Running Man: Episode 136

by gummimochi

A few weeks ago, our cast traveled across Asia to find nine daggers that merged together to form the Ultimate Golden Dagger. But a legend always has an origin story and the cast travels back in time to discover the Secret of the Nine Daggers. Power can be a dangerous thing and some are more affected than others with just a little taste.

EPISODE 136. Broadcast on March 10, 2013.

We return to Vietnam where our cast wakes to find a present outside their rooms: colorful brocade tunics (ao dai). Everyone seems to be in a cheery mood, especially Kwang-soo, who sends his Vietnamese fans a morning greeting.

The cast heads out to the heliport and Kwang-soo instructs his driver in Giraffe-speak: *makes helicopter noises* Heh. Ji-hyo is in her bright yellow ao dai and she does a pretty spot-on impression of Jae-suk’s fear of heights.

When they take off a few minutes later, Jae-suk’s face drains of all color while Ji-hyo and Dong-wook squeal excitedly.

But this is no ordinary helicopter ride because soon they’re sucked into a time-travelling wormhole and arrive at Trang An. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful sight and this is where they’ll need to hunt down the Ultimate Golden Dagger.

They instinctively start running as soon as they land and set off in tiny rowboats. Our cast may know how to run but it doesn’t mean they know how to row and poor Kwang-soo struggles with his oars. Kwang-soo: “How am I supposed to go where I want [to go]!”

Ahead of the pack, Haha leisurely row to his first destination, only to be told to head back into the boat. At least his guide takes over the rowing and she leads them into a dark, narrow tunnel. Haha starts to panic and keeps talking to keep his nerves at bay: “It’s like a movie! Why is it so scary?!”

Deeper and deeper they travel in semi-darkness until a small light greets them. Here, Haha finds a scroll that outlines today’s theme: The golden dagger will give you powers you can never imagine. Last one standing wins.

Kwang-soo is immediately suspicious (and rightfully so) when Haha tells him that they can both win today. He ends up showing the Giraffe the note and try to decipher the map on the back together.

There are things that Spartakooks has trouble with? Jong-kook struggles with the oar which then accidentally pops out of place. Gary laughs: “Jong-kook broke the oar!” That’s still better than Hye-jin and Suk-jin who spin around in circles.

At the other end of the tunnel is a gorgeous lake and both Haha and Kwang-soo recognize the large gate from the map. And so they begin the arduous climb up the mountain.

What awaits them is the golden dagger itself and Haha is struck with awe. He reaches to remove the dagger from the stone… but there’s no tip! Does a broken dagger still have powers?

Just a few stories down below, Kwang-soo catches his breath. He’s caught up in his own movie and shows off some martial arts moves. Caption: Do you want to go up against a real martial arts master?

With the dagger behind his back, Haha confides in Kwang-soo that the dagger is too dangerous and powerful for a human to wield. Showing him the half-dagger, Haha asks for Kwang-soo’s help and the Giraffe bends down to pledge his allegiance.

Just then, Haha calls to stop time and reapers swiftly arrive to hold Kwang-soo down. Confused, Kwang-soo can barely register the situation before Haha rips off his name tag, effectively eliminating him.

What, already? What kind of power does this dagger have?

We flashback to just a few minutes earlier as Haha reads the description. He breaks into an evil smile as we see him call for Kwang-soo’s help. And Kwang-soo, none the wiser, fell right into his trap.

Overlooking the lake, Haha smiles – the world is now subject to his power. He lets out a most villainous laugh.

He stares into the camera and in a deep voice, vows to take his revenge against the cast members who have ignored him. Then he cackles in a higher voice: “Silence! Stay put!” Time to ring in the reign of the Devilish Haroro.

With the dagger in hand, Haha is transported to Hoa Lu.

Meanwhile, Jae-suk and Dong-wook huff and puff up the stairs. Jae-suk wonders if they’re meeting a master on top of the mount. Dong-wook comments that given all this exercise, he probably lost weight while filming.

All that’s left is Kwang-soo’s name tag and Jae-suk immediately realizes that Haha has the golden dagger. Ready to send Haroro a message, he throws the name tag towards the camera…

…but then VJ Kwon-ryul reels back instinctively and gets scolded for his colorful t-shirt. Heehee.

Onward to Hoa Lu (Hye-jin realistically trips out of the time slip, hehe) and even Kwang-soo is dragged here by the reapers. Haha holds up the dagger and staring into the camera, he challenges his other castmates to come after him.

Haha comments that he thinks he’s getting drunk with power (Caption: You feel that too?). So who’s letting this character get to his head? Hee. He’s soon spotted by Jae-suk and Dong-wook who confront him about Kwang-soo’s elimination.

But the man has a dagger in his hand and he warns them to run before he chases after them. They don’t flinch at the threat but the mention of reapers has them running in the opposite direction.

Haha gives chase and corners Jae-suk, who slips away. It’s clear that the dagger gives the possessor some kind of power, but all they can do for the time being is run.

I love how their perplexed reactions boil down to “What’s with him?” and Haha thoroughly enjoys watching everyone run away from him. He hugs the dagger tightly, kisses it.. and coughs. Haha.

Then he hugs it one more time, and in a distorted voice, asks the dagger to be his last love. Dong-wook: “Are you ‘Gollum’?” HA – like the golden dagger is His Precious?

Haha assumes this role with ease and hilariously crouches on a bench in response.

It’s still sad to see Kwang-soo sit alone in jail even if it’s in a foreign country (Kwang-soo: “I don’t even know what game we’re playing today!”). Jae-suk runs towards him and listens to how Kwang-soo was caught.

Then he steals Kwang-soo’s hat in an attempt to blend in with the crowd. Jong-kook pipes: “As if! You’re wearing red!”

After they take off, Haha comes ’round to show off his shiny new dagger and orders Kwang-soo to call it “hyung-soo-nim” (sister-in-law). He threatens to kill Kwang-soo when he doesn’t answer, and the Giraffe immediately replies, “Hyung-soo-nim!”

Kwang-soo tries to preserve the little pride he has left by refusing to kiss the dagger, but when Haha makes a move, Kwang-soo grabs it for a kiss. HA.

Haha does, however, offer to eliminate someone for Kwang-soo and the answer shouldn’t surprise us: JK aka Jong-kook.

Dong-wook shares with the hyungs about his Gollum Haroro theory but Jae-suk cuts him off – he’s figured out what the dagger’s power is. Jae-suk explains to the others that the dagger can only stop someone in their tracks, and so the men agree to an alliance.

It’s pretty funny how Haha’s yell is mixed in with a Gollum-esque track and children’s voices, making it both creepy and hilarious. The plan to stand up to Haha fail as soon as Haroro arrives, and Haha chases after Spartakooks as promised.

Haha commands an audience for Jong-kook’s elimination and is joined by the other three men of the alliance. As the dramatic tension rises, Kwang-soo watches from jail and pouts, “…Looks fun. Today’s game seems fun.” Aww.

Haha has the men line up before him and fishes for compliments. When it’s Jae-suk’s turn, he guffaws at the statement: “You were always jealous of me.” Then he turns to Jong-kook who answers: “Nation’s Husband.”

Haha retorts that the answer is too boring and zeroes in on Jong-kook. Everyone watches with bated breath as Haha calls out: “Stop! Jong-kook!” and the reapers appear once again.

The others stand by, dazed and confused as they watch Haha eliminate Jong-kook. and only start running when Haha comes after them. Why is this game so easy for one person?

Then we learn that Haha can only tap into the dagger’s power three times and now he has one chance left.

Jong-kook sits next to Kwang-soo with a sympathetic hand on Kwang-soo’s knee. But that brotherly love soon fades when Mr. PD tells him that Kwang-soo arranged his elimination. Kwang-soo: “And you believe him?!”

Then Haha walks over, declaring that he’s kept his word and Kwang-soo’s like, Ssh! He leaves the two to talk it out.

An injured leg doesn’t mean that Jong-kook is completely weak and he twists Kwang-soo’s arm. Then he pinches Kwang-soo’s tricep and the Giraffe yells, “Ow! Why does this hurt!”

Suk-jin and the ex-Monday Couple brainstorm on how to defeat Haha. Then Suk-jin makes an offhand remark that Ji-hyo’s yellow tunic blends in with the crowd. That gives her an idea and she offers to take one for the team. And that’s why we love you.

She finds a few ladies with a similar stature and she enlists their help to get close to Haha. She sets off with her ladies-in-waiting.

Elsewhere, Haha spends some time with his reapers. He orders them to follow his every move and they do… until Haha starts dancing and they stand there, puzzled. HAHAHA.

Haha momentarily breaks out of character to apologize and then the trio sets off in search of Gary.

Haha notices Suk-jin trying to keep watch right away and brings the mat hyung over to his side. However, he has no idea that the others have got an eye on him. Haha soon finds Gary and has his reapers pull him into the square for his public elimination.

Haha calls for everyone’s attention and bellows in English: “I’m black… knife…” and then pauses to ask in Korean: “What’s ’emperor’?” Exasperated, Gary sighs: “Let’s just say it’s ‘king’!”

At that very moment, Ji-hyo appears and grabs Haha’s name tag. She misses and Suk-jin runs over to her aid. He tears it off and Haha is Black Knife King no more.

Not only has the master of the golden dagger changed, but its power has changed as well. With the “Grim Reaper’s Hand,” all Suk-jin has to do is touch the name tag with his gloved hand to eliminate someone.

The others looks on, worried, and Hye-jin admits that she doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on. Jae-suk jokes that her expression looks like she’s a new daughter-in-law who’s joined the family.

She plays along with the running gag, pointing to her “older, rich husband” (Suk-jin).

Back at jail, Haha tries to keep a smiling face and apologizes for his actions. Kwang-soo just shoots him death glares. Haha defends himself, citing that he wasn’t really all that bad and figures that Suk-jin will be much worse.

That doesn’t get him an answer either, so he puts out his hand in a peace offering. Surprisingly, Jong-kook takes it… if only to wring his hand painfully.

Haha was right about one thing because Suk-jin drinks in his new power and comes up with his own theme song entitled, “Big Nose Power.” Suk-jin ushers in his new reign, proclaiming the “Big Nose Power” for all to hear. On a cow. LOL.

Little does he know that Dong-wook sneaks up behind him and tears off his name tag. I especially love how he flicks it away as if saying, Down with Big Nose Power!

Officially the shortest regime ever. HAHAHAHA.

And if you felt bad that Suk-jin didn’t get to use his power, he tries it out in jail against Jong-kook. It doesn’t work. Suk-jin: “I wouldn’t have used it on you!”

Dong-wook’s power can only be used once but it’s a powerful one: “Cloning Power” changes all the name tags to one person’s name. So no matter who you eliminate, your target will be eliminated.

Then Dong-wook gripes to the staff that his power is too difficult. Aw, poor baby.

He thinks for a few minutes and finally gets up to shout out his power. Ha, then the staff make him repeat himself because he didn’t yell loud enough and Dong-wook bursts into laughter.

At last, Dong-wook yells his power and calls out Gary’s name.

Obviously Gary starts to panic and one would think that the cast would protect their own. Nope – Jae-suk starts running in Dong-wook’s direction and calls out, “I’m herrree!” LOL.

Then everyone starts running with the real Gary behind them. He starts fighting his “clones” and in an attempt to prove himself, he starts dancing. But all of his “clones” start dancing too.

While the clones keep arguing, Dong-wook finally gets fed up (since he’s not getting any screentime) and complains to the staff: “See?! Why did you give me such a useless power?”

So Gary suggests that he become Gary too. Dong-wook agrees and starts dancing. HA.

But then Jae-suk tears the name tag off of Ji-hyo’s back. Which means that Gary is eliminated and now the golden dagger belongs to Jae-suk. Meanwhile, Hye-jin watches this at a distance and laughs, amused.

Ooh, Jae-suk’s power is interesting: Able to “resurrect” one of the eliminated, they’ll be his slave for a period of time. Jae-suk really gets stuck with the long phrases and this time, he needs to shout: “Aren’t you happy you’ve been resurrected?” That’s a mouthful.

Jae-suk lifts the dagger above his head… and stops: “What was it again?” Hahaha. Dong-wook: “Let’s hurry up!”

Jae-suk casts his charm and someone comes running out of jail. It’s Kwang-soo, who excitedly chants Jae-suk’s name in gratitude.

Kwang-soo gets the crowd riled up and Jae-suk basks in the applause. Jae-suk promises to send the extras home, but he says it like a question because he doesn’t have that authority. Then he has to clarify that it’s “No now, no now…”

Mr. PD further clarifies that Jae-suk can call for the following spirit if he eliminates someone within the time limit. If not, poor Kwang-soo’s soul will be lost. Kwang-soo: “So my lifespan is as long as a fruit fly’s?”

Jae-suk officially appoints Kwang-soo as his ghostly knight (and jokingly whacks him on the head with the dagger hilt) and promises gold should they win.

They set off and Jae-suk is a harsh master. A few feet later, Jae-suk declares he needs to “get up high” to see where the others are. As in, Hoist me onto your shoulders ghostly gangly giant!

Jae-suk spots Dong-wook in the distance and they give chase down the square. The duo struggle to tear off Dong-wook’s name tag when Kwang-soo recalls all the horrible treatment he received (in the last 10 minutes, mind).

Kwang-soo reaches for Jae-suk’s name tag (“Let’s die together!”) and the moment of distraction works in Dong-wook’s favor. But as soon as he tears off Jae-suk’s name tag, Hye-jin rips his name tag off.

Since Jae-suk was eliminated before the time limit, Hye-jin, the new dagger owner, can still utilized Kwang-soo’s services. He offers up some suggestions (“You can call me your guardian angel.”) but Mr. PD cuts him off: “He’s just a spirit.” Hye-jin: “A ghost then.”

Hye-jin orders her spirit slave to go find Ji-hyo. Kwang-soo complains that Ji-hyo’s yellow tunic makes her difficult to find.

Ji-hyo ponders her situation and some time later, she enlists the help of some more similarly dressed locals.

Hye-jin and Kwang-soo search high and low for Ji-hyo, unable to discern who’s who in the crowd. Now this is what I call Hide-and-Seek! They can’t even spot her when she’s right in front of their eyes!

Suddenly, Ji-hyo appears around the corner and tears off Hye-jin’s name tag. Ji-hyo reminds us why she’s the Ace – she initially grabs the name tag with her right hand but when Hye-jin whips around, Ji-hyo grabs it with her left.

Kwang-soo arrives belatedly and Hye-jin starts hitting him: “Where WERE you?!” As for Master Ji-hyo’s first order of business: “Kwang-soo, go to jail.” Pfft.

Everyone gathers around the golden turtle and Ji-hyo removes the golden dagger out of its sheath and pulls out the dagger in its entirety. She places it back into the turtle’s mouth (just as we saw it acted out in the play) and restores peace unto the world.

Now we learn the start of the legend: The golden dagger was restored and the turtle disappeared into the depth of the waters. The golden dagger, which brought out the greed in the people, was then divided into nine daggers scattered throughout Asia, waiting for the Running Man cast to return it to its rightful place.

RELATED POSTS

• Running Man: Episode 135
• Running Man: Episode 134
• Running Man: Episode 133
• Running Man: Episode 132
• Running Man: Episode 131
• Running Man: Episode 130