Run BTS Rewatch Episode 44: The Eyes Have It

오감만족 2, Satisfy the Five Senses 2

We are back for the final two of the five senses (sight and taste), and both strike me as particularly funny things to test BTS on. While it’s possible nothing will top the beauty of making everyone sniff each other like bloodhounds, the one thing I do know about the Run BTS producers is that they’re going to try!

Setup:

They’re going through tests of their five senses, individually, and the winner gets a prize while the loser doesn’t get a punishment. Or at least that’s how it was, until some point in the last episode where they apparently agreed that the loser has to wear the winner’s BT21 outfit in the next episode and balanced us out again. This was partially suggested by Yoongi, who was finally doing kind of well in competitions despite wearing a huge alpaca outfit and wants someone else to suffer. It’s all up for grabs in this one!

The Moments of Pure Love:

1. The vision test is sort of insane, as it’s a picture of seven items layered on top of each other translucently, kind of like what you’d see on a luggage scanner at the airport, and they have to say what all the items are

   1. It’s important to note that they’re standing about midway into the room, and the picture is being shown on a monitor up by the cameras, to make it harder to see

2. Jungkook announces before the game starts that he’s so good he’ll go right away and give everyone else hints

3. True to his word he shouts his name instantly, then is like “what the hell is that” when he sees the picture

4. The photo looks sort of like a brain if the brain was filled with candy and toy cars and possibly birth control pills

5. Most of this game involves them yelling out their name then rattling off names of things, incorrectly, which prompts another member to yell out their name even louder and say most of the things the last person said but some more, again incorrectly, ad infinitum

6. Jungkook, Hoseok, Jimin, and Jin all take cracks at the first one, with Jungkook going many many times because his honor is on the line, and he finally pulls it out

7. Namjoon is too cautious to try to answer when he hasn’t figured out one of the parts of the picture, which is going to be death in this “take a shot at it” atmosphere

8. After it’s over, Jin, Taehyung, and Jimin all move up and stick their faces right in the monitor to try to see better; this will prove prophetic

9. Jin takes a page of out Jungkook’s book and yells out his name right away in the next round, says one thing, then falls back on “what the hell is that”

10. The next picture looks like a wastebasket full of random crap like soccer balls, Swiss cheese, and bricks

11. Taehyung, having sat the first round out, now understands what to do and swoops in very quickly to rattle them off correctly

12. Jin once again is first to the monitor to look very closely, a loudly confused Yoongi following him

13. Jin tries to go immediately again in the third round, but he’s quickly stumped once more

14. The third picture looks like a orange blob with a table inside of it

15. The silence stretches on until Yoongi excitedly goes in, guesses bag twice, and loses

16. Jimin, building off of the wrong answers before him and widening his eyes as big as they can possibly get, gets it right, then sinks to his knee in a “yes!” gesture

17. Now all of them rush to the monitor to confirm the items except for Jungkook, who is content to hang back in mystery

18. No one tries to jump in on the fourth one, which is even harder, and looks like a pool coverup my grandmother would wear in Hawaii

19. Jin finally tries, and one of his guesses is rabbit which causes consternation among the doubting Bangtans and a debate about whether or not it even exists

20. Taehyung, deciding to believe him, incorporates it into his guess but gets it wrong

21. Yoongi is like “there is no rabbit there this man is making things up” and Jin is very offended

22. Jin slowly creeps closer by leaning forward like a track runner, and Jungkook and Yoongi haul him back

23. Taehyung gets an idea from this, and suggests everyone gets to take a closer look for one second

24. This results in an alarming stampede of Bangtans as seen from the POV of the monitor they’re looking at, which is peered at intensely by all of them

    1. While it was supposed to be a short look, they’re all basically in our face for the rest of the round

25. Jin feels like he’s nailed it, and hasn’t as he loses steam, but one of the things he guesses fills in the slot for everyone else

26. At this stage they all ROAR to guess, which, because they are much closer to the front, is incredibly loud in the speakers; RIP to headphone-wearers

27. This continues over and over again, with them moving back and then forward and shouting and getting things wrong

28. Also, no one lets the producers say whose turn it is to answer, so the guess goes to the person who is the most brazen about simply starting a guess, which means mostly Jin, Jimin, and Jungkook

29. At one point Yoongi shoves Taehyung out of the way with his alpaca arm to get in the center of the shot

30. The producers try to bring order back to this chaos by having people shout on the count of three if they want to answer

31. Predictably, this means that on 2.5 every single one of them shouts their name at the exact same time

32. Taehyung and Jimin execute full bows to the staff, Taehyung particularly desperately as he hasn’t been loud enough to overcome the previous guessers

33. They’re pleased with his subservience and let him guess, and he gets it right - it’s worth noting that none of his answers are rabbit

34. Everyone encourages everyone else to move back, which ends up with them against the back wall for safety

35. Namjoon tries to talk them out of it, noting that the editors will just cut to the next time they all run up to the front again

36. The next round looks like an alien toilet stuffed with disturbing implements

37. Jin has somehow interpreted the standing against the wall thing as as if he needs to sprint to the front to answer, and he does so

38. This causes everyone else to follow up, and we are back where we started

39. With each guess they creep closer and closer and closer, until an intense Hoseok finally gets it right and pelvic thrusts in victory

40. The next one looks like a satchel with a snowman growing out of it

41. Taehyung’s eyes are massive as he tries to commune with this picture from inside his soul, but no one has any idea what it is

42. They all agree to move up so close to the monitor that their noses are practically pressed against it

43. It’s so puzzling that they actually start discussing it amongst each other even though they’re competitors

44. Namjoon has given up on this entire exercise, as unless he can understand the whole picture he cannot begin to essay an opinion on what part of it is, and is sitting on the floor against the wall waiting them out

45. Yoongi, when he gets close to the monitor, blocks the entire thing with his massive RJ head, and is yanked back for his troubles

46. Hoseok at one point says there’s a baseball in it, which gets them very excited, Jin yelling into mic so loud that it removes a few of our brain cells

47. Taehyung tries a guess and ends it with “I’ll guess the rest later” which Jihope find extremely funny

48. The producers have had enough of this shit and start speeding them up, making their voices sound like animal crossing characters as they guess and guess and guess

49. Namjoon comes back up but still has never tried to guess the entire time that I can tell

50. Hoseok guesses something that prompts the producers to give them a hint, but hilariously Taehyung has already called next and isn’t interested in listening to the hint, so he guesses something totally wrong

51. The rest of them explode as soon as he’s done, and Namjoon finally guesses and gets it right, a 1.000 batting average thanks to his cautious approach

52. Taehyung is still arguing passionately for his own guess even as they’re resetting for the next one

53. The next one looks a camera that’s been left in the forest for 10 years and grown plants

54. Jungkook goes back to his “yell my name and try” strategy, guessing “tree, camera, check it out”

55. Taehyung ends up getting this one very quickly, impressing the rest of them with his perspicacity, and indeed he has killed them in this game overall

56. The taste challenge involves them tasting things and guessing what they are

57. Hoseok goes first, and he has to eat a piece of kimbap blindfolded and guess the ingredients

    1. Yoongi gets his big ol’ alpaca head in there to visually confirm how many ingredients there are

    2. They agree he doesn’t have to guess the seaweed or rice, but there are seven others

    3. Hoseok asks them to back up so he can taste better

    4. Yoongi does, but continues discussing how there are a lot of common kimbap ingredients that Hoseok can guess

    5. Hoseok gets the pickled radish and egg right away, then gets a little tripped up and has to think

    6. Jungkook loudly sniffs the crown of Hoseok’s head for no reason at all

    7. Jimin begins a countdown to get him to guess, and Hoseok comes out with quite a few but can’t identify ham

58. Taehyung is next and has two cups of liquid in front of him

    1. Namjoon makes up a test that he has to determine the one with higher mineral content

    2. Taehyung is worried because he believes him

    3. Jin guesses the test is telling which water came from Jeju, which is correct

    4. Yoongi, for some reason, really wants to do all of these tests and suggests that he taste them both first

    5. Everyone else shouts him down because if he has any tastes in his mouth it could throw Taehyung off

    6. Taehyung covers his ears as he tastes them, as though this will help him, and BTS is so loud that it might

    7. Jungkook sniffs the crown of Taehyung’s head for no reason at all

    8. Taehyung discusses how one water cup communed with him more strongly, which means it’s Korean

    9. Jin, who earlier claimed that he can tell the difference because he knows all water-related tastes, is given a chance to try his own shot, and he disagrees with Taehyung

    10. The rest of them all sip the water cups as well, and in a post-COVID world this is insane to watch

    11. Jin ends up being correct, and he is perfectly smug about it as Jimin rounds the table to give him a hug

59. Jin is next, and he gets the blindfold as he has to taste a sandwich and guess ingredients

    1. They all say that this is easy, so they’re not going to tell him how many ingredients to guess, but they cave and say 5 excluding the bread

    2. Jin says he doesn’t like sandwiches, which is very funny from an American POV

    3. Hoseok stands behind Jin and lays his hands on his shoulders very gently for no reason at all

    4. Jin tries it but fails to find the bacon or the chicken breast

    5. He is perplexed about how he could be expected to guess these things

    6. I’m nonplussed because none of the things was a sauce, which means they handed him a dry-ass sandwich, which is a crime

60. Yoongi is blindfolded up for his test of guessing if two rices in front of him come from a cooker or if it’s instant

    1. BTS is divided on whether this is easy or hard

    2. Yoongi is unable to even scoop the spoon into the rice

    3. Hoseok asks if Yoongi wants a little or a lot; when Yoongi says a little, Hoseok feeds him a massive spoonful of rice

    4. Yoongi asks for a sip of water between the two servings to clear the palate, because he takes this seriously

    5. Hoseok feeds him another massive spoonful of rice on the next round, with every appearance of delight

    6. Jin points out that the rice and the RJ outfit look very similar

    7. Yoongi steeples his fingers, pondering, then asks for A again

    8. Hoseok piles so much rice on the spoon that it is taller than Yoongi’s mouth, then shoves it in there and laughs

    9. Yoongi guesses confidently and it’s totally wrong

61. Jungkook gets the blindfold for three different types of carbonated water and I think has to guess the flavors

    1. They all discuss whether or not this is difficult, and the types of common flavors, and if lemon-lime is distinguishable from just lemon

    2. While they talk Jungkook sips his drinks and ignores everything they’re saying

    3. I cannot overstate how little attention Jungkook is paying any of his hyungs at this point

    4. Once he’s done he coolly guesses and is exactly right

    5. Namjoon’s mind is blown

62. Namjoon is blindfolded (wearing it inside out for no reason at all) with two cups in front of him

    1. Jin says that his task is to guess which cup is labeled A and which is labeled B

    2. Jimin has never heard a funnier joke in his entire life than this one right here

    3. His actual challenge is to identify which is lemon and which is calamansi, apparently another kind of sour fruit

    4. Yoongi helps him drink them to avoid some sort of calamansi calamity, and I said this mostly for that phrase sorry

    5. Namjoon gets them both right instantly because he likes sour things

63. Jimin is up last, and as he’s second to last Jin suggests a sidebet that if Jimin gets it wrong he loses two points, which would take him into last behind Jin; however, he gets a chance to change his answer depending on vibes

64. Jimin accepts this challenge confidently, then asks Jin what he’s putting on the line for this little bet because otherwise it’s all upside for him

65. Jin falls deathly silent

66. Yoongi goes back to the hiking well, saying if Jin loses the Jinmenet bet he has to go the bottom of the mountain and send the hikers (Namjoon and Taehyung) off; everyone is into this

67. The producers harken back to an earlier game and say he has to prepare a meal for the hikers if he loses

68. Jin asks if he can decide between these two after he sees Jimin’s question; he is rebuffed

69. Jimin looks at him, innocent and evil, and says “Deal?”

70. Jin is physically, mentally, and psychologically unable to say anything but “Deal”, and agrees to make the meal

71. Jimin is now highly motivated to get his question right, tying his blindfold on with steely purpose

    1. Jin begins praying to the gods for a difficult question

    2. It’s revealed to be a possibly easy question of differentiating honey and oligosaccharide and Jin cries out in pain

    3. Yoongi feeds Jimin something (tofu?) slathered in sauce, suggesting he eat the whole cylinder

    4. Jimin waves him off, and Yoongi pouts that they stuffed so much rice into him on his turn

    5. Hoseok laughs, not at all ashamed

    6. Jimin says he doesn’t know, and Jin begins rubbing his hand together like a Disney villain

    7. After Jimin answers, he gets confused about what one is A and what one is B and has to take a think, even though he was correct

    8. Jin capers around frantically when Jimin confirms his answers

    9. They reveal the correct answer and Jimin poses with his smuggest, coolest face

    10. Jin collapses to the ground and shouts to the heavens that he shouldn’t have been filled with such hubris

72. Final scores are Jungkook (14), Namjoon (12), Taehyung and Yoongi (9), Jimin (8), Hoseok (7), Jin (4)

73. They remind them that Jungkook gets a prize for first place and they all get very excited

74. Jungkook is ready to open it right away but the producers demand an outro first

75. Namjoon wraps it up with philosophical thoughts about the importance of our senses and the importance of not making side bets with your bandmates when you’re already losing

76. Jungkook opens his prize enthusiastically to reveal five persimmons, making the rest of them laugh at him

77. Bonus epilogue is, at long last, hiking!

78. Vmon, practically catatonic with exhaustion, are driven to the base of Achasan mountain before sunrise

79. They’re also both bundled up in furt, puffy coats, scarves, and earmuffs because it is fucking January

80. Namjoon reveals that he picked this because three of them (Taehyung, Jimin, and Jin) did this before debut because they were all freaked out

81. Taehyung reveals that he would have wanted to do this with Namjoon even if it wasn’t a punishment because he is full of love

82. At this point they are still roommates, so it is possible this would have happened, but more likely Taehyung would have slept his tiny heart out

83. They discuss how Jin was cooking and making noise very early in the morning to give them a meal for this

84. The editing team flashes back to Jin in their dorm kitchen, wearing pajamas that are reminiscent of the angel pajamas he will later design as merch, getting food ready for them 2 hours before they left

85. It’s important to know that even though this is probably like 4:30 in the morning and he is so tired and possibly not even made up, Jin looks fantastic

86. Jin tries to sprinkle salt in a cool way but it goes down the sleeve of his pajamas

87. Jin talks us through his meat marination method, then realizes they have no soy sauce in their kitchen and tries to expire

88. He slams a whole lot of garlic in the food, and if this was after he knew he was allergic to garlic that’s very generous of him

89. Taehyung wanders in looking like fifty miles of rough road, grabbing pieces of fried beef to snack on with his hair sticking out like a kid in a sitcom

90. Jin does a number of very sexy cooking skills like separating egg yolk, flipping frying items using the pan, and dumping things into boiling water without maiming himself

91. He mostly gives up on narrating as he keeps going, his brain shutting down, but when Namjoon shows up in a baseball hat with flaps on it that he can snap under his chin, he gets some life back

92. Jin tries to make a dad joke and Namjoon has zero reaction because his brain his deep inside a pool of exhaustion, but when Jin tells him he needs to laugh Namjoon summons up a couple of chuckles

93. As he tastes the soup, the editors call him out for saying earlier that his rule is to never taste food while he’s cooking, and it is frankly rude

94. Jin spoons the final product into thermoses, and it looks like he made one for the camera person too, which is very sweet and very him

95. He hands it off to his manager and gives a well-wishes to the hikers before he announces he is going to fall back in bed possibly forever

96. Taejoon begin singing beautiful ballads on their walk back and forth like a movie

97. Namjoon begins waxing rhapsodic about how the pre-sunrise light is so beautiful and multi-colored, and he loves this time of day, and he can’t believe Seoul is so quiet

98. As he finishes that last sentence some kind of ungodly wail emerges, possibly some kind of siren, and when he asks Taehyung what that sound is Taehyung says seriously that it means that it’s the fresh start of the morning

99. They crack open their still-warm soup and feel immense gratitude to Jin for taking care of them so well

100. Namjoon tells a touching story of a time he rode a train with a friend to see the sunrise somewhere

101. Taehyung, not listening at all, tries to warm up his hands

102. The cameraman encourages them to finish up, and they both say very touching words about how much they love us and the poor staff people who had to take them to this place

103. With a final shot of the sunrise we are out!

The Finish Line:

I honestly couldn’t remember if Jin made them a meal because he was punished or just because he was a nice guy - either would have been funny - but the way the punishment came about was absolutely perfect. Leave it to Jinmin to find a way to spice up the episode with punishments the staff isn’t even asking them to do!

My final ranking of the five senses tests in terms of entertainment are smell → touch → hearing → taste → sight, which made this episode a little flatter, but seeing the end hiking finally happen was worth it all. All of the Kims pulling together for our entertainment; how sweet!

Even better news for Yoongi is that he’s finally worked through his backlog of punishments and can now start with a fresh slate! Let’s see how long it lasts before he’s back in the mascot uniforms…