[Official] SPARTACE COUPLE KimJongkook-SongJiHyo

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

2 hours ago, linzer03 said:

 

In my opinion, the best way to have spartace during the show is to not make a big deal of it. I mean, obviously there are times where you can't avoid mentioning it or making jokes about it (such as if they go up against each other in a game or during a couple race) but don't turn it into MC with captions on the screen and romantic music whenever they look after each other. The effects turn it into something manufactured for the cameras rather than something genuine. Fans might start to expect moments between the two, and eventually, spartace might start to feel pressured to act as a couple for the cameras - which would be MC 2.0 and we don't want that. But I think if spartace was introduced at the right time and presented correctly, it could continue into RM. It would certainly change KJK and SJH's characters.

 

Agree. It all depends on where the show is headed and how long SA are planning to continue with it. Like @elevenpapitus, I too don't see the show lasting for more than 2 years based on the current scenario. The members are aging and obviously marriage and other career commitments might take centrestage after a point. Will SA continue like this for 2 more years acting like strangers until the show gets over? Or will that be too much of a strain since they too can't wait around beyond a point, keeping aside their personal desires (not to forget the wishes of the people dear to them) for the sake of the show? In the ideal scenario, based on their personalities, I don't think they would want the team to bring in their real life equation on to the show. However subtly the team may try to negotiate their real life relationship on the show (in case they continue with the show even after a public dating announcement), being the rare real life couple on a k-variety show will inevitably give them the kind of media and netizen attention they might not want. On the other hand, if they are planning to continue their careers as entertainers, then they would have to deal with their couple status  (and they would defintiely make a power couple) in one way or the other in the future. Hence, it wouldn't also be that bad a move to use RM as the starting point for moulding their future image as an entertainer couple (provided the team does it subtly and not go the cheesy route). But it is obvious to me that SA can't act like strangers around each other for another 2 more years.

Watched the episode RAW. From JH's official position in the line up, it seems to me that though Monday Couple is non-functional, since there has not been any decision taken regarding where to position JH and Gary, both have been asked to continue with their earlier positions since almost all the time, whenever they line up at the beginning of a segment, JH and Gary stand next to each other, JH standing usually between Gary and Haha. In fact, in today's episode, JH, when she finds herself between Gary and Suk Jin, pushes Gary a bit so that she can stand between him and Haha. Still, the line up rule is not that strict since JH also stood between JK and KS at the beginning of a mission. However, her official line up position seems to be the penultimate one flanked by Gary on one side. Their official line up positions extend to their roles in the show as well where I see the same confusion regarding how to re-position them. One could see it in the intro of this episode where much to my disappointment, JH and Gary didn't get individual intros, but were clubbed together as the Monday Couple. I am okay with showing them as the Monday couple for the 300th episode (it is part of RM's history after all), but it sure was a disappointment not to see JH introduced as the ACE she is. I have a feeling Gary and JH's individual missions are also going to be clubbed together as they will have to do the airplane that they did in episode 251 (still hoping they get individual missions). Perhaps it is both a tribute to Monday Couple in the 300th episode and a way to save time since RM running time has been reduced a lot these days. Even so, I don't really see it as MC revival on the show since there was hardly any other attempt made to push MC. So for now, I see MC having to stand together in the line up as an indication that the team is still thinking about how to re-position them (hope good sense prevails). It is good to see that the SA magnet mode is still on (especially during the food mission, once JH started moving from the end of the line-up, I was almost sure she was going to end up near JK. Also when KS, JS and SJ were dancing to find out who had to take the punishment, SA moved near each other perhaps coz they wanted to laugh together at KS). I also noticed that in the van, though Haha, KS, JSJ all have their phones out like SA, SA are more sneaky about checking their phones.

Honestly, one of the reasons why I want the team to think out of the MC box is for JH to be projected as the ACE more . It is coz Gary's image hasn't been fixed yet (either as random capable or playboy) that the team is shying away from projecting JH's ACE image over that of the Monday GF. At least for the 300th episode, I thought there would be a nod to all that she has achieved as the sole female member of the team. In the PD's recent interview, he compared JH to  the character Chun Li of the Street Fighter Series which was his way of acknowledging her prowess, however, the show is yet to go back to a full on celebration of that aspect of her image. There might be worries about JH's screentime and her role if the team plans to add a new member, especially if that is a female. But I think having another female member would also help JH get other roles on the show other than as the love interest. Honestly, JH plays the Ace far better than she does the Monday GF. Besides, the addition of a new female member could bring out her competitive side more (in fact, I trace JH's emergence as a more sassy member on the show to Lizzy's entry in the show) Whether it be Spartace or Monday couple, I want JH to be celebrated on her own (in the rare chance that they would let SA be a couple on the show, I would not want her to be reduced to another love interest).

 

[aschae]

I, too, am not quite convinced that a new member would be the best move for RM. I realize I have no say in the matter , but apart from throwing off the dynamic, it concerns me. Usually in American TV shows, when they add a new character, it's usually a sign that the show is heading towards the end. Given that we're talking about a Korean show, perhaps the stakes are different; one never knows. While I know the show can't go on forever, I will honestly be quite sad when it ends, even if it means good things for our ship.

About SA...on the off-chance they're together (cuz I don't want to jinx anything...), it's gotta be hard keeping this under wraps, and a few more years of it would be exhausting, especially if they've been together as long as some of us have estimated. However, I feel they will have to craft a very convincing media tactic if and when a relationship is made public. At the moment, I am having a hard time envisioning how they can successfully explain a relationship without people taking things the wrong way. Even though there are some of us who can see scripted moments for what they are, and are able to not be sucked into the thrill of official love lines, I think there will be many questions from the fans and media alike about past love lines, especially if there is an overlap. And, I fear a lot of hate being spewed towards both JH and JK on social media, which, as a fan of both, I don't want to see happen. Again, nothing I can do about it, but I ultimately wish them happiness, whether with each other, or with someone else.  

Edited May 22, 2016 by aschae
puctuation

[linzer03]

I don't think I can give a fair opinion on this episode, because I'm blinded by my love as an RM fan. It's the 300th episode. I'm just happy RM reached 300.Lol at KJK earning a new nickname, YJS not being able to remember any of the answers, and the members writing during the essay challenge (a bit disappointed they didn't show HH and KG's writing at all). I'm also disappointed we didn't get to see RM members versus the 300 college students this episode. Some of the missions I found less entertaining (like the VJ one where I wish the cast members had been able to interact with the VJs more. 

I'm also a little disappointed SJH and KG didn't get to be introduced on their own, but I also get that MC is part of RMs history. Besides, completely  sweeping MC under the rug is not going to help things. They can acknowledge that it existed and still pair those two up. But I am disappointed they didn't bring up Ace Ji Hyo in this ep. During the box game, you can see SJH battling with BTS for some of the boxes in the background, but the editors chose not to highlight this.

Spartace moments:

SJH looking impressed when KJK gets 108 right. Also, I find it interesting that KJK chose ep 151 to answer about. The members decided to choose episodes that were memorable to them. So LKS chose his special, KG chose his Gary Knows special, JSJ chose Sherlock Holmes, HH chose his First Love, SJH chose the Avengers where she was the last RM member alive, and YJS chose one where his team won at least. But in ep 151, KJK didn't do anything overly memorable and was out midway when it came to nametag ripping so I wonder why he chose it.  Also, SJH chose ep 150 as an ep she remembered well and KJK chose ep 151. Interesting. It could mean nothing, but still, I find it interesting.

At around 35 mins in, I think you can see KJK interacting with SJH while LKS is eating. Its hard to tell, but KJK is standing next to LKS. You see SJH (black hat) walk behind them. Then, KJK looks past LKS at someone. KJK is also using softer eyes (I don't know how else to describe it) than he does with other members. Then, in the next shot, you see LKS standing alone and KJK and SJH are side-by-side back with the other members.

I also want to add that I find it hilarious the number of times I've wondered where SJH is in a scene and then realize that she's disappeared behind KJK. It happens in this episode during the food mission.

SJH's smile when they tease KJK about his eating habits, and then at cute high-five when they switch eaters. Then, when SJH steps back when her turn is over, yo usee KJK raise his hands to touch her. Perhaps to pat her back or perhaps to stop her before she walks into him. Its unclear. But KJK and SJH spend most of this mission side-by-side. Possibly because they're next to each other in order, but the other members don't really maintain the order when waiting for their turns.

SJH reacts differently to KJK having to pay the money than the other members. It's hard to describe, but while the other members run off and start dancing in a circle, SJH stays beside KJK for longer. The other members seem more happy that they don't have to pay or that KJK is the one paying, but she seems more shocked/amused that's he's the one paying. I don't know how to describe it. You have to watch the scene for yourself and see how her reaction's different.

SJH smiling when KJK and the two kids go out to perform their retro dance moves and then her laughter when they pose.

KJK and SJH laughing about LKS getting the 200 boxes. They keep looking at each other while laughing, and we see KJK place his hand on SJH while she's laughing (before KJK high-fives HH).

Also to add to @athoughtcloud1's post about the cellphones, you never see KJK and SJH using their phones at the same time. Its hard to tell because KJK's in the back and SJH is in the front, but at the beginning of the conversation, KJK is texting and SJH is talking. Then, when SJH is texting, KJK's right hand (which held the phone) is up so he's not texting. This doesn't mean they were texting each other, but it doesn't rule out that possibility either.

[SpartaceJjang]

The caption

[androkia91]

Maybe JK just needed a reference to an episode he could easily remember. It was a very smart choice to make, tbh, since I tend to the same when I have to remember stuff about the older RM episodes, XD. Once you know that an episode you remember has a number to it ( I can see JK easily remembering the Avengers episode, since it was memorable and he himself was dealing with an injury around that time).

So once he knew that the Avengers episode was ep 150, he could try to jog his memories to around what happened that time, so he thought he had a better off chance in remembering stuff about an episode which was already in his mind by then. Also, ep 151 was directly filmed a day before ep 152, in which JK had his gaffe about the sunscreen thing with YJS and JSJ so obviously flustered.

Or he could have made a conjecture that most of the football match episodes were around the 100, 150, 200 mark and since it would be easier for him to answer a question on a football match, he could have chosen that episode. Regardless, I was amazed at how he remembered those 108 cameras.

 

 

[elevenpapitus]

In rm 300 episodes,it's obviously an expected episode.From what fans piced rm in the gym of college,we can see there are a lot of interactions around sa,but it didn't appear in E300,and it may appear in E301.

I was amazed at what JK performed in E300,on that day,also from fan's pic and words,he had recurrence of waist.So we have some time not to see him in E300,but he seemed as if nothing happened except looked like pale sometimes and lean on someone.That what's I'm proud of him,and thinks he is a real hero in my mind.

And,return to this episode,when KJK answered the correct answer of the question,other members considered him as a real big fan of rm.Moreover,agree with the idea that he chose E151 to answer ,most possibility is that it's beside JH's question E150,LOL..

The rating of rm was dropped again from 9.1% to 6.8%,and I saw some comments on this episode.There is no doubt that there are still some shortcomings on rm,and pd also considered it for a long time,so they mentioned about the plan to expand new member to rm.

From my perspective,if rm want to last for a longer time,it must have new changes like other programmes,but as a sa shipper,if sa are really dated in the real life,and we want to our sa open to the public as soon as possible,whether rm end up will good for them???But that's my opinion,don't mind it if you don't agree with it.

[MaK08]

 

@elevenpapitus I dont like that running man feels like it needs a new change.  change is good but not if its to much. To me the show has its core members and shouldn't be changed. I also feel like the activities running man goes through are not exciting enough. Im not asking for KJK to sacrifice his body or exhaust any of the members to the point of injury but i feel like there are many games that can be reused and bring back the excitement of running man.

I believe ratings are so low is because its not the running man that fans remember and like to see. Yes the members are getting older. but i dont think its to the point where there movement has to be so stagnant. running man to me was most popular when they had to adapt, interact, and react to the dynamics of the day. there were episodes where they would start the showing with them running around doing a mission and then it would turn into a segment where they were on teams and had to use there brain to figure out that the misssion or they had to become a team to survive. This had not only the members engaged but fans as well engaged because we didnt know what was going to happen next or who was going to win or the fact that there was a spy the entire time and you didn't know until the reveal. Now they play games where you have to help Ji Seok Jin win or just go to a restaurant and eat as a challenge, find the running man fans house, get the most votes in a comedy group. to this point I believe it has some fans not watching the show and then missing out on good episodes like the zombie virus episode or the x-man/ running man combo episode (personal opinions of course). 

Also to the point of the show and its guest. I feel like because the show isnt as dynamic anymore, the guest cant get active as well. for example you brought out a very youthful group like BTS to move boxes onto a truck as a game. of course they were there to promote a song but they didnt have a chance to do much and were gone in an instant. no major comedy, brain power or physical activities going on. Also to the point of new members coming to the show. i could entertain the though of members like suzy coming on the show for a short period of time. like how you get to see certain guest for like 3 or four episodes because they went to other countries and you had more time to see how they interacted with all the members. So i think that would be cool to see guest come on for like 3-5 episodes at a time then have episodes where there are no guest.

I always thought a cool episode would be to have the running man members and 1 or three guest to make it 8 or ten members play games In groups of two but have the game be an individual battle based on points given for each game. to better explain this you would have 2v2 name-tag ripping (KJK favors this game). and the team that last the longest or ripped the most tags get the most points like KJK and Gary are on a team and get ten point while KS and JSJ are on a team get 0 points. Before the next game they have to switch team members. then the next game is a card game based on luck with JH and KS as a team. now LKS has a chance to get point because JH is good at luck games. The two members with the most points at the end get the prize or avoid penalty. This way all the members get a chance to interact and make new teams we haven't seen before

sorry if i just went on a random rant but I find the program very interesting with so much potential to improve still in the show. But i feel like they need to be more engaged and have guest who are willing to participate more. if the show involves brains get smart guest.. if the show requires strength get strong guest. it stops people from singling out KJK in tag ripping games and also brings a challenge. or stops YJS from winning a brain game (not saying the other member's are dumb but he is one of the smartest among them). 

 

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

2 hours ago, MaK08 said:

 

@elevenpapitus I always thought a cool episode would be to have the running man members and 1 or three guest to make it 8 or ten members play games In groups of two but have the game be an individual battle based on points given for each game. to better explain this you would have 2v2 name-tag ripping (KJK favors this game). and the team that last the longest or ripped the most tags get the most points like KJK and Gary are on a team and get ten point while KS and JSJ are on a team get 0 points. Before the next game they have to switch team members. then the next game is a card game based on luck with JH and KS as a team. now LKS has a chance to get point because JH is good at luck games. The two members with the most points at the end get the prize or avoid penalty. This way all the members get a chance to interact and make new teams we haven't seen before

sorry if i just went on a random rant but I find the program very interesting with so much potential to improve still in the show. But i feel like they need to be more engaged and have guest who are willing to participate more. if the show involves brains get smart guest.. if the show requires strength get strong guest. it stops people from singling out KJK in tag ripping games and also brings a challenge. or stops YJS from winning a brain game (not saying the other member's are dumb but he is one of the smartest among them). 

 

 

 Your comments seem to be more about RM as a whole while my observations are more based on this episode.

After watching the 300th episode, I too feel like agreeing with many of the things you have pointed out. They need better writers who can come up with more exciting formats. The next episode may be better, but this one seemed underwhelming to me for the 300th episode. I felt that instead of going for a literal interpretation of the 300th episode celebration and involving 300 in almost everything, they could have gone for a well-planned out episode with a particular theme like the Sherlock Holmes one or episode 151. I would have also loved it if they had attempted something like the Han River mission which was both exciting and heartwarming. Splitting this episode into 2 was not really necessary. What they have planned for the next episode seems more exciting than what they did this episode. 7 vs 300 feels like an upgraded version of 100 vs 100. I am not really in favour of 1 RM member against 300 since the odds are so against them unless they tweak the rules or the members resort to cheating. Rather than pit them as these superhuman characters, I would rather the team give them odds they can tackle. Your idea of the game challenges seems more like how it should be.  It would be both competition and help in creating new team combinations - I would advise you to post them on SBS running man instagram account or that of the RM PD.

I can understand the PD's confusion regarding how to do the 300th episode - celebrate the nostalgia and their togetherness as a team or go for a very challenging concept that has never been attempted on RM. He has decided to pack in both and that is why this episode was designed to celebrate what RM stands for. He has tried to tie that up with an exciting mission in the next episode (perhaps with a few twists and turns like YJS being a spy or something). However, while I enjoyed the beginning of this episode where they started off with a trip down memory lane making us reminisce some of the golden episodes of RM, the missions themselves were quite simple and repetitive (if they were going to do a fun filled episode celebrating their camaraderie, then I would have liked more fun-filled missions; if they were trying to cash in on the nostalgia, then they could have brought back some of the older games like a tweaked version of 1 vs 6 or 'find the thief' or even a more competitive version of the RM quiz that they did in the beginning of this episode). It is nice to see the team acknowledging the effort of the crew, but to watch them eating one piece of food after the other can get boring after a while. Based on the responses to this episode on different forums, I get the feeling that many enjoyed it and hence, perhaps I am in the minority. However, honestly, while I enjoyed this episode watching it RAW, it felt quite underwhelming on a re-watch with subs (BTS guesting may be great viewing for their fans, but for me, they are just another idol group).

RM is definitely going through a crisis. I do not know where things are headed, but they need to get some creatively themed episodes (instead of trying to do these super challenges like 100 vs 100 which are to me far more simplistic in their design) and some innovative mini-games to get back the audience. Otherwise, the show can go on like this for 1 more year - but it will be a gradual decline. With the new PD, I think some of the fun we associated with the cast interaction is back which had gone missing in the last days of Taek PD. I laughed a lot in the Go Ara and Lee Ji Hoon episode as well as the DOTS-themed episode. But this PD hasn't yet delivered on the designing aspect - where an episode is crafted well keeping the strengths of the cast members in mind. Or may be it is the writers who are not that talented as some of the early RM writers. I would like an episode where each RM member has to do something he/she is not good at - (there are plenty of things even KJK is not good at, so that need not be an excuse) and tie that up with them having to go against a strong team (I am always waiting for the Avengers episode done right - where the team sticks together instead of mindlessly betraying each other).

From the interviews, the new PD seems to be looking for ideas about how to do the show well. So perhaps some of the RM fans can contribute in that regard. But something tells me these days he is relying more on the wits and skills of the cast than the writers. So when YJS went 'wait ... is there a twist?' at the end of episode 299 (which in a way reminded me of what the cast used to expect from the RM PDs at one point), the PD responded that he would think of adding a twist next time around (and I think episode 301 is going to have that twist as promised). The centre-seeker idea of 299 also came from the cast banter in episode 298. So I think this new PD is still learning on the job  (which is a good thing), though I haven't yet found him that intrinsically creative on his own like some of the old PDs. Or perhaps he needs some better writers who can come up with better ideas for the show. It's still early days for him, so I won't be too hard on him. But they need to get on that train of RM revival soon. Time is running out!

Yet, I am also strangely glad that they didn't try to cash in on the popularity of SJK or somebody like him inviting him/her to be the guest for the 300th episode. The forums for this episode are full of BTS fans already, so if it was SJK or SHK, it would have been about DOTs all over again, overshadowing the significance of this episode for RM fans.

At the moment, I think the issues are more with the writing than the cast. So, I don't know if even bringing in a new member would help unless they develop the writing needed to create a distinct variety character for that person. It shouldn't be just left to the members to fit in the new member somehow. I know the members worked together even initially to create their characters for the show, but they also had good writers to back them at that point. However, now that doesn't seem to be the case. Though initially, I was not a huge fan of Haha overdoing the squid joke, in retrospect, I can see that Haha was trying to create another character for Gary. Ideally, Gary's new image should have come from the writers, but a cast member had to step in. Now Gary has also accepted the squid as part of his image and the RM writers are also playing with it now calling HAGa the 'Ugly Brothers'. So, I am feeling conflicted about the addition of a new member - sometimes I feel it would shake things up a bit and at other times, I feel the problem won't be solved just by that and may even create further problems if they don't have the creativity to position the new member effectively.

One final comment that goes back to my observations in the previous post regarding the Monday couple. I know JH doing WAIL has been significant in the PD's decision to do the Q&A episode of 291 where MC couple was revealed to be just friends. However, there was no need for the PD to give such a clear end to the MC loveline. He could have very well put it in cold storage till the 300th episode (where it could have been used more effectively to mark their anniversary). Hence, the kind of awkward positioning the PD had to do with the MC for this episode (where the captions read  "from being awkward, they became  the monday couple and will be 'lifelong friends'") is partly the result of some difficult decisions he made earlier. Otherwise, it could have been a repeat of earlier anniversary episodes where a Monday Couple moment would have to be painstakingly scripted keeping the occasion in mind. Can't help but think of the 5th anniversary special where SJ goes in search of JH to remind her of her Monday GF duties, then reminds Jae Suk to stay out of the frame for the big  MC moment about to take place and then taken aback by a distracted JH busy in her real life couple moment, pokes her so that she would seal her love for her Monday BF (busy with other things) with her token of love. So, while I have my quibbles, there are some things I am thankful to this new PD for.

[linzer03]

I don't want to get too much into how RM as a whole needs to change, since this is a spartace-specific forum, but I want to add that we should remember that the staff is not the PD alone. There are writers, editors, directors as well. We tend to blame the head PD because he is at the top, but RM's failings belong to the whole staff not just the PD. I do like this new PD so far, but I agree that he's still learning. There are things he's done well (especially with the cast) and things he hasn't done well (the design of games). I don't think he's figured out what the RM members are capable of in terms of games (eg what they can/can't deduce from limited hints, what they can and can't do physically). He's also dealing with two types of audiences: the Koreans who contribute to the numbered ratings and the international audience who watch online. The international audience and the Korean audience probably have some difference in what they want from RM. 

I was hoping 7 vs 300 would have more team building aspects to it (like the crossing the Han River episode) and so far, it's been even though RM is all on the same team, RM as individuals (eg the essay was one at a time, they couldn't help each other answer the questions about old episodes, the eating race was one at a time...) and it looks like, with the exception of MC, the 300 college students are one on oe. I hope YJS isn't a spy this episode. I do want the spies to return, but I want the 300th episode(s) to be about the RM cast as a team (which we haven't got yet). I hope there's a good twist, just not a spy twist. 

To add to the discussion of KJK choosing ep 151, he knew that it was the JWS episodes (not football), since he said so as he selected it. It's impressive that he remembered 108. My guess is that at the time he thought 108 was a strange number (since usually it'd be a rounded number like 100, 110, or even 115). If he thought it was strange then the number probably stuck with him. But it's not like he knew the question would be about the CCTVs. And he was the one who said that the members should choose recent episodes. What I was getting qhwn I thought it was interesting that SJH chose 150 and KJK chose 151 was that it was a time period that they remember well for a reason, and since many of us think they got together in 2013, then that would be the right time period. But, this is all just vague speculation and KJK could very well have chosen 151 for some other reason.

By the way I still don't get the sunscreen thing in ep 152. Does someone want to explain it to me? The way I see it, KJK was making the same joke he did about all the items--that they weren't a big deal--and YJS was exasperated with KJK when they reached the sunscreen thing.

[androkia91]

14 minutes ago, linzer03 said:

By the way I still don't get the sunscreen thing in ep 152. Does someone want to explain it to me? The way I see it, KJK was making the same joke he did about all the items--that they weren't a big deal--and YJS was exasperated with KJK when they reached the sunscreen thing.

 

Yeah, it wasn't anything significant. However, YJS hardly expresses his exasperation this way- he is usually vocal about it like he was when the item picking ended. Also that any Yoo-kook quarrel never goes unnoticed also with YJS and KJK always at each throats. I would have expected a more vocal exasperation from YJS, especially since it was JK. Plus, immediately after that JSJ looks a bit surprised and turns to look at the staff/PD/camera. Later, Jk also starts talking on how they quickly need to select the item and immdiately asks to HHJ to choose for their team.

 Attaching the gif ( also including the moment before where JH turns back to JK to ask if he is okay "Oppa, Gwenchanayo?"- said, but neither captioned nor subbed)

[MaK08]

@athoughtcloud1 thank you for the compliment.   I actually have about 5-7 episodes worth of ideas written down for RM but never submitted any ideas. and not to get to long into the topic but you totally read my mind in your entire post. Its like really crazy and i agree with @linzer03 about RM. I also hope YJS wasn't a spy. it felt way too weird that he knew nothing. On a SA note i like how they both started out with thoughtful messages and when KJK got the answer right in the opening JH put her hands on her chest  like her heart was racing and seemed very cute when she did it. I also dont like WAIL at the moment. It just feels like the second the show started all SA interactions were cut off and right after we had JH crying and asking for JKs help with the mystery boxes and the confession about them tanning plus they visit KS's house at night.....then BAM!! SA silence. i like how cute JH is in WAIL but i need my SA fix. 

[WanZ]

Adding on to the discussion of the scene from Episode 152, when JH won the sunscreen, JK was protesting (too much?) like 'what's the use of the sunscreen? I don't like them since I love to tan my skin'. Funny thing is that, he's not the one with the sunscreen anyway... so what was that comment about? And after the (somewhat awkward) moment, JK quickly change the topic (in picture 5).      

Cr to owner as tagged

This post is more like a refresh of the scene, for those who might not remember

[Dina82]

for adding new member,

i'm still doubt it as will contradicting with their 7012,

7 member as running man and 012 were forever...

 

[dragonlovers]

In my opinion, there are rooms of improvement that the exisitng crew and cast can do to save the program from crisis, yet the PD skip directly and thinking of bringing in a new member...Just don't think it will work out if the exisitng problem is not fixed.  I'm not against the idea of adding new member to the show.  But it is better when they solve the problem internally first before taking an external measure if necessary.  Or else, it may bring harms more than goods to the show. However, I appreciate the effort made by the new PD so far and at least I can feel that he is trying to learn and find ways to help the show.  Agree that the crew should work harder on game designs.

Lately, I also found that the roles of each member are somehow blur and unclear.  After the explanation made for MC, the role of Gary and JH are not that clear (After get rid of being MC girlfriend, JH is not positioning as ACE in recent episodes which I found odd). And in EP300, it is strange for me that SJ is the one who MC while JS is taking his challenge with Uni students. In the past, JK was usually the "vice-MC" if you know what I mean. Without the name tag ripping sessions in these days, JK's role as the commander is also deminishing from my point of view.  I don't know whether it is only me who feel that JK's role is not clear as I am a fan of him. Will need other opinions on this.  

All in all, I believe that the PD can solve the problem with existing members' role first before considering adding a new member, as well as the game design.

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

What @linzer03 pointed out is true - the PD being the head of the team often gets the blame for what is lacking in other departments. I know the job they have is quite hard what with pleasing different audiences and all, but I want RM to go on as long as it can and end well when it does. There are other k-variety shows as well, but nothing works for me like RM. I am tired of the television shows in my country, so I know what a blessing it is to have something like RM. That is why as i-fans, it would be nice if we can give constructive suggestions to the RM team so that they can make use of some of those ideas. I hope @MaK08 you do post some of your ideas on SBS running man insta account. One of the questions that @tee2015 sent to the SBS mail id did make it to the Q&A episode, so there is hope that some of our suggestions may reach SBS or the new PD.

I think as of now, the biggest problem area for RM is in devising new team combinations - these days, the games usually involve all 7 though only one plays at a time. I liked the Ara and Ji Hoon episode a lot that way since the team combinations were new which brought out new cast dynamics.

Btw do none of you think JK could have re-watched episode 151? LOL The way he was just smiling when they were teasing him about regularly watching old episodes of RM did make me wonder if there was some truth to it. JK looked a bit embarrassed ! Remember how in the 2013 Singapore fanmeet interview JSJ was talking about how they film for around 20 hours and how only 60 minutes of it make the cut and then KJK interrupted him saying it was not 60 minutes, but 90 or something and asked him whether he doesn't watch RM or something like that? I know that is not proof that JK re-watches old episodes, but still, there is a possibility. JK is so proud of RM, so there is some chance that he actually re-watches the old episodes. LOL

For me, the biggest spartace moment in episode 151 is in the limo when Jae Suk teases JH whether she would like it if her BF puts her name in his songs and almost all the cast members turn in JK's direction and JH has that conspiratory smile as she looks in JK's direction. Must have been early days of SA dating for JS to tease them like that.

I had this nagging suspicion that JK is really sentimental despite his tough image, but this episode kind of confirmed it for me. LOL He seemed like he was in a nostalgic mood throughout. While many of the others were trying to play it cool with the long essay, he was writing really sentimental stuff (btw JH has some writing skills!). In the car too, he was happily reminiscing the old episodes of RM, the Han river one, talking about how he was laughing throughout the mission (I wish they had a few more conversations like that in this episode. Loved JSJ's VJ's testimony too) . Perhaps,he usually has such sentimental conversations with the cast!

I had seen the discussion about the sunscreen stuff, but hadn't really thought there was much to it. In episode 53, when JH, JK and JSJ are a team and JH talks about applying sunscreen, JK says something macho like 'men don't need sunscreen' or something like that. So I didn't really see anything strange in his declaration that suscreen was not going to be of any use to him (seemed to me he was trying to act like their team didn't lose anything by not winning that prize- he does that sometimes when he gets too competitive in games). May be I need to take a re-look! Perhaps JK meant it in another way, but the cast members interpreted it differently or something?

[linzer03]

@athoughtcloud1 hahaha It never occurred to me that KJK would rewatch old RM episodes. It seems like the obvious answer. It probably didn't occurred to me because the other members acted like that's impossible, so I figured it was too. But I'd say KJK is the nostalgic type. Turbo reunion, anyone? 

I just don't buy the sunscreen thing as having anything to do with SJH, because KJK was doing the same thing for the other items, saying they're not that big of a deal. I do agree that YJS's reaction was strange (he's usually more talkative) but there could be other reasons for it. But, hey, I could be wrong. The ep 151 limo moment I find interesting. Since YJS was talking about a boyfriend writing a song for his girlfriend, while looking at KJK. A lot of KJK's conversation about boyfriends seemed to be directed at KJK, and (its hard to see because there's something in front of KJK, but he looks a bit uncomfortable with the conversation. It also matches up with spartace fans suspicions in the Love and War episode when SJH says she received a song as a present. KJK looked super comfortable then too even as he played along with YJS's teasing. Also, in the opening of ep 151, SJH is late. In the first intro scene, you just see the six guys (their line up goes LKS, JSJ, YJS, KJK, KG, HH). When SJH appears, she stands between KJK and KG. This is odd because usually SJH stands to the outside of the lineup (since we just had the center-seeker episode). Her choosing that position puts KJK, not YJS, in the middle and puts SJH in the second position. Which isn't somewhere she stands often. It's just a strange choice for her to make, especially since she's arriving late and could have just stood on the end to avoid moving people around. 

@dragonlovers I know KJK was injured during the filming for ep 300, so maybe he wanted to take a break rather than MC right then. KJK hasn't been referred to as The Commander in awhile. That nickname actually ended in the early episodes when nametag games stopped being so team-oriented (like Bells Hide and Seek) and he turned into the Tiger instead. I think KJK hasn't had as many opportunities to be the tiger because the games recently have been less fierce, but he's still Coach Kookie (which the other members complain about, but its urprising how many times he's right) and Mr. Capable (which applies regardless if nametag ripping because he's good at some really random things). KJK's character has a lot of aspects to it - the health nut (which we see in this episode when he has to eat chocolate), the tiger (when he holds down three BTS members and he'll be arm wrestling against the 300 students), coach (when he explains to YJS how he should have gone about answering the questions), etc. I think its not that KJK's character has diminished, its just that we don't get the captions using the nicknames anymore. SJH is still acting like the ace (against BTS and when writing her part of the essay) but we don't get a caption proclaiming her the ace. I was also a little surprised that the opening for JSJ just described him as the "Race Starter", especially since he hasn't been referred to as that in awhile. And, as his VJ pointed out, JSJ comes second a lot nowadays. There's a lot more to JSJ's character than Race Starter, but the staff picked the old nickname rather than highlight a newer aspect of his character. The editors aren't doing much to add to the cast's characters so I think that's why in some cases it feels like their characters have lessened rather than changed. 

[tushe0511]

The scene we are talking about in ep. 152, I've always thought it was nothing at all.. and I keep on thinking that. It's totally something JK would say in such a situation (with the intention to discourage the other team).

What i'm more worried about lately is JH. She's been the center of RM since the beginning till mid 2013.. and then everything changed. Don't know if it happened since she became more mature but i have a feeling it's because of personal reason, like a nagging (and i know there's someone who can be really a good nagging person) boyfriend. Also, the dinamics between her and the members has changed. SJ doesn't act like a sort of a father for her (or at least those moments are quite rare), JS seems like he doesn't adore her anymore (especially that comment in episode 298 "you should go home" got me disappointed), G is colder than ever (even their MC moment lately were cold) as if he doesn't respect her!!! The other 3 luckly give me a better vibe. The love-hate relationship between her and KS is cool even thought i didn't like when he kicked her in ep. 282 (it wasn't the kick itself but the fact that she was on the ground at the moment so it looked a little too much). As for HH i only have good words to spend for that man, he's so cool, so warm and funny at the same time. You can feel his warmness toward JH in every interaction, he's so delicate with her...  No need to say anything about JK, i'm here in this forum so you can get what i think about his relationship with JH.

So, RM needs more interesting games that follow the same flow in every episode, games that have the same ultimate goal. But it also needs to restore the relationship between the members, they don't make as much jokes as before between each other. They have got now too much personal and aren't totally free to talk fearing to hurt each other.

[WanZ]

I agree too, that the said SA moment from Ep 152 might be a misinterpretation from SA fans like me. Could it be a 'reading-too-much-into-things' case? It probably is, LOL... I remember seeing the discussion about it, re-watching that episode, and realized that it could be JK being the (adorable) nag that he is, and nothing more. It's so easy and lovely to buy that JK is oppose to JH getting the sunscreen as a prize because 'they' will find it to be of no use 'in their life together' or whatnot. I believe the first person to ever find and notice the moment to be a SA moment never intended to be misguiding or over-delusional... thus I have to apologize if my sentences in my post up there about the scene are suggesting both.

[linzer03]

Just thought I'd post this here after seeing it on IG. Spartace and HH on one team it looks like. Yay for new combinations!

[WhasianDaddy]

While watching some old episodes, my wife came across this scene of JK and JS playing pepero game. When JS gets annoyed that JK wants to do it with him, JK states, "Then should I have called JH?!" You can see that JS doesn't protest to that (although, later JS teases JK and says that he should do it with JH). Then JK protests and says how he could do it with her.

If there wasn't anything between JK and JH, then I feel like he would have looked for JH or whoever he could find first. However, I feel like JK was avoiding JH because he knows that he will get butterflies in his stomach and his heart would race. Possibly the same for JH.

They have played this game many times with other guests of opposite sex. However, they were able to do it easily and professionally. If JK really didn't have any other feelings toward JH except professionalism, then he would have done it with JH. JS and JK both know (from the video) that it would be too awkward for JK and JH to do it.

Going along with this, let's look back at the famous icicle game that we all love and hate. When JK and JH fail, we all know that SJ was really disappointed. However, did you see how JK was pointing his finger at someone? I wonder if he noticed that there were some remarks or some disappointed noises from the staff (like "aww...."). If that were the case, he would smirk at the staff and point his finger at them like "you guys..." The members and the staff all wanted to see it, but disappointed that it didn't work out. JH also looks very disappointed when JS says that it's never going to work out between them. I don't think she was disappointed to hear that but either she was disappointed that the game ended in vain or that they couldn't get closer to each other because she was looking at the end of the icicle as though she couldn't believe that it just ended like that.

Lastly, it's fun to see all the other members' reactions during this. You can see HaHa watching with much anticipation. You can see KS's face after they failed but he wasn't laughing or smiling but rather disappointed. Perhaps, they wanted something to happen between them as much as SJ.