Run BTS Rewatch Episode 48: Reaping Comedy

방탄마을을 지켜라 2, Protect BTS Village 2

Last episode left us on a dramatic note, full of suspicion, intrigue, and poor math skills! This time all will be revealed, as we see if the members of the Blue Village are able to outwit the innocent ARMY protectors among BTS. If anyone is watching this for the first time, I am very curious about how close you got to knowing the ultimate answer, because I know on my first pass I had absolutely zero idea.

Setup:

Locked in capitalist roleplay, the members of BTS must ferret out the spies among them in a mafia style game. The winning team gets gift cards and the losing team gets shame. We ended in the middle of the second day, so let’s see where the last nights and day take us!

The Moments of Pure Love:

1. They start with a flashback to Jimin being assigned the role of Blue Villager, because his spot is fully blown at this point and they have to give us something

2. Jimin introduces himself as he walks into the production room, which is hilarious

3. We see that the outsiders have to exchange tea bags in the dinosaur camp for false clues, which sounds so much like a CIA passphrase that I snorted

4. The odd numbers clue that he was leading people around to explain was a plant by the producers that he sold the hell out of

5. Back in live, Taehyung calls Hoseok over and shows him a sign he found with a chocolate chip cookie on it

6. Jimin is like “wait we can go into the cookie shop?” and Jungkook appears as if by magic to announce that the cookies are delicious

7. Jimin tries to create chaos by wondering if the cookies are some kind of hint, to which Jungkook is like “oh fuck is this what the odd number was about?” but then laugh and eat cookies

8. Taehyung asks who owns the cookie shop, and Hoseok is like uh, you do, and Taehyung is like oh that makes sense

9. Jin, Yoongi, and Namjoon are walking down main street saying “train train train train” over and over again to try to solve the locker clue

10. Namjoon is convinced that the street lines represent the train

11. Yoongi is more interested in a tea bag Namjoon found that had an M on it, because of the Grand Unified M theory

12. Jungkook has come to lend his wisdom to Hoseok on the locker puzzles, and guesses for the train it’s just 1111, but that’s wrong

13. Hoseok wanders away

14. Jungkook stares at the locker, sighing, before realizing his only option is to try all 10,000 possible combinations starting from 0000; he begins his work

15. It’s time for the next nighttime argument session and they all gather at town hall, including Jungkook who has to abandon his mission

    1. In the editor’s slightly snarky recap of the day they list this as Jungkook’s sole accomplishment, and I have to admit I laughed

16. Hoseok shows the blue shirt picture he found in the locker

    1. Yoongi points out that Jimin and Jungkook are wearing blue

    2. Namgi get hung up on the train again thinking about the 2 lockers that still aren’t open, because there’s no train in the village

    3. Hoseok is like, they might not mean a real train guys

17. Jimin brings up the odd number code clue that he has and explains in detail his subtraction theory

    1. Hoseok, Namjoon, Jin, and Jungkook’s shops all have odd numbers, so he thinks the Blue Villagers are from this group

    2. He claims the M theory implicates Jin and the real estate paper that Taehyung found implicates Namjoon

18. Namjoon says he’s found nothing, except that when he took the sticker off of his tea bag it says M

    1. Yoongi is tantalized by the M

    2. Hoseok rubs his hand over his chin like he’s trying to absorb this complicated new information

19. Taehyung brings out the real estate paper he found that says Namjoon is buying a place in Blue Village

    1. Yoongi’s face lights up like Christmas as he says it’s the most amazing evidence he’s seen

    2. Namjoon loses his mind over this piece of evidence

    3. Hoseok, on the opposite side of the same frame, has his hand under his chin, his eyes wide, and a nervous grin on his face as he watches Namjoon rant; the whole effect is a “spill the tea” sort of look

    4. Jimin, who is sitting in between them, looks a little worried about Namjoon’s flailing arms

    5. Namjoon says it’s not fair that his backstory that he didn’t make up is causing this sort of confusion, because it says that he visited Blue Village a couple of days before

    6. Namjoon insists it’s a trap, passionately, but no one is listening to him

20. Hoseok, his internal timer always ticking, asks how much time they have left - it’s 4 minutes

21. Yoongi found nothing except for the locker thing with Hoseok

22. Jin found a bunch of blank hints and the one that said to check the lockers

    1. Jimin is very impressed at Jin’s industry

    2. Hoseok, going full prosecutor, asks Jin where he found the locker hint

    3. Jin has no fucking idea where he found it

    4. Yoongi smiles like his birthday just came early, and everyone agrees that Jin is guilty

23. Jungkook brings out Namjoon’s wallet that he found with Taehyung

    1. Hoseok is both impressed with how good Jungkook is at finding wallets and how he’s using his little vest pockets to store things

    2. Jungkook mentions that there’s local money in the wallet, and Jin agrees that Jimin’s has that too

    3. Jin mentions that there’s 5,000 won in the wallet; Jimin’s like that’s all yours big fella

    4. Yoongi draws a parallel between 5,000 won and the 5 on Namjoon’s teabag

24. Hoseok asks if Jin checked out the locker that the clue told him to go to, and there’s a bit of a confusion as Hoseok is still convinced the lockers he’s been staring at most of the day are the lost and found

25. Namjoon once again asks Jin where he got the clue

    1. Jin asks the directors if he can check the footage to remember

    2. Taehyung is suspicious of this lack of memory

    3. Namjoon and Yoongi also find it hard to believe he can’t remember where he found things, since they remember their searches well

    4. Jungkook is fully checked out of this entire discussion and is sorting the stuff in his pockets into little piles

    5. Jin remembers that he found this clue in the grocery store, and stutters this out

    6. Yoongi asks where in the grocery store, and Jin is once again stumped

    7. Everyone laughs except Jungkook, who is busy sorting, and Taehyung, who is in character

26. Hoseok announces that he’s narrowed his choices down

27. Yoongi says that it’s almost too obvious, then picks up the real estate contract again

    1. Namjoon gets all fired up again about his background information

    2. Jungkook, putting the last of his little piles back into his pocket, simply says “Moving out to the Blue Village” and ends his thought there

28. Everyone agrees that Namjin are the most suspicious, but Hoseok wonders why Jungkook is so quiet

29. The producers, in slight exasperation, tell them that there are diaries hidden for each of them with clues that no one has found, along with people’s wallets which are in their shops

30. Namjoon demands his wallet from Jungkook

31. Hoseok demands Jungkook find his wallet at the grocery store

32. Jin strides away in a huff so quickly that he loses his camera man

33. Namjoon finds a clipboard with a work schedule and thinks it’s his diary (it’s not)

    1. On this clipboard he finds two letters that say “main vocalist” and believes he’s cracked the code

34. Jimin is wasting time by the lockers, opening them all up

35. Hoseok, completely alone in the grocery, says that he can’t find anything and asks people to find his wallet

36. Jin searches the bank singing a bastardized version of Dope

37. He finds his diary, then runs to Namjoon’s shop and yells about it, drawing Jimin in as well

38. Namjoon, knowing what it looks like, now sees his diary sitting on his desk in plain sight

39. Yoongi talks to himself as he finds his diary, then reads it silently; it’s riveting television

40. Jin goes to the police station to help Jungkook find his, but Jungkook is no closer to knowing where it is than before he saw what it looked like

41. Taehyung picks up a yellow file folder in the cookie shop in the hopes it’s a diary, but it is not

42. Jin, after reading his diary, thinks it’s Yoongi but doesn’t explain why

43. Namjoon reads his as well, very seriously, and he looks so hot that it’s truly insane

44. Jungkook tells us he thinks it’s Jin or Namjoon, but also that he doesn’t know

45. Hoseok sadly announces to the void that he doesn’t have a journal; Yoongi hearing him and coming by to show him what it looks like doesn’t make him feel better

46. Sope commiserate about not having their wallets either

47. Namjoon shows up and asks about Hoseok’s journal status, because everyone knows when Hoseok is upset, but Yoongi now finds it kind of suspicious that Hoseok claims not to have anything

48. Yoongi accuses Hoseok of hiding it, to Hoseok’s bewilderment, then runs off to the flower shop to convene a meeting of diary-havers

49. Namjoon and Jin come in, Jin telling Namjoon that his diary says it’s Yoongi

50. Jimin also comes in and smiles at them as he says he can’t find his

51. Yoongi shows them a hint that says they need to read the journal of the outsiders, which makes him think the Blue Village people would hide theirs to prevent it

52. Taehyung enters the scene as Jin wants to show his Yoongi evidence; he, Jimin, and Namjoon peer at it studiously

53. Namjoon concludes that Jin’s evidence doesn’t mean anything about Yoongi

54. Jungkook asks the mannequins in his holding cell if they have his diary

55. Hoseok wanders the streets whining about his missing things, and Jimin agrees to help him find them

56. Jimin lets him know about the theory that the diary will reveal an outsider, so not everyone will have one, since he doesn’t have one either

57. Hoseok asks if Jimin has his wallet at least, and Jimin reminds him that Jin has it

58. Jimin finds Hoseok’s journal as Hoseok steps out of the grocery and stuffs it under his shirt

59. Jin comes in and finds Hoseok’s wallet nearly instantly in a cabinet

60. Hoseok happily goes out and tells Namjoon that he found his wallet

61. Taehyung has found a hairnet and puts it on with every appearance of enjoyment before dancing around the bakery and eating cookies before looking for his diary again

62. Jungkook accuses Yoongi of not having a diary, which he does, which prompts Jungkook to say “where is mine?”

63. Jungkook runs back to the police station to start the hunt again

64. Jimin reads Hoseok’s diary to see if there’s anything spicy

65. Hoseok goes through his wallet outside the grocery as Jin, inside, searches frantically; Hoseok smiles and says he’s sure it’s Jin

66. Jungkook is sooooooooo annoyed at his lack of success in finding something

67. Jimin goes to the delivery office to hide Hoseok’s diary, but the camera people must make a face or something because he decides to go put it back where he found it for fair play

68. Jimin walks into the grocery, worried because Hoseok is there searching

69. Hoseok asks Jimin if he has his wallet, and Jimin tells him again that Jin has it, getting a little satoori about it

70. Jimin runs a little con asking Hoseok to help him find his own journal to get him to leave the store, then runs back and puts the diary where he found it

71. Hoseok, who apparently wasn’t even listening to Jimin, was actually on his way to Yoongi’s store

72. Yoongi hasn’t found his wallet, and Hoseok says sagely that it’s in a place you least expect, because his was in a cabinet he didn’t open

73. Hoseok finds Yoongi’s wallet with a bus ticket to Blue Village inside it, and he’s glad Yoongi has his wallet

74. Hoseok turns to Jimin and asks if he has his wallet, and Jimin screams at him that Jin has it! He’s said it a million times! What the hell!

75. Hoseok laughs at himself very charmingly before leaving the flower shop

76. Jin, back at the bank, is like man the production team probably thought we were all a lot smarter than we’re being, huh

77. Jungkook continues to search around fruitlessly

78. Taehyung, still hair-netted, wants the night to come so he can catch the Blue Villagers

79. Hoseok is drawn back to the unsolved lockers, along with Jimin and Jin, and Jimin posits that the train clue might have to do with the diaries

80. 2seok yell for all of the diary people to come over, and Namgi sprint out of their shops instantly

81. The production team, desperate, give them another hint, and Jin dramatically confronts a locker that he’s figured out

82. Yoongi is like wow that’s some bad acting bro

83. Jin asks them to let him prove himself by opening it up, and Namjoon agrees to give him a shot

84. Jin relates the word on the locker to arabic numbers and gets the right answer, then pulls out a picture of some gourds

85. The word for gourds sounds a little like “Park”, which points to Jimin, who is literally standing right there with a fucking hell look on his face

86. Jin, Namjoon, and Hoseok are all ecstatic about this new clue, and Jimin can do nothing but take it

87. Jungkook is singing the national anthem in the police station waving an orange signaling stick that police officers use for traffic

88. He picks up a second one and begins a routine as he continues to sing

89. Jungkook then sits in his chair, leaning against the wall, and says he feels like he’s on night duty

90. Jimin writes out a summary of everything they’ve found, including very strong case against him, on a piece of paper as a sort of last resort / desperation play

91. Taehyung walks down the street and stops at a red light, grabbing Yoongi and making him stop as well until it turns green

92. Yoongi, holding his bouquet of flowers, stands there awkwardly until it’s time to go

93. Jungkook directs them safely through the intersection with his orange sticks as night falls

94. Jungkook announces that he found absolutely nothing so he brought his big stick

95. Jin explains how he figured out the train clue

96. Jimin explains that the gourd picture inside makes him suspicious, which is annoying and wrong

97. Hoseok says that he found his wallet, but he doesn’t know why it was so important

98. Namjoon asks to read Yoongi’s diary

99. Jin asks if anyone else never found their wallet, and Taehyung says he didn’t

100. Yoongi asks to read Namjoon’s diary

101. Jimin walks through his piece of paper summary, which is very comprehensive, but only Jin, Jungkook, and Hoseok are really focused in

102. Yoongi gets very excited about something he found in Namjoon’s diary, and Jin also gets into it when shown

103. Namjoon once again passionately defends his own backstory, and Jihope next to him settle into their “spill the tea” poses

104. Namjoon begins with the argument that no one worked harder than him to find clues, and Taehyung, Jin and Yoongi all take umbrage

105. Hoseok, in the corner, is loving the drama

106. Jimin takes pity on him and says that they’re looking for an outsider now, not someone who’s moving out later

107. Jin gets the idea to check the weather in his diary against the others, to see if someone has a different climate, but they’re not all filled out

108. This leads Namjoon to realize that on the day that Jin’s diary said it was raining that his diary said he needed to water the flowers, which he would never do on a rainy day - j’accuse!

109. Jimin finds Namjoon unbearably cute

110. Jin doesn’t really understand the argument, but begins to doubt himself, wondering if he’s some kind of secret Blue Villager that he wasn’t told about

111. Jungkook is like “there are a lot of Ms…..”

112. Hoseok wants to get back to the wallets and understand what’s the fucking point; Namjoon reminds him they’re supposed to have a clue in them and asks everyone to take out their receipts

113. Hoseok remembers that Yoongi’s had a bus ticket in his, and they see it’s from Blue Village to BTS town

114. Jin, so relieved, yells “Yoongi-yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

115. Yoongi says it’s not his

116. The editors show a flashback where they tell Yoongi he is a Blue Villager

117. Past Yoongi realizes that Jin is kind of suspicious of him, so he starts following him around

118. Past Yoongi fakes the M clue he found in the montage studio, which is extra funny when you remember that Jin was going to fake a clue against Yoongi

119. Past Yoongi also threw tea bags in all the lockers for some reason

120. Past Yoongi realizes he’s hosed when they find the wallet with the ticket and hopes no one wants to look at it

121. Current Yoongi goes with a flat denial, then accuses Hoseok of planting the ticket in his wallet when he found it

122. Hoseok is both flummoxed and delighted by this brazen attack

123. Yoongi turns their attention back to the diaries, asking about December, and Namjoon, slightly manic, is like “THERE IS NO DECEMBER”

124. Yoongi explains that the real estate contract is dated in December which means that Namjoon had already moved before the diaries timeline, and Namjoon is at the end of his fucking rope

125. Jihope laugh their asses off at his frustration

126. Jin tries to do a little summation but Hoseok is like why would we listen to you, traitor

127. Taehyung, from the head of the table, reminds them that they need to use honorifics and polite speech with each other even in the midst of the game, because respect is important

128. Yoongi nods sagely and says that they’re very emotional

129. Jin, also at the end of his fucking rope, screams that Yoongi was the most emotional of all

130. Hoseok reminds Yoongi that he accused Hoseok of planting a ticket in his wallet

131. Taehyung says Yoongi is too violent to run a flower shop

132. It’s voting time, and the ballots reveal that there are three Blue Villagers, which no one was prepared for

133. Hoseok is convinced he’s figured it out

134. Yoongi takes a last shot at implicating Jin

135. Jungkook announces that he has no idea who the Blue Villagers are, not even a little bit

136. The producers tries to tell them they’re all smart, which they don’t believe, but Hoseok says they tried their goddamnedest and that’s what matters

137. To rub salt in the wound, the producers announce the clues they never found

138. The first letters of the last page in the journals spell out a sentence that gives a hint about each person

     1. Namjoon kicks himself for not thinking of it, and Jin looks similarly annoyed

     2. They start with Yoongi’s which reveals that Yoongi is a Blue Villager, and Jin is now loudly annoyed about this

     3. Yoongi smiles smugly as he poses in front of them all, because he knew that was the key and diverted them away from it

     4. They read a few more, all non-suspicious, and then Hoseok, who still hasn’t grasped the clue, tries to read the first page of Taehyung’s journal and it’s gibberish

     5. Namjoon holds Hoseok’s wrist gently as he breaks it to him that he’s totally wrong

     6. Jimin’s also has a suspicious phrase, and they show him in the past finding his diary, then pretending he didn’t

139. Hoseok suddenly realizes that Jin wasn’t guilty, and he falls down as he realizes it was Jungkook all along

140. Namjoon remembers the blue top clue, and Yoongi chimes in with agreement

141. Jungkook, still holding his orange sticks, is completely confused

142. The second clue they didn’t find was the computer at the montage studio, which would have given them composite sketches of the Blue Villagers

143. They hand out the sketches and Jin laughs helplessly as he realizes this would have essentially handed them to them

144. Namjoon holds them up and says it’s Jimin, Yoongi, and Jungkook

145. Jungkook is still adamant that it’s not him

146. The last locker clue they didn’t get would have revealed a picture of a slug, which has “Min” in it

147. Hoseok still can’t believe it was Jungkook and not Jin, and Jimin can’t stop laughing next to him

148. The last clue they didn’t pick up on is that the handwriting in the book about the ARMY stone is the same as the handwriting in Yoongi’s diary, and they all agree they’re much too dumb to figure something like that out

149. The producers compliment Jin on his clue of the policeman’s hat with the towel, which they didn’t even intend, and Jin is somewhat chagrined that he led them all in the wrong direction

150. Jungkook looks at Jin, face round and betrayed, and says that it’s not him

151. Jin suddenly yells that he’d said it was Yoon Taehyung (he means Taehyung), and now it’s Taehyung’s turn to look betrayed as he denies it

152. Namjoon cracks up at Jungkook’s diversion attempts

153. The producers reveal the votes for outsiders

     1. Namjoon - 3 votes, and he’s so mad about it

     2. Yoongi - 4 votes, and Jin thinks that’s hilarious

     3. Jin - 6 votes, which means everyone but himself

     4. Hoseok - 0 votes

     5. Jimin - 5 votes, which makes Jin really question his life choices since he got more

     6. Taehyung - 1 vote

     7. Jungkook - 2 votes

154. The producers realize that even now they haven’t figured out all three, so they hand out a final hint, which is a small brown package

     1. Jungkook gets VERY excited about this package, pointing his orange stick right at it

     2. Jungkook asks if the package was in the police office

     3. Namjin can’t help but laugh at the total shitshow that they are together

     4. Jimin points out that it’s a package to the bakery from Yeontan in Blue Village, which means that Taehyung is the last culprit

155. They start playing It’s Definitely You in the background as they montage Taehyung’s adventures, which is great

     1. Taehyung searches frantically for the numbered green tea bags he needs to exchange for a fake hint

     2. When he can’t find enough, he decides to fake a clue on one of the non-numbered ones he’s found, writing an M on it as Jimin looks on in awe

     3. He then runs a perfect con on Namjoon, asking to see the one he found with the number 5, then switching it for his faked one and pretending he found the M after taking the sticker off

     4. Namjoon’s mind is blown by this genius, and Taehyung leads him right into the M Grand Unified theory that Yoongi started with his faked clue

     5. The real estate contract was the fake clue that he got out of it, and he shows it to Jimin and Yoongi, who immediately make a huge fuss over it in the middle of the street

     6. Taehyung delivers us a lesson on how to avoid suspicion in secret role games which is to do something stupid in front of the opposite team - he chooses to pretend the cookie sign is a clue and then forget that he’s the bakery owner in front of Hoseok

     7. He finds an incriminating package in his bakery while people are there but doesn’t let on, then hangs out in there most of the day to guard it

     8. When Namjoon comes in to search his place, Taehyung looks in the cabinet where it’s stashed so Namjoon won’t bother, and it works

     9. He flashes us a huge smile as they’re going into the last night, very pleased with his performance

156. Jungkook grabs the package, very annoyed, and says that he found it in the police station beneath the vest on one of the mannequins but didn’t think it meant anything so he put it back

157. His hyungs could not find him cuter or more delightful if they tried their whole lives to do so

158. The editors show him finding it, barely looking at it, and putting it back where iet came from

159. Jin announces that the number one thing they can learn from this experience is that they shouldn’t suspect people without any evidence for it, and by people they mean him

160. The editors show a series of clips where Jin was saying it was Yoongi, Jimin, and Taehyung all through the last night but no one listened to him because he was so suspicious

161. Jimin, just so full of love and joy for all of these people, has no choice but to hang off of Namjoon’s shoulders in a lingering embrace

162. Hoseok, big smile on his face, claps his hands and says “So who won?????”

163. Everyone else, somewhat stunned, is like they just went through an extensive explanation of how you totally lost, and Hoseok’s smile intensifies in embarrassment

164. Jungkook says that the Blue Villagers did a great job

165. Yoongi is very excited about the cash prize so he can buy some books, doing a “raise the roof” dance in his joy

166. Jimin thinks it should go to Taehyung, who did a fantastic job

167. Jin asks for some of the money since they put him through so much suffering

168. Jimin gives him 20,000 won and Hoseok has no choice but to run over and hug Jin to make up for his pain

169. They all agree that they had a great time, even though Namjoon realizes he thought too much

170. Hoseok realizes that he is both bad at lying at and understanding how these games work in the first place

171. Jungkook feels like he found nothing at all, just searched fruitlessly for his journal all day

172. The editors apologize to him because his lack of journal was a trap hint - it never existed

     1. They then show a montage of him looking for it, ending with him realizing this might be the end of his police career

173. Jin’s concluding thought is that in the future if someone is getting piled on he will extend a gracious helping hand to that person

     1. I can say with near certainty that this lesson does not stick in future episodes

174. They wrap up, and we are out!

The Finish Line:

Good god what a two-parter. It brings a smile to my face every time I watch it, even more so because they don’t figure the whole picture out until the very, very, very end. In some ways it feels like the game is kind of unfair, because the clues for who the guilty parties were were very blatant, leaving less room for creative lying. Because the culprits didn’t have any missions to accomplish that would give them away (unlike mafia where there’s a “death” in the night phase), that kind of makes sense, but it was still a rough go.

However, 4 villagers being up against 3 liars is also unbalanced, and the fact that the 4 villagers are Run BTS participants who are not good at finding things in general meant that things worked out pretty well for the liars. When watching this for the first time I never clocked Taehyung at all, even though in writing this up it was much more obvious from the way he brought up a clue that the editors never showed him finding. In general once Jimin is confirmed the rest of them fall into place if you’re watching closely, but I never was because I was too busy laughing.

Or possibly thirsting over Minimoni, but no one needs to know that.

Next up we have the setup for another classic meme episode, and the hits really do just keep coming! See you there…