Hot Blood, Episode 4: Saved by the Maximum Crew.

Back to Site Table of Contents

(Written May 11, 2024)

This is the episode where I almost gave up on the series.  Thankfully, a group of breakdancers saves the day, so hang in there with me while JYP Entertainment tries to mold our boys into K-pop idols by putting two of them in the hospital.  Let’s do this!

After a 6am shirtless run in the freezing cold, our trainees gather on the beach.  A soldier tells them they can have breakfast only if they can find a scroll that is buried somewhere in the sand within ten minutes.  The trainees scatter and start randomly digging holes.  They don’t find it.

The soldier then tells them they failed because they didn’t work as a team.  OK, wait.  There is a scroll buried in the sand somewhere on this beach, and working as a team will help them find it?  I think they will need something more.  Like maybe a clue.  Without some kind of marker, I doubt the soldier even remembers where he buried it.  

They’ll get another chance to have breakfast if they can work together, as a team, and find the scroll in five minutes.  Trainees, I have an idea. There are thirteen of you and one of him.  As a team, torture him until he tells you where the scroll is buried. 

Instead, the trainees form a line and start digging, and surprise, one of them finds it.  Yay.  I’m sure it was all teamwork and not the soldier realizing they were going to faint from hunger and just telling them where to form the line and dig.  The trainees are delirious with joy and low blood sugar.  We cut to them at breakfast.  They are happily enjoying one of the few times they’ve been allowed to eat since this boot camp began. 

Suddenly, we cut to the ferry.  We see two of our trainees, Seulong and Jaebum, on the ferry, and I’m so relieved because I think we’re heading back to Seoul, where there are police officers and lawyers. 

But no.  Jaebum has injured his pinky toe, Seulong has injured his pinky finger, and they are on their way to the hospital.  Right away, I’m suspicious.  I think these two teamed up to smash each other’s little toe and finger with hammers, and I don’t blame them one bit if that’s true.

Back on the island, the rest of the boys are running again.  They get to a boxing ring.  A title card reads, “Hell-like Wrestling.”  The looks on the trainees’ faces clearly say they wish they had hammers right now.  We meet someone named Song Hak Seong.  The show tells us he’s a national boxer.  His Wikipedia page is literally just one sentence saying that he competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Hak Seong stands in the ring and asks for a volunteer.  Taecyeon goes first and gets the seaweed beaten out of him.  He’s getting seriously pummeled.  Hak Seong finishes him off by belting him in the stomach, knocking him down, and when Taecyeon gets up, his face is covered in blood.  Is this really how Hak Seong teaches boxing?  Why isn’t he in jail?

Back at the hospital, Seulong learns that his finger isn’t broken, but he needs to keep it wrapped in a splint and then do physical therapy. 

Jaebum’s situation is worse.  His toe isn’t broken, but his foot is injured and swollen.  The doctor tells him to stop the training, or the injury will get worse.  It looks like Jaebum is now eliminated.  Not from a lack of talent, but because he got hurt during an endurance test.  Then I remember that this is actually Jay Park from 2pm.  So somehow, he does make it to the debut.  We will definitely be getting back to this.  His injury is just the beginning of the frustrations he will be dealing with over the course of his K-pop career.  Put a pin in it.

We cut back to the beach.  Now, Daehun is getting beaten up in the ring.  After him, Chansung goes down.  If you’re not being taught how to fight, you’re just being attacked by a bully.  I could add quite a few more sentences to Hak Seong’s Wikipedia entry.

After taking out whatever is going on in his personal life on these K-pop trainees, Hak Seong says, “The reason I am here today is to cultivate your sense of rhythm towards dancing.  When you are dancing, there’s a rhythm to it.  Boxing is the same thing, too.”

Between this show and Wild Idol, I’m really tired of this kind of treatment being justified by linking it to singing and dancing.  Using this logic, I could bring a gun into the ring and start shooting at Hak Seong, telling him that dodging bullets will help him learn to dodge his boxing opponents. 

Finally, he starts actually teaching them how to box.  They all practice ducking and weaving.  Junho and Khun pair up and get praised for their technique.  DooJoon gets credit for keeping a good rhythm. 

Jo Kwon doesn’t do so well.  Hak Seong says he’s either too mischievous or too slow.  I am spitefully happy to report that Jo Kwon debuts as part of 2am.

Our boxing champ says, “I can see from the way you guys are moving that you have the ability to become singers.”  This is, hands-down, the dumbest thing that has been said on this show so far.

Moving on.  The boys have lunch on the beach and then go back to training.  We have newcomers, and here is where things start to look up.  

Our newcomers are a group of professional breakdancers called Maximum Crew.  Not only are we getting someone relevant to K-pop, but these are really impressive someones.  I found a lot about them online.  They’ve performed at festivals and have experience that might actually help our trainees become idols. 

Instead of just throwing our trainees into the ring, these dancers want to assess each trainee’s strengths first.  What a novel idea.  Each trainee gets up and shows off some moves.  The tone of this show has completely changed.  This is fun.  I feel like we’re getting the spirit of the first two episodes back.

The Maximum Crew teaches the trainees some basic steps.  They pair off and start dance battles, and they are having a great time.  This is what I came here for.  They go back to the house and keep practicing.  The house is full of positive energy and laughter.  It’s such a relief.

They return to the beach to show the MC their progress.  The practice has clearly paid off.  They dance with high energy and enthusiasm.  The MC is impressed.  They give the top three rankings:  Chansung in third, Taecyeon in second, and Junho in first.  They single out the least improved as Lee Swi Chi, who just laughs it off.  (He doesn’t make it into either group.)

That night in the house, the boys keep practicing.  They’ve clearly been inspired.  They dance through the night before hitting the beach at 6am for their morning shirtless run in the freezing cold.  They’re still on a high from the day before and don’t seem to mind. 

This is a good place for the episode to end.  For next time, I’m curious to see our two injured trainees return and see if they will be accompanied by lawyers.  Until next time!  

Episode 5:  Speed-dating the Trainees

Back to Site Table of Contents