Run BTS Rewatch Episode 10:

실미도 특집, Silmido Special

The boys have paintballed, mountain-climbed, and ATVed and now it’s time for them to rest. Except that the truest lesson of Run BTS is that you can never rest too soon because the production staff has taken a lot of lessons from Sun Tzu and knows that this battle will never end.

Setup:

Combining two staple concepts into one, they decide to 1) let us watch them eat and 2) reveal that there has been a SPY the entire time doing SECRET MISSIONS, though they don’t immediately reveal who he is. This spy version is more early-BTS, where they just have to do stuff on camera to or with the other members without them noticing and not mess up missions for others, and while both are fun it’s always funnier when someone is trolling.

[Also, this episode is clearly from before the time when we had all consumed so much BTS content that we can recognize a member from a single pinkie, because while they do their best with pixelation, a box over the screen, and a hamster-voice filter it is immediately obvious who the spy is simply from the way they move. Good try guys.]

The Moments of Pure Love:

1. THE SPY tells us they’re nervous but they’re gonna do their best

2. Sope didn’t get the meal reward in a prior game, just sides, so the other five eat their full meal with loud, dramatic appreciation to soothe that pain

3. Jimin, kind of worried and kind of being a little shit, wanders over with a crab shell to give to the two of them for extra food

4. Yoongi gives a grateful Hoseok the entire crab shell, assuring us in a classic, much-quoted line that he is full just by watching Hoseok eat

5. The staff announces THE SPY’s existence and accusations start flying in

   1. Jin immediately says it’s Taehyung; evidence - gut feeling all day

   2. Namjoon agrees; evidence - Taehyung interrupted his dancing

   3. Jimin says he had no idea Taehyung was doing anything

   4. Jungkook also says it was Taehyung; evidence - his hesitation on the bungee jump

   5. Hoseok accuses Namjoon; evidence - nothing

6. THE SPY completed his missions and stole their cash prize, which garners hilariously little reaction since they’re all stuffing food in their faces

7. Sope have migrated to the meal table and are eating with the rest of them; no one cares

8. Taehyung raises his hand to admit to being the spy

9. Hoseok is so shocked that he uses Taehyung’s full name in his highest, most questioning voice

10. Jin smugly says he’d known it almost all day

11. Yoongi is asked if someone stuck their hand in his armpit and Yoongi, quite blankly, says that wouldn’t even register to him at this stage of their existence

12. Hoseok is asked if someone hit him on the back of the head three times, and he’s similarly flummoxed in trying to remember something that must happen all the time

13. Taehyung grins and says he did it after the bungee jump, which doesn’t help Hoseok remember at ALL

14. Jin suddenly realizes why Taehyung hit his ass so many times

15. Jungkook sits up on his knees and chews vacantly

16. Hoseok gets on board with the Taehyung theory as Namjoon repeats that it’s obvious

17. Jimin can’t think of anything weird Taehyung did to him, and the staff says that he tried but failed, which Jimin, Phoenix Wright style, immediately says that means THE SPY failed (but they only had to complete 6 of 9 so it’s fine)

18. Namjoon says that Taehyung is always doing random stuff, which is great spy camouflage, but he can always tell when he’s acting

19. The staff asks THE SPY to talk about their missions

20. Jungkook rises from his knees with arms raised in victory to reveal that it is actually HIM, and Taehyung was just fucking with them

21. Past Jungkook is very excited to win over all of his hyungs and cheers for himself

22. Hoseok is delighted at this turn of events!

23. Jungkook’s missions are revealed and shown in sepia flashback like an old VCR

    1. Spray water on Namjoon - he spits water on him while they’re eating??? Wild, and annoys and perplexes Namjoon, but he moves on

    2. Slap Jin’s ass three times - he just does it, and Jin doesn’t even register the event

    3. Ignore Taehyung - this isn’t shown but Taehyung cheerfully admits Jungkook ignores him all the time

    4. Hit Hoseok’s head three times - Hoseok unwittingly invites Jungkook to do just that in recounting their paintball game, so notices nothing

    5. Get a strand Yoongi’s hair - he simply yoinks one out without any fanfare to tuck it in his pocket, and Yoongi doesn’t even react

       1. Jungkook does tells us that Yoongi needs to dye his roots as he looks at his trophy

    6. Putting his hand under Yoongi’s armpit - feels up his tricep for like ten seconds, and once again Yoongi has absolutely no reaction

    7. Have Jimin tell him to stop doing something - he annoys and annoys and annoys and annoys Jimin all day but Jimin will never tell Jungkook to stop doing anything, that’s his baby. FAIL

    8. Feed the cameraman - he did it and they all thought Jungkook was the sweetest kid in the world

    9. Do a peace sign on camera - FAIL, presumably because he just forgot or had already gotten his 6

24. Hoseok is incredibly impressed with Jungkook

25. Taehyung is incredibly impressed with his own ability to do improv in any situation

26. Namjoon and Jin have said nothing for like five minutes, and Jimin laughs at them

27. Yoongi is still stuck on the fact that he is like a goldfish who doesn’t remember anything that happens to him five minutes after it’s over

28. Jungkook gets his money and does a long closing talking head about how he has won everything that’s possible to win today AND he got to jump off of a high place so no one is doing it like him

29. The editors realize they have hundreds of hours of footage of these dorks and show us more clips from the last three episodes that didn’t fit into the storylines, with Butterfly as background music

The Finish Line:

This episode wasn’t particularly thrilling in and of itself but in hindsight it sets up a lot of future Run BTS pillars. Spies, and Bangtan’s innate suspicions of everyone around them at all times. Food rewards and eating footage. Behind the scenes clip montages to squeeze out as much value as possible from the filming. And that’s not even getting into biggest foreshadowing event of all - everyone always thinks Taehyung is the spy, because Taehyung lives his life in spy form just in case.

I didn’t realize this was the end of the first season of Run until I saw the next episode, and while they’re still definitely trying to figure out what works, it’s also obvious this format was going to be solid gold for them for a long time.