Running Man: Episode 269

by gummimochi

It’s a nostalgia-centered theme this week as our cast brings in some of their most precious belongings and travels to various establishments that have been around for decades, some nearly a century. Every year they collect counts to their end goal, and even if a few references are a wee before my time, there are still a couple of gems that are sure to hold us over—namely, Chunderella.

EPISODE 269. Broadcast on October 18, 2015.

Prior to the opening, our cast and guests are tasked to bring a meaningful personal possession—the older the better. Our first guest, actress Park Bo-young sweats because she’s the youngest of the group (born in 1990). We also catch a quick glimpse of the other guests: actors Lee Chun-hee) and Kim Hee-won.

Here to promote the movie Mutant, Kwang-soo greets his co-stars warmly. Man, I’ve forgotten how tall Chunderella is. And Jong-kook remarks that Chun-hee’s gotten a lot older over the years.

Hee-won literally gets swept off his feet and twirled around. Everyone remembers how cranky he got on the show in his last appearance, a stark comparison to his usual dark roles.

But neither of the actors’ receptions are as warm as when Bo-young joins them. When they name her as the lead, she points to Kwang-soo, since his character mutates into a man-fish (yes, you read that right). Jong-kook: “The real lead is the fish head.”

Before we dive into today’s mission, the group brings out their personal possessions. Jae-suk shows off the first good suit he wore after his debut because he was told that a celebrity needs a good suit. Using his mother’s credit card at the time, he slowly paid it off through monthly installments.

Bo-young peruses through her movies’ concept books before finding a picture of when she was baptized as an infant. Kwang-soo swings by his family home to show off his very first outfit as a baby, and ha, I love how he reminds his father to speak in jondaemal because this footage will be on national TV.

Jong-kook has brought a slim edition Walkman with him, and everyone still marvels at the then-fancy features like auto-reverse and the attached remote. Haha (with his crazy bed hair) shows off an old toy truck that he used to play with, passed onto his own son.

Chun-hee brings in the script of Ice Rain, his first movie, and Ji-hyo brings in a video of an older show Super Commando Bioman. She and her younger brother still know the theme song, and he says she often beat him up when they were kids. Hehe.

Gary brings in 150-year-old dice he bought when he flew to Europe two years ago. Suk-jin brings in a 3D model made of his son’s hands as a newborn. Hee-won hands over a picture he took over 24 years ago for a musical.

Separated into two teams (Bo-young: Kwang-soo, Jong-kook, Haha, and Suk-jin) vs. Ji-hyo: Gary, Jae-suk, Hee-won, and Chun-hee), they exchange the total amount of years with hourglass equivalents.

The first game is a quiz game to guess commercials of yore, and each correct answer earns them a 10-year hourglass. The game ends once an entire team is eliminated. Though initially sending Jong-kook out, Haha decides to step up instead when he sees Gary sent out for his team.

The first CF features Ryu Shi-won and Jeon Ji-hyun on the bus, and oh man, it’s on the tip of my tongue. Gary’s first guess of “I get off here” is incorrect, but Haha swoops in with the correct phrase in jondae.

Haha gets worried when Jae-suk steps in for the commercial jingles question since the latter knows so many. As expected, Jae-suk gets it right on the first try. Bo-young sits in the hot seat and makes a wild guess at her question, which Jae-suk gets right.

When Chun-hee and Kwang-soo must identify the lyrics to an oldie CF (in black-and-white!), only the mat hyungs recognize the jingle. Still, both guys keep guessing back and forth, and every wrong answer annoys the hyungs even more.

This CF is way before my time, and yet their constant guessing still cracks me up. Chun-hee does get it eventually, winning another ten-year hourglass for his team. Jong-kook gets his question correct, pulling Bo-young’s team ahead of Ji-hyo’s with 169 years to 131.

The group pairs off to engage in a 1:1 mission in five different locations (told by a PPL smart watch). Chun-hee and Kwang-soo are still hung up on that jingle, which Kwang-soo claims he sings with his family every week. When told to sing it on the spot, Kwang-soo isn’t able to.

The guys pull up to a barber shop that’s been around for nearly nine decades. One of the razors in the third-generation owner’s collection is over a hundred years old, which he claims is better than any modern blade.

While Ji-hyo and Bo-young are busy tasting various rice cakes at a shop that’s been around since 1972, Haha and Gary visit a restaurant frequented by well-known figures. At the herbal medicine spot, Hee-won winces at the acupuncture needle piercing his flesh.

Meanwhile, Jae-suk and Suk-jin visit a tailor that’s still in business from 1916. The owner claims he can tell what a person’s waist size with a glance. He guess of 40 inches on VJ Kwon-ryul turns out to be correct

Back at the barber shop, Kwang-soo looks tense sitting in the chair while the owner trims his hair. When it’s time to rinse his hair, the owner adds in a splash of apple vinegar. Chun-hee on the other hand, gets the closest shave of his life.

Forty minutes into the episode, we finally get to our 1:1 battle. Both Jae-suk and Suk-jin look pretty suave in their fitted suits, and with 100 years on the line, they’re told… to take everything off?

Whoever can strip down to their undies the fastest will win the round, and best two out of three wins. When Suk-jin has trouble with his buttons, he tries preventing Jae-suk from stripping down instead. The clock is still ticking though, and Jae-suk literally hops out of his trousers.

The second round is to see who can wear their clothes back on the fastest, which won’t be easy with clothes strewn everywhere. As soon as the clock begins, Jae-suk kicks away Suk-jin’s trousers.

Suk-jin retaliates, but at least Jae-suk can put his pants on before grabbing his shirt. And then Jae-suk steals Suk-jin’s trousers and jacket and runs out the door to drop them off at a nearby office. So what does Suk-jin do? Try and carry the barricade out with him. HA.

If he was gonna take clothes from another suit, I don’t really get why Suk-jin would choose to cover himself up with a jacket when he could just take the pants. Once he collects his clothes, he drops the jacket and then totally walks into the wrong office. Whoops.

Both men are seconds away from being fully dressed, so Suk-jin trades hats at the last moment to win the round. He warns the PD: “Don’t tell us to strip down again.”

Over at the rice cake shop, the ladies are told to build the tallest rice cake tower possible within 60 seconds. It’s so cute how Bo-young talks to her rice cake pieces, begging them to stand. “Just help me out this once, huh?”

When she sees that Ji-hyo’s is taller, she cries out in desperation: “Unnnniiiii!!” At the end, Bo-young’s tower is a half centimeter taller, prompting her to let out a relieved cry.

Elsewhere, Haha and Gary must separate 100 sets of utensils from a mixed bowl. Both Haha and Gary own their own restaurants, and Haha claims that Gary taught him everything he knows.

It’s actually kind of nuts watching them fish spoons out of a handful of chopsticks and vice versa. Haha finishes first, gaining 79 years for his team.

Chun-hee and Kwang-soo are tasked with a strange mission at the barber shop: transfer the most amount of shaving cream to a bowl using only their faces. Chun-hee dives into the pile of shaving cream, almost choking at times.

Kwang-soo plants his face into the plate too, and… I’m at a loss for words as he smears his face with the shaving cream. Needless to say, he wins it, but man I feel really bad for him.

Back at the tailor’s, Jae-suk and Suk-jin engage in a tie-breaking game of balancing hangers. Suk-jin’s last hanger hangs on until it slides to the side, taking the others with it and giving Ji-hyo’s team 100 years.

Jong-kook and Hee-won’s mission involves brute strength—the one who squeezes out the most herbal medicine wins. Hee-won puts his all into it, but then yelps when some of the hot liquid spatters on him. Then he sees Jong-kook squeeze the cloth with his bare hand.

The difference is a few grams, but Jong-kook wins it to add 92 years to his team. Not only that, all of our winners are given a special items from their shops.

Everyone gathers together again for the final mission: find the other team’s items and place them in your team’s display case. Again, we see them start their search, but then there’s that dreaded sound of bells in the distance.

Ah, there’s an alternative way to win: the classic nametag ripping race. Each team will switch off every 20 minutes from being Hiders vs. Seekers. While the Seekers are busy hunting, the Hiders will be searching for items.

So… you’re giving the Hiders busy work while they try to evade capture? So the total number of items themselves have nothing to do with the total number of years we’ve been counting so far. In any case, both teams go at it anyway, and we’re here for the nametag ripping fun.

Bo-young calls out for her male teammates after seeing a target through the glass. “How do we get over there?” she asks. Ji-hyo and Chun-hee are busy looking through the dressing room when Bo-young calls out looking for Gary.

She spots the two run out of the auditorium and immediately gives chase. Jong-kook joins in, but they lose Chun-hee who runs straight into the darkness.

When Hee-won discovers Suk-jin’s son’s handprints, he runs back to the display cases. Haha catches up to him, but since Hee-won’s in the safe zone, there’s nothing he can do… until they realize that Hee-won’s in the wrong team’s safe zone. Hahaha, so somehow he needs to traverse 10 feet to safety without getting caught in Haha’s open arms.

So when Jae-suk appears, Hee-won distracts Haha by pretending to toss over the item, which gives him enough time to hop over. Feeling much more at ease, Hee-won figures that he can wait out here until the switch.

Thinking that the coast is clear, Gary comes out of his hiding place only to run after hearing Jong-kook’s voice. Jong-kook walks over to the vending machines, not far from Gary’s new hiding place…

… and then we see him look over the trashcan to grab Gary. Outside, Hee-won and Jae-suk are surrounded by four Seekers. As soon as they decide to give it a break for now, the whistle blows, signaling the switch.

Ha, Kwang-soo gets caught trying to hide amongst the staff. Haha believes they’ll be fine if they stick together mere seconds before the switch.

As soon as Chun-hee spots Jong-kook, he gives chase down the hallway. He grabs a hold of Jong-kook’s sweater and Hee-won joins in. Both struggling, Hee-won gets his hand on Jong-kook’s nametag… and rips it off.

Outside, Haha can hardly believe his ears at the announcement. Suk-jin says “he” only has one nametag. Huh?

We turn the clocks back to learn how the teams could trade 100 years for an extra nametag. Aha, good to know that those numbers are worth something. This means that Bo-young’s team could buy four whereas Ji-hyo’s could buy two. Jae-suk: “If they buy four Kim Jong-kooks…” Gary: “Then that’s five Jong-kooks!”

So the team had gotten an extra nametag for everyone EXCEPT Jong-kook, because it was probably the safest choice. Who would’ve anticipated that Spartakooks would be taken out first?

As Gary yells out Bo-young’s presence, she’s spotted by none other than Ji-hyo. Once cornered, Ji-hyo asks for some names, which Bo-young doesn’t give. Kwang-soo comes to Bo-young’s rescue moments later, but Ji-hyo won’t give up that easily, tackling Kwang-soo with her upper body while trapping Bo-young with her legs.

Jae-suk comes to Ji-hyo’s aid just then, and they take out Bo-young and Kwang-soo together.

Haha breaks into a run when he sees Ji-hyo around the corner. Chun-hee grabs hold of him and Haha does his best to wriggle out of his grip, but in the end his nametag ends up in Chun-hee’s hands.

Suk-jin is over at the safe zone, where Hee-won asks him to throw in the towel since he beat him in an arm wrestling match last night. So Suk-jin proposes that if he beats Hee-won in another match, then he gets a minute head start.

So the two go head to head once more… and Suk-jin wins. Suk-jin cheerily calls out: “You can follow me in a minute!” Inside, Gary is called out again because the team bought his nametag earlier.

And when Ji-hyo shouts out Suk-jin’s presence, the mat hyung runs straight into Gary’s arms. Now that all of Bo-young’s team is eliminated, Ji-hyo’s team uses this precious in-between time to find more items.

In jail, Bo-young’s team decides to go with the all-kill elimination route—hide when they’re Hiders, then aggressively hunt while they’re Seekers. Everyone except Jong-kook is reinstated when the switch occurs.

Sitting alone, Jong-kook criticizes the ringing sound of bells until he realizes that it’s Bo-young. She reports that everyone is being petty and sitting tight in the safe zone. “We should do that too,” she adds. Heh.

Over at the safe zone, Jae-suk realizes that Jong-kook isn’t present. Without the obvious threat, he suggests that they go for the nametag ripping after the switch. They continue to taunt Haha, who screams in frustration.

Inside, Chun-hee continues the search until he hears bells. It’s Suk-jin, who tries to pull Chun-hee out of his hiding spot but to no avail. He’s seriously sweating, and it ultimately takes three people to move him enough to rip off his nametag.

Now it’s a 4:4 war, and Ji-hyo chases Suk-jin down to eliminate him. Gary finds Bo-young hiding in his old spot behind the trashcan. With Jae-suk’s help, they eliminate Bo-young too.

We catch up a little later after yet another switch. Kwang-soo runs after Ji-hyo, and Hee-won dares to step out of the safe zone… though he immediately falters as soon as he finds himself at a disadvantage.

Kwang-soo chomps down on Ji-hyo’s shoulder; she returns the favor. Jae-suk comes running to rescue Hee-won, who then tries to help Ji-hyo out. Too bad that gives Kwang-soo an opportunity to grab a hold of his own nametag and eliminate him.

As the Monday Couple try to hold Kwang-soo off, the latter eliminates Ji-hyo before heading over to help Haha. Gary joins in moments later, and there’s still bits of grass in Ji-hyo’s hair.

Meanwhile the two 1:1 battles continue outside, and it’s kinda funny how both Haha and Kwang-soo commentate on their own fights (Kwang-soo: “I’ve got Jae-suk hyung’s nametag!” Haha: “I’m busy fighting my own fight… wait, the tables have turned.”).

With Haha and Kwang-soo both pinned to the ground, Haha seizes an opportunity to lunge at Jae-suk’s nametag. He misses, and the struggle continues until the whistle blows to signal the switch.

While the crew sets them up, Haha worries about what happens now. “Will you accept our apology if we say that we’re sorry?” Feeling confident Jae-suk replies, “No.”

Jae-suk and Gary easily pin Haha and Kwang-soo to the ground as soon as the timer begins. Haha wonders, “We have endure this for 20 minutes?” It isn’t long before Gary eliminates Haha and Kwang-soo’s elimination follows soon afterward. Completely exhausted, all four men try to catch their breath.

But no one looks as weary as Hee-won, who brightens at the flash of gold, but could probably use a twelve-hour nap.

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