Running Man: Episode 102

by gummimochi

With the minion’s embarrassing loss last week, the Boss will have to step in to salvage the goods. It’s time to recover the real golden turtle right under the Running Man cast’s nose this week. Just watch your back because someone is always watching you…

EPISODE 102. Broadcast on July 8, 2012.

Say hello to the Boss: actor Kim Soo-hyun (Moon Embraces the Sun, Dream High) who is displeased to hear that his minions have failed. He sighs, “I guess I’m going to have to step in…” and then he pfffts. So cute.

The staff await in the harbor as he pulls in with his yacht.

We’ll catch up with him in a minute as we cut to our cast. The objective: Recover the Golden Turtle and we’re introduced to their specialities like how Jae-suk is a Water Gun Sniper, or that Ji-hyo is an expert at maneuvering past laser beams (Ji-hyo: “My legs are too short!”).

It starts to resemble Entrapment… and then she just rolls on the ground the rest of the way. Hehe.

Their bomb defusing expert, Gary, is a riot (“Red or blue?! Maybe Red-blue!”) and once Kwang-soo, the safe-cracker breaks into the high security vault, he stuffs the golden turtles inside… and gets shot in the back of the head by Jae-suk. Teehee.

Every good spy knows that every Hollywood heist needs a good exit plan and instead of using the front door, their go-to man Haha not-so-dramatically trapezes from the second floor. Once he’s on the ground he’s all, Thank God I’m alive. HAHAHA.

They hurry off into their getaway boat … while Boss Soo-hyun observes them from a distance.

We roll the clocks back as Soo-hyun sits with Mr. PD and the disappointment that his minions were unsuccessful. His mission is to eliminate all the Running Man cast and the staff have prepared something special for him: a secret solvent that disappears in a few seconds.

The cast members whom Soo-hyun has successfully hit will be eliminated in one hour from the start of the final mission location. His greatest target? Why, Kim Jong-kook of course.

On the other boat, the cast soaks up the warm summer sun, sipping on their drinks and dancing on the yacht.

Later, they get fancy schmancy digital glasses where their own Boss twirls his chair to reveal himself: Hi Deok-hwa hyungnim! He informs the cast that only one of their 7 golden turtles is real and they’ll have to head to the final mission location to find out which one that is.

But be careful – if you place a fake on the reader, it will erupt into flames. Only the first place winner will be able to check if theirs is real. Boss Deok-hwa points to Kwang-soo, warning him not to even THINK about betrayal today …and then he grabs his neck. Hey, is that a wink?

The cast distribute the gold amongst themselves, discussing which ones are fake and then Jong-kook clears the air, “We’ll just rip it all off.” Gulp, d’you mean name tags?

Hundreds of extras pour into the camping grounds and Soo-hyun surveys his surroundings. He spies a prime target location and a smile spreads across his face. Nervousness washes over him and he carefully lies in wait for his prey.

The cast’s mission is to break through a solid block of ice to find their next mission location. It’s just that the tools hardly make a crack with silverware and a plastic mallet.

Someone (Jae-suk) finally swings by right outside where Soo-hyun is hiding. Problem is, Jae-suk’s facing the wrong way and Soo-hyun mouths, exasperated: “Turn around!” Then Haroro‘s voice calls out in the distance and Jae-suk runs away.

Soo-hyun drops to his knees. Aw is spy work a wittle bit harder than you thought?

Looks like Ace Ji-hyo has got her hands on a mallet and she starts hammering away. When ex-Monday Couple boyfriend offers to do it for her, she’s like, “No! I’m going to do it myself!”

He cracks it open and moves on to another ice block… where Soo-hyun is waiting for him. This time, he’s busy hammering away, trying to take out the mission card and has no idea that Soo-hyun has squirted his name tag in one go.

Soo-hyun: “Gary hyung’s a little dense right?” Gary: (munch on ice cream). Yeah, I think you can say so.

The clue: Gold Wan leaves everyone puzzled as they yell out, searching the grounds. Then, Kwang-soo has a thought – what if Gold Wan is Go Dong-wan aka Maknae FD.

Haha compliments him for his deductive skills. But Kwang-soo, if you really wanted to get ahead, you keep that bit to yourself and start running! In the words of Lee Kang-to: “Bingo.”

Soon everyone is running after Maknae FD (Soo-hyun looks utterly confused) and not surprisingly it’s Jong-kook who grabs him first, unwilling to let go. However, he has no idea that Jae-suk has reached into his bag and stole his golden turtle…

When Jong-kook claims his victory, Jae-suk makes sure to clarify that the winner has to have the gold on his person to check.

Jong-kook has a look of bewilderment when he finds the gold nowhere to be found and belatedly realizes someone swiped it from him. The others are like, “Is he mad?” “Does he look mad?” “Oh, he just realized.”

He calls them out as thieves and Jae-suk retorts, “Don’t you remember the opening?! We’re ALL thieves!”

They decide that they’ll all check together but then after Jae-suk is outed as the culprit, Jong-kook chooses Gary to accompany him instead. I love it how Jae-suk still tries to help and Gary just rolls down the tent flap in response.

Placing it on the reader …it’s a fake. In the car, Gary plays dumb that he doesn’t know about the gold but what he really doesn’t know is that he’s going to be automatically eliminated soon enough.

Oh, Soo-hyun, you adorable celebrity you. He suddenly ducks down into the seat, pointing out a few female students. Knowing how popular Running Man is, he’s like, “They can tell just from the car! Look, they’re not leaving!”

He’s got a keen eye out and notices that one of them has just sent a text message: I’m at the Wondong Market and they’re filming here, keke.

Meanwhile the cast get their mission to gain one kilogram from their original weight. Before Ji-hyo gets on the scale: “Don’t be like this!”

Soo-hyun slinks into the market waiting in one of the stores as the cast goes around to eat. Jong-kook and Haha are happily munching on food and little do they know that their name tags are in the open for Soo-hyun to attack. His eyes are still on Jong-kook.

But just when he’s right outside… they leave. Aww.

Haha wins the second mission (his is also fake) but then they wonder – where’s Gary? Still eating, calm as you please.

Soo-hyun arrives at the Ilsan SBS station and checks the hallways for a good hiding space. Aw look – it’s Sohn Hyun-joo (The Chaser)! Adorably, Soo-hyun ducks behind a wall and asks: “You don’t see me, right?” Caption: “… …”

He’s a nervous wreck, his hands sweating from unable to draw up a strategy. But you better think fast – because the Running Man cast is about to come inside.

Outside, Haha fails to create a 6:1 alliance against Jong-kook and they send him off with a wave while whispering if they should take him out first. Jong-kook intervenes and tells the others not to get their hands dirty… because he’ll do it himself.

As the others trickle in, they’re like, “Well… if we see Suk-jin first, we have to get the race started. So we’ll just take him out too.” Ji-hyo keeps a wary eye out that they shouldn’t talk about her and through his teeth, Jae-suk hisses, “You know she’s got the most gold, right?”

Sending Jae-suk off with a smile, Jong-kook enters his own monologue: “That hyung has won too many times.”

So it’s an epic battle between the Boss and the Running Man… only that the Boss is biting his nails in anxiety. Looking straight into the camera, he clasps his hands and mutters how he was a king this morning… Aw, and now you’re just a kid afraid of Spartakooks. S’okay.

Every little sound puts him on edge and he breathes a sigh of relief when Gary just passes by his darkened room.

Remember that long hallway from the first Running Man Survival in Episode 42? When Jae-suk and Ji-hyo were running away from Spartakooks? Well now you’ve got Haha running for his life away from Jong-kook. AHAHA.

The members happen to find some gold bar clues that indicate the final mission location. Haha runs into Sohn Hyun-joo again and just when you think he’s about to spill the beans about Soo-hyun… he doesn’t and just stares wide-eyed at the gold.

The actor gives him a thumbs up and advises Haha not to get caught.

Jae-suk spots some fake doors and smiles that it would be hilarious to see Kwang-soo’s expression at this discovery. You rang? They start searching each other, suspicious and Kwang-soo gripes when Jae-suk teases by pulling at his name tag. Incriminating Kwang-soo: “That’s even worse than cursing your parents!”

He uses the fake hallway filled with doors to his advantage by tricking Kwang-soo to appear as if by magic and when Kwang-soo opens the door to a wall (he chuckles), he plays along: “Where am I? Who am I?”

Soo-hyun listens in from a distance, confused.

They play the same trick on innocent Gary and then gang up on him when his awkward expression betrays his lie. Gary: “No, it’s not true!!!”

He flips the gold bar around so they can’t see, but everyone is astounded when Kwang-soo whispers: “It said ‘soh’.”

Our nervous Boss is busy running through lines, imagining what he might say to Jong-kook when they meet. “Oh, I’m here for a meeting… the water gun? It’s ’cause I’m such a fan… Oh the name tag? Well…” I suppose even an actor can get nervous in front of Jong-kook…

Haha and Jae-suk have a playground fight about how Haha’s heard that he’s been targeted by Jong-kook. He plays it all, my people will be in touch with YOUR people and Jae-suk just pushes a finger against Haha’s head.

But Haha’s got no time to lose because he hears Jong-kook turn the corner and he bolts with the Tiger chasing his penguin tail. Jong-kook lets him go for the time being and Haha prays fervently: “Is this a TV show or is this reality? I don’t know (glances) what’s real. Give me Solomon’s wisdom.”

Oho – Soo-hyun disguises his water gun with a ‘R’ sticker so that the cast will start shooting at each other. Smart, smart.

Meanwhile, Gary finds another clue and putting the characters together, he thinks: “The prop room?” He finds another hint that start to confirm his guess… but then the speakers declare his elimination.

The Easy Brothers look on with shock – how could Gary be eliminated with his name tag still tacked on? They wonder if walking on the stage means their elimination but nothing happens. So they grab onto Maknae FD, demanding that he tell them whether their gold is real or not.

Poor Ji-hyo. She gets honestly spooked when Jong-kook starts to rip off her name tag and she collapses on the ground. But today Jong-kook has one target in his head: Haha.

Haha starts running when he spots Jong-kook at a distance and then he runs into a dark room… and noticing someone else, he starts, “Who is it? … Kim Soo-hyun?!” This is all sorts of awesome on so many levels.

Soo-hyun’s astonished face is simply priceless; I’m sure this isn’t how he imagined being discovered. The door locked, they exchange whispers about how Jong-kook is right outside and Haha asks why he came so late to film the show. And Soo-hyun openly admits that he’s been here for a while…

HAHAHA – and then Haha believes him that his mission is to not get caught until the end of the show. Haha presents a chance for Soo-hyun to eliminate Jong-kook by creating a diversion…

And Jong-kook sits with a smile on his face as Haha blubbers his wrongdoing and Soo-hyun waits in a dark corner. Soo-hyun grabs Jong-kook’s name tag and Jong-kook twirls around. In a moment of confusion, Soo-hyun and Haha manage to pin Jong-kook to the ground and Soo-hyun coolly rips off the name tag. Nnniiicccee.

His elimination is met with utter shock – who could have taken Jong-kook out? Haha?! Jae-suk: “No way…”

Haha and Soo-hyun strike a deal that he’ll help him win in exchange for gold. They hush their voices when they hear someone outside. Haha gets up to utilize the same tactic they used for Jong-kook… when he finds the door won’t open from the outside. And then we see Jae-suk holding onto the door knob.

Once it opens, Haha carefully guides Jae-suk inside and then the next minute, Soo-hyun appears (Jae-suk gapes in bewilderment) and eliminates him as well.

What luck – Kwang-soo’s golden turtle turns out to be real. His eyes grow wide absolutely stunned and then he (literally) slaps himself to keep it together.

Suk-jin observes that the tail on his is all screwy which means Kwang-soo’s is real. He further solidifies this guess when Kwang-soo dismisses the idea of switching turtles. Kwang-soo: “It’s real-ly fake!” Pffft.

Now Soo-hyun has disguised himself as a VJ and runs into Ji-hyo who has no clue. Haha tries to signal to him that this is his chance to eliminate the Ace… and then she backs into the wall, suspicious.

A few false starts later, Soo-hyun reaches for Ji-yo’s back… but his hands slips and after an Aw, crap! moment, he walks away. But Ji-hyo’s already seen him and a minute later, she tears off Haha’s name tag.

Yeah, you don’t underestimate Ji-hyo. His minion eliminated, it looks like the Boss is goin’ solo again.

Not like he’ll need to do much work because the Easy Brothers have suddenly turned greedy now that most of the players have been eliminated. Soo-hyun is just around the corner and his ears perk up at the news that Kwang-soo’s gold is genuine.

They relocate for their ‘epic’ battle which turns out to a little more than wrestling and some kicks. Kwang-soo manages to pin Suk-jin to the ground and tears off his name tag… and then Soo-hyun bounces in. With a twirl, he finishes the job.

It’s complete shock. Suk-jin: “Moon Embraces the Sun?” Soo-hyun: “Race start!”

Soo-hyun gathers all the gold bars and heads to the secret location: the prop storage room. There he places Kwang-soo’s gold inside and the top pops open solidifying Soo-hyun as today’s victor!

The Boss has won.

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