[Official] SPARTACE COUPLE KimJongkook-SongJiHyo

[dragonlovers]

hi everyone! I'm back! Finally finished watching EP304 and EP305.

For EP304, JK's expression when JH's doing mission with Gary is somehow different to that when JH is doing it with KS in the pool. Don't know how to describe it but his smile seems slightly relax in KS's round than the first round. But I'm not sure whether my spartace feeling is affecting what I prescribed from the scene. To me I think he decided to switch team because of JH's words and when the first guest mentioned the hint he found in the room confirms his idea of switching team.

For EP305, it is a great episode. Every session is done smoothly, without dragging and waste a lot of screen time like the previous episodes. Don't know whether it is due to the style of the guest team's leader. (The leader is known that he doesn't like shooting a variety show episode by using the whole day. From this episode and the episode he came to rm last time, you can find that members always mention they can complete the shootings and go home early because of him.) Glad that JK can finally showcast his skills and perform his role after a long period of time. When facing guests that are much stronger than the members, I initially think Gary would be the next choice after JK, followed by KS. But it is unfortunate that Gary cannot gain more screen time even in a moment like this. In the first round, beside JK, KS is the one chosen to go against the Avengers team. (I think JK and Gary can be classified into the same group among the members. They are those who perform better in situation similar to this episode, that is in missions that are more technical or require strength. JH is also similar to them. The other members are more into the ones that bring entertainment and laughter.) Overall, though spartace interactions are less in the episode, I still think it is a great one and I hope they keep the good work up.

As some of you mentioned, the spartace article are posted by author that also posted MC related article before. So I start to think whether the author posted it because of the production team's request? Is it a kind of promotion method used by the production team? If so, what is the intention of posting the article, especially in a timing like that? I become more curious of the intention behind as the interaction of spartace shown in rm has changed back to before after the article is released. It's like their interactions are restricted again. Also, I don't know whether it is the Chinese translation/sub that brought the idea of MC again or for real, the wordings pop-up when JH and Gary interact often give me the feeling of MC. It's often related to their old days and couple related wordings. For example, when JH and Gary dropped into water and came out of water the first time, the pop-up wordings used are 'it's been a while we are like that' and 'couple synchronised swimming'...but I am not sure if it is only in Chinese-sub...can anyone confirm the wordings used in eng sub? It's not like talking MC loud like before with other members teasing them, but it is often implies in the pop-up wordings. When this kind of message pops out like in EVERY episode, it seems that they don't want to let go and upset MC fans but I am slightly getting tired of it. Don't they have other things to talk about? It's like there are nothing more left between JH and Gary if they get rid of MC, but can't they be friends or something? When talking about their relationship, it comes to me that the production team does not even bother to develop a new relationship between JH and Gary. So there is always an uncomfortable ad weird atmosphere between the two.

For singapore newspaper (news regarding changing members), the comments I read about JK are found in one of China's largest social platform, Weibo. Weibo is like twitter or instagram that lots of people used it. News and information can be reached faster in Weibo than Baidu nowadays. Also hope that the negative comments are from minorities.

As to how I become spartace fan @athoughtcloud1:

I am a strange person that doesn't like to follow the trend and what others like. When everyone is into 'My love from the star' and Sonng Jong Ki, I dislike them. I kind of dislike the things that many people are madly fall in love with. Not that I hate them, I just do not have any feelings towards them. Same goes to rm. When rm became popular in past years, I don't have the feeling to watch it as well. But I start watching rm in Sept 2015 since my sister start to download rm, plug the USB in my television and play it during dinner. (Kind of being force to watch it lol) I heard of MC for a long time as it is mentioned everywhere actually. When I start watching rm, there start to have news about JH's WAIL. So there are also news saying how everyone is pity for Gary and something similar. Anyway, the first person caught my attention is JK, not because of his 'rudeness' towards KS as others comment. (My sister favourite member is KS so she complain about how JK treat KS, but I ignore her as I think KS is the one start first that always betray JK -.- And I know that it is all for the show only, they are in good relationship in reality) I find him cute nagging always with his voice that not suit his outlook XDD And soon after, I find cuteness in everything he did and he is gentle to ladies as well. Now I love his songs and only listen to his songs (you can say that love made people blind...I actually listen to his songs every night I go to sleep, as I cannot sleep without listening to music) I begin watching all the previous rm episodes and his variety show before (X-man). I know he is shy towards opposite sex but he is not that shy as shown in rm when comparing to X man. However, after watching the two variety shows, I find that his interaction with JH is slightly different from the other ladies (both in the past and now in rm). I can tell they are close with each other. I started to be aware of their interaction and it is quite shock with my discovery. I discovered that JH is actually feeling uncomfortable with Gary, especially when Gary showing his affection to her as MC boyfriend. I find MC strange right from the beginning, but cannot name why.  But now I notice why, it is because MC is more like a one-side love and JH reacts to MC only when she is forced to. Then I start to look deeper and find out that she is actually least comfortable with Gary among the members. With the episode where JH and Gary date and have brain scan, their date are weird that it seems they are not even close as friends as well. They are good colleagues but even friends having dinner together are more comfortable watching than their date to me. In my opinion, MC is not a successful loveline at all when comparing to JK's loveline with YEH in X man. On the other hand, even with the loveline, JK's interaction and behaviour with YEH is different to that with JH as well. Don't know how to describe it, but JK's interaction with JH is more real to me. They are more comfortable with each other. I have watched all rm and throughout all episodes, I think they are special. How JK interact with her, how they found comfort from each other, how good they are when they is the same team...everything is special. I begin watching spartace videos in youtube and videos of them in fan meetings make me more confirm of the idea that they are a couple in real life. I re-watch rm the have spactace moment with reference to the comments in SA Baidu. (But I never comment there...) I am the one that often observe before joining a new group. Then I find here. As I said in my first post here, I would like to find a place where people are not making things up but love SA because of facts. (Maybe it's because of the impression MC fans gave me: insanely in love with a pair due to illusion but not facts and evidence.) Same as most of you, I ship them because I believe they are together in reality. But even if I'm wrong, I will be fine if they can find their love ones, as they deserved it. I think I become spartace fan in December 2015 so I am a bit new when comparing to you all. Glad to join the family here ^^ Hope they will not change members for real (sad to say that but if JK is not in rm anymore, I may drop it and will not continue watch rm...however I will continue support spartace, even we will get to see less interaction between them if one of them is out of rm)

[aschae]

Oooh. I'm enjoying reading others' shipping stories, so I'll chime in with my own.

To be honest, I started off as a MC shipper. When I started watching RM, it was pretty casual, and I hopped around between episodes on YouTube. And, at that time, I thought JH and KG's chemistry on-screen was believable, and I was rooting for them in real life. I didn't get into any of the shipping forums (had no idea they existed) or IG, but I was truly excited to see their interactions when they happened...

...until I stumbled across the behind-the-scenes video of Gary's cameo on Emergency Couple. I was convinced that if they were a real couple, they'd definitely behave like it when they were away from the RM cameras, and especially bts. But I saw none of that in this video. They looked like good friends, and that was it. And it left me bummed, and a bit disillusioned.

Then, last summer, I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, and while searching for something else, stumbled across the whole Spartace concept. I remember laughing, and thinking it was a huge joke. Like, seriously, there's crazy fans out there who think JK and JH are dating?! I started reading more, because I wanted to see how wrong all y'all were...and then I got sucked in. 

This thread is what got me started. The more and more I looked at the posts and the observations by eagle-eyed fans, the more I realized this wasn't a joke; this was beginning to look pretty legit. This explained why, in episode 182, this scene made me pause and give the TV an odd look. 

'Cuz that was an awfully intimate position for JK and JH to be in, especially how he pulled her behind him. There were additional scenes from other episodes that made me say "hmmm", prior to finding Spartace, but this is the one that sticks out the most.

But, once I found Spartace, it all made sense. I honestly spent a couple weeks of reading every. single. post on this thread, all 400-some pages. I've since added IG, PB, and tumblr to the mix. Even though fan politics make me batty, and there are times when I have my doubts, I keep shipping away because I see the proof in their interactions and their behaviors. 

So yeah...there you have it. My Journey to Spartace.

ETA: @dragonlovers: you're not alone in not following trends. I'm the same way. I didn't read the Harry Potter books until a few years ago, lonnnng after they were first released (and I still have yet to see the movies...). I keep up with the Korean entertainment industry more than what I keep up with Hollywood. And, I often join social media sites long after their peak. Those are just a few examples, but you get the idea. It's a relief to know we're not alone! 

[linzer03]

I know I said I'd post my response about this episode, but my internet has decided to flip out on me, and my internet company and I have become BFFs over the last three days, I've spent so much time on the phone with them. Anyway, I'll get to watching the full episode when I have internet again and I'll post my spartace thoughts, promise. 

In the meantime, I'll join the bandwagon and share my spartace story. I started watching RM spring 1015 because I was a 2PM fan, so I watched all the episodes with 2PM in them. And I ended up enjoying the RM cast so I ended up watching all of RM. It's not secret that I'm a KJK fan, so I ended up appreciating his relationships with the different cast members - KJK and YJS, KJK and LKS, KJK and HH - notice KJK and SJH are not on that list. At first, I considered them just friends (because I'm pretty sure we all started out that way) but then I was reading some article about KJK's love lines and SJH's name comes up. So then I had to go through all their big episodes and analyze their interactions. My thought process went: "Oh, they're kind of cute. That's kind of suspicious. Maybe they are dating. But probably not, that's be crazy. But  they are REALLY suspicious. I think they are dating." I ended up looking through IG and Soompi and reading fans analyses of spartace, and I started thinking it could be true. I've always said that I would never vocally ship real people, but at a certain point I realized that with spartace I was in waaaay too deep. So I said, "Screw it. Let's go all out just this one time." So I joined Soompi and started posting my thoughts, and I swear I will never do this for any couple besides spartace.

So yeah. Fun story. It's really interesting to read how we all got here. There are a lot of similarities, but some differences. I'm surprised there have been more KJK fans than SJH fans so far. 

Also, @dragonlovers I've been confused about MC too. This episode, they showed LKK talking about SJH as a part of MC in the beginning, bu then he said she should have a loveline with LKS (What did everyone think of that? My reaction was: of course, it's never KJK.). It's a funny joke (that'd be the most awkward love line around), but I was frustrated that the staff had to show so much of LKK's opinions on MC. They clearly cut his comments about KG and KJK, so why couldn't they have trimmed down his comments about MC, why did they have to include him talking about SJH forcing the love line (which we all know she doesn't do). I feel like the PD was perfectly willing to end MC when he first started, but now that the ratings aren't improving, he's falling back on old characters.

[twinlovers]

i'll join in and tell how i become an spartace shipper for me i started off by watching k-drama which was aired on tv which was (brilliant legacy) i fell in love with that movie and that was back in 2012 at that time i was away at school so when i got home on the weekend i would watch it and i asked my sister if she watch it and she said no because she couldn't bother with reading the sub so that very Sunday i asked her to watch it with me after which she got hook also my cousins, after which the same cousin introduce me to drama-fever where i would watch latest ep. of movie while on that site i keep seeing running man pop and i would be like what is that i don't want to watch it and keep on skipping over it for about 2yrs and one day i had nothing to do and i said to myself and getting more curious about it i was like running man what do they do run race or what so i decided to watch it around 2014 the ep. start at 90 on drama-ever so that where i started so up on watching it i like the first ep and decided that am gonna watch all o it i would send nite and day watching at the time i didn't like jk but as time keep going and i get to see him more in the eps i got to like him maybe because of his nagging or the way they treat him i don't know i didn't even know that theirs a thing call shipping so one day i don't know why i type in jk and jh name in google and just to see if their is anything on them then i saw the 10 reason why we love kjk and sjh which lead me to here i just keep on reading what you guys wrote and watching their interaction at the same time until i decided to join in February of last year and i keep on waiting for respond about them here but it was too slow so i decided to join Instagram because that the fastest way you can get news about i have never shipped a couple before but jk ans jh was my first and i wouldn't have it any other way their interaction got me here it got me on instagram and i will love them even if they end up with some one else but i really really want them to be real.

ps. in ep 304 did you guys hear jk saying (what's that) when jh bit gary on the ear. when my sister see me watching running man she would be like what is that you are watching and now she is in the same boat as me even asking when the ep. are coming out 

 

[dragonlovers]

@linzer03 Nice to read stories about others here. I am also confused of that part. I haven't sort things out of it so I did not put it in my post before (since I am not sure whether it is only me who find it strange...don't wanna confuse others with my 'illusion' in case it is not a big deal) How others think about it? It seems little people commented on ep 305...

By the way, just need to find somewhere to share my nearly explosed emotions!!!! (Sorry that you guys need to bear with me...) I'm watching Kookie's Talents for Sale broadcast. For your info, Talents for Sale is a show that invite famous people to sell their talent to the public through home shopping channel. One of the guest in this episode is trying to sale his skills as a wedding planner. In order to demostrate his skill before selling in the home shopping session, JK and Kim Se Jeong from I.O.I (the co-host of the show) pretend to be a couple that getting married. The fake wedding is designed for JK so you will find gym guys there lol. Though it is funny, I kind of have this feeling that I cannot describe in words. I think I am touched, with JK's cute and shy smiles, his expressions, and his songs played as background music...I am laughing with the gags but having teary eyes when watching the wedding scene (glad that I am alone or else others may think I am weird...lol)

Before I post the video and pics, would like to acknowledge you guys beforehand that JK and other hosts always treat Se Jeong as their daughter or sister (as she is recently debut, they all take care her well, especially Kookie). They always have a father-like smile towards what she did (as mentioned in the show's pop-up wordings before). But still, in case you do not want to see it, I will put it in spoiler. 

Pics:

Spoiler

Cr: KJK Baidu Bar

 

Video:

Spoiler

This is my first time posting video here...not sure whether it will work...tell me if it is not working...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn69fhaJByQ

Cr: KBSEntertain

The official account did not posted the whole session, so I found some screenshots in instagram. They do not allow video playback as well so you may need to click the link and watch the video. Sorry for that.

 

Instagram:

Spoiler

First time posting instagram as well, tell me if it is not working.

Cr: to the owner as tagged

 

Since I cannot find the whole cut part, I will post it up after I find it.

When I watched JK's expression, I find it slightly familiar. To me, it seems like an expression done by JK towards JH that I have come across in rm or fan meeting videos before. Don't know whether it is my spartace feeling that make me find it familiar or not. So don't get disappointed if it is not the case (if so, I'm sorry for that) But when the wedding ceremony ended and JK and Se Jeong walked hand-in-hand (and with Jk's song in the background), I start to think how will it goes if it is JK and JH's wedding? I really wish they will get married and have a happy life everafter. I think I will indeed cry if they are married, but it will be tears of joy. Don't know what will happened in the future but both of them deserve happiness and find a partner that truely loves them.

[twinlovers]

34 minutes ago, dragonlovers said:

i love that show also if u want a good laugh u should watch it especially with seojin he is so lazy and unmotivated he is same way as when he appear on running man but he is also funny when it come on to dissing hong cheol 

 

[androkia91]

16 hours ago, linzer03 said:

Also, @dragonlovers I've been confused about MC too. This episode, they showed LKK talking about SJH as a part of MC in the beginning, bu then he said she should have a loveline with LKS (What did everyone think of that? My reaction was: of course, it's never KJK.). It's a funny joke (that'd be the most awkward love line around), but I was frustrated that the staff had to show so much of LKK's opinions on MC. They clearly cut his comments about KG and KJK, so why couldn't they have trimmed down his comments about MC, why did they have to include him talking about SJH forcing the love line (which we all know she doesn't do). I feel like the PD was perfectly willing to end MC when he first started, but now that the ratings aren't improving, he's falling back on old characters.

 

@linzer03 the viu subs were actually a bit inaccurate and more in favor of M*. The literal translation of what LKK said was that SJHssi and K*ssi- the loveline looks forced. SJH-sshi should go crazy and suddenly start liking LKS. That will spice things up."

The words he used : 억지 러브라인  통해서 literally translates to forced through loveline. He didn't say who does it, just said, JH-sshi and K*-sshi

Just thought to put it out there- maybe any native korean speaker can confirm?

 

[dragonlovers]

Don't know why but I cannot save the post when editing, so I will post the video in a new post.

Here is a full raw video for the episode (without sub). The fake wedding will start at 27:12.

Spoiler

Cr: NTH K

 

[mary-ann]

hey guys it's time to VOTE for Song Ji Hyo, if we win her posters will be able to  appear at a subway station in seoul for several days  so guys let's together make it happen

 

https://fanmaum.com/projects/view/1022

Maybe the chinese members here can explain how to vote for song ji hyo

 

[linzer03]

I loved this episode. The theme was constant throughout without being overwhelming and all the games related to it. For the most part all the members got decent screen time. YJS and KJK got more, obviously, because of their roles in this ep. The guests also all got good screen time without being overwhelming, and I never felt like RM cast were hyping up the guests too much. I also loved the twist with the two team leaders secret missions and the contrast between YJS’s paranoid team and KJK’s frightened team. KJK (and by extent his team) definitely deserved the win in the end. KJK giving JSJ the water bottle was perfect (especially with the editing and KJK laughing and drinking water in tha background) since the side missions really were the difference maker, and he once again proves his thinking-outside-the-box when he just rips open the inflatable. And he just owned his character in the intro. And SJH was awesome this ep. Anyone who says she’s not good at variety needs to watch her dancing and watch her punish LKS at the end.

Spartace moments on rewatch:

SJH during KJK’s entrance. She laughs when she sees him (and YJS) and she says “You scared me” when KJK does his pose and she laughs when KJK does his American Style. One thing I love about spartace this ep is that while there’s no big moments, just the fact that they have input in everything the other person does speaks volumes.

I loved HH, KJK, and SJH laughing together and teasing LKS together. throughout the opening. I love those three together.

After SJH puts the sunglasses on, I’m pretty sure KJK is the one who says “She looks good in red”. He’s not on the screen so it’s hard to tell, but it certainly sounds like his voice.

After changing, SJH runs to join her team. She goes between KJK and HH, not to the side of HH, which would have been easier.

SJH and KJK discussing the line-up together and they ended up doing the same one. Awesome spartace teamwork as always.

SJH cracking up when LKS kicks KJK in the groin. The three of them have such a great dynamic. If something happens between two of them the third one is always shown laughing.

KJK looks after SJH’s hat when she’s crawling. The RM members (and even guests) will hold onto each others’ hats throughout filming, so it’s not a huge deal, but it’s nice to see him being the one to take care of her stuff and vice versa (last episode). KJK also talks to her constantly while she’s moving through the crawl through. Again, they’re not quiet when one another is doing something. Side note: I liked the female guest, she was competitive and fun.

Just something I found interesting: when YJS was talking about the pink team not being suspicious, he said that the two guests were silent/trusting/don’t care/afraid and that HH was suspicious, but he said nothing of SJH. (My thought is that it’s a given that SJH would trust KJK. But I’m biased.)

Again, KJK talks to SJH throughout the game, cheering her on and giving her advice. And then she sends up sitting next to KJk when her round’s done, even though she was in a different position beforehand.

“I love it when Ji Hyo’s on my team. I love it.” I still can’t believe KJK said that and it aired. I mean, we’ve been through them avoiding each other and we’ve been through the staff editing out their moments, so the fact that KJK said, and it appeared on the episode, the he enjoys being on the same team as SJH is crazy to me. He also looks at the staff when he says it (trying to tell them something???).

During SJH and LKS’s dance battle, KJK starts talking (again) and encouraging her. And KJK finds it hilarious when SJH slaps LKS. He laughs, claps, and tells her good job.

SJH warning KJK about LKS’s approach and KJK fending off LKS. Just a nice moment of spartace teamwork. We don’t get to see much of it nowadays, so we have to appreciate the small moments.

When KJK runs over to SJH (who did an awesome job in this game), she gets down and lets him take off the tubes she’s been protecting. Just want to point out the trust between spartace.

And then there’s a nice shot of spartace celebrating in their usual way.

Like I said, I love this episode. All the cast members got moments, and spartace rocked this ep. The concept was fun and I laughed throughout. The scoring was a little iffy (I think they didn’t expect a tie with the number of tubes, and since they had to use the doughnut tubes as the tie breaker, they decided to use the ice cream as a team leader mission for points). And spartace was subtle but there.

The trailer for next episode was awesome, testing the member to see who's watching. I don't know about you, but I'm curious who the first three callers are going to be. As always, I'm rooting for spartace.

Let me know if you disagree with any of my observations or have anything to add! I love hearing everyone’s input.

[makeitnasty]

wow its been so long since I've been here. richard simmons college have me mad busy. anyways, like everyone else I will share how I became a spartace shipper.

the first time I watched RM was when tvxq came to the show. ep 114 I think? anyways, all the comments were about monday couple. they had alot of moments in that ep. I wasn't that much into variety back then so I though that when people mentioned them, they were dating. I later found out that they were a loveline only. to see what the deal was I searched up their videos and watched a few but my reaction was ---> "meh, what the richard simmons do those people see in these two, its obvious she act forced" legit reaction. it was a obvious one sided loveline. so while watching a couple of their video, I decided to click on a recommended video that had "spartace" on it. I didnt know who they were, but I saw JH face and decided "why not, lets see who she has more chemistry with lol". after a couple of second I was like "BAM, this is the real deal" LOL and it was a video of pictures!!! she looked so much more comfortable with JK and so close. so after that one video, I began to look for more spartace videos and watched RM from ep 1, and from there I saw their development, how they became close, etc. I Knew there was something fishy about them from one mere video. crazy isnt it.

I do belive they are dating. I'm usually right about these kind of things. I have a seven sense. not kidding.

anyways back to the present, I have loss interest in RM. I only keep up with spartace and watch their video on youtube. there's this user on youtube that always post their moments from the eps and always post tons of videos about them. love her for that. 

 

[SpartaceJjang]

Finally Spartace on the same team. i love it when jk said i love having jh on the team

[airplanegirl]

So sorry I haven't been around... School is stressful! Pics from today's filming... 

[linzer03]

Is anyone getting ep 103 vibes from this upcoming episode? Not that I'm expecting spartace's interactions to be anything like what they were in ep 103 (As I spartace fan, I find it works much better to have low expectations), but KJK, SJH, and JSJ on a team with KJK piggybacking SJH? Weirdly similar.

It's also interesting that after KJK says he loves being on the same team as SJH, he gets teamed up with her again. So are we heading back in the progressing-spartace and end-of-MC direction again? There wasn't any MC in the last episode, but that doesn't mean anything really. I feel like RM can't make up its mind if it should cling to MC or move on. It doesn't want to lose the MC fanbase, understandable, but it feels at times like RM's dragging a dead horse. (Did I just call MC a dead horse? Yes, I think I did. Oh well.) 

What's everyone else's thoughts?

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

More than happy, I should say I am getting a feeling of contentment seeing the pics of JK piggybacking JH. Haha It is like spartace is in the same team, JK is piggybacking JH and all's well with the world!  

Not that JK hasn't piggybacked JH in a long time, he did in episode 282 while they were doing the igloo mission, but the RM team chose not to air it. So this comes as a wonderfully wonderful surprise. Seeing pictures of SA and SJ on the same team doing a market mission sure brings back memories. Some of the best SA moments were with SJ, so really hoping we get to see something special next week (I know the guest teams might get more screen time not to forget both JJH and KHA are famous, but still! ) If SA are dating from 2013 (as some of us believe), then this is the first time JK is doing a proper piggyback mission with JH once they started dating. Can I just go delu about JH finally being able to get piggybacked by her BF in public? (since JH as per her WAIL interview was so sad about not being able to hold hands with her BF in public).

SBS insta has confirmed that the rumours about cast replacement are "100% false", but I don't know. The interview seemed quite detailed and all. When Taek PD left, there was some talk about Myuk PD coming back temporarily while the new team took over, but that didn't happen. It is after all that talk about cast replacement that Myuk PD coincidentally came back. Did SBS change its plan of changing the members after all the fan outrage and decided instead  to boost the production team? Or if the interview wasn't true, was the plan all along for Myuk PD to come back at a later point (perhaps after his wedding)? Anyway, we will never know what happened BTS. But it is really wonderful to have one of the PDs who initially conceptualised the game back at the job. I wonder if the enthusiasm of the cast was partly a result of seeing a familiar and trusted PD at the helm of things again! I do not know how much of Myuk PD's inputs went into the recent episode, but it was evident that without the suspicious rescue element where the team leaders were on secret missions, the episode would have been just a series of games played between two teams. The Baywatch theme was really funny what with the David Hasselhoff korean voiceover and the weird names for all our life guards. I loved the fact that the team combinations were maintained throughout. Some of the recent episodes have suffered from not making use of the team combinations or changing teams midway. Of course as a spartacer, it makes you happy when SA are in the same team throughout and don't have to change into other teams midway, but even otherwise, retaining the same team throughout a game helps in developing team spirit and makes the competition much more intense.

@linzer03

You have listed almost all the things I wanted to say. I loved that scene where JK passes on the bottle to SJ suavely and then chuckles by himself. I don't know if JH's enthusiasm was a result of having been on JK's team or whether it was the result of seeing Myuk PD whom she is close to back at the job or if it was a combination of both. But Red Song was on fire from the first scene. She was fun and competitive at the same time! There are things you come to expect from JH and things you don't. One expects Bad Ji Hyo to emerge whenever LKS is around, but some of the things JH did in this episode made me remember her more vocal persona in the early days of RM. JH naming herself 'Red Song', saying she was sporting the shades to take a look at the male guest (that was so LOL. Even the RM members seemed taken aback at JH's flirty comment), her new dance instead of the usual Hot issue (more than the slapping, what was funnier for me was JH going on dancing nonchalantly after that and then her gorilla dance with Nickhun). I thought the RM members were all a bit surprised with the more active JH. Perhaps, this indicates that there has been a decision on the part of the PDs to focus on JH a bit more or on JH's part to command more screen time! However, I have always noticed that JH is the most active and her leadership qualities come out more when she is on JK's team. She takes charge along with JK in deciding team line ups or in how to go about things. In episode 282, JH was the one who gave the most useful ideas to JK on how to go about the walking on the board mission which they won comfortably . Recently also, though we did not see much of them interacting on the episode with YJG and Twice, JH once she saw KS acting suspiciously immediately reported to JK about her suspicions. I think JK also relaxes more when JH is on the same team as him since she shares the responsibility and will go all out for the win. This time too, when they were deciding on who should do the flamingo deflating mission and Haha was suggesting it should be JK, JH immediately says "I and (JK) oppa should do it together". That mission reminded me of the deflating mission they did along with CTH in episode 57 too. JH shone in all three missions - the crawling under the net mission, wearing the socks mission and putting the buoys on the pole. Hoping that this continues coz I love watching the fun JH! JK seems to be a big fanboy of KwangMong fights. He cracks up like anything whenever he sees them at loggerheads. I remember that airport video where JK was patiently waiting for Kwangmong to finish their fight and come back. JK is used to the ACE, but even he was surprised by G.I. Ji Hyo under the net today. And when JH was doing the socks game, he was watching it comfortably feeling confident that she would win. I bet they both had lots of fun during the shoot.

Like you said, what is so heart-warming about SA is their mutual trust. I also believe that JS didn't include JH among the members who were doubtful about JK because he knows their equation is one of complete trust in each other. JS's not including JH in that list and SJ's approaching JH first in the No Man game where he wonders how she got it wrong are indications to me that the SA bond is something special. I also loved the SA celebration at the end. JK looks so happy and the person he is looking at is JH. Though JK as team captain had to celebrate with each of the members in order, the way he linked hands with JH was something different from the rest. I cannot but think of it as a couple gesture where through something small, you still indicate to the other person that the moment is truly special and that you are really happy to share it with her.

Finally, I loved how JK said he really likes it when JH is on his team. JK's little compliments to JH continue - on her cooking, on how everything looks good on her and now on how she is the best teammate to have. I loved how his words were not just 'like, but 'really like' and that he said it twice.

I do not know what they are going to do with MC in China. There is that pharmaceutical CF coz of which they would still need to do things together, I guess. However, I get the feeling that as an RM concept, MC is now dead. They might try to include some references to it at times to please the MC fans, but it is basically a defunct concept that because it cannot be used to its full potential like before won't be that tempting to the PDs (that is what I hope). However, since RM goes all the time unpredictably, we have to wait and watch if this new phase of SA being put on the same team is something there to stay or is just a passing phase.

[elevenpapitus]

@linzer03 Agree with most of what you said,but about JK said “I love it when Ji Hyo’s on my team. I love it.” in this episode,in my opinion,I think what he meant was about "JH is well done,so the way she is the same team as me(JK) is so great!And he is so thankful to JH in his team."But that's my own perspective.

Since myukpd came pack RM,JK has been one team together with JH for twice overall.And the team consisting of JK.JH and SJ was long time no see from last time in 2015,plus,JK also piggybacked JH to play the market mission and we saw some pics about them.About MC,although they don't be one team on recent episodes,I still don't think they will completely give up the loveline,perhaps pd will change MC's loveline to be a relationship of friend???(I guess)But still need watch more episodes to consider what MC will be.Let's see.. 

Btw,JK was interviewed before in Beijing,and he said that he was preparing a korean program,and he was considering some chinese program about delicious food(maybe that variety show with JH).For what kind of woman he like personally,he told that he had preferred to their appearance when he was young,but now,he perferred to her character As the one he want to marry with,he considered if she would be a good mum.It reminds me of JH,hehe,only the one who you know a long time can you prefer her charcters.

And from what he said in welcome show E09,he said that he wanted a typical wedding,inviting some good friends instead of idols.Plus about what JH said in the interview before that she wanted a simple wedding and many people must bless her.I think they are similar,LOL

 

[mary-ann]

2 hours ago, athoughtcloud1 said:

More than happy, I should say I am getting a feeling of contentment seeing the pics of JK piggybacking JH. Haha It is like spartace is in the same team, JK is piggybacking JH and all's well with the world!  

Not that JK hasn't piggybacked JH in a long time, he did in episode 282 while they were doing the igloo mission, but the RM team chose not to air it. So this comes as a wonderfully wonderful surprise. Seeing pictures of SA and SJ on the same team doing a market mission sure brings back memories. Some of the best SA moments were with SJ, so really hoping we get to see something special next week (I know the guest teams might get more screen time not to forget both JJH and KHA are famous, but still! ) If SA are dating from 2013 (as some of us believe), then this is the first time JK is doing a proper piggyback mission with JH once they started dating. Can I just go delu about JH finally being able to get piggybacked by her BF in public? (since JH as per her WAIL interview was so sad about not being able to hold hands with her BF in public).

SBS insta has confirmed that the rumours about cast replacement are "100% false", but I don't know. The interview seemed quite detailed and all. When Taek PD left, there was some talk about Myuk PD coming back temporarily while the new team took over, but that didn't happen. It is after all that talk about cast replacement that Myuk PD coincidentally came back. Did SBS change its plan of changing the members after all the fan outrage and decided instead  to boost the production team? Or if the interview wasn't true, was the plan all along for Myuk PD to come back at a later point (perhaps after his wedding)? Anyway, we will never know what happened BTS. But it is really wonderful to have one of the PDs who initially conceptualised the game back at the job. I wonder if the enthusiasm of the cast was partly a result of seeing a familiar and trusted PD at the helm of things again! I do not know how much of Myuk PD's inputs went into the recent episode, but it was evident that without the suspicious rescue element where the team leaders were on secret missions, the episode would have been just a series of games played between two teams. The Baywatch theme was really funny what with the David Hasselhoff korean voiceover and the weird names for all our life guards. I loved the fact that the team combinations were maintained throughout. Some of the recent episodes have suffered from not making use of the team combinations or changing teams midway. Of course as a spartacer, it makes you happy when SA are in the same team throughout and don't have to change into other teams midway, but even otherwise, retaining the same team throughout a game helps in developing team spirit and makes the competition much more intense.

@linzer03

You have listed almost all the things I wanted to say. I loved that scene where JK passes on the bottle to SJ suavely and then chuckles by himself. I don't know if JH's enthusiasm was a result of having been on JK's team or whether it was the result of seeing Myuk PD whom she is close to back at the job or if it was a combination of both. But Red Song was on fire from the first scene. She was fun and competitive at the same time! There are things you come to expect from JH and things you don't. One expects Bad Ji Hyo to emerge whenever LKS is around, but some of the things JH did in this episode made me remember her more vocal persona in the early days of RM. JH naming herself 'Red Song', saying she was sporting the shades to take a look at the male guest (that was so LOL. Even the RM members seemed taken aback at JH's flirty comment), her new dance instead of the usual Hot issue (more than the slapping, what was funnier for me was JH going on dancing nonchalantly after that and then her gorilla dance with Nickhun). I thought the RM members were all a bit surprised with the more active JH. Perhaps, this indicates that there has been a decision on the part of the PDs to focus on JH a bit more or on JH's part to command more screen time! However, I have always noticed that JH is the most active and her leadership qualities come out more when she is on JK's team. She takes charge along with JK in deciding team line ups or in how to go about things. In episode 282, JH was the one who gave the most useful ideas to JK on how to go about the walking on the board mission which they won comfortably . Recently also, though we did not see much of them interacting on the episode with YJG and Twice, JH once she saw KS acting suspiciously immediately reported to JK about her suspicions. I think JK also relaxes more when JH is on the same team as him since she shares the responsibility and will go all out for the win. This time too, when they were deciding on who should do the flamingo deflating mission and Haha was suggesting it should be JK, JH immediately says "I and (JK) oppa should do it together". That mission reminded me of the deflating mission they did along with CTH in episode 57 too. JH shone in all three missions - the crawling under the net mission, wearing the socks mission and putting the buoys on the pole. Hoping that this continues coz I love watching the fun JH! JK seems to be a big fanboy of KwangMong fights. He cracks up like anything whenever he sees them at loggerheads. I remember that airport video where JK was patiently waiting for Kwangmong to finish their fight and come back. JK is used to the ACE, but even he was surprised by G.I. Ji Hyo under the net today. And when JH was doing the socks game, he was watching it comfortably feeling confident that she would win. I bet they both had lots of fun during the shoot.

Like you said, what is so heart-warming about SA is their mutual trust. I also believe that JS didn't include JH among the members who were doubtful about JK because he knows their equation is one of complete trust in each other. JS's not including JH in that list and SJ's approaching JH first in the No Man game where he wonders how she got it wrong are indications to me that the SA bond is something special. I also loved the SA celebration at the end. JK looks so happy and the person he is looking at is JH. Though JK as team captain had to celebrate with each of the members in order, the way he linked hands with JH was something different from the rest. I cannot but think of it as a couple gesture where through something small, you still indicate to the other person that the moment is truly special and that you are really happy to share it with her.

Finally, I loved how JK said he is really happy when JH is on his team. JK's little compliments to JH continue - on her cooking, on how everything looks good on her and now on how she is the best teammate to have. I loved how his words were not just 'happy', but 'very happy' and that he said it twice.

I do not know what they are going to do with MC in China. There is that pharmaceutical CF coz of which they would still need to do things together, I guess. However, I get the feeling that as an RM concept, MC is now dead. They might try to include some references to it at times to please the MC fans, but it is basically a defunct concept that because it cannot be used to its full potential like before won't be that tempting to the PDs (that is what I hope). However, since RM goes all the time unpredictably, we have to wait and watch if this new phase of SA being put on the same team is something there to stay or is just a passing phase.

 

I loooooooved this part, flirty, Jihyo is something i'm used to see her do in dramas, but to see her act flirtatious and seducing in front of the guest in RM is something new and really really refreshing and fun, best part of the whole episode if you ask me, and I also looved the member surprised reaction to her flirtatious comments LOL

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

Thank you @dragonlovers @aschae@linzer03 @twinlovers and @makeitnasty for sharing your quirky stories. Like @aschae I also started out quite cynical about spartace since I discovered the existence of ship when I knew JH was dating BCJ. So, the thinking was that 'if MC fans are delu, then how delu can spartace fans get when they are shipping two people nobody even associates as a couple"! I was not a regular viewer of RM at that time and so missed out on most things since I just followed the games or the more obvious jokes (KS was my favourite member since his jokes were more obvious to follow and he had that underdog vibe) or the interactions of the famous guests. It was when I became a regular viewer of RM that the combinations became clearer to me .Of course, by then, coz of the firewood chopping segment in Winter Olympics and through the Running Man Hunter episode, I had started noticing and liking JK and JH individually.  Since one of the RM running jokes was about JK not being able to find a girl, I remember watching some RM episodes where he would be paired up with some female guest and wondering whether that girl would finally be the one (now I know it was all just a joke to get screen time for the female guests, but there was a point where I thought the jokes were slightly real and showed the concern of his team mates). Since MC had kind of lost all its charm by then and I had read about how it had become a burden to JH even when she was dating somebody else, that never worked for me. I wasn't that keen on JH's lovelines compared to JK since I thought none of them could be real since she was publicly dating someone else. But still I liked watching her episodes with LDW. Then Iast year around october, I started checking out her other lovelines and that is how I ended up on SongSong and Spartace related threads and sites (I had known of SS from the beginning since I knew SJK and remembered reading articles about their subway kiss in 2010 and MC and SS were the more official ships, but SA was more unfamiliar to me since I never investigated it much since it seemed so delu being the unofficial ship). There was nothing there at least in the episodes I watched except for episode 228. Also, now when I look back, it seemed inconceivable that the two members I really liked could have feelings for each other just because they belonged to the opposite sex (not that it is a criterion) - like it was too good to be true!

Like I have written before, I went through lots of ''there is something here/no, this is all just shippers' imagination" for some time even after being a regular visitor of all the SA sites and threads including SA soompi. One day I even gave up on the ship thinking that while there might be a possibility that they were dating, there were more possibilities that they were not and so decided not to waste my time following them. It was after rewatching the Unanimous Race episode where I realized that they were really close but were strangely keeping away from each other in front of the camera that things started falling in place. Once I started re-watching RM from the beginning, it was fairly obvious that there was a strong attraction between the two that never somehow made it into the official narrative of RM. I have to also say that while the newer episodes I watched had made me more of a JK fan, it were the old episodes of RM that gave me a better sense of who JH was since she was more subdued in the newer episodes. The fanmeets were kind of the obvious examples of their closeness, but the episodes that convinced me the most were episodes 82 and 230. Once convinced there was something there in SA, I followed the ship silently for some more time, on soompi,  insta and baidu, since I didn't want to go into public shipping (generally, I have seen the worst kind of shippers imaginable). It was that SA article that suddenly popped up in Feb that finally made me join since I saw lots of comments on other forums where people questioned the sanity of spartace shippers. I felt outraged enough to come and comment on this thread. Finally I know none of us know them personally and these days I just hope that my biases turn out to be good people irrespective of whether or not they end up together! Anyway, for better or worse, I am on this ship and believe in spartace.

@dragonlovers and @aschae I also share that aspect of your personalities where I often end up distrusting the trends and people who are trending thinking it is all hype. I can totally relate with the Harry Potter thing @aschae since I refused to read it for a long time thinking it was just hype. LOL Later I really enjoyed it when I read it, but yeah I went through that whole 'looking down on HP' thing.

@dragonlovers and @htttt SA baidu really helped me know spartace better. I loved following all the discussions and there are quite a number of posters there who are my favourites since they gave lots of evidence which I found pretty rational.

@aschae Wow, yours was totally a dramatic journey. LOL  In the Hong Kong episode I was sad when JH and JK lost, but since I was a casual RM fan who watched it from time to time, Gary's comment didn't even grab my attention. I have always looked at the MC as playacting, so those kinds of comments never used to make an impression on me. I didn't even properly notice JH's position since I was too involved in the game wondering who was going to win. Many things went over my head like JH sitting behind JK in the car hugging him tightly ( I mean I saw that but then was too involved in their banter to see it as something strange).

@linzer03 I too had read that article about KJK's lovelines and had checked out a few of them. But I had more faith in JK finding love with the female guests than with JH at that time. LOL

@twinlovers I also didn't understand variety much in the beginning since I was also more into dramas. I remember watching the Sherlock Holmes episode (on reading someone's recommendation that it was a classic and had the two strongest players working together), but by the time SJ started acting like he had lost his trophy and that one of the members had taken it, I said 'boo! it is so set up' and didn't finish the rest of the episode. All those RM episodes with some made up storyline like the one with the golden turtle used to irk me a lot since they played with my sense of reality and I didn't know the variety personas of the members well enough to enjoy the banter.

@makeitnasty Once you start noticing, it becomes pretty obvious that JK is one among the members JH is really comfortable around. One cannot really say how people are from what little we get to see, but still, I feel JH is the type who while she takes certain liberties with the male members, is quite careful about giving them those liberties (this is with regard to skinship). So the biggest test for me regarding JH's comfort level with a person is to see how much skinship she allows that person. JH may bite the members, pull their hair or kiss their cheeks, but does it look like she is cool and enjoying it when a single man acts intimate with her? That is my test. There are times when she  tries to act cool for the camera or for the fans at the fanmeets, but once the segment that calls for her to be the actress is over, she will switch off that part of her and you get to see her real equation with the person involved. Even in front of the camera or at the fanmeets, sometimes it is obvious when she is uncomfortable especially when she hasn't been notified in advance about the coming skinship.

[Guest athoughtcloud1]

Spoiler

cre: SA baidu, weibo

cre: 蓝海鱼燕子7, SA baidu

[linzer03]

@elevenpapitus I agree with you about what KJK meant when he said "I love being on the same team as SJH", that it was in-the-moment and about how strong she is, so he likes having her on his team. Sorry if I wasn't clear about my thoughts on his comment. Considering we spartace fans have speculated that KJK and SJH have, in the past, tried to keep some distance and the staff has tried to distance them in from of the cameras, I found it surprising that the usually careful KJK would make a comment like that and that the staff would let it air. It's sort of like pointing out that KJK and SJH aren't on the same team often. It's one of those things that don't have nay deeper meaning in the moment, but perhaps in hindsight, you're like "I shouldn't have said that. It could be interpreted strangely." It's also just a nice moment we spartace fans can point to if someone says they don't like being on the same team. 

@athoughtcloud1 I also thought KJK with a female guest was more likely than SJH at first. There weren't many female guests I saw anything with though (but I did like him with Go Ara, I'll admit), and I pretty much perceived YEH as being in the past. I started to get irritated for KJK when she was repeatedly brought up by the other cast members.

This iss the article I was talking about, for those that are curious. http://www.soompi.com/2015/04/24/7-female-partners-that-made-kim-jong-kook-blush-on-running-man/ I know MGY is KJK's big RM love line (she's one of the more memorable one's since KJK expressed interest first), but I definitely didn't see anything romantic from him. Like, he was a fan of hers that likes her "type", and then he played along when the rest of the cast teased him about it. He seemed perfectly fine to be on SJH's team that ep (lol). And when KJK was paired with UJH for the partners of fate ep, he didn't seem into it at all until it was confirmed at the end. Then he seemed to change his mind and play along (you can also hear YJS scolding SJH in the background over something hmm...). It's kind of funny to look back at the list now that I believe he and SJH are dating. Remembering each ep is like going "Oh yeah her, that was also the ep where KJK and SJH..." For example, Kim Min Seo (the Villainous Roles ep)... Besides the fact that she ditched KJK for YJS at the end, that was the ep where KJK protected SJH during the mud fight and they ended up partners at the end and briefly held hands. Ha Yeon Soo (the couple episode with the rocks) where they did the pepero game together. Yeah, that was the pepero of KJK and HYS versus SJH and PSJ, where KJK and SJH were very interested in each other playing the game. It's really really weird rereading the article now....