I-Land, Episode 4: Tears

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(Written October 12, 2024)

No time for an intro.  Let’s see the Dropouts perform “Fire.”  I’m fast-forwarding through the recap.  I stop at one point where we get to see the I-Landers group score from their performance.  It’s 80.  If I’m remembering the chart correctly, that means four of them are being sent to the Ground.

So now we pick up where we left off, with our dropouts heading up to the stage.  Jay needs this win.  I want the dropouts to blow everyone’s minds.  Let’s. Do. This.

Right off, their voices aren’t just singing.  They’re ROARING.  Zico looks surprised and says, “They’ve got spunk!”  With all due respect, sir, that’s not spunk.  That’s fire.

Their dance moves are synched perfectly and are so violently energetic, the whole team almost bursts through my screen.  This is a defiant, raging song, and these trainees are are snarling and punching the air.  Right now, all eleven of them deserve to move up to the I-Land.

After the performance, Rain says, “Everybody only has anger left.”  Damn right.  I’m surprised that stage is still standing.  Both Rain and Zico marvel at the group’s final formation.  They have remained in position, glaring at the camera.  Rain exclaims, “If they came to me like that, I think I’d run away!  They are scary!”

Then Rain says, “If I’m being totally honest, I want all the Grounders to replace all the I-Landers at once.”  High praise from the man who was scolding the same group earlier this week.

Our dropouts return to the Ground, feeling good about their performance.  They sit on the benches in their practice room and wait to see who’s being promoted.  Jay says, “Let’s try not to cry today when somebody goes up to the I-Land.  It’s a hassle.”  Love that attitude, Seattle.

In a confessional, Jay tells us, “I was just the Leader by name, but honestly, I felt a bit lost.”  Maybe in the beginning.  But in the end, he led a team that gave an amazing performance that impressed Rain and Zico.  He needs to give himself a little more credit.

Now we cut back to the I-Land.  Last time, the trainees found out their individual scores in private.  But now, the announcer says the I-Landers with the Top 6 scores will be revealed here and now, in the giant egg timer room.

The Top 6 trainees are:

EJ, in sixth place, with a score of 70.

Sunoo, in fifth place with a score of 71.  I just love his happy face.

In fourth place – woah.  It’s Ta-Ki, with a score of 75!  I was not expecting that.  Once again, our sweet boy looks positively stunned and bows in gratitude.

In third place is Sunghoon, with a score of 80.  Our figure-skating trainee has made one of the highest individual scores in the I-Land so far.

Heeseung is in second place with a score of 83.  That’s three future Enhypen members so far, including Sunoo and Sunghoon.  Heeseung has managed to stay in the I-Land since the very beginning of the show.  Given this score, he may never visit the Ground.  He may need Vitamin D supplements at some point if he doesn’t go outside every once in a while.  Someone check the pantry.

And finally, who got the top score of 88?  This is the trainee who will get the exemption pass.  That person is … K.  that’s a surprise.  I was hoping for future Enhypen leader Jungwon.  He’s the only Enhypen member in the I-Land who didn’t place in the Top 6.  Maybe K will use the exemption pass to save him if he’s chosen for elimination.

Of course, there will be time to deliberate and vote.  The giant egg timer displays a countdown of two hours.  K is reminded that the exemption is a double-edged sword.  If he saves someone, the person with the next lowest score will be eliminated.

Everyone walks around the I-Land, talking anxiously about the vote.  Jungwon is especially nervous.  I know it’s going to work out in the end, but I want to see all Enhypen members in the same place.  

For some reason, K is worried that Ta-Ki will get voted out and wonders if he should use the exemption to save him.  It may sound weird that he thinks the fourth highest score earner will get voted out, but I kind of get it.  Ta-Ki just doesn’t seem ready for all this.  But everyone loves him and says they’ve learned a lot from him.  Ta-Ki is just an odd fit for this show. 

Ta-Ki seems to think so too, because he’s packing his stuff.  Even though he has the fourth highest score.  I really have no idea what to expect from this vote.

The two hour countdown expires, and it’s time.  Each I-Lander has gone down to the room with the touch screen to vote, and now the announcer is going to tell us who the four people are who will be heading down to the Ground.

The first eliminated trainee received eleven votes.  So EVERYONE voted this guy out, which really has to suck.  It’s Yoonwon.  This poor guy.  He makes it to the I-Land for one test, only to get kicked back downstairs.

The second trainee got ten votes, which isn’t much better.  It’s Taeyong, our former child actor.  He also got to stay at the I-Land for just that one test, and now back down he goes.

The third one, with eight votes, is … Sunoo?  Seriously?  This future Enhypen member got the fifth highest score!  Why would they vote out one of their best teammates?

We get a voiceover from K, who said he voted for Sunoo because he thought, and let me quote here, “it would be nice for him to work a bit harder.”  Dude, he’s one of the top six.  And since K voted him out, it’s unlikely he’ll use his exemption card to save him.  This is frustrating.

The fourth guy out, with five votes, is … Jungwon.  Oof.  So that’s two future Enhypen members kicked out, and only one has the potential to be saved by K. 

Speaking of K, he’s surprised that Jungwon got voted out.  Everyone seems to like Jungwon, and it was generally expected that he was safe.  We find out Sunoo voted for Jungwon because he didn’t think his performance matched the high-ranking part he got in that song. 

Our four eliminated I-Landers stand up and prepare to go through the gate.  The announcer voice stops them and says it’s time for K to make his decision.  K does not look happy.  If he saves someone, he will risk sending Ta-Ki back to the Ground.  He doesn’t know how many votes Ta-Ki got, so it’s a possibility.

K struggles with the decision.  I would not want to be in his shoes right now.  He finally announces that he will use the exemption.  He votes to save Jungwon.  We know Jungwon is grateful but probably dreading to find out who’s been kicked out in his place.

That person, we find out, also received five votes, but he got a higher score than Jungwon, which is what initially saved him.  And of course, it’s Ta-Ki.  K has just sent his friend back to the Ground.  Ta-Ki looks stunned.  This show is so mean, but then again, it’s a survival reality show.

K is devastated.  He’s sobbing.  Our four eliminated trainees say their goodbyes and head for the gate.  Ta-Ki is stoic until the last minute, and then he cries.  Watching his face crumple like that is so painful.  This ray of sunshine keeps getting kicked over and over.  K hugs him and apologizes through his own tears, saying, “If you got eliminated, I was going to save you no matter what.  I’m really sorry.”  Ta-Ki promises K he’ll come back, but we know it won’t be long before both of them are eliminated for good.

So now the four eliminated ones include a future Enhypen member, which is going to delay having all the members on the same side, which I find really frustrating.  What about MY feelings?  I’m the real victim here.

The dropouts welcome the four with open arms.  The newcomers slump onto the practice room bench while the dropouts gather around the screen to find out which ones are about to become I-Landers.  Then we suddenly cut to aerial shots of these four and their joyous return to the I-Land.  They are Youngbin, Kyungmin, Jay, and Jake.  

So here is our new chart.  We have five future Enhypen members at the I-Land and two at the Ground.

Once everyone at the I-Land is settled, the announcer chimes in again.  It’s time to reveal the third test.  Everyone at both the I-Land and the Ground gathers around their screens.

The words “Representative Unit” appear on the screen.  The coaches in the control room tell us that instead of teamwork, this time they want to see how much the trainees can sacrifice themselves for the team.  Wow.  Sacrifice.  We’re plowing right into Enhypen territory already.  This show got real dark real fast.

Back to the announcer.  In this test, the I-Landers and dropouts will pick representatives to compete in vocal and dancing challenges.  Each side will pick two vocalists and three dancers.  The rest of the members will not be performing onstage.  The total score of the vocal and dance challenges will determine the winning side.

If the dropouts win, six I-Landers will be eliminated.  If the    I-Landers win, then there will be no eliminations.  Okay, I love this rule.  It means that the dropouts will be absolutely gunning for the I-Landers. 

But here’s the other thing for people like me who already know the final band members.  Future Enhypen members make up almost half of the I-Landers.  With six eliminated, I don’t see how at least one wouldn’t be cut, even though I already know the final group and know that won’t happen, because that’s how crazy stressful these shows are, even if you know the ending.  I know it’s not rational.  All K-pop fans know it’s not rational.  Just deal with it.

The dropouts are excited because they have the best dancers.  But Sungchul brings them back down to Earth by saying, “Honestly, the I-Landers are way better than us.”

Even though the dropouts just gave a way better performance than the I-Landers, I get it.  Four of the trainees responsible for that performance, including the Leader, are now part of the other team.

Now the announcer will reveal the vocal test song for the I-Land team.  The song is OH MY GOD IT’S “BUTTERFLY” BY BTS!  Regular readers of these recaps already know how much I love this song.  The trainees on Boys Planet did a beautiful stage of this song, and now we get to see another one. 

The trainees are VERY excited.  And nervous.  Because if you’ll remember from Boys Planet, this is a very vocally demanding song.  The I-Landers will have to be careful choosing their representatives to perform this, because yes, there’s some choreo as well.

Now for the dropouts’ vocal test song.  It’s another BTS one, “Save Me.”  This song has a bit more power, but like “Butterfly,” it’s also a challenging ballad.  BTS never phones it in.  Their songs require talent, discipline, and passion.  Right away, the dropouts are worried that they may not have a teammate who can handle this.  But Sunoo is up to the challenge and quickly volunteers.

For the dance test, each team gets a medley of three songs.  For the I-Landers, it’s “Rainism” by Rain, “Three Dopeboyz” by Dynamic Duo, and “One of a Kind” by GD.  Unless we’ve seen these songs performed on other shows, I’m not familiar with any of them.  it will be nice to hear one of Rain’s songs, since we’ve already covered a Zico song.

For the dropouts, the songs are “Warrior’s Descendant” by H.O.T., “Reversal” by X-Teen, and then a repeat from the I-Land, “One of a Kind,” by GD.  These are hip-hop songs with insanely complicated dance moves that I’m throwing my back out just watching.

Now the announcer tells each group to select the members who will represent the fate of the team.  Representatives may be changed at any time before the final performance.  They have six days until the test.  Oh, good.  I was worried the giant egg timer wouldn’t have a deadline to count down to.

The trainees pick their reps.  For the I-Landers in the vocal competition, we have Geonu and Heeseung.  Sunghoon wanted to be one of the dancers but didn’t speak up because he didn’t want to take someone else’s spot.  He decides he’s going to practice the steps on his own, just in case.

Now we switch to the Ground.  Ta-Ki wants one of the dance spots and auditions for it.  He really is talented, but unfortunately, he doesn’t get chosen.  Jaeho will be one of the dancers, but this scene is weirdly edited, so I don’t know who the other two are yet. 

As for the vocal auditions, Daniel tries to sing, but he lost his voice during the “Fire” performance.  The vocal reps will be Sunoo and Sungchul.

Night falls, and up in the I-Land, Geonu and Heeseung are practicing the vocal part.  I love hearing them sing “Butterfly.”  K is also up late dancing.  There’s a lot at stake in this upcoming test, so I’m not surprised they can’t sleep.  We see the I-Land vocal and dance teams up bright and early the next day, still practicing.  I wonder what the others are doing.  They should be learning the routines too, in case someone loses their voice or gets injured.  

Meanwhile, Sunghoon and Seon are talking in the dining area about how they wish they could all be performing together.  Um, guys?  You can still rehearse with them.  In fact, Sunghoon, didn’t you say you were going to learn the dance parts anyway?  Get to work!

The non-reps finally decide to get involved … by bringing snacks to the reps during a break in rehearsal.  Okay, that’s one idea that should have gone on the “maybe” pile.  FINALLY, everyone decides that they should all be learning the parts, just in case.  They’ve already lost one day of rehearsal when this occurs to them. 

We jump ahead to just three days left.  Our I-Land dance team decides to call themselves “The ’02 Team” because they were all born in 2002.  I am so freaking old.

Now we finally check on the dropouts and learn that the dance team is Jaeho, Nicholas, and Ni-Ki. 

Ni-Ki is leading the dance team and tells us in a confessional that Nicholas is doing well with the choreo, but Jaeho isn’t keeping up.  He thinks someone else could do better.  He’s focused on Hanbin.

Hanbin doesn’t want to step on anyone’s toes, but  Ni-Ki tells him his dancing style would be a better fit with him and Nicholas.  He says to Hanbin, “If it’s the three of us, it will be the ‘Jopping’ members.”  Oh, that’s right – Nicholas, Hanbin, and Ni-Ki came in as the International Unit in Episode 1 and performed “Jopping” by SuperM.  They’re used to performing together.  They click as a team.

But Hanbin doesn’t want to join them.  I don’t blame him.  I can’t be sure, but it looks like this is being done behind Jaeho’s back.  Ever since the beginning of the show, I haven’t liked Ni-Ki’s tactics.  If he’s supposed to be getting a redemption arc, I haven’t seen it yet.  Hanbin is also concerned about all the time and effort Jaeho has put into practicing.  This would crush him.  “It breaks my heart thinking about Jaeho,” Hanbin says.

Ni-Ki pushes back.  “I’d like for you to think of the team,” he says.  Ni-Ki, there’s a less sneaky way to do this.  Jaeho needs to be part of the conversation.  Don’t blindside him.

We end this scene with Hanbin struggling with this decision.  Now it’s time for the I-Land’s midpoint check with Son Sung Deuk and Rain.  I approve of Rain’s new hairstyle.  He compliments Jay and says, “You got much better after I scolded you.”  

Rain asks the trainees who are not performing if any of them wanted to step up, and Seon explains that they’ve all been practicing, just in case.  Rain is impressed and has them give themselves a round of applause.  I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.  These shows never let us feel happy for long.

The vocal reps, Heeseung and Geonu, are up first.  They both sound nervous, but they keep their voices steady during the choreo.  We only get to see a few seconds of the rehearsal.  Rain, who gets to see the whole thing, is impressed.  He thinks the vocal team is good enough to win.  He has no notes.  Our vocal team is downright giddy as they join the others.  I’m downright suspicious.  Why is Rain being so nice all of a sudden?

Then Rain asks the backup vocal team to sing.  Jaebeom and Seon step up.  “Who knows?” Son Sung Deuk says cheerfully.  “You guys might be better!”  He may as well be winking right at the camera as he says it.

Again, we only get to hear a couple of lines, but I think there’s more passion in their delivery.  They are singing in the breathy, delicate style this song needs.  I think I know what’s about to happen.  But nope, I’m wrong.  Rain thinks they overdid it.  He didn’t hate it, but he says that nothing had better happen to Heeseung and Geonu before the the final performance.  THERE’S the Rain we know!

Moving on to the dance team – Jay, K, and Jungwon.  We get a few seconds of them dancing to Rain’s song.  The coaches are impressed.  What they’re doing is b-boy dancing, which is like breakdancing on steroids.  These three are so good, but for some reason, Rain showers praise on K and Jungwon but has no feedback for Jay.  It’s a little weird.  Jay looks confused. 

We don’t see the coaches review any backup dance teams.  Rain just has everyone do a group cheer, and then they all leave.  This whole segment was either just strangely edited, or the coaches were having an off day. 

Now we go to the midpoint evaluation at the Ground, with Doobu, Zico, and Pdogg.  The vocal team is Sunoo and Sungchul, and the coaches ask of anyone else had wanted to sing.  Daniel hesitantly raises his hand.  Zico takes note of it but says nothing for now.  He asks who the dance team is, and they raise their hands.  It’s     Ni-Ki, , Nicholas, and … Hanbin.  Oh, no.  Ni-Ki, you little twerp, what did you do?

Doobu asks why Hanbin has replaced Jaeho.  We get a flashback to the earlier discussion when Ni-Ki was trying to convince Hanbin to join the team.  Hanbin says he’s not confident enough, and Ni-Ki says, “We can help you with that.”

Jaeho is sitting at the table now and suggests everyone vote again.  I can’t tell how he feels about any of this.  They re-vote, and Hanbin replaces Jaeho.  This is frustrating because I have no idea if Jaeho is upset about being replaced.  It’s like they’re all doing this because the production team told them to, which is very possible. 

So anyway, our vocal team, who as far as I know hasn’t stabbed anyone in the back today, steps up to sing.  Sungchul is especially nervous.  The two singers start off strong, but then Sungchul’s voice cracks.

Zico is very pleased with Sunoo’s performance.  As for Sungchul, he thinks the key may be too high for his voice.  Sungchul’s voice was unstable, and he didn’t sound confident.

Zico asks the rest of the trainees if any of them want to sing in Sungchul’s place.  No one volunteers, not even Daniel.  I can understand why.  They’re loyal friends, and no one wants to push Sungchul out.  Zico asks, “Didn’t you raise your hand before, Daniel?”  Poor Daniel.  Not only has he been put on the spot, but he’s been struggling with a sore throat.  He does not want this.

Pdogg insists he give it a shot.  Daniel gets up, and his voice is beautiful and expressive.  You’d never know he’d been having trouble singing for the past few days.  Pdogg tells him, “It’s like you completely understand the song.”

Sungchul looks crushed.  But the coaches are right.  Daniel should be singing instead.  But we don’t see them making the final decision, so I don’t know what happens next.

Now the dance team of Hanbin, Nicholas, and Ni-Ki steps up.  And something’s wrong with their performance.  As they dance, they’re not really in sync, and their formation falls apart.  To make matters worse, Hanbin can’t keep up.

When they finish, they know they’ve messed up.  Hanbin faces the criticism for not knowing the choreo well enough.  He was nervous and didn’t have enough time to rehearse, and he didn’t seem to want to do this in the first place.  It’s almost like this was a bad idea, NI-KI.

The coaches ask to see the choreo again with Jaeho instead.  He jumps up eagerly and with a smile.  Now I know he didn’t want the switch either.  When exactly is Ni-Ki’s redemption arc support to start?

To make things even more embarrassing for Hanbin, the coaches just want to see him and Jaeho do the choreo, side by side, for comparison.  Jaeho’s performance blows Hanbin’s out of the water.  Hanbin does not deserve to be embarrassed like this.  The coaches tell the trainees to reconsider their dance team.

Now for something new.  Sitting in their living room, the I-Landers watch a video of the dropouts practicing.  Geonu asks if that’s what the Ground facility really looks like, and I remember he’s never seen it before.  He’s been at the I-Land the entire show, along with Jungwon, K, Sunghoon, Heeseung, and Seon.  Wow.  That’s six who have never been to the Ground, and half of them still won’t make it to the final group.

Back at the Ground, the dropouts watch video of the I-Landers, and Hanbin, Jimin, and Jaeho have never seen the I-Land.  There are some who got there in the first episode and then got voted out immediately because there were too many people, so I’m not counting them.  For those trainees who have never seen the other facility, it’s like they’re seeing footage from another planet.

I’m not sure why each group is seeing footage of the other’s rehearsal, unless it’s to intimidate and/or motivate them.  Each side is genuinely worried after seeing the other rehearse. 

Now we’re down to two hours before the test.  Our two sides have been rehearsing almost nonstop.  As the minutes tick down, Heeseung’s voice suddenly starts to crack.  He and Geonu exchange panicky looks.  I’ve said this before about these shows:  Is no one telling them how to take care of their vocal cords?  They could do serious damage.

We cut to the control room, where Rain, Zico, Pdogg, Doobu, and Son Seng Deuk are waiting for the test to start.  I find it curious that we have not seen Wonderkid at all since his first appearance.  Someone actually started a thread on Reddit where everyone could give their opinion on each coach.  People had lots to say about Rain, Pdogg, Zico, and everyone else except for Wonderkid.  His section literally has zero responses.

Interestingly, Sunghoon is part of the I-Land dance team.  We know that he had been disappointed about not being chosen but decided to learn the choreo on his own.  We learn that he’s replacing Jay, the one who got ignored by the coaches at the midpoint check.  I really wish we could find out what happened there.  In the control room, the coaches express surprise that Jay is out.  Um, you guys blew him off.  Maybe that had something to do with it?

The Ground team joins the I-Landers onstage.  And what the hell – Jaeho is back.  After the team pushed to have Hanbin replace Jaeho, and then Hanbin couldn’t keep up at the midpoint check, they brought Jaeho back.  I hope he made them crawl and beg. 

And there’s another change on the Ground team.  The vocalists were originally Sunoo and Sungchul, but now Daniel has replaced Sungchul.  I can hardly keep up with this.  The chart I made to keep track of each trainee is now eight pages long, and we’re only on the fourth episode.

The coaches comment on how determined and fired up the dropouts are.  Nicholas especially looks like he’s ready to kill someone.  The coaches say his eyes are on fire.

We’re starting with the I-Land team’s vocal unit, Heeseung and Geonu.  The beautiful opening notes of “Butterfly” float in the air.  I love this song so much.

I’m in tears when the performance ends.  It’s so beautiful.  They hit each note perfectly, keeping their voices soft and light, moving perfectly with their music, looking like butterflies themselves. 

I don’t understand it when people say they hate K-pop.  This song could move even the hardest soul, no matter what you usually listen to.  I’m not a big country music fan, but I can’t say I hate country music, because there are some songs in that genre that I love, and if you come at Dolly Parton, you’re gonna have to go through me.  There’s something in almost every genre that can touch any soul.

The judges are impressed.  The I-Landers let out a huge cheer, and the dropouts look worried.  But they don’t have time to stress out.  It’s their vocal team’s turn.  Sunoo and Daniel take the stage to perform the BTS song “Save Me.”

It’s perfect.  I can’t pick a winning team because they are both so moving and beautiful and heartbreaking.  Daniel deserves to debut, and I hope he found success after this show because he absolutely deserves it.  In the control room, the coaches can’t stop talking about how much Daniel has improved.

The coaches now have to decide on the winning vocal team.  As the four singers stand onstage and wait for the results, the pressure gets to Daniel, who starts crying.

Our fifteen year-old show maknae has been through it.  He and his friend EJ got voted into the I-Land in the first episode, then EJ tried to vote him out, then he got the second highest score in the Signal Song Test and got sent to the Ground anyway.  His nerves must be about to snap.

In a voiceover, he tells us he thinks he could have done better.  I wish he could hear what the coaches are saying about him in the control room.  Daniel tells us he feels like he let his fellow dropouts down.

We finally get the scores.  The I-Land team gets a score of 81.  As for the Ground … we’ll find out in the next episode.  Like I haven’t already been through the emotional wringer.

Pass the Kleenex.  I need to recover before the next episode.

Episode 5:  Failure to Communicate

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