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(Written September 13, 2024)
Welcome back to this endearingly awkward little show. When we last left our boys, So Hee was BOSS with a national treasury of $150, and his worker Won Bin was plotting revenge. I’ve seen worse storylines on these reality shows. Let’s see where this one is going.
Our RIIZE guys are hungry, so they take their $150 USD
to a famous restaurant known for its seafood.
So Hee is still wearing his flower wreath. Sung Chan, perhaps trying to make up for
slacking off on the beach cleanup, gives his BOSS disinfecting wipes and tells
the crew, “Is there ramen? Our BOSS
needs ramen.”
The others also start sucking up, providing soy sauce and asking if there’s anything else he needs. The boys look a bit more relaxed in this episode. Won Bin seems to have checked out, though. He’s the only one not participating in the sucking up.
So Hee looks over the menu. This place isn’t cheap. The order of king crab costs half their budget. So Hee wants the king crab, so now I’m waiting for him to impose a new tax on the BRIIZE fandom to pay for it.
Eun Seok and Anton want their BOSS to order two sets of king crab. I hope neither of them is appointed Minister of Coin.
So Hee calls a vote on the food. They decide on one order of king crab and sashimi, rice, spicy stew, and beverages. They have 50,000 won (about $37) left over, which So Hee decides to put back in the budget. Our BOSS is fiscally responsible.
Wait – he gets talked into another order, and now they have about eight bucks left. Somehow they work it out and are left with more money in the budget, but I am math’d out at this point.
So Hee sends his two workers, Won Bin and Sung Chan, to fetch water for the table. Does this restaurant not have wait staff? Why is this a famous restaurant?
Sung Chan brings a plastic thermos of water, and Won Bin just sits. He’s lost whatever fire he had at the end of the last episode. He does come to life when the other band members demand water, and he tells them to get their own. His exact words are, “We didn’t bring this water for peasants. Why aren’t you working?”
The
non-workers start plotting a revolt, right there in the restaurant. The food hasn’t even arrived yet. Eon Seok appoints himself the BOSS’ second in
command.
BOSS So Hee worries that they need more money. Eun Seok whispers to him that he should make the workers go earn some more money. So Hee, who appears to be an easily-led ruler, orders his workers to do just that. Won Bin gives a fake laugh, and both workers stay put. I’m starting to feel really badly for Won Bin. He looks like he’s hating this. When the food arrives, he tosses some lettuce at Eun Seok, saying that’s his dinner.
So Hee orders his workers to
serve the food. “There’s a reason why
this place is famous,” Sung Chan says as he puts the plates on the table. I imagine it’s because no one actually works
here. Is this even a restaurant, or are
they filming this at someone’s house?
They got the food from DoorDash, didn’t they?
Eun Seok keeps telling So Hee to make the workers do things, to the point where So Hee warns us that Eun Seok will be a tyrant if he’s ever the BOSS.
We get several minutes of our
boys just sitting there and eating.
Several long minutes. But the
fans seem to be entertained.
Is Melissa his mom?
At one point, Shotaro looks at the production crew and asks if they’re just going to film them eating. “Don’t worry. Just eat,” commands So Hee.
We do get a funny moment when
Anton looks up the definition of “worker” on this phone and says, “There’s a
word GOON in English.” Please,
production team, let them start calling the workers goons.
The king crab arrives, and this is rather impressive. I can see why it costs half their budget.
I need to put some context here. The reason we are spending half this episode’s runtime watching these guys eat is because mukbang, a trend of watching people eat, is very popular in South Korea. It started as a calming thing of just enjoying the sight of other people enjoying a meal, but then it came to American YouTube content creators and spiraled into a fetish thing of watching people binge.
Just like with queerbaiting, mukbang is WAY too complex a topic to cover here. Just know that we’re probably going to get a LOT of footage of these guys eating. Meanwhile, Won Bin looks like he wishes he were literally anywhere else.
Suddenly, we get a drumroll sound effect. Everyone around the table stops mid-chew and looks at the crew in alarm. They are told there’s been a coup against the BOSS. Oh, thank goodness. Please tell me my prediction about Monsta X is about to come true.
Nope. The crew is opening the polling booth to pick a new boss. This is less of a coup and more of a free and fair election, but whatever moves this show along is fine with me.
Wait – there’s a twist. We flash back to the previous episode where Won Bin and Sung Chan (but mostly Won Bin) are cleaning up the beach. The production team tells them they’re being given a chance to pick a new BOSS. This is called a Mission Coup. This is the happiest I’ve seen Won Bin so far.
According to the rules being flashed on the screen, if these two get caught in their mission, the coup fails, and the BOSS and workers stay the same. So there’s a lot at stake here, because if a coup is discovered, the BOSS is gonna be PISSED.
Won Bin is given a red card with an act of treason on it. His assignment is to get fed by the BOSS at least three times. Sung Chan’s card says he must get head pats from the other non-worker members – all four of them.
Now we cut to when the band first arrives at the restaurant. The BOSS and his goon, Eun Seok, have arrived first and are just waiting for the others. Sung Chan enters, scratching his head. He goes right up to So Hee and bends over, asking if he has something on his head. Eun Seok looks at him suspiciously and says no. Sung Chan gives up for now and sits down on the BOSS’ other side. This won’t be as easy as he thought.
Now Won Bin enters. He’s hesitant to pick a seat because the ones on each side of the BOSS have been taken. He can’t choose a seat directly across from So Hee because all the members have to sit facing camera.
Sung Chan takes a tissue from the table and slides a couple of pieces of it into his hair. Meanwhile, Won Bin impatiently waits for the food to arrive.
So Hee notices the tissue in
Sung Chan’s hair and pulls it out. One
head pat accomplished.
Won Bin gets So Hee to feed him something from the table. His second attempt fails because So Hee can’t reach his mouth, and Won Bin has to take the food with his fingers. This probably explains why he’s been looking so bummed all during the meal. But he keeps trying, and he’s having better luck than Sung Chan. He finally gets three bites from his unsuspecting BOSS, and the show tells us that if just one worker completes his mission, the coup succeeds.
Sung Chan reveals his failed coup attempt. I actually feel sorry for So Hee. He was a kind leader, if easily manipulated by Eun Seok. If I were in this band, I would vote for him again to maintain peace in the kingdom and watch him get revenge on these traitors.
So Hee has to return the fund, the laurel, and the BOSS stamp that he used to sign his appointment letter. I feel sad. RIIZE will regret the day they stabbed this guy in the back.
Voting begins again. There’s no campaigning. I don’t know what motivation anyone other than the workers has to vote for someone else. Seriously, So Hee was doing fine. Re-elect the guy.
Eun Seok and Anton are plotting. Eyes around the table are darting. And this episode is ending.
For the next episode, I’d like to see So Hee be re-elected and exact revenge on his traitors by making them build a sedan chair and carry him around in it.
See you then.
Episode 3: The Riize of a Tyrant
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