Running Man: Episode 321

by gummimochi

Having enough money to own property will be a challenge this week when our cast and guests are locked into a house they cannot escape. A cheery outing will quickly turn into a stressful event where every decision will come with a consequence. They’ll soon realize that every penny and plot of land is crucial to this game, and only the team who uses their brains will come out on top.

EPISODE 321. Broadcast on October 16, 2016.

No better than a warm autumn day to go on a little retreat, as our cast arrives with identical rolling suitcases. Jae-suk immediately calls Jong-kook out for only wearing black in recent weeks, then teases Suk-jin for breaking out the black leather jacket too early for today’s unseasonably warm weather.

He’s compelled to point out how their MT location is a container, but at least he and the cast will be joined by some guests: MC Park Soo-hong, comedienne Park Na-rae, actor Lee Kyu-han, comedian Yang Se-chan, and LABOUM’S Solbin.

Evidently Soo-hong’s mother had mentioned her son’s clubbing habits on the variety show Mom’s Diary, which despite his worries, made his younger family members proud. Jong-kook adds how the reception to this news has inspired Suk-jin to hit the clubs too. Soo-hong says Suk-jin even called him up to ask: “Are [the clubs] open on Sundays too?”

Na-rae is embarrassed when Jae-suk points out the lipstick stains on her teeth, and Kyu-han takes the idea of his random guest appearance in stride, showing off his dry variety humor by saying that he’s not quite sure why he’s here either.

When a bee buzzes in front of them, Kyu-han tells everyone that an expert told him that you should never stay still if a bee buzzes by because that gives the bee time to sting you. Jae-suk gets dangerously close to an awkward moment when he nearly flicks a bug on Na-rae’s chest.

Se-chan’s interview is cut short when he describes older brother and fellow comedian Yang Se-hyung as an “upright person” (Yang Se-hyung was one of four celebrities who were prosecuted for illegal gambling in November 2013).

The conversation shifts to how uncomfortably hot Na-rae and Suk-jin are in their leather attire. Moving on to Solbin, Haha points out loverboy Kwang-soo’s streak of falling for girls whose names end in “-bin” (e.g., Lee Seon-bin and Chae Soo-bin).

Time to choose today’s teams, and Kwang-soo and Jong-kook’s dreams are quickly dashed when Solbin isn’t on their teams. Soo-hong rejoices when Solbin chooses his team color, Red, only to turn red himself when Haha places the ball back in the box. LOL.

Jae-suk’s idea of having Solbin choose last comes back to bite him when he realizes that means he definitely won’t be her teammate. She ends up joining the Blue Team, and here’s our team breakdown: Green (Kwang-soo, Se-chan, and Suk-jin), Orange (Jong-kook, Na-rae, and Ji-hyo), Red (Soo-hong, Gary, and Jae-suk), and Blue (Kyu-han, Haha, and Solbin).

The lineup starts with a cheerful Kyu-han (“Time will go by so quickly today!”) to Soo-hong’s disappointment, down to Se-chan’s annoyance that he’s flanked by the Easy Brothers.

Today’s game is similar to “The House” episode early this year: Once the teams enter the container home, they cannot leave; however, the teams can buy property squares and items using R-money. Having lots of money and property will make winning easier, and any team who goes bankrupt will be eliminated automatically and face a punishment.

The teams can exchange the goods on their persons for R-money at the neighborhood pawn shop. Unfortunately the “ajusshi” behind the counter isn’t the Ajusshi everyone loves (Won Bin), but comedian Do Kwang-rok from the comedy show People Who Seek Laughter.

The teams strip down and try to squeeze the pawn shop owner as much R-money as they can get. Kwang-soo hears Jae-suk’s plea for 10R (shib-al) as shi-bal (which is “fuck” in Korean), and in the end the teams end up with: Orange (416R), Blue (420R), Red (510R), and Green (501R).

A crucial four-way chicken fight will determine which team will get to claim property first. Soo-hong advises that they all need to work together to take down Jong-kook, but then Se-chan—who had been talking a big game just minutes earlier—collapses to the ground. Needless to say, the Easy Brothers are NOT happy about it.

Instead of hunting the Tiger, Kyu-han opts to attack Soo-bong instead, but then they both lose their balance. Pfft, that was hilariously anticlimactic.

So the Orange Team gets to choose their tiles first and claim two tiles by the kitchen and a hoppable path to the bathroom. They buy up a few more to accommodate Na-rae’s short jump range, and now they’ve got a strategic setup.

The Red Team buys up the other tiles by the kitchen, surround the Orange Team’s path to the bathroom, as well as buy up the path to the DJ booth. By the time the Green Team gets to choose, they blow most of their money buying up most of the living space.

Once the game begins, the teams can only travel within their property—passing through another team’s zone will cost a fee. Jae-suk is pleased that some of the teams will have to pass through the Red Team tiles in order to buy any food. Haha retaliates by pulling down his shorts.

The teams run into trouble from the front door, since the others need to cross either the Red Team or Orange Team’s zone. That sparks a discount war between the property owners, and the Orange Team wins out with a fee of 1R per tile (versus 10R).

Kyu-han pushes Kwang-soo from behind while the latter is piggybacking Suk-jin. They both land on the Red Team’s property, and the Red Team is quick to be paid the usual 10R per tile per person fee.

But they do agree to a 1R per tile fee, and Kwang-soo quickly racks up debt with Suk-jin on his back. Suk-jin’s heels touch the Orange Team’s zone when he jumps to the Green zone.

Then it’s the Blue Team’s turn to enter, and Kyu-han’s flying jump entrance fails fantastically. To keep things moving along, the Red Team accepts a flat fee of 10R for the Blue Team.

While both Kyu-han and Haha jump to their next wide zone, Solbin stops short and falls to her knees. Now that everyone is in their respective zones, the Red Team leisurely think of buying ramyun while the Green Team figures they can just get delivery.

Gary heads out to buy food from the surprisingly expensive pop-up store that offers ramyun packets for 10R each (but come without chopsticks) and instant ramyun for 20R each (but come with chopsticks!). Ha, delivery is an extra 10R.

The Blue and Green Teams pool their money to buy food. Se-chan and Kwang-soo nearly spend all their money on ramyun ingredients, and Se-chan suggests that they lie to the Blue Team in order to recoup some of the cost.

Jong-kook reacts belatedly when a sign falls on his shoulder. Na-rae milks the “injury” for all its worth by telling the owner Kwang-rok about Jong-kook’s fists. The guilt trip works like a charm.

Solbin uses her noggin’ when Se-chan tries to pull a fast one on her team, citing how their total amount couldn’t possibly buy all that food. They quickly make amends by paying a fee to have one ramyun cooked and eating the other packet raw.

Na-rae buys back her homemade kimchi and pork belly to make a braised dish (topped off with MSG, hahaha). Even getting a cup of water is a complicated affair, and the Blue Team buys a bowl of water.

Seeing an opportunity to steal a drink versus buying it, Kwang-soo swipes the bowl. By the time Haha throws a fit, the Green Team has had their fill. Na-rae is willing to sell some of her braised dish for a price, which makes Suk-jin so desperate that he nearly pulls up some of his team’s tiles.

Just then, the teams are alerted about a move-in celebration where each team must buy two food items for another team. The catch: the recipients must consume all food given to them.

The teams may sell some property to recoup enough money to buy food. Several people suggest that they buy the other teams some refreshing watermelon, though the ominous music suggests that fruit will come at a dear price.

When Suk-jin offers to sell his team’s property for 7R a tile, Jae-suk reminds him that the bank would buy the property for 5R each. More wordplay is thrown around with Jae-suk’s pronunciation of “7R” (chil-ahl) sounding much like ji-ral (used to describe a person or object as “ludicrous” in Korean).

Kwang-soo and Se-chan have to stop Suk-jin from pulling up their property once again by trying to pull down his shorts. Lol.

Kyu-han and Se-chan do impersonations while everyone chomps down on watermelon. But the consequence of eating the water-filled fruit is swift because now nature is calling.

Kwang-soo is willing to pay 2R in fees to get to the bathroom, but his teammates pull him back. And then in their argument of choosing which tiles to sell, all three start pulling each other’s shorts down. Suk-jin: “Let’s just sell it all and die!”

Everyone is alerted of their next mission: Your Land is Mine. Here the teams will play three games and bet a portion of land. The Blue and Red Teams face off in the first game of Electric Shot Roulette where the last team member left standing wins three tiles from the losing team.

Both teams place their fingers into the slots and wait… and Gary reels in literal shock. Haha is next to go, then Kyu-han grimaces from the shock, which means the Red Team wins this round.

Jae-suk and Kwang-soo represent their teams for the next game where only one of two markers work. Whoever ends up with a huge black dot on their face, loses. And as (variety) luck would have it, Kwang-soo ends up with the marked face.

Solbin and Gary are next… and Solbin ends up with thick, black brows. The last game is Pop-Up Pirate, where the first team to make the pirate fly, wins. Each team rep takes a turn without any luck, and finally Se-chan asks Kwang-soo for his advice…

…and sure enough, the pirate pops out of the barrel. Now that’s what you call the luckiest unlucky man.

Afterward, the teams are advised to sell some land because while property is advantageous, they’ll need some spending cash. Not long after that, the alarm sounds that their luggage has been stolen—time to head to the Heyri Art Valley.

The rules are straightforward: Complete the team mission and return with a nametag to get back the suitcases and earn some R-money. The Blue Team must take photos of the locations that match their picture clues.

The Red Team plays Telephone Charades wearing mouthguards, and hilariously twist the words with each person down the line. I especially love how the sound of coughing (“Cough, cough”) transforms to Soo-hong yelling, “Club, club!”

The Green Team needs to give an autograph to someone wearing their team color. A shy girl wearing blue-green sneakers declines Kwang-soo’s autograph, which prompts him to add: “It may not be valuable now, but it could be of great value in the future!” Yeah, that doesn’t work.

The Orange Team approaches the Red Team, and then Na-rae rips off Gary’s nametag. Turns out they already completed their mission, and their luggage is returned to them with 50R.

The Green Team runs into the shy girl again, and this time Kwang-soo gets on his knees to beg. He initially walks away when she refuses, but then he gets annoyed and asks how old she is that she’d dare not to listen to him.

The Green Team runs into the Red Team, who have already completed their mission. Both teams lunge for their opponents’ nametag and briefly decide to part ways before charging at each other.

Soo-hong grabs Suk-jin’s nametag first, and the Red Team pick up their luggage and 30R. The Green Team comes in third and get 10R while the Blue Team only gets their luggage back.

For today’s final mission, the teams must escape the house with their luggage. Each team’s two-digit lock combination is hidden under two spaces of another team’s property. Should they find a different team’s digit, they may place a R-stick on top, and the first team to unlock their luggage and escape will win.

So the Orange Team rolls a two, but both of their choices are duds. The Red Team rolls a six, but they keep peeling back the space adjacent to the space they need. They do, however, find one of the Orange Team’s lock combinations.

Kwang-soo uses his team’s one chance on a dud. He’s punished with some hard smacks on the butt.

The Blue Team luck out with a chance card that allows them to find out what lies beneath one space of another team’s property. Unfortunately Solbin chooses a dud, and Kyu-han remarks on her bad luck: “Are you the Three Calamities?” Thankfully the next space they peel back reveals one of their lock combinations.

The Orange Team peels back the square the Red Team previously placed a R-sticker on. Luck is on Soo-hong’s side when his team’s roll lands on the number he called out again.

The Red Team initially think they’re onto something when they see a card under the first tile. Turns out it’s a maintenance fee of 50R. Yikes. They get a string of bad luck until their final chance reveals one of the combinations they need.

Everyone keeps searching, and a bit later the Green Team is given the opportunity… to let another team know where one lock combination is. As the only team who has yet to find any combinations of their own, this is a move they cannot afford. Just think—they would essentially be handing over victory to a team of their choosing!

The Green Team chooses the Orange Team since their turn is after the Blue Team’s. But then they find their first lock combination to even out the playing field. With two chances left, the Green Team actually has a shot at winning the game for themselves.

Their next turn reveals another chance card where a team member will stretch his legs from the edge of the team’s zone to find out what lies underneath. Kwang-soo is the natural choice, and he spreads his legs across three spaces.

While the first two are duds… the third contains the Green Team’s other lock combination. The Green Team drinks in the victory, only to learn that there is no prize for the winning team. D’aww.

Only one unlucky person from the team who rolls the lowest number will endure today’s punishment. Jong-kook rolls a safe five, then when the Blue Team rolls, Soo-hong calls out: “One!”

And whaddayaknow—the die lands on one. Soo-hong just chucks the die in the air… and it lands on two. Wow.

Now the Blue Team members brace themselves to see who will endure the punishment. Kyu-han reels, and he gets to have an enjoyable dinner in his team uniform.

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