BOSS RIIZE, Episode 4: The Great Ballot War

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(Written September 18, 2024)

I’ll be honest.  When I watched the first episode of this series, I thought I’d made a mistake.  It felt awkward and more like an excuse for the boys to look pretty in scenic backgrounds.  Never did I think I’d eagerly start the fourth episode wanting to see if an evil ruler would be overthrown in the Arboretum of Destiny.  We’ve seen scheming, betrayal, cruelty, and some really pretty trees.  Now let’s see if RIIZE can end the reign of The Stone Ruler, Eun Seok.

Our ruler gets his 30-second head start to look for the suitcase of ballots.  He searches the outer perimeter of the park.  Once his head start expires, the others spring into action. 

Shotaro catches up with Eun Seok, who proposes an alliance.  They agree that if they find the suitcase together and get it back to base camp, they will split the ballots, ten each.  I have a bad feeling about this, which isn’t helped when Shotaro tries covering his bases by saying, “No backstabbing, okay?”  Eun Seok, whose backstabbing arm is already warmed up from all the practice he’s had today, smiles at him and agrees.  The two split up to cover more ground faster. 

The others have also split up.  Won Bin seems to be the only one with a strategy.  He’s looking for the spots where the crew has set up cameras. 

Won Bin finds a cluster of cameras set up and checks which way they’re pointing.  But he’s so obsessed with the cameras, he walks right past the hidden suitcase.

Everyone is getting tired.  No one is even close to finding the ballots.  So the crew gives them snapshots of the hiding place.  Won Bin doesn’t recognize the spot as one of the places he breezed past earlier.  Why exactly did I make this guy my bias in this group?

Finally, So Hee finds it.  He grabs the small silver suitcase and starts running like hell back to base camp.  Eun Seok, who sees him running with the suitcase, gives chase so he can steal it before So Hee can make it back.  Other bandmates see the commotion and overtake the two of them. The Great Ballot War has officially begun.  The crew can hardly keep everyone in frame as they fight for the suitcase.  Sung Chan breaks the lock in the struggle but manages to grab the suitcase and takes off running with the camera crew in hot pursuit.

The only one not involved in the chase is Anton, who is enjoying the woods so much, he no longer cares about the ballots.  He hops across a stone bridge and watches the flowing water of the creek, serene and oblivious to the madness on the other side of the park.  He has become our conscientious objector. 

Won Bin and Eun Seok catch up with Sung Chan.  His only way out is to form an alliance with them, to which they both agree.

So Hee and Shotaro make it to base camp, waiting to attack when the others return.  Shotaro confesses he’s already in an alliance with Eun Seok.  So Hee tells him to break it.  He actually tells Shotaro, “Backstab him.”   So Hee is clearly battle-scarred at this point and has lost his mind.

The final battle erupts at base camp when the others arrive with the suitcase.  Anton is still off somewhere, being blissed out.  But then, a twist!  While the other four bandmates are shoving each other out of the way, Anton shows up, comes across Sung Chan with the suitcase, and decides, screw serenity.  Now he’s running after Sung Chan. 

The two of them finally make it to base camp and the rest of the band.  All six of them are fighting to get their hands on the suitcase before the timer runs out.  Sung Chan throws it to Eun Seok, who passes it back to him.  I guess they’re still in their triple alliance with Won Bin.  Another pass is intercepted by So Hee.

So Hee opens the suitcase, and in another twist, the suitcase is empty.  Where are the ballots?  They fell on the ground while the suitcase was being tossed back and forth.  And now, time’s up.

The crew sees that no one had the ballots on them when time was called, so they’ll award the ballots to the last person who had them.  The winners turn out to be Shotaro and Eun Seok.  Shotaro had grabbed them off the ground, and true to his alliance, stuffed half of them into Eun Seok’s back pocket.

All other alliances were broken, because Eun Seok is a snake.  But at least Shotaro has half the ballots now.  There is hope for the kingdom.  Except that his alliance is with Eun Seok.  So all is still lost, I guess?  War is hell.

We get confessionals with the other band members.  Won Bin is disappointed.  Sung Chan says he never should have trusted Eun Seok.  Anton is just tired.  A crew member asks Anton who would be the workers if he were the next BOSS, and he simply says, “Everyone.” 

So Hee wearily looks at the camera and says, “The ballots and the BOSS title.  Eun Seok stole everything from me.  In this reality show, I think Eun Seok and I are mortal enemies.”

Eun Seok is smiling in his confessional.  “It’s a pity,” he says.  “There’s nothing you can do about how life works out.  Games like these are battles of the brain.”

Eun Seok says he now plans to make Shotaro the BOSS.  He knows he can control Shotaro and make sure money is added to the budget by switching to a new BOSS.  He can also make sure Shotaro won’t make him a worker.  I get a sense of dread when they cut to Shotaro counting his ballots and cheerfully telling the camera, “I’ll be the BOSS!”  No, honey.  You’ll be the puppet.

We end the episode with some hope for the defeated and betrayed bandmates.  The four of them are given mission coup cards.  Sung Chan’s assignment is to get the BOSS to call him by his full name, including surname. 

Surprisingly, Shotaro gets one as well, even though he already has a plan with Eun Seok to be elected next.  His assignment is to successfully play Word Relay.  I have no idea what that is.

We are not told what the assignments are for Won Bin,  So Hee, and Anton.  All we know is that when we return for the next episode, everyone will be gunning for Eun Seok.  Even Shotaro. 

I predict that Eun Seok is doomed.  See you at the execution.


Episode 5:  The RIIZE Village Rebellion

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