kwang soo & Ji hyo. I hope they become a couple someday ??

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Noo they are siblings, Kwang Soo and Lee Sung Kyung its better

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Running Man = Intro Guest + Car Scene + Game + Car Scene + Game + Car Scene + Final Game.

Please Pd's change something, all its so predictable, let the members talk about something... not games all the time. At least if the games were good, but they are always really chidish and bad.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

For someone who've never been in variety shows, except in the earlier days of her debut, I think Lee Yo Won is doing pretty well.. It's such a nice departure from an actress' image to more fun variety show image.. I miss her for God knows how long, her last drama is EoG and that's 2 years ago... So seeing her in RM makes me very happy..

The games are pretty boring and predictable but the guests and the casts are doing okay.. I can't stop laughing at Ji Hyo directed Kwang Soo and Suk Jin on their first game.. ROFLMAO.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

i"m really bored at this episode. because of the games, they have great guests but they make boring and simple games. i wish they made it more enjoyable and more competitive games. the most competitive games in this game was the pool and the first game that makes it funnier was Ji Hyo Team.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Its time to change the production crews..so predictable. .nothing changes i don't have problem if they change the teams or not but for me the PD already have no idea for make a fun and interesting show..
They have same old style same old joke same old game, too bad i used to like this show very much. I feels bad for guest who appear they must think why am i doing here.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks for the recap, gummi. ^____^

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

What was the song played on this episode?? Its like ost song..can someone give me the title of the song?

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Ost for drama Fantasy- its on youtube..sbs drama

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I laughed a lot this episode, not sure why everyone else hated it.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

does anyone know all background song in this episode especially when ye won in the 'fashion style mission'..Thanque

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Damn, I laughed so hard tears came out of my eyes during the first half when the orange team did the blindfold game. Man, are they hilarious!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

So, gary and jung kook in one team? R they kidding?? What the hell is it?? I hope jung kook replace from running man.. He is too strong and sometime its not fair for other

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

You got problem with team then go cry urself or dont watch it.. Too strong? if them too strong got see them winning? seriously you blind. Think about this if you are strong and good in every game, then ppl asking you dont play you are too strong. how your feel huh? and if Kim Jong Kook left RM you think others can still stay then you are wrong.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

that first game (the instruction game) for Jihyo's team though - TOP CLASS!

I lol'd so hard at that, that my stomach hurt

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *