No Mercy: Episode 7: At least no one dies.

Back to Site Table of Contents

(Written on March 24, 2024)

This episode is called “3^rd Debut Mission Isn’t Over Yet!” which is exactly what I said at the end of the last recap.  Let’s do this.

We pick up right where we left off.  Wonho’s team returns to their dressing room to celebrate their victory and change costumes for the dance competition.  I’m glad we’re moving along quickly.  Sometimes this show moves along at a fast pace, and sometimes I feel like I need to get out and push.

We go to Shownu’s team, who are dressed in orange prison jumpsuits.  Then, out of nowhere, we get a bewildering flash-forward, where all the trainees are onstage crying, and even the judges are crying.  I thought I had accidentally skipped forward, but no, it’s a promo.  The text on the screen reads, “Coming Soon – what made even the judges cry?”

Was this show struggling in the ratings or something?  This footage is disturbing.  These people are SOBBING.  Is someone literally about to die?

We flash back, or forward – I’m confused now – to the practice rooms.  OK, so in the timeline, the vocal and dance performances in the K-pop Coliseum are back-to-back.  Right now, we’re flashing back to the dance part of their rehearsal. 

The trainees walk into a practice room to see a big sign taped to the wall.  Video cameras are placed on tables in front of the sign.  Each team is going to shoot a video.  Aren’t they supposed to be using this time to work on their performances?

#GUN suggests that they just chill for five hours and then shoot for an hour in a coffee shop, since they’re using the “Caffeine” song.  Everyone jumps up and down at the thought of going outside and doing literally anything other than K-pop for a few hours.  They decide to go to Myeong-dong, which Wikipedia tells me is a huge shopping area and tourism district.  We’re probably about to see some great footage of Seoul.  The boys are blowing off time they need for a mission, but sure.

Back to Shownu’s team, who is taking a different approach.  They are going to do something called (checking notes) “taking this assignment seriously and getting it done on time.”  Okay.  That’s quite the chance Team One is taking.  Let’s see how it plays out for them.

They talk concepts and storylines.  Something about a robot. They do their group cheer and head out to create greatness.

Greatness apparently begins at a small playground next to the practice room building.  Shownu’s team arrives and starts calling the kids to come over.  I guess in Korea, grown men can just show up at a playground and start filming the kids, and no one bats an eye.

The kids seem to be having fun.  Seriously though, where are the parents?  If I had a kid, and Harry Styles showed up at my kid’s playground and started filming, I would have questions.  And doesn’t Korea have really strict laws about filming people in public?  I am so confused.  Maybe this explains the prison uniforms they’ll be wearing for their dance performance. 

Back to Wonho’s team.  They are happily running around the luxury shops of Myeong-dong, and as someone who’s never been to Korea, it’s really cool to see this part of Seoul.

In this part of the shopping district, the streets are closed to traffic, so the people can walk freely in this exciting, bustling, high-end outdoor mall.  It looks like their version of Times Square.  And since our boys don’t have anything important to do, like film a video, they can just have fun.

Back to Shownu’s team.  They’re headed to another shooting location while reviewing the footage they took on the playground.  In other words, they’re in a van, looking at videos of other people’s children.  This assignment was a terrible idea.  They’re also talking about Myeong-dong, and I get the feeling that the businesses there paid the show for promotion.  However, they decide to go to Hongdae instead.  I’m learning a lot about the shopping districts of Seoul today.

Shownu’s team walks through Hongdae, and giggling women recognize the No Mercy trainees.  I have to be honest.  As much as I’ve been criticizing women for behaving like complete ninnies on this show, I would go into shock if I saw these guys strolling through Food Lion with a camera crew. 

The boys are excited to be recognized and asked for selfies.  Get used to it, guys.  My favorite part is when a crowd gathers around them, and they do a spontaneous dance performance right there on the street.  They even do the slingshot move we saw them do in practice!  Are they giving a preview of their upcoming performance?  These onlookers are going to have a great story to tell about seeing four members of Monsta X perform on the streets of Hongdae before they were famous.  

Both groups head back to the dorm.  Jooheon talks about Episode One.  (He actually says “episode one,” so we know the trainees are watching the show.)  He reminds Shownu about the scene where he watched GOT7 walking away with all of their fans following them.  “Today was different,” Jooheon says.  “People wanted to follow you around.”  He asks Shownu how it felt.

Shownu says, “I kind of realized how they must feel every day.”

Jooheon asks, “Doesn’t it make you want to debut even more?”

I don’t have to tell you Shownu’s answer.

Minhyuk says doing the show has been exhausting, and he has asked himself why he ever wanted to become a singer.  “But today, I definitely found the reason,” he says.

Hyungwon says this was one of the brightest days they’ve had in a while, and I’m reminded of the flash-forward promo, when we’ll be seeing them sobbing onstage at the end of the episode.  At least No Mercy is warning us this time.

Back to rehearsal, and I swear, I thought their dance coach was levitating.  I had to look really close to see that he’s standing on a clear plastic chair.  Shownu’s team is rehearsing.  This is an intense, very physical routine.  I get the feeling the slingshot move won’t be the only jaw-dropping moment.  We get a shot of an out-of-breath Hyungwon on the floor.  This is taking a lot of out them.  Even Minhyuk’s hair looks a little mussed.

Side note – and I’ve been seeing this all through the show – why are they rehearsing in coats and hats?  With five guys spending hours dancing in that small room, it must be four hundred degrees in there.  They just spent all day in the shopping district.  Do they not sell tank tops in the shopping district?

Mosquito has some trouble learning the moves, which again makes me think the show is setting him up to be eliminated.  He gets criticized all through rehearsals, and when they finish for the evening, he stays behind to keep practicing.

In a confessional, Jooheon is asked if there’s anyone in particular he wants to debut with.  He chooses Mosquito.  Well, that’s weird.  The one everyone on his team has been criticizing all day?  Jooheon says Mosquito is really pure, and he wants to debut with someone who has a pure heart.  Ooookay, now I get it.  Mosquito is definitely being set up for elimination.   Jooheon also says that Mosquito has a great voice.  Does Jooheon know that Wonho’s team has been calling the guy Mosquito all season?  Maybe he’s confused.  Mosquito’s name is Minkyun, which he might be mixing up with Minhyuk.  Or maybe his brain is overheated from spending hours dancing in a hoodie and hat.  I’m so confused.

Back to Shownu’s team rehearsing.  What happened to those videos they were filming?  If those were team introduction videos, shouldn’t we have seen them before the vocal competition?  I think someone at No Mercy spilled soju all over the timeline and is still frantically mopping it up.

We see the slingshot move again, and suddenly I wonder if everyone onstage is going to be crying because this move will go horribly wrong, and they’ll drop him.  There has to be a reason they keep showing us this move.  Normally, they keep the dance moves under wraps until D-Day.  Oh God, that’s it, isn’t it?  Please don’t let that be it.

They finish the routine, and Mosquito then asks if they can practice specifically the part where they throw him.  Okay, he is going to die, isn’t he?  There is no other reason for this show to keep burning this shot into our brains. 

Shownu warns him that they’re kind of tired.  But they’re doing this anyway.  And yes, it looks amazing.  Dangerous, but amazing.  They do the move a second time.  GUYS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?

Mosquito survives and jumps around like a kid who just did a cool trick on his skateboard.  This is the clip they will show on the “In Memoria” reel at his funeral while Jooheon’s voiceover talks about what a pure heart he had.

Now it’s D-Day 3, and this is the first time I’m dreading a performance.  Shownu’s team takes the stage in their prison uniforms.  What happens if they win this one?  Since each team will have lost one round, will two people be eliminated?  Or will Mosquito’s death after he plummets into the judge’s table be enough of a cut?

They stand before the judges.  K.will reminds them they’ve lost the vocal performance already.  Someone please hit him.  He then asks what we can expect from this performance.  Jooheon tells him the theme is “prison break.”  The male judges laugh.  Ga In just bats her eyelashes at Jooheon.  Not this again.

K.will mentions to a fellow judge that Mosquito turned out to be a better dancer than he expected.  We get it, No Mercy.  You don’t have to do any more foreshadowing.

The set design, as always, is brilliant.  Then the dancing starts, and I can hardly breathe.  These guys defy gravity with their jumps and throw all their energy into every move.

They do the slingshot, and it goes perfectly.  The judges are wowed.  My stomach unclenches.  Thank God that part’s over.  Then they switch up to something more playful.  It looks like they’re characters in a video game. The lights go out, and the choreography is done with flashlights.  We only see the lights dancing.  When the lights come back up, Shownu sheds his orange jumper to reveal a SWAT team uniform underneath.  He dances more aggressively with the other inmates before shooting them down to end the performance.

I’m breathless.  The judges loved it.  One judge says that Mosquito was very expressive.  Hyungwon gets praise for his dancing.  (Judges, just wait ‘til you see “Wildfire.”)  One judge makes a great comment that both Jooheon and Shownu looked like they were rapping with their bodies, which is one of the best descriptions of dancing I’ve ever heard.  He says it was great seeing them dance together.  Oh, I agree.  And again, just you wait.

The judges don’t have a single negative comment.  Our boys, still breathing hard and drenched in sweat, thank them joyfully and bow.  It was an extraordinary performance.  And Mosquito didn’t die.  Overall, a total win-win.

They return to their dressing room in a euphoric haze, too tired to celebrate.  We now focus on Wonho’s team doing a huddle in their dressing room.  They put their hands in, and Wonho says, “Let’s break our bones out there.”  First of all, maybe chill.  Secondly, is this why everyone’s going to be crying?  Will someone break some bones?  Oh no, it’s going to be Yonho the fossil, isn’t it?

The boys take the stage, four of them in business suits and #GUN dressed as a mad scientist.  I know they’re doing a callback to some pop culture thing, but I’m too out of touch to know what it is.  I just discovered K-pop a few weeks ago.

Right away, K.will teases Yoonho for his slicked-down hairstyle.  As a reminder, this is what K.will used to look like:

So maybe he should just zip it until after the performance.

 

We flash back to Wonho’s team in rehearsals.  They’re dancing to “Happy” by Pharrell, which is a really good song.  And they’re dancing in coats and jackets again.  I know it’s winter when this is filmed, but does this building literally have no heat?  Are the pipes frozen?  This place should be condemned. 

Once again, everyone is worried about working with #GUN because they have the collective memory of a goldfish.  He did great in the vocal part, people.  Then I remember the vocal part hasn’t happened yet in No Mercy’s timeline.  This show is harder to follow than Westworld.

The others tell us that they’re covering up #GUN’s bad dancing by having him play the mad scientist trying to fix a broken robot.  I’m sure that will completely fool the judges.  We do see #GUN improving over the following days.  His teammates congratulate him on his hard work.  More shots of the guys rehearsing, clips of them trash-talking the other team – I’m fast-forwarding at this point.

Back to the Coliseum.  The set design is the mad scientist’s laboratory.  The song begins.  The mad scientist dances while his robots come to life.  It’s pretty cool but low energy right now and OH MY GOD MAD CLOWN IS SMILING.  I didn’t know his face was capable of doing that.  I seriously didn’t recognize him for a couple of seconds.

Okay, back to the stage.  They are dancing to “Wiggle” by Jason Derulo and Snoop Dogg, which makes no sense in a science fiction setting about robots.  They’re not even wiggling.  They’re popping and locking and doing robot moves.  Thankfully, they switch to “Happy,” which also doesn’t make sense in this context, but it’s a better song, so I’ll allow it. 

#GUN fixes the robots, and they finally speed things up.  It’s an amusing dance, but even in the faster tempo, they don’t match the energy of Shownu’s team.

The performance ends kind of anticlimactically, but Mad Clown applauds, still smiling, and says, “That was fun.”  Who is this guy, and what did he do with Mad Clown?  Believe me, I’m not complaining. 

The judges all have nothing but praise.  I guess my lack of enthusiasm comes from just not being into the whole science fiction thing.  It’s a cold concept.  The jailbreak was hot, and the dancing was better.

The judges complain that they have a tough decision to make, so the title No Mercy must be about them.  ha. ha.

Both teams wait backstage and compliment each other on their performance.  The judges struggle to pick a winner.  Finally, the trainees are called back to the stage, and my heart is beating in my stomach because I know the crying part is coming up soon.

The judges announce that the winning team is … Shownu’s team!  The jailbreak!  They look too stunned to react at first.  I am cheering in front of my computer screen.

The judges tell them the teams are tied, one to one, and they must decide on the winning team.  Again, and I hate to keep bringing this up, but what was the point of the videos they had to make?  Was the show just trying to promote the shopping districts to potential tourists?

The show stalls the decision as long as possible, showing more flashbacks, zooming in on our trainees’ faces as they wait for the result, and this show is going to give me a coronary.

FINALLY, the winning team is … Wonho’s team.  And since we know Mosquito isn’t in Monsta X, he’s the only one who can be eliminated.  Now to watch that play out.

K.will asks Shownu to speak first.  Shownu takes the blame for the loss, saying he should have been a better leader.  He apologizes to his teammates.  I just want to give him a hug.  He’s wrong about the loss being his fault, but this is exactly why he’s the dad of Monsta X. 

The judges begin deliberations.  Suddenly, K.will stops everything and excuses himself from the table.  We hear the show’s production team say, “We’re going to take a short break.”

The trainees gather onstage to talk.  Jooheon says it made him sad to see Shownu take the blame like that.  Shownu is taking this hard.  He starts fighting back tears as the others console him and insist it wasn’t his fault.  I think out of everyone on that stage, the No Mercy experience and the years of being a trainee have been especially brutal on Shownu.  I’m so glad he’s going to make it to the end.

K.will returns to the judges’ table.  He doesn’t explain the interruption.  He just says it’s time to eliminate someone.  As we expected, it’s Mosquito. 

Everyone onstage is sobbing.  I feel emotionally manipulated by the promo foreshadowing this genuinely heartbreaking moment, but that’s how reality shows operate. 

Mosquito Minkyun tells us he’s going to continue chasing his dream.  He’s only twenty years old.  He’s still young.  He says he wants to step away from the pressure of trying to debut and focus on becoming a good musician, which is, hands-down, the healthiest thing I’ve heard anyone say on this show.  He turns in his Number Seven badge and leaves the stage. 

The scene fades, and we flash forward to the next day.  K.will has arranged a get-together in a restaurant for the remaining trainees.  He asks how they are feeling, and they seem to be doing better.  Then they start eating, and the food looks so good.  We have Korean restaurants here in my hometown.  I should really check them out.

You know a bomb is about to get dropped here, right?  No Mercy wouldn’t just show us this scene just to end the episode on a pleasant note.  No Mercy does not do pleasant.

K.will tells them that something unexpected has happened.  He says the trainees are facing an obstacle on the way to becoming a boy group.  Over the course of the show, he came to realize that they don’t have enough rappers.  Only three out of the remaining nine trainees are rappers.

My fellow K-pop fans, and especially Monbebes, we’re going to pause the recaps for now.  Monbebes know what is about to happen in the next episode.  I promise a faithful recap.

But first, I want to tell you a story.

The Story:  I am what I am.

Back to Site Table of Contents