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(Written March 2, 2025)
I think I’m ready to dive back into this chaos. I can’t imagine how trainees manage to hang on to their sanity in a system like this. Let’s go. Welcome to Episode Three!
We’re back at the same practice room again, which is getting a bit claustrophobic. I’m ready to see performances on stages in front of fans. I might be getting my wish, because CEO Yang tells the trainees there will be one last monthly assessment. From now on, they will focus on making the Treasure Team. This lights a fire under the trainees, and we get a montage of them stepping up their rehearsals.
We jump ahead to the final
assessment. I’m guessing we’ll see some
eliminations today. CEO Yang and the
judges gather in a different training room.
We’re told this is the last assessment to decide the Treasure Team, and
we’re doing this already, in Episode Three.
Looks like we’re picking up the pace.
The teams line up in front of the judges. They’re trying not to look nervous, but it’s hard when the first thing the CEO does is hold up the rankings we saw in the last episode. Then he tells them not to dwell on the rankings. You know, the ones he’s hold up in front of their faces. He says he’s going to pick the top two members from each team, starting with Team J. The other three teams move into a waiting room, where they will be able to watch the proceedings.
Team J has three future Treasure members on it: Asahi, Haruto, and Yoshi. At least one of them won’t make the cut on this show. The whole team also has a disadvantage of struggling with Korean. This will be TENSE.
We learn that Haruto is the leader of the team, even though he’s the youngest. The CEO asks if his team listens to him. He says no, and everyone laughs. That releases some of the tension in the room. It’s nice to see the usually stoic Haruto smiling.
We flash back to rehearsal earlier in the week. Their choreo is interrupted by a producer, who tells them the final assessment will be a live team performance. YES! I live for the live performances on these survival shows. Let’s gooooo!
Then the other shoe drops when she tells them that they will be competing against each other while performing together, and only the top two team members will make the cut. These trainees are all friends and came over from Tokyo together. Now they are opponents. This happens a LOT on these survival shows, and the eliminations never get any easier to watch.
This is also where Haruto, as
the highest-ranking member of Team J, learns that he is going to be the leader
of a group that consists of members all older than him. He takes the news well.
We cut to their midpoint eval with producer team Future Bounce. Team J has chosen the classic song “Shine” by Pentagon. They sing it for the producers. It’s a bit off-key, but we know all about the Flashback Formula on these shows. Bad midpoint eval usually leads to an incredible final performance. Here, they’re scolded by the producers. They look sad. All part of the Formula, folks.
They’re told the song doesn’t really suit them and to pick another one. I have to agree. “Shine” is a bouncy, fun song. These guys look more like future beast idols. Especially Haruto.
Later at the training center,
the boys are trying to decide on a new song.
Asahi looks pensive, but the boy can seriously rock a beret.
Our J Team has already lost several days rehearsing to the wrong song. What will they do now?
Flashback over. Back to the final evaluation. The song they’ve chosen is “Killing Me” by
iKON. Okay, I was hoping for a song that
went a little harder, but let’s see where this goes.
Damn, Haruto can rap. They all do a good job with this song, and the trainees watching from the waiting room give them enthusiastic applause. The J Group also made good use of the small space in that dark, dingey-looking room. (Seriously, set designers. This is K-pop. Maybe don’t make the place look like a dungeon.)
Team J lines up and waits for feedback, and they look terrified. To make it worse, CEO Yang has them turn around and face the back wall while he and the judges decide. It looks like they’re about to be executed.
Finally, they can turn back around. The general consensus among the rest of the trainees is that Haruto will be one of the two chosen. And just like in the other shows I’ve recapped when I already know the final group, I’m on the edge of my seat. I know it makes no sense. But in this case, the final group is going to eventually change as some members drop out and others replace them, so I honestly don’t know who’s going to make it in to this first version of Treasure.
CEO Yang announces the top trainee of Team J. It’s Haruto, which is no surprise. True to his nature, he simply says “thank you” and bows. I usually get screenshots of trainee reactions in situations like this, but I promise there’s nothing to see here.
The CEO says the judges liked Haruto’s rapping because “he’s really trendy.” I get that running an entertainment company means keeping up with the trends, but I worry that artists who defy trends are being kicked to the curb. But that’s a rant for another time. Moving on.
The second place trainee in the J Group is narrowed down to two trainees. Instead of just telling us who the second trainee is, we’re going to be told who the two finalists are and watch them sweat it out until the judges feel like saying the same. These survival shows do this a LOT.
The two finalists are Mashiho
and Keita. I know that Mashiho will make
it to the end of this series, but It still hurts that Asahi and Yoshi are being
dropped this early.
Mashiho and Keita
After keeping us in suspense
until I want to punch my computer screen, we finally get the name. Of course, it’s Mashiho. Keita takes it well, although it has to
sting. He looks familiar. I look him up, and oh my God. It’s Keita from Boy’s Planet and
eventually the groups Ciipher and Evnne!
Going on just one survival show looks exhausting, but Keita is one of many trainees who did more than one of them. Remember Jay Chang, also from Boys Planet? That was the second of three survival shows he did. He won the third one and is now in a group called One Pact, which consists of five trainees who were all on Boys Planet. (One Pact has a great song out called “100!”. Check it out, it’s a fun funk/pop song.)
Back to our show. The Team J trainees who didn’t get picked go to the waiting room and are greeted with hugs. I’m glad they’re staying with us for now. It is heartbreaking to see Keita break down in tears, but I know he’ll eventually be okay. But not until he loses on another reality show. K-pop is BRUTAL.
Next up is Team C, our junior group. I have a strong feeling our babyfaced rapper Jung Jun Hyuk will be one of the two. I’m guessing the other will be Treasure’s Junghwan or Jeongwoo. I didn’t realize we had two current Treasure members in this group. When asked for their predictions in confessionals, the trainees choose Jung Jun Hyuk and Jeongwoo.
But of course, we have to have a flashback, because without flashbacks on survival reality shows, the entire K-pop industry would collapse. Team C is gathered in a practice room with iPads, looking for a song. Just as I’m promising myself I will not make any references to nursery rhymes, one of the trainees jokingly suggests the Three Bears children’s song, which got a huge laugh from me. Mad respect for their self-awareness.
They consider several songs, including ones by BTS, EXO, and Wanna One. Team Leader Jung Jun Hyuk chooses one of my all-time favorites, “Hero” by Monsta X.
Okay. Let’s pause for a minute. As much as I love the song, I have very mixed feelings about Team C doing this. In previous show recaps, we’ve seen Monsta X songs covered by trainees who were way too young to pull off that aggressive beast idol vibe. In fact, we’ve seen this on just about every series I’ve recapped. Now, we have a group of first-year trainees. Despite Jun Hyuk’s rapping skills, I still don’t think this will work. EXO would be a better choice. They have some fun songs that younger kids could easily pull off. Monsta X is a whole different beast.
Just as it’s looking like
they’ve made their decision, they suddenly find a SHINee song they like
better. It’s called “View.” I pull up the video and immediately feel
better. Yes, the lyrics are mature, but
the music and beat are pure fun. I would
love to see this group give it a try.
Jun Hyuk pushes hard for the Monsta X song but is outvoted by the rest of the group. He looks disappointed. Someone should show him the I-Land footage of 16 year-old Ta-Ki trying to pull off “Monster” by EXO, a choice that had the judges howling with laughter.
Okay. So they’ve picked a good song. Now we move forward to the midpoint eval. They sing “View” for the producers. Both Jun Hyuk and fellow team rapper Kim Jong Seob have written their own raps for this performance, and I love when rappers do that on these shows. But then Jun Hyuk tries to rap and loses the beat, trailing off in embarrassment. Right away, I’m wondering if he’s trying to sabotage the song because he didn’t get his way. He keeps trying and keeps stumbling over the words. I think I’m right about this.
If it’s true, he’s really paying for it. The producers praise all the other trainees, saving their criticism for him alone. In a confessional, he actually blames his fellow trainees, saying he warned them that he didn’t like this song. Jun Hyuk has a lot of growing up to do, not just physically but mentally and professionally.
The group has another midpoint eval with a vocal trainer. This time, they’re doing the choreo as well, and right away, Junghwan sounds a bit flat and gets called out for it.
These shaky midpoint evals may look like a bad sign, but I’m sure it’s just the Flashback Formula at work. Although it’s hard watching Junghwan take this constant criticism, and after the eval, he bursts into tears.
The group throws themselves back into rehearsals. The flashback ends, and now we’re back to the present. Showtime.
It’s flawless. The rappers nail it. The vocalists are on their game. The choreo is fun and feels spontaneous, and it includes a daring and graceful high kick.
When it ends, the trainees in the waiting room say exactly what I’m thinking – it’s hard to pick the top two. They all performed like future idols.
However, our CEO seems to
have made his mind up pretty quickly. He
doesn’t even make the trainees turn their backs while he decides. The top spot goes to Jeongwoo. The second goes to Junghwan. It has to be a devastating blow to the
formerly top-ranked Jung Jun Hyuk, but I’m okay with it. He needs more time in the trainee system
before he’s ready.
Jeongwoo, Junghwan, and Jun Hyuk
Having said that, I looked him up, and I don’t see a happy ending for him. After this show, he does another survival show in 2024 called The Entertainer. After being eliminated on both shows, he leaves YG Entertainment, and that’s it. He moves back to his home country of Canada and occasionally posts freestyle raps on his YouTube channel.
I hope he doesn’t give up completely. On this show at least, he’s incredibly talented, just too young for this. We get at least one of these same stories on every show I recap, and it feels like I’m watching the K-pop machine chew up these kids and spit them out.
Now we move on to Team B. They’ve chosen 3rd-ranked Wang Jyun Hao as their leader. The rest of this group is in the bottom of the rankings, and if I start talking about that, I’ll have another ranting meltdown, so let’s just skip it.
Back into a flashback we go. Apparently, none of them have ever performed live before, so they’re freaking out a little. First, they have to choose a song. They consider an NCT song, but the pitch is too high. They also consider EXO’s “Love Me Right,” one of my personal favorites, but they feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the choreo. They finally land on “Go Go” by BTS, which is a good choice. It’s a challenging song but has a bouncy, easy vibe.
We go into rehearsal, and this is interesting. Their leader Jyun Hao doesn’t speak Korean well. He speaks in English, and the other English speakers in the group translate. I looked up Jyun Hao – he’s Taiwanese. He will go on to do the survival show Produce 101 after this, the show that was so rigged, eight of the producers were indicted, and two of them served actual prison time. (This is the third episode in a row I’ve mentioned someone having to do time.) However, Jyun Hao seems to have gone into acting. He’s done a show called Secret Relationship that seems to still be in production.
Back to our show. Team B struggles with the language barrier as they rehearse. At their midpoint eval performance, I think it’s a good start, but the coach thinks it’s a disaster. I can’t tell if that’s really his opinion or if that’s what the show is telling him to say to create drama. He does have a point about them lacking expression. Their faces are scrunched up in concentration. These performances are supposed to look effortless.
Afterward, the group talks to Jyun Hao about changing the leader to someone who’s fluent in Korean. It’s heartbreaking for him to hear it, but I agree that the leader of a group needs to be able to communicate with his team.
The team consoles Jyun Hao as he cries. He lifts his head and says, “I want to speak Korean well.” I know that feeling. After studying Spanish for several years and living in Barcelona for a few months, I still struggle with the language. It’s incredibly frustrating and isolating not to be able to communicate with everyone around you. And in this case, Jyun Hao’s K-pop dream is on the line.
The flashback ends here. We’re back in the assessment room. As Team B files in, I remember that this is the group with future Treasure members Jaehyuk and Jihoon, the latter of whom is now the team leader.
Here we go.
I love this. They’ve captured the positive energy of the song, and they’ve got the expressions down. They look like they’re having fun. The dance break is wild. This is my favorite performance so far on this show.
CEO Yang is more reserved in his assessment. He compares these trainees to white grains of rice before they’re cooked. He sees potential in all of them, but he can only pick two. And the first one is Taiwanese trainee Jyun Hao.
Wow. That was unexpected. I guess this isn’t the final group we’re choosing after all.
The second pick is Ha Yoon
Bin. He looks as confused as I am.
How exactly does the process work on this show? Never mind, I guess. We’re suddenly thrown a curve ball. There will be one more pick from Team B. CEO Yang says he’s doing this on impulse. His third pick is future Treasure member Jihoon. I love how his face lights up.
Now for our last group, Team A, with future Treasure members Bang Yedam, Doyoung, Junkyu, and Hyun Suk. This is really going to hurt, isn’t it?
Okay, let’s get the flashback
over with. As the group gathers to
choose a song, the show takes a hard left turn.
We find ourselves in the office of one of the producers. She’s staring at her phone. Something is up. We’re shown the text message, but I don’t
read Korean, and the show isn’t translating it.
To any of my Korean-fluent readers, here you go:
The producer tells us a security guard called her at 8am because Team A trainee Lee Mi Dam wasn’t in his room. When the guard called Mi Dam, he said that he had left to go talk to his family. But he didn’t return for rehearsal. It doesn’t look like he’s coming back. So the team has to start rehearsal without him. It’s hard to plan choreography when one of the dancers isn’t there.
Later, Mi Dam does
return. He goes into a conference room
to meet with the producer, and he is clearly going through it. He keeps his head down. He can’t bring himself to speak and starts
crying. This isn’t just any opportunity
he’s blowing. He’s made it to Team A as
one of the top trainees at YG and is now getting his big chance on a survival
show.
I understand this is frustrating for the producer, but I don’t like how she’s looking so annoyed with him. He’s not acting spoiled or entitled or anything else that would justify this response. He’s clearly in pain. But the producer works for YG, which has invested a lot of money in training him, and now they’re filming a reality show, so that’s probably where she’s coming from. I still don’t like it.
Mi Dam finally finds his words. He’s been keeping to himself the whole time at YG, which is probably why he hasn’t stood out enough to show up in my notes so far. He’s an introvert who has trouble socializing. He’s struggled all through his two years and seven months at YG and can’t do it anymore. He’s 22 years old and wants to move on.
The producer takes him to the
training room so he can tell his team.
They are disappointed, and he starts crying again.
This poor guy. It doesn’t help that the others resent him for leaving before the biggest assessment of their trainee experience. But in the end, they accept it and hug him goodbye.
Trainees drop out of survival shows all the time, but this is one of the few times it’s been filmed as part of the show. Usually trainees who drop out just disappear with no explanation. I’m glad they left this in.
I looked up Mi Dam and was surprised to see that after this show, he went on to be in Produce 101. He was eliminated on that show. He did release a Christmas song in 2019 with a fellow Produce 101 contestant and later signed with another entertainment company. That’s all I have on him. I have to wonder if he would have bigger success if he had decided to stay on this show.
So now Team A is down to six trainees. Not only do they have to revise their performance, they have to do it while dealing with the emotional blow of losing a friend and teammate.
It looks like we’re jumping back to the present, and it’s time for the assessment. We haven’t even been told what song they’re doing.
The song begins. They’re doing “Energetic” by Wanna One.
It’s a joyously upbeat pop song, which is refreshing after the sadness they’ve been through this week. They throw all their energy and emotion into it. I love it. This is a true idol performance. When they finish, the other trainees say that this is why Team A is the top team.
CEO Yang is actually moved. “Your eyes,” he says, “desperate, feeling, and yearning. It’s true what they say, people grow in adversity.”
Now he has to pick the top two. He has them all turn around to face the back of the room while the judges talk. This is clearly going to be a tough decision.
He finally calls them back. This show had better not end on a cliffhanger or I swear to God …
The two picks are Bang Yedam
and Junkyu. Yedam bows and barely lifts
his head because he’s crying. Junkyu, on
the other hand, gives me a great screenshot.
But we’re not done yet. CEO Yang is again picking a third. It’s Kim Seung Hun, another trainee who won’t
get into Treasure. He looks like he’s
not sure if he heard right.
We now have ten finalists, which is the final number of the group we know today. We just need to switch out some faces.
But again, CEO Yang drops a bombshell. He’s giving this team one hour to choose a song and put together a performance. This will help him narrow the group down to seven. And with that, the episode ends.
I liked this episode. I feel like we’re finally getting into the groove of what these survival shows are supposed to be – live performances, tense evaluations, and even the Flashback Formulas. With this episode, we are finally watching the final group take shape. Well, the shape it will be before some members leave and others come back. Everything that happens after this series sounds like it should be its own K-drama.
See you next episode!
Episode 4: I swear this is rigged.
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