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(Written May 12, 2024)
We are back in the beach house. A soldier barks out names and tells those people to step forward. DaeHun. JoKwon. Swee Chi.
The soldier says these three
have scored the lowest in the training and missions. The fact that JoKwon makes it into 2am is the
only reason I know they’re not about to be taken out back and shot. I put nothing past this show.
But no. Their punishment is … they get to leave! Granted, they’re being eliminated, but if it were me, I’d already be sprinting for the dock, yelling over my shoulder that I’d send for my things.
Everyone looks bummed. I find it hard to empathize because I know JoKwon is coming back, and the other two didn’t seem to take any of this very seriously. Plus, this show is making the same mistake Wild Idol did in the beginning. We don’t really know any of these people. I’ve researched some of the ones who I know will win, but if you were watching this show when it first aired, you’d find it hard to be invested in any of these guys, other than the ones you thought were cute.
Now I feel bad, because the three eliminated trainees are crying. But again, Swee Chi was laughing when he ranked last in breakdancing. Up to this point, I didn’t know if any of them were taking it seriously. Jay Park didn’t cry when the doctor at the hospital told him his foot injury was too serious for him to stay on the show.
The other trainees are also crying. They ask if these three can be given another chance. Now I’m wondering if anyone told them this was a survival reality show. The only things we’ve heard said to them is that JYP was sick of their lazy attitudes and was sending them here to whip them into shape. As a gift.
Now we learn that the viewers
also voted for these three to be eliminated.
I had completely forgotten about the voting part, and it hasn’t been
mentioned again until now. Come to think
of it, now that I’m looking through my notes, JoKwon came in third in the
folksinging mission. How is he being eliminated?
The teammates are at the bargaining stage. They ask if everyone can stay together until the end of the show and then do eliminations. The soldier reminds them if they don’t do eliminations now, they’re the ones who might get cut in the future. The decision stands. These three need to start packing.
We get a long scene of everyone crying and hugging these three goodbye. Then we get a title card that reads, “Hot Blood’s Hidden Story.” It sounds like we’re finally going to get some background on something. Anything.
We flash back to Episode 1, when the trainees were first introducing themselves to the Mnet crew. We’re told that Mnet was impressed by Wooyoung (now in 2pm). Now we flash back to see how Wooyoung stood out in the talent show and the breakdancing mission.
We see clips of Seulong (now
in 2am), who also stood out. He’s the
one who sang “This Masquerade” at the introductions. We’re told that Daehun (who just got
eliminated) is like an older brother, a team pillar who is confident in
singing. (Why is he being eliminated,
then?)
Chansung (2pm) has acting experience, which gives him confidence. He’s also cute and very helpful with chores around the house.
We’re just racing through these Mnet notes. I feel like we should have been told all this gradually over the past few episodes. Jinwoon (2pm) is a shy kid with a great smile. He gets along well with the others. Apparently, he’s the maknae. He also has a strong singing voice.
Junsu (now known as Jun K in
2pm) was the one who did impressions. We
also now learn that he plays the keyboard.
Jay Park (2pm) is strong and self-disciplined.
JoKwon (2am) is petite and “pale looking,” and he’s been a trainee for a very long time. Ah. Another fossil. He nags at the others to keep the house clean.
Now for DooJun. He loves hip hop. I don’t think he makes it into the final groups. He’s manly and enthusiastic. He ranked high in singing. (He did? Okay, according to my notes, the subtitles in that episode spelled his name DuJoon. I’ve noticed that the spellings of the names are inconsistent throughout these episodes.)
Taecyeon (2pm) loves to eat
and get beaten up in the boxing ring.
No, wait – he got beaten up against his will. The show is racing through the Mnet notes so
fast, it’s hard to keep up.
Now for Khun. The Mnet notes say he cannot speak fluent Korean, but he’s very cute and can melt people’s hearts. We also watch him play keyboards. Here, for the first time, he’s called “Prince Khun.” He’s the handsome prince I wrote about in the introduction. He has passion and a fighting spirit. At this time, we don’t go into further detail about why he’s called a prince, so let’s put a pin in that for now.
On to Swee Chi, one of the eliminated trainees. He’s cute as a puppy. He’s great at acrobatics. And … that’s it. Moving on.
Next up is Junho, our 2pm dreamboat. He looks a lot like Rain, a very very VERY famous K-pop singer/songwriter whose name I’ve heard mentioned often in these survival reality shows. Rain is K-pop royalty. He’s the Bruce Springsteen of K-pop. Junho, we’ll learn later in this episode, is trying to overcome the constant comparisons to Rain and make people see him for who he is.
Finally, that seems to be it. I need to stop and rest my notetaking hand. Why are we getting all of this shoved at us in Episode 5, after we’ve just cut three people?
Mnet goes on to tell us that
they’re not sure how the remaining trainees will endure the rest of their
training. Well, now that we know more
about them and see them as people instead of lab mice in an experiment, we’re
also wondering about that. And wait, is
Seulong officially back? What about his
foot? I am so confused.
Back to the present. It’s 11am, and the remaining trainees have just finished cleaning the house. Now we get the ominous music again and are told, “There’s a man who is coming to look for the Hot Bloods.” The way it’s filmed makes it look like one of the eliminated trainees is back for revenge.
We finally see who it is when
the trainees gather on the beach to meet him.
It’s their new rapping coach. His
name is Mr. Typhoon. Turns out there are
several rappers and bands with that name from several different countries, so I
couldn’t really dig up anything on him. You’d
think one of them would have trademarked the name.
Mr. Typhoon is here not only to coach them on rapping but on writing their own rap lyrics. We’re told none of them have written their own rap lyrics before. They start by studying one of Mr. Typhoon’s songs to get familiar with rhythm and flow. They start rapping it together, and Junho and Junsu stand out for their style and skills.
They get an assignment: write a 16-line rap on the topic “life on the
island.” They have one hour. You know what? I’ve never written rap lyrics either. I’d like to try this assignment. Give me one hour on the kitchen timer.
K-pop S.O.S.
I was minding my business in the training room
When JYP hit me like a typhoon
Now I’m jogging in the cold, tryna sing a folk song
No shirt, no shoes, need a lawyer, this is wrong
Sometimes we can eat, sometimes they won’t let us
‘Cause we couldn’t find a scroll. That really upset us.
Gave our dinner to the crew, not allowed to question
They ate in front of us, hope they get indigestion.
One minute it’s a talent show so we can form a band
Next thing we know, Junho’s throwing up in the sand.
Don’t know when this torture is ever gonna cease
None of us remember even signing a release.
They put us in a ring, boxing isn’t what we chose
Now TaecYeon can’t breathe ‘cause they broke his damn
nose
To all my Stateside boys, I’ve a warning to tell
If a scout says hi, turn and RUN LIKE HELL.
Okay, now
let’s see if our trainees can beat that.
First up is Jay Park. And now I
see that the translators who posted these videos didn’t subtitle the Korean
lyrics. Well, that’s frustrating. I do get some insight from Mr. Typhoon, who
says he knows Jay Park lived in the US for a long time, but now he needs to
learn to rap in a Korean accent.
We go through the rap performances one by one, all sounding great, but in Korean, so I don’t know what they’re saying. Mr. Typhoon says JoKwon’s rhythm needs work. Seulong lacks confidence. The ones who don’t pass get sent back to do rewrites.
When it’s Khun’s turn, he raps in English. He’s going really fast, and it’s hard to hear him over the music, but I got this snippet:
And in the past four days since I’ve been away,
Find myself in this damn place, I don’t know what to
say
(something about being a trainee)
Not bad, Khun, but I like mine better.
More raps, more critiques, and one of them does melodic rapping, which I’ve already made my feelings clear about in the Wild Idol recaps. Let’s move on before I start grinding my teeth again.
The rappers who were sent back return to try again. Some pass, but others keep getting sent back. I see Mr. Typhoon follows the Lia Kim method of coaching. Khun struggles in his second round, losing track of the lyrics and having to start over. The hours go by. The sun starts to set. The rappers who don’t pass try again and again. This beat is going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the year.
Finally, everyone passes. Mr. Typhoon is impressed with everyone’s first attempts at writing lyrics. Thank you, sir. I’m rather proud of it myself.
Join me next episode, when I
won’t be attempting any other missions. I
have retired as a rap artist.
Episode 6: The Few, The Proud, the Babbling Boys
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