[Random] Running Man: Episode 53

What better way is there to start off the day than a fresh cup of a
morning mission. Haha and Kwang-soo incredulously respond to the mission
card: Enter Choi Min-soo’s room and perform a task. If he wakes up,
he’s on your team. The best part is their task – they have to lie next
to Min-soo and count to 10.

Haha and Kwang-soo creep inside the lion’s den, careful not to awake
the sleeping dragon Min-soo. Surely the man ought to be worn out from
hunting down the Running Men yesterday, right? You can almost hear the
cries of their impending doom when they find that Min-soo’s not in bed,
but rather sleeping on the floor. Every little noise and crack puts them
on edge and I am so glad not to be in your shoes right now.



The level of absurdity increases with each team’s arrival and one
team is assigned to sing and dance to SNSD’s “Genie.” Oh Running Man,
how you consistently set up your cast for failure. Jong-kook makes
everyone, including the staff, take off their shoes so their footfalls
wouldn’t be heard in the hallway and Jae-suk prevents Gary from knocking
on Min-soo’s door.


Everyone passes, and a fear-stricken Haha and Kwang-soo start over
again. But they’re not as lucky as Min-soo groggily wakes up from his
slumber. It’s so cute how Haha and Kwang-soo downplay their obvious fear
by awkwardly pouring on the aegyo (cuteness). Leave it to Min-soo to put them right in their place with a sharp kick to the back of the knee. Lol.



The cast heads downstairs to meet their second guest and Min-soo
casually tosses, “Oh, Yoon So-yi?” With that anticlimactic introduction,
enter actress Yoon So-yi (Warrior Baek Dong Soo, Hero),
who is more warmly greeted by some than others. Case in point: Haha
proclaims his undying love:”Yoon So-yi, would you be my last love?”

So-yi chooses to be on Gary’s team just as Ji-hyo arrives. I
absolutely love this girl – she isn’t afraid to hide her disappointment
about being teamed with Jong-kook and Suk-jin but she coolly replies to
So-yi’s choice: “Oh no, it’s cool – it’s Tuesday.”



Today’s main mission is another Kyungjoo race and the cast must pick
up a ranked suitcase at each destination and ultimately meet at a water
park for a spinoff of Hide-and-Seek. Each suitcase contains a member’s
nametag and this time they’re eliminated if someone sticks on their name
tag.



In the car, Jae-suk comments that Gary is the luckiest guy in the
world with two women to love him on Monday (Ji-hyo) and Tuesday (So-yi).
Gary replies that he would like someone to love him on Wednesday. Heh.
Jae-suk continues that everything in the car is So-yi and she happily
responds that Gary is hers but not Jae-suk (since he’s married). Is the
Monday Couple in trouble?

First stop: Chumsungdae Observatory as Jae-suk’s team drives ahead of
Haha’s team. But Min-soo isn’t worried. “Why go early? We can just
steal whatever they find.” Spoken like a true Hunter. It’s the return of
the Photo Zone mission where one member’s face must fit inside the
window of the observatory in order to move on.



Commence pulling of hair, pushing, and jumping as the timer ticks
down. Jae-suk’s team succeeds first and they grab the highest ranked
suitcase. It’s then that Jae-suk has a revelation: What if the suitcases
were ranked in accordance to how difficult it is to catch the person.
That must mean only one person: Choi Min-soo. Um well…crap. They plead
with Mr.PD to exchange it with attempts to bribe him with leftover Baht,
but it’s no use – they’re stuck with their choice.



The other teams pass after a few more tries. How much do I love that
Min-soo’s dark image of a raging tiger is completely dismantled by that
giant smile above? Next stop: a nearby restaurant. The maknae FD leads
each team inside and sets down their lunch in front of them. The hitch?
Create a lettuce wrap in the order each item was placed in front of
them. LOL. They can’t even eat lunch without some sort of trap!

Both Jae-suk and Haha’s teams call out each item’s order with such
conviction that it sends me in giggles to watch how wrong they are.
Haha’s wrap is filled with fresh garlic and he momentarily forgets
himself when Min-soo says to just swallow it whole. Haha grabs Min-soo
by the shirt and thanks his lucky stars because Min-soo laughs and
starts crying about being beat up by a little squirt.


Round after round they go and soon they’re feeding each other garlic
filled wraps versus paying attention to the task at hand. Min-soo
wonders when Jong-kook’s team will arrive and hears that they’ve
succeeded and left already. We see that putting the Capable One and the Ace together creates a killer combo as they breeze through the order and pick up their suitcase.

Everyone finds their last suitcase at the Teddy Bear Museum and
they’re headed to the water park. In each car, they guess which teams
holds their nametags and afraid of possibly catching Min-soo.
Jong-kook’s taem is relieved that everyone they must catch is relatively
doable. Jong-kook hands So-yi’s name to Ji-hyo, who uncertainly
quivers, “But So-yi’s good at fighting! She even flies!” Must be all
those historical dramas she films.



The storm clouds brew as Jae-suk’s team’s worst nightmares have come
true: Min-soo is among those they must catch. Deep breaths, all! The
other names are Suk-jin’s and Kwang-soo and So-yi remarks that they’re
ranked by age. Her prize? She gets to catch Min-soo. Hahaha.

Each team heads off to different spots of the water park to scout
each other’s locations. So-yi reasons which team must hold which
nametags and Gary blankly stares back at her logical deduction. Oh Gary,
you simple, sweet man.


Haha and Kwang-soo walk behind Min-soo with confidence that everyone
else is hiding from them. So without any qualms, Haha’s team enjoys
their water park experience in the shadow of the Hunter Choi Min-soo.
Jae-suk’s team wonders where the Red Team is hiding and we see them
playing in another corner of the park. Is anyone paying any attention to
the mission?



Jae-suk’s team and Haha’s team approach each other with caution and
Jae-suk stops them in their tracks – it’s not fair to attack each other
when one team is wearing vests. When Haha and Kwang-soo turn around to
do so, Jae-suk pounces on Kwang-soo and Haha chases after Gary. Kwangsoo
cries out for help to Min-soo, but sadly, he’s too busy in peaceful
solace in the wave pool. Both Kwang-soo and Gary are eliminated.

Min-soo suggests to Jae-suk to create an alliance against Jong-kook’s
team since they are at a disadvantage with two team members each.
Jaesuk readily agrees to the offer. But wait, Yooruce Willis, don’t you have Min-soo’s nametag? He waits for his opportune moment with bated breath as Min-soo affixes his microphone.



Then, smack! Jaesuk plasters Min-soo’s nametag on his back. Remember
that face Jaesuk. It’s gonna haunt you in your dreams. Min-soo retorts
that he’d like to be scheduled to appear on Running Man every two months
from now on. In a last attempt to buy a bit of time, Min-soo runs up to
the incoming Jong-kook’s team, who is already aware of his elimination.

Jae-suk, So-yi, and Haha team up to set up an ambush for the red
team. In a tussle, both Suk-jin and Ji-hyo are eliminated, leaving Spartakooks
as their last target. While they search with tensions running high
someone chases after them – it’s Min-soo, who came to ride one of the
rides but came to poke a little fun.

Three versus one now as Jong-kook spies the other members. He appears
like a lightning flash and quickly eliminates Jae-suk with ease. Ah,
redemption for Jong-kook! The remaining three circle around each other,
waiting for the other to attack first. It’s Jong-kook who leaps towards
Haha, making his elimination quick and swift.


Haha sulks, “Jong-kook hyung, why do you always have to win!” and
Jong-kook’s heart softens…which gives So-yi a perfect opportunity to
slap on Jong-kook’s nametag on his back, which makes Jae-suk’s team the
winner! Oof, Jong-kook, you’re losing your touch!