Running Man: Episode 289

by gummimochi

Get ready for an adventure of epic proportions. Our cast flies out to Dubai with a couple of friends and will meet all sorts of challenges and create unforgettable memories. What starts off as a relaxing trip will have an edge of competitiveness as they jump from great heights, try the local treats, and eat the golden sand, all to make sure they have a roof over their heads that night. Will they be able to make it through the day or burn under the sun?

EPISODE 289. Broadcast on March 6, 2016.

Our cast gathers at Incheon Airport for what looks like an epic adventure in Dubai. Everyone is (rightfully) suspicious about going abroad on a so-called vaycay this show, but at least they aren’t alone. Aw it’s Jung Il-woo and Lee Da-hae.

Da-hae gets found out right away, and oh man, I can’t wait to see Il-woo fall in the sand. It just so happens that Da-hae and Il-woo go way back—he came by her agency’s building as an aspiring actor, and she treated him to a meal that day thirteen years ago.

On their way to catching their flight, Ji-hyo shares that she read that buying gold is very accessible; one can buy gold on the streets of Dubai. Everyone has their own copy of a travel guide, and both Il-woo and Da-hae have enough variety experience under their belts to question whether they need to memorize the guide or not.

10 hours later, the cast lands in Dubai. Aw, the fans are chanting Asia Prince Kwang-soo’s name. It’s just past six here, and the cast gets excited at seeing the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, firsthand (“Mission Impossible!”).

They get even more excited when they learn that this famous building is their destination. The elevator only has two buttons, and one minute later, they arrive at the observation deck on the 124th floor. The view is simply breathtaking.

The cast is struck with disbelief when they’re told that they have the day off today. The production crew has gone ahead to recommend five activities to do, and the PD stresses that these missions are optional. Flabbergasted, Kwang-soo asks, “Who did you think would go sky diving in this group?”

Again, the PD tells them that they can do whatever they like, but they’ll receive a grasshopper stamp as a reward if they complete a mission. Why a grasshopper, you say? Because the word Dubai means “grasshopper” in Arabic. Aww, it’s like Jae-suk coming home.

Ah, here’s the incentive: getting 10 grasshopper stamps by 3 PM will earn them a luxury resort stay… for five people. The remaining four will pitch a tent in the desert. Let the competitive games begin.

Haha, Kwang-soo, Suk-jin, and Jae-suk all prepare themselves for their inevitable fate tonight. Jae-suk is given a glimpse into each extreme, and all he can see in the desert is sand.

Jong-kook and Il-woo are dead-set on going skydiving, and Jae-suk says they can do that and then disappear for the rest of the episode. The group plans out their individual itineraries over breakfast, where Da-hae asks if more than two people can go skydiving.

Everyone heads out at 8 AM, and Jong-kook shares how he once gave up the chance to go skydiving in his 20s, thinking that he’d have plenty of opportunities later on. Da-hae is already having second thoughts, and gets nervous again when the guys mention that they all have to sign a waiver.

Da-hae says she hasn’t even gone bungee jumping before, and Il-woo wonders if she’ll end up fainting during the experience. Her jaw drops when she’s told that she’ll be dropping out of an airplane, thinking that she’d only be falling from several hundred feet at most.

While we wait on her decision, we catch up with Haha and Kwang-soo. Haha says it’s super cold in the desert at night, and plus—the desert is made for people like Jae-suk and Gary, not them. Lol.

In a different car, Suk-jin asks if Jae-suk knows enough English to get around. Suk-jin goes first and his attempt to say “What time does the shuttle bus to the Dubai Mall depart?” turns into: “Dubai Mall shuttle bus, what time?”

For Suk-jin, it’s all about confidence as he strikes up a conversation with their driver in his broken English. Jae-suk then puts his language skills in perspective, citing how it’s like only using vocabulary to speak to someone.

They arrive at Souk Madinat Jumeirah, a marketplace located in the heart of Dubai. Jae-suk jokingly pulls rank as the celebrity sunbae, though Suk-jin points out that when they were both doing Entertainment Weekly together, it was Jae-suk who got fired first. Laughing, Jae-suk returns, “You were fired three weeks later!”

The mat hyungs marvel at the upscale structure, then double back when they see a vending machine that dispenses gold.

Ji-hyo is fast asleep while Gary talks, but he wakes her up to look at the ocean. Their destination is Jumeirah Beach, and they enjoy themselves taking pictures and looking out at the clear water. “The ocean looks like you!” he exclaims.

Haha and Kwang-soo are at JBR (Jumeirah Beach Residence), trying their best not to look like tourists. Hahah, Kwang-soo blushes at the sight of bikini-clad women nearby. Haha meets an avid fan who also knows a bit of Korean, and they’re so excited about everything here that they nearly forget about the available mission.

Embarrassed by the flag nearby, Haha mutters, “Tell them to take those away.” The guys even tells the filming crew to pretend not to acknowledge them lest the locals judge them. But at least the sunny weather makes everyone happy here!

They have a choice between one of two games here, so Haha chooses the easier one. It’ll be a game of charades worth one stamp where they’ll need the help of a foreigner and correctly answer at least seven questions within 90 seconds.

Kwang-soo recruits an Italian man, and he’s stumped by the first question: a sloth. He moves onto the next question, then tries acting out a hamster. “I like ham!” Haha plays interference, and eventually Kwang-soo gets to the word “squid.”

“Kang Gary!” he cries. Wow, he’s so not gonna get that. The man answers, “Kangaroo!” Haha keeps feeding the man answers until he finally shouts in Korean: “Short arm octopus!”

Meanwhile, Jae-suk and Suk-jin get on a boat, and when Suk-jin asks how fast this thing will go, Jae-suk teases him for his lack of overseas MC-ing skills. Jae-suk marvels at a family who all have blond hair, to which Suk-jin retorts that that’s how genetics works.

Suk-jin doesn’t believe that the clear, emerald water is seawater, so Jae-suk tells him to have some and see. They play rock-paper-scissors to see who’ll drink the water, and Suk-jin loses. He has a taste and deduces, “It’s salty!”

As the boat ride progresses, neither of them can figure out what the mission is and now they’ve come full circle. Oh man, were they supposed to be paying attention to something?

HA—they were supposed to count how many bridges they traveled under. Suk-jin takes a shot in the dark and Jae-suk whispers, “How many?” Seven, Jae-suk. Seven.

Back to our skydiving trio, and Da-hae gets sensitive when her weight is accidentally captured onscreen. Oh honey, I was worried that you’d be too light to go skydiving. All of them go through safety training, and the crew tells them that they’re on their own once they head out those doors.

Completing this activity will earn them ten stamps, which means a guaranteed stay at the resort. Oh by the way, they’ll be jumping from 13,000 ft.

The crew gives them a final opportunity to back out… but none of them do. Meanwhile, Gary is busy playing a relay race with two foreigners. He thinks he’s filling sand in a bucket, but unbeknownst to him, hardly any of it ends up in the bucket.

Still, he keeps going and he successfully picks up two stamps. Ji-hyo’s mission is to squeeze water out of a wet towel and completes that for one stamp. Suk-jin is looking to go shopping, so Jae-suk suggests that he can buy something cheap with his 200 UAE dirham: “Gasoline.”

They arrive at the zipline mission, which honestly sounds really fun. They arrive at the roof and gape at the height. But it honestly looks like so much fun!!

The Monday Couple head for the marketplace where they eat ice cream and marvel at the Turkish delights. Ji-hyo snorts when Gary calls her his “girlfriend”, and after he buys some, she decides to take care of their finances.

They observe a vendor creating images in a bottle using sand, and this is where their mission is: put a puzzle together before the seller finishes a product. Gary has trouble with the sliding puzzle, so Ji-hyo strikes up conversation with the seller in order to buy some more time.

Somehow Gary completes it, to his utter surprise. Looking at the desert on the bottle of sand, he remarks that it reminds him of where he’ll be sleeping tonight.

It’s now noon, and Jae-suk and Suk-jin are told that the zipline is a 40-second trip. They decide to sign the waiver, though Jae-suk asks for a different-colored pen than red (which is usually reserved to write the names of the deceased). Already this seems ominous.

Jae-suk is given a GoPro camera to take with him on the ride, and he stows away his glasses. When he’s strapped in, the maknae PD instructs him that he’ll need to memorize three words on his trip down.

Jae-suk is released, and the straps fly up to his face while he zips down. He apologizes for all of his wrongs on his way down, but at least he gets all three words right and picks up three stamps. As for Suk-jin? We’re told that he backs out.

A little later, Kwang-soo gets strapped in and refuses to listen to the words he needs to memorize. The Giraffe goes flying, and I bet one can hear his screams from a mile away. He loses his hat somewhere during the ride, and doesn’t get a single word right.

With thirty minutes left, Ji-hyo and Gary lead with seven stamps each. Time to check back in with our skydiving trio who get on the plane to take them to an altitude of 13,000 ft.

Once they reach their altitude, Jong-kook is up first. The instructor jumps, and we’ve got a flying Tiger in the sky, people! Wow, that aerial view is amazing.

It’s time for Il-woo (and his instructor) to jump, giving us some incredible shots. Last but not least is Da-hae, and the woman who’s never jumped before now spreads her arms to enjoy the ride.

Jong-kook and his instructor make a smooth landing, followed by Il-woo and Da-hae. She’s on cloud nine and exclaims she wants to do it again. Once time is up, it really looks like Haha, Kwang-soo, Suk-jin, and Jae-suk will be sleeping in the desert tonight.

But for now, everyone heads out to the desert where the drivers let out some air from the tires. It’s time to travel through some sand dunes, and when Suk-jin marvels at the antelope, Jong-kook says they’re related to the impala.

Now the real adventure begins as the drivers drive up and down the sand dunes. Jae-suk says he has nothing to hold onto because someone else broke the handle already. They stop in the middle of the desert before the sun sets, and Jae-suk asks if Suk-jin should start pitching his tent since he’s in last place.

They’ll be playing a final game that consists of three rounds. Each round is worth three stamps, so the four who are currently faced to spend the night in the desert still have a shot.

Since they’re battling the setting sun, the PD quickly explains the rules: open up the box and run in those shoes to grab the flag. Everyone runs when the whistle blows, and Gary ends up with slippers whereas Haha gets toe socks.

I suppose that’s better than Jae-suk in heels and Kwang-soo in straw sandals. Or not, because Jae-suk slips right into them and runs to grab the flag. The Easy Brothers are now out of the running to stay in a hotel with their three stamps.

In the second round, Gary ends up with the slippers again, Ji-hyo in the heels, Haha has sandals, and Jae-suk has the toe socks. The Monday Couple runs out first and… Gary grabs the flag. Now that’s betrayal.

Of course he feels bad about it two seconds too late, and Ji-hyo says he kicked up sand in her face. In the picture-in-picture, we learn that Ji-hyo secured the last spot in the hotel (though she said earlier she would’ve been fine with sleeping in the desert).

Looking at the four stuck in the desert, why people might think that they planned this outcome from the start. Suk-jin remembers that the four of them went on the roller coaster in Taiwan together, too.

Everyone feels bad leaving the four behind, and Il-woo gives them a chocolate bar that they immediately fight over. LOL. As the darkness settles in, Jae-suk warns the others not to go too far lest they die.

He’s just trying to be realistic, and when Suk-jin is afraid of meeting a rattlesnake, he tells him that those only live in North America. Ha, he’s like the walking Discovery Channel. He adds that not all of them can survive the night, a comment that totally backfires on him.

The remaining five head back to the hotel where they enjoy a scrumptious-looking buffet. Da-hae remarks how romantic the scenery is, and Il-woo says he feels like the fifth wheel right now. Oh, do you need a date? Don’t mind if I do.

Gary captures a photo with the 360-degree camera, and then we’re given a glimpse into what the night and the next day will bring: a golden grasshopper and a battle against the sands of time.

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