Bros on Foot: Episode 2

by stroopwafel

Mamma mia, the physical challenges never end on Bros on Foot. Just as their first mission comes to an end, the show comes up with a new way to put the cast through the wringer.

 
EPISODE 2 WEECAP

It’s The Bonking Part Deux. Though Ji-hoon and Min-ho seemed to be managing their 44km cycling trek well, it looks like Min-ho’s on the verge of hypoglycemia (a.k.a. bonking in cycling terms). They stop by the side of the road and a couple of PDs run up to administer chocolate, stat. The guys sit for a breather and Min-ho really goes to town on the chocolates.

Lee PD checks in to see if they want to stop here, but Min-ho doesn’t even hesitate — they’re going to finish. Ji-hoon asks if he’s okay and Min-ho answers in the affirmative and that they should see the ride through. Ha, Ji-hoon’s inner Shawol shines out in his response, “I knew it. You’re SHINee.”

Ji-hoon and the staff (and I) are amazed at Min-ho’s very quick recovery — he seems fully recharged and it only took a handful of chocolates. If Min-ho gets this energized by chocolate, I wonder what coffee could do lol.

As they hit the road once more, Ji-hoon gives a cheery, “SHINee’s back!” It’s the last leg of their mission and Min-ho mirrors Ji-hoon’s positivity. He pumps the pedals, chanting “SHINee’s back, back, back! Go!” They manage to even keep up conversation as they bike; it’s incredible. Min-ho says he only could do this thanks to having his hyung there. Ji-hoon gives a sweetly philosophical response, “There’s a saying, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with friends.”

At long last, Lake Tekapo comes into view. Jung-woo and Jin-gu wave and applaud as the cycling duo smoothly pull up. They get a hero’s welcome; there’s laughter, there’s hugging, and congratulatory remarks from Jung-woo in English, “So sexy baby. I love it, I love it baby. Great job, man. Merry Christmas. Mamma mimi!” (Mamma mimi being one step up in greatness from mamma mia, according to Jung-woo.) So I mentioned previously that Jung-woo has a lot of foreign words, mainly English, that he throws out there, and I’m so curious, where did “mamma mia” come from? Does he love ABBA? Did he spend a semester abroad in Italy?

Mamma mia aside, Jung-woo and Jin-gu get serious for a minute in separate interviews, praising the cycling duo and their feat of cycling prowess. Ji-hoon has his own interview and he goes through all the things he was feeling at that moment. He was happy to see the guys, he felt all teary, they hugged… but why were they waiting at the entrance? After the greetings were over they had to walk for ages to get to the campsite! You can even hear the staff laugh as Ji-hoon continues to gripe that it was easily more than 1km on foot right after all that cycling.

Though they’re riding high on having earned seven Dream Tickets, there’s no rest in their immediate future. Now, it’s time for a matter of grave importance — dinner. They managed to stretch the tiny amount of allowance they won, so they have a decent spread of sausages, chicken legs, and potatoes. The hyungs team up to split up more firewood and it looks… Let’s just put it this way, Min-ho observes them and says that if you cover the bottom half of the screen it looks like something out of a scary thriller film, a la The Chaser. He’s spot-on. Jung-woo and Ji-hoon are speaking in soft tones and telling each other to be careful — while using giant rocks to smash giant branches into pieces. From the right angle, it looks like two very polite killers going to town on their victims.

With ample firewood, they cook a humble but hearty meal, and it all looks so good, even the burnt potatoes. The sun sets on their first day in New Zealand, and under the night sky, Lee PD shares a letter from the person who’s just won a Dream Ticket. Min-ho reads the letter from winner Seul-bi, who shares that she entered the Dream Ticket drawing for her kind and caring younger sister Dan-bi. Right after graduating college, she gave up her dreams to care for their gravely ill father (thankfully, their father has since made a complete recovery). Seul-bi wants to give her sister a special gift to thank her for all she’s done for the family, and if two tickets are too difficult to come by, even one would be wonderful.

Ji-hoon says they should give both sisters a ticket and since they have seven at their disposal and everyone agrees. Min-ho goes into MC mode and monologues into his dedicated camera that they could feel the love Seul-bi has for her sister and that they will be able to travel together. Ji-hoon stares at him in confusion for a moment before he realizes that Min-ho was focusing on his close-up. He and Jung-woo joke that it’s actually a camera sent by SM Entertainment (Min-ho’s agency) and Min-ho breaks for a second to laugh, then picks right up without missing a beat to finish his speech. What can I say, the man’s a pro.

Jin-gu gets to read the letter from the second winner, a young woman named Yuri, who wants to travel with her three long-time friends to make up for lost time. During all their years in school together, they’ve never once been able to go on a school trip or even any trip together. When they younger, school trips were cancelled following the Sewol Ferry tragedy; then the pandemic hit while they were in high school. Now that they’re college students, Yuri wants to take a trip with her friends to celebrate their twenties and their friendship. It’s all so sweet and when Jin-gu finishes reading, it’s clear the men are all touched by Yuri’s letter.

Lee PD chimes in to say she has a surprise for them — Yuri and her friends are waiting to be connected via video call. Min-ho is the first to say hi and though the connection’s a bit fuzzy he passes the phone on to Jung-woo. Jung-woo introduces himself but he’s met with total silence and then the call ends. He quickly apologizes lol, and though the timing was all incredible, Yuri and crew didn’t hang up, the connection cut out. When they’re reconnected Min-ho pretends that they were only able to secure one ticket.

He asks who they want to give the ticket to (and Ji-hoon acts all defeated even though no one can see him heh). The women are disappointed but don’t hesitate, Yuri should be the one to go. Min-ho doesn’t drag out the prank and they have a very cute reaction to the prank being revealed. Yuri reveals that two of the group have never even left the country before and they’re super excited about the trip.

In oppa-mode, Ji-hoon tells them to make sure to get their passports in time and the others give travel tips too, of various levels of usefulness/seriousness (Example: you have to take off your shoes before boarding the plane, brush your teeth, wear a suit, etc.) Ji-hoon is the last to get a turn on the phone with them and he tells them to make lots of memories and post about the trip on social media. He asks them to repeat after him: “Hashtag, Ticketing.” (The Korean title of the show is Ticketing on Two Feet.) LOL the dongsaengs have to explain to Jung-woo what a hashtag is.

They clean up and get ready for bed with the dongsaengs in the “penthouse” a.k.a. the rooftop tent with the hyungs sleeping in the car. Sleep prep hits a roadblock when Jung-woo suddenly calls out the Cardinal Directions. He’s talking specifically about feng shui because he wants to sleep facing southeast but no one knows where they’re facing. Ji-hoon fake spits into his hand and slaps the “spit” (it’s an old Korean wives tale wherever the spit pops is south). Min-ho uses his smartphone to figure out the actual direction but they realize the car is facing the wrong way and Jung-woo just gives up on geomancing for the night.

Jin-gu is the first to wake and he notices a picnic basket on the hood of the SUV. He opens it up and reads a note, but just tucks it back in saying that he needs to go to the bathroom. Why is it so funny that the dongsaengs both peek into the car to see how the hyungs are sleeping? In case you were curious, Ji-hoon and Jung-woo seem to have taken turns being little spoon, big spoon. Everyone convenes for a morning chat, where Min-ho asks if they read the mission note. Ji-hoon grumps, “Yeah, but it was nonsense so I put the note back.” What’s the mission? Walking, my babies.

The mission of the day is for the cast to walk a total of 120,000 steps by midnight. If they succeed they’ll earn eight Dream Tickets. As a bonus, for every extra 10,000 steps log beyond the original goal they’ll earn an extra Dream Ticket. Today’s mission is for Jung-woo, he’s famously big on walking; he even leads a walking group that he’s named The Walking School. He’s the only one that seems unfazed by the mission.

Conveniently, one of the most famous trekking paths in New Zealand is right next to the lake so they set off right away, eager to get their steps in before nightfall. At the start of the Mount John Summit Circle Track Ji-hoon sighs. “It’s uphill.” It’s definitely looking more like a mountain hike than a easy stroll. At the 8k step mark, Ji-hoon asks a struggling cameraman if he’s okay. Jin-gu wonders aloud: If they have to walk 120,000 steps, doesn’t that mean the cameramen have to too?

Yup! Ji-hoon adds that they have to do it backwards. The four stay together on the trail but Ji-hoon and Min-ho seem to struggle the most. Actually, scratch that, the staff seem to be struggling the most. I know that varieties like to make their cast suffer a little bit, but this mission seems like an own goal. (At least with the cycling mission they could follow along in cars.)

Ji-hoon and Min-ho keep at their own pace while the distance grows between them and Jung-woo and Jin-gu. Aw, both Jung-woo and Jin-gu interview separately saying that they wanted to take some of the burden of walking off Ji-hoon and Min-ho since they completed the biking mission. Furthermore, Jung-woo sees the mission as an opportunity to overcome what he calls “the humiliation” of the previous day and erase the trauma and wounds of that damned helmet. His redemption plan involves walking 50,000 steps on his own.

Ji-hoon may be tired but he’s full of jokes, from wondering if they’re actually filming Steel Troops (a military survival variety), to saying he knew this show would be tough when he heard its tagline, “You’ll die from exhaustion.” (The real tagline is “I’ll suffer, you’ll travel.”) Since he and Min-ho have fallen behind quite a bit, they decide to take a shortcut to the peak to catch up — even though it’s a steep uphill path. It looks like they’re crawling up the mountain because of the incline but Ji-hoon keeps up the running commentary, “It’s not like we’re guerilla fighters, what is this? Why did we even take a shortcut?”

But at the peak the view is incredible and the four of them are together again. Jung-woo says the landscape was marvelous and put him in a solemn mood. Ji-hoon was also struck by the beauty of the views, and while he was at the peak, he had suddenly thought to himself: “When was the last time I just sat quietly to gaze at something?” They marvel at the views, but Jung-woo brings everyone back to earth noting, “This has only been 5,000 steps.”

This show is such a lovely palate cleanser, the great outdoors, some wholesome fun. It’s a nice respite from the real world. Seeing them stop to just be in the moment and observe the beauty around them is lovely, I wish I could have gone to New Zealand with them.

Epilogue
Ji-hoon wakes up in a daze and grabs his water bottle, managing to spill more than he drinks. He goes outside and comments that someone’s already boiled some water.

Jung-woo: “That was me.”
Ji-hoon: “Daebak.”

Jin-gu watches them quietly then tells them, “I woke up in the middle of the night because I was thirsty but the water was too cold to drink, so I boiled it.”

Jung-woo: “Oh it was you? Good job.”
Ji-hoon: “Hyung, why did you say it was you?”
Jung-woo: “I just boiled it again now. So I did boil it. It was lukewarm and I boiled it again.”

Looking like the epitome of an ajusshi, he slouches in a camp chair, improvising pockets for his pocket-less vest by awkwardly shoving his hands in the armholes of his vest. When he realizes Min-ho doesn’t have a seat, Jung-woo gets up and offers his chair.

 
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