| Overview | Gallery |
Synopsis
The contestants each have unique items to help them as they race furiously. Arriving at the path of choice, they use their special skills in an attempt to finish the path of the maze first and win the opening game.
Plot
Gai chooses a path.
The episode picks up where the previous one left off. Gai stands in front of the path of choices, where a robotic voice informs him that he has selected the Path of the Magnets. While this is going on, Liu, who is still struggling with his steel boots, wonders how he'll finish the race with his obstacle. It then switches back to Gai, waiting for the door to open. When it does, a robotic voice appears again, informing Gai of the room's field of range, which he ignores as he enters.
Liu accidentally kicks Gai in the face with his metal boots.
Liu, who is attempting to jump his way onto his path, suddenly gets dragged forward by the force of the magnets. He tries to claw the ground to stop but fails, being drawn into the path and accidentally kicking Gai in the face, causing him to fly further inside. While Liu is recovering from the sudden transport, he informed by the automated voice that he has entered the Path of the Magnets. Perplexed, he angrily asks the voice how he can enter it with his heavy boots on.
Gai tries to throw Liu off.
Gai, enraged, recovers from the kick and threatens Liu by pulling him by the collar. He tries to knock him off his feet but fails because Liu's boots are stuck to the ground. When Gai discovers it, he snickers at Liu and waves him goodbye as he prepares to leave. Panicked, Liu grabs Gai by the hips and begs him for help, much to his annoyance. Gai retaliates by teleporting away from Liu using his ninja skills. He continues flaunting himself, teleporting in different poses each time and confusing Liu, who questions his flamboyance.
Liu comes up with a plan.
The doors start to close, making Liu panic even more when suddenly miraculously, Mr. Suitcase appears! Liu, ecstatic, tells him to hurry inside. Mr. Suitcase follows, but gets stuck in the middle when the doors squeeze his container. In a desperate attempt to free it, Liu orders Mr. Suitcase to activate escape mode, which causes him to launch himself out of his container and into Liu's hands. The automated voice returns, informing the Running Men of a system error caused by Liu's suitcase, which results in all the available rooms opening. While listening in on the announcement, Liu accidentally bumps his elbow on one of the gravity-defying balls scattered around the room, making him look at the device curiously until an idea suddenly comes to him.
Popo complains about the coldness of the Path of Ice.
The scene changes to Popo pogo-jumping his way to one of the doors, which automatically opens, the air inside literally blowing Popo away. Popo is irritated when an automated voice informs him that the room assigned to him is the Path of Ice. As he enters the room, he begins to pull his hood over his head, getting back on his pogo stick and complaining loudly.
Pala wakes up from his nap.
It then cuts to Pala, who has just awoken from a nap, panicked. He mutters to himself as chooses an obstacle at random, running immediately. While running, he comes across a transport shuttle and orders it to stop. The robot driver notices him in the rear view mirror and stops to get a better look. However, when it stops, it sees no one and decides to continue, believing it was just seeing things. Pala, unbeknownst to them, was actually present and had entered the moment the shuttle came to a halt.
Miyo glares at Popo after falling to the side.
It briefly cuts to Miyo, who is running with the flippers attached to her heels in the Path of Ice. While running, she hears someone yell from behind and turns to look, shocked to see Popo jump behind her and throwing herself to the side when he doesn't stop. While she is recovering from her fall, Popo turns his head and scolds her for getting in the way, which annoys her.
Liu with his electromagnetic boots.
The scene shifts back to Liu, who had just completed his invention, which he refers to as 'Electromagnetic Super Shoes'. He activates them and is immediately drawn to the ceiling, hitting his head on the magnets before his boots do. He changes the setting and is seen to be falling until the camera pans to him floating safely due to his boots. Determined, Liu begins gliding down the path with ease now that he isn't burdened by his steel boots.
Miyo and Popo struggle with the flame card.
Meanwhile, Popo struggles against the cold and declares out loud how fed up he is, laughing maniacally as he pulls a card from his deck, summoning a spell that causes said card to burst into flames. It lands on Popo's hands, causing the penguin to hiss in pain from the heat as the camera pans to the ceiling above him, revealing it to be cracked due to the card's immense amount of heat. It returns to Miyo, who is now skating against the ice using her flippers. Looking up, she notices a block of ice falling on top of her, which she easily avoids. She keeps dodging as more blocks fall around her, sliding under an upcoming block that nearly crushes her. Confused at the situation, she stands up and notices Popo a few steps away, holding the flame card. She slides beside him, irritated, and chastises him for using fire in an ice room. Popo responds by tossing the card to her, telling her to deal with it. When Miyo grabs it, the heat catches on her hands, burning her. She yelps and tosses the card back at him, telling him to deal with it. The two argue as they throw the flame card at each other, ice blocks falling all around them.
Liu looks at both Gai and Pala, confused.
While that is going on, Liu glides through the magnet room, waving smugly to Gai as he passes ahead of him. Gai, who hadn't expected him to advance, uses his ninja abilities to teleport. The smoke from Gai's teleportation shifts the scene to Pala, who is still sleeping inside the shuttle until he is awakened by a sudden crash. Irritated, he scolds the robot for not being careful, only to be surprised when he sees the robot being dragged inside the Path of the Magnets alongside the shuttle. When the shuttle crashes inside the path, Pala is thrown out of the vehicle, landing inside the windshield and sliding through the room, eventually catching up to Liu due to the impact of the crash. Pala smiles to himself as he continues to slide down the path but panics when his makeshift boat starts to slow down, attempting to speed it up by using his staff as a paddle. Despite his efforts, Pala is thrown off the boat, landing and clinging to Liu. The grasshopper tries to push him away, hissing at how his grip hurts but continues to Pala hold on. Gai, who had been standing on Liu's platform the entire time, confronts Pala about his identity, shocking both of them. The camera pans away as Liu attempts to push Gai and Pala away from him while gliding through the path.
Kuga holds Lonky by the neck.
It then cuts to Kuga walking through the Path of Holes, his heels clacking on the metal. He smiles to himself, pleased that he has finally completed all of 'Master Makhan's training. He is promptly interrupted from his thoughts when he hears Lonky gleefully laughing, mocking Kuga's gullibility, until he hears said tiger call after him. Fearful, he turns around and screams as Kuga appears behind him, making him lose his balance while the latter glares at him. Lonky tries to flee several times, first by lying about not knowing his identity and then by showering Kuga with compliments, both to no avail. Angered, Kuga finally grabs him by the neck and throws him inside one of the holes, walking away wearing his squeaky shoes (his original obstacle) as Lonky sighs, his heels hanging over his horns.
Kuga punches the wall.
When all of the players, except Lonky, appear, the path of the maze opens up. An automated voice instructs them that in order to win, they have to insert their flags at the R point, which is located at the center. The camera zooms in on Popo, who begins to run 'at full speed'. However, due to his short legs, Miyo, Kuga, and Liu all run ahead of him. Miyo starts running up the maze, racing Gai as they both attempt to reach the R point. Unfortunately for Gai, his platform ends abruptly, making him fall and giving Miyo the upper hand as she continues running. Kuga, on the other hand, is seen running underneath her, punching the platform she was running on in order to continue and causing her to fall, fainting briefly.
Gai awkwardly holding Miyo.
Meanwhile, Gai is shown running on another platform below as she falls, jumping up to reach higher only to be surprised when Miyo lands on his arms. The room is silent as Gai awkwardly holds Miyo and looks down at her, getting smitten with her looks when she wakes up and looks at him. Gai smiles dreamily at her and promptly gets kicked in the face by Miyo, who uses him as a platform to advance to the center. Gai continues staring at Miyo as he falls through the maze.
Liu spots the R point from above.
Popo, on the other hand, is at the bottom of the maze, still running to catch up with the others. He laughs smugly when he runs ahead of Pala, who walks towards the maze tiredly. To combat his exhaustion, Pala removes the vial from his staff and drinks the liquid inside, causing him to become over-energized and run ahead of Popo, his speed causing him to be on par with Liu until he finally succumbs to his exhaustion. Liu, who had turned his head to look at Pala, returns his attention back to the race, jumping over the broken platforms floating around and rising to the very top of the maze, spotting the R point from above and diving down to reach it.
Kuga screams from anger.
Meanwhile, Miyo is also shown getting close to the R point, using her agility to avoid the obstacles in her path. Both she and Liu scream neck and neck as they race towards the R point. Just as they are about to reach it, Kuga appears out of nowhere, using his fists to break a hole through the maze, landing on the R point and sending Liu and Miyo flying. Kuga takes out his flag and jabs it at the R point, marking the end of the game, with the stage opening up to reveal the stadium as the Running Men look on in horror. The automated voice begins to announce the winner of the games and everyone is shocked when it announces the winner to be the Giraf Tribe. Kuga, flabbergasted, looks back at the holographic screen replaying the game and sees Lonky swapping out their flags while he was too busy threatening him. Kuga begins to scream angrily at the sky as the episode ends.
Cast
- Kim Seo-young/Rachel Slotky - Liu
- Kwon Chang-wook/Daniel J. Edwards - Kuga
- Eom Sang-hyeon/Daniel J. Edwards - Lonky
- Kim Yeon-woo-I/Carrie Savage - Miyo
- Nam Doh-Hyeong/Matthew Ip Shaw - Gai
- Kang Si-hyeon/Syndi Szabo - Popo
- Jeon Tae-yeol/Mark Szabo - Pala
Trivia
- This episode showcases each of the members' notable skills. Mainly Liu's intelligence and jumping ability, Kuga's strength, Miyo's flexibility, Gai's agility and ninja skills, Lonky's manipulation and stretchy abilities, Popo's card magic, and Pala's alchemy.
- This episode foreshadows Kuga, Miyo, and Liu as 'The Big Three' among the seven, being the top three players to come close to winning the Opening Game.