Running Man: Episode 278

by gummimochi

Old and new will collide in this year’s two-part Christmas special with a X-man meets Running Man mash-up. Legendary variety personas will return to relive past memories, and fresh faces will seek to make new ones. Nearly a decade since the show’s heyday, the best parts of old-school variety will be tested with a new mix of people. The competition is fierce, the one-liners are cutthroat, and some buried feelings finally come to light.

EPISODE 278. Broadcast on December 20, 2015.

This year’s Christmas special kicks off with the same X-Man style opening: MC Jae-suk flanked by today’s team leaders, Jong-kook and Suk-jin. Longtime variety fans may remember that Jong-kook’s spot used to be occupied by Kang Ho-dong, whereas several comedians used to stand in Suk-jin’s spot.

Soon the stage fills with today’s guests who are a nice mix of familiar and fresh faces, alike. Jong-kook’s team, Team Kim, is made up of those we saw back in 2005: singers Chae Yeon (who wishes she could be with the young’uns) and Stephanie, actress Lee Ji-hyun, Kim Jung-nam of Turbo, Shinhwa’s Andy, and actor Lee Jong-soo.

It feels like forever since I’ve seen Chae Yeon on a variety show, let alone television, and ha—I forgot that they used to tease her by her given name (Lee Jin-sook). She still remembers how her loveline with Jong-kook was casted aside because of Yoon Eun-hye. She admits that her ten-years-ago-self must’ve liked Jong-kook somewhat, but now things are awkward.

Speaking of awkward, Gary gets called out for trying to hide the fact that he’s been sneaking glances at AOA’s Seolhyun by wearing his sunglasses. The former Queen of Dangyunhaji Ji-hyun is now a mother of two, and she says she was looking forward to seeing Kim Jae-dong because she still feels bad for one of her one-liners in a Dangyunhaji exchange.

Jong-kook still remembers that she threw a pointed barb at him too (“You took drugs for your muscles, didn’t you?”), and she explains that she used to study for that game ahead of time (quick explanation: Dangyunhaji is a 1:1 verbal battle where you must answer “Of course!” to you opponent’s statements or questions, no matter how absurd. If you can’t come up with a good-enough comeback in time, you lose).

She’s prepped for today’s episode too, and if the preview is any indication, her words are going to cut deep. Then there’s Jung-nam who confirms the news about Turbo dropping a new single for the group’s 20th anniversary. It’s entitled “Again”, and it’s awesome.

Most people still remember Andy’s trademark “heart dance”, and Jong-kook has to intervene when Jae-suk does the heart sign with his fingers. He pulls out his “heart” for Chae-yeon from his behind, and when he’s told it looks like it came from his butt, Jae-suk swears it was his back pocket. Location is key, people!

“Eagle Eye” Jong-soo proves that he still has an intense stare that could kill when he’s pitted against Ji-hyo. Surprised, she simply backs away.

Then it’s time to introduce Suk-jin’s team, Team Ji: Seolhyun, comedienne Kim Ji-min, and Bobby and B.I. of iKON. Nearly all the guys on Team Kim get called out for trying to get a good look at Seolhyun, and Chae Yeon remarks that Jong-kook literally keeps turning his back against his teammates. Her expression of how it makes them feel alienated essentially dates herself.

Ji-min feels that she would’ve made a formidable opponent against the Queen of Dangyunhaji if she’d been on X-Man ten years ago. When she says it’d be going too far to poke at Ji-sun’s past, Jae-suk reminds her that the game was never meant to go that far.

Today is B.I. and Bobby’s first variety appearance ever—B.I.’s nervousness is apparent to everyone, and both boys speak softly. Asked why iKON hasn’t appeared in variety shows earlier, Bobby answers that it’s likely because the group was focused on their music. To that, veteran rapper Gary teases, “Do I not focus on music?”

Everything about today’s episode will follow the classic X-Man style from the dance intro to Destiny Child’s “Lose My Breath” to the caption aesthetics. Whereas the X-Man legends bust a move, the music cuts out when Kwang-soo sort of rolls on the round platform.

Chae Yeon: “This is the first time when the music has stopped, ever.” So Kwang-soo does another take and falls back on his trademark robotic dance moves and crosses his legs to make an “X” for his finish. Ha, good choice with sticking to what you know.

The iKON boys impress with their dance routines, and B.I. engages in a mini dance battle with Jung-nam. Jong-soo’s dance looks like the start of a Magic Mike routine, and Ji-min brings on the laughs with her exaggerated moves.

Jong-kook shows off the “hip hop move” we haven’t seen in some time, and Stephanie proves that she can still rock the same moves she used to bust a decade ago.

While everyone eats some Christmas sweets, one by one they step forward to find out if they’re today’s X-Man. For the uninformed, the basic format of the show is this: One person is the X-Man, whose job is to sabotage their team from winning while keeping their identity a secret. At the end, the teams would vote on who is the X-Man—if they guessed correctly, then the money they earned through the games would be donated under their names. If they were wrong, the X-Man would win and the money donated under that person’s name.

So seeing the star’s reaction to being told whether or not they are X-Man is part of the fun. The responses range from silence to dramatics to simple acceptance.

Seeing everyone dressed in tracksuits really brings back memories, as does the first game: platform wrestling. We’ve seen variations of this game on Running Man, most commonly played in a pool, and the goal today is to two out of three rounds.

Because today’s episode is a mashup of new and old, there’s also an R-Man in addition to the X-Man amongst them. The R-Man is basically the X-Man’s accomplice… and those long legs gives it away: Kwang-soo.

Turns out he’d been whisked away just before the first game to meet with the PD. His role as R-Man is to protect the identity of the X-Man—should he succeed, they both come out as victors. Problem is, neither knows who the other is.

And so the battle of wits begins as Haha mentions that the X-Man would often use body language to identify themselves to the cameras. Kwang-soo tries to create an “R” with his hands.

Chae Yeon and Ji-hyo stand in front of their respective packs, and it’s Chae Yeon who makes the first move. That battle only lasts a few seconds until Jae-suk says the others should step up too. So they decide to tackle this game with 1:1 rounds with Jong-kook taking the lead.

He blushes of course when Team Ji sends out Seolhyun, who takes his hand and arm before pulling him off the platform. Such an easy defeat makes Kwang-soo wonder if Jong-kook might be the X-Man, whereas Team Ki is left flabbergasted.

But Jung-nam falls for her smile too, and his attempt to avoid attack only results in him getting gently rolled off. Andy goes up against B.I., who gets pulled into Team Kim’s arms. Team Ji retaliates by stampeding into their opponents to push them off, which has Jong-kook tsk at his teammates for losing too easily. Says the man who all but jumped off the platform.

Bobby is pushed forward to face Jong-kook in Round 2; though he falls off, so does Jong-kook. Hmm. Kwang-soo involuntarily flinches when Jong-soo draws near, but when Andy grabs one of his legs, his teammates try to pull him back with the other into an awfully painful-looking split.

In the end, Kwang-soo pulls Haha out with him. More people are eliminated, and then Seolhyun is brought forward to face Jong-soo. He wavers for a moment before pulling her behind him, and his female teammates push her off.

Angry, Team Ji stampedes into them to force their opponents off their platform. Watching Suk-jin’s elimination has the gears in Kwang-soo’s head turning again, and Ji-hyo makes sure to bring two down with her.

Having to hold down the fort alone, Ji-min slips under Jong-soo’s legs and spreads out on the platform. That doesn’t last long, and Team Kim evens up the score.

It’s a guys-only battle for Round 3, and Jong-kook agrees to a handicap of only using one arm. Team Ji tries to push ahead, but it’s like pushing against a wall and all of them go down… except Kwang-soo.

Kwang-soo actually manages to hold on, but it isn’t long before he’s picked up and swung out. In their individual interviews, Andy, Stephanie, and Seol-hyun all suspect Jong-kook and several people suspect Seolhyun.

Then there’s Kwang-soo, who admits that this idea of identifying the X-Man is much harder than he thought. Right now, he thinks it’s Andy.

Today’s second game is none other than Danghyunhaji, and Jong-kook and Ji-hyun step forward to show the young’uns how it’s done. Everything about this setup brings up old memories, and Kwang-soo chimes in how he and his fellow soldiers hated Jong-kook and his oh-so-romantic character.

The epitome of that hatred was Jong-kook’s most romantic moment of when he covered Yoon Eun-hye’s ears so she wouldn’t hear his answer. So they begin, and Ji-hyun hesitates on the very first question: “Are you happy now that you’re married?”

But Ji-hyun has a punch of her own: “Back in the X-Man days, you dated Yoon Eun-hye for real, didn’t you?” This is the very question that many viewers had hoped to get an answer to for the past decade… and Jong-kook bows out.

With that, our first confrontation begins with Chae Yeon vs. Ji-min. Ji-min throws the first punch: “You know you’ve got foundation stuck between the wrinkles around your eyes ?” Her second punch is just as fierce: “Dating someone younger means that he’s in his mid-thirties, right?”

You can practically see the blood rising in Chae Yeon’s face despite her attempt to keep her cool. And then Ji-min delivers the final blow: “You know if you’d gotten married early, your son would be a college student, right?” Man, I’ve missed this game.

When Jong-soo is sent out next, Ji-hyun says if all else fails, he can try to flirt with Ji-min. Even before the actual battle begins, Jong-soo says he can’t tell if his racing heart is because it’s been 10 years since he’s played Dangyunhaji or if it’s because of Ji-min. Whoa, what a line.

But then Ji-min returns that what he said had no effect on her. That shakes Jong-soo up for a moment before trying a weak acrostic poem attack. She returns the favor with a killer line: “Don’t get any funny ideas.”

No guy is confident in going up against Seolhyun, but then Haha is pushed forward. He may be married with a kid now, but would he dig deep and revert back to his flirtatious variety persona of yore?

He makes sure to openly declare on camera that this is solely for work, and starts off with one compliment. Seolhyun readily accepts it and returns, “You’re shorter than me, aren’t you?”

Team Kim immediately switches Haha out for Andy, who’s confident he can end it with one line: “Will you marry me?” Seolhyun hesitates and both sides shout conflicting advice, like how this is all just a game or that her “Of course” answer is basically a yes. She takes the latter route, and follows up with: “Let’s get divorced.”

In the next match, Stephanie feels awkward facing B.I., whom she doesn’t really know. To that, B.I. starts off: “You know I don’t know who you are either.” He’s immediately apologetic about it, and she asks if only his stage name is English. It is (his given name is Kim Han-bin).

She asks in English what it stands for, and B.I. answers that he’s never been to America. So they both for the name attack, and Stephanie wins by asking if his stage name is akin to a failed underwear brand (BIC).

Then it’s time for the Queen of Dangyunhaji Ji-hyun to take a stand against Incriminating Kwang-soo. Ji-hyun breezes through Kwang-soo’s first attack, and delivers her first punch: “I heard you wore a fish head in your last movie… and that you’re practicing to play a turtle.” Kwang-soo is unable to answer fast enough.

Now the score is tied 4:4, and Gary is sent to face Haha, who attacks first: “Standing next to B.I… you’re a squid, aren’t you?” In order to relieve the building tension, the music cuts to the ol’ “Jjoah” tune.

Gary tries attacking Haha by saying that the woman he loves isn’t his wife, Byul. Haha replies “of course” … because it’s Go-eun (Byul’s given name). Haha follows up with another squid-related question, and Ji-hyo whispers into Gary’s ear to help him out.

Too bad Haha wholeheartedly agrees to the question (“You think you’re the god of reggae in Korea, don’t you?”), and then asks the questions every variety show viewer now hopes to get an answer to: “You and Song Ji-hyo are dating for real, right?”

Gary takes a beat before stepping back… to cover Seolhyun’s ears: “Of course.” Hahaha, nice move, sir.

Rejuvenated now, Gary asks if Haha likes being on Infinite Challenge more than Running Man. And Haha steps forward to cover the PD’s ear before answering, “Of course.”

Haha has one last trick up his sleeve: “If you go ‘get some air,’ you become a dried squid, don’t you?” (“Get Some Air” is a track off of Gary’s solo album.) That secures Team Kim’s win and sets off Gary’s temper.

Everyone gets dressed up for their next game—Suk-jin defends his choice of his fur-lined blazer, and Chae Yeon’s opted to revive her edgy look. The conversation veers toward the mission at hand—figuring out who the X-Man is, to which Chae Yeon confesses that they usually tend to forget because they’re so caught up in the games.

But as of now the game: where five guys will try their best to appeal to three girls, in hopes to be successful paired up with one of them. Suk-jin starts off with a song performance and uses a cheat sheet, which Jae-suk steals way. Hahaha.

It seems like Suk-jin has his eye on Seolhyun, but then he opens up his jacket to reveal a picture of… Ji-hyo? She looks pretty uncomfortable about it.

Cutie B.I. impresses with a smooth dance performance and slides towards Ji-hyo. I love Gary’s “What the?” expression. Gary tries to follow that up with his own dance routine, only that he can’t clear any of his breakdancing moves.

He’s told to try and mimic B.I.’s performance then, and he does the same hip dance in front of Seolhyun before trying the windmill for the third time. It doesn’t work. Jae-suk tries it out too, and I have to say—the hip dance part is pretty good.

Bobby’s up next, and he confesses that he’s a real-life fan of Ji-min’s. Aww, that’s cute. His smooth rap lyrics of how he wants to make the woman who makes the world laugh, smile himself is downright adorable. He follows that up with a powerful dance performance and a cute little backhug.

Last but not least is Kwang-soo, who hopes to convey his sincerity to his special someone. Even before he sings, he covers Ji-hyo with his coat… which she shrugs right off. LOL. He tries taking his sweater off to cover Ji-min, but she chucks that away too.

But never fear—Kwang-soo’s also prepared a single red roses to give. Seolhyun takes one, and in the middle of the chorus of Kim Bum-soo’s “I Miss You”‘s high notes, Kwang-soo mutters: “Didn’t I ask you guys to lower it by a key?” HA.

She accepts the coat and sweater as well, and some time during that performance, Kwang-soo must’ve taken off his shoes.

Now it’s the ladies’ time to impress, and Seolhyun dances in front of Kwang-soo and Gary before leading Gary to the floor. Kwang-soo is not pleased.

Ji-hyo puts on a cute little dance to 4 Minute’s “Hot Issue,” and Ji-min? She does an impression of Lee Jung-jae from The Face Reader. Her impression of Jong-kook’s “mosquito voice” is hilarious.

Then it’s the moment of truth, and Suk-jin chooses Ji-hyo. She passes on the offer. B.I. drops to banmal to choose Ji-hyo… who accepts even before Jae-suk counts to three. Gary choose Seolhyun, who smiles and accepts.

As expected, Bobby and Ji-min pair up. Kwang-soo has a single rose in his hand and swears his choice is sincere. He extends his hand to Seolhyun and even gets down on one knee…

… but we won’t get to hear that answer until next week, when the X-Man special continues and the real X-Man will be revealed.

RELATED POSTS

• Running Man: Episode 277
• Running Man: Episode 276
• Running Man: Episode 275
• Running Man: Episode 274
• Running Man: Episode 273
• Running Man: Episode 272