YG Treasure Box, Episode 7: This show finally gets good.

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(Written March 9, 2025)

Welcome back, everyone.  Let’s open up that treasure box and see what new methods of humiliation lie in wait for our trainees!

We return to our boxing ring stage.  Last time, we saw Yoshi defeat Mahiro.  The show didn’t even let Mahiro stick around to see the rest of the battles.  We watched as Mahiro was put into a waiting car and driven right to the airport.  I’m assuming when he arrived at the gate, he found his clothes in a big pile with his boarding pass stapled to one of his sneakers.

Back to the battles.  We’re going to pause and let Treasure 6 perform “Going Crazy,” the signal song.

That was fun.  Now back to the carnage.  We get one bit of confusion cleared up right away.  All the teams will be performing, and those doing the elimination battles will have one trainee sent home.  Only the three teams that Winner picked in the last episode won’t be eliminated.  Those winning teams will join Treasure 6, while those replaced will go back to being regular trainees.

Got it?  Good.  Let’s do this.

The announcer tells us we have special guest judges today.  One hundred fans are watching the show from their phones and laptops and will be voting.  I’m a little disappointed they’re not actually there as an audience.  This show was filmed before COVID hit.

Whatever the reason, these Treasure Makers will vote remotely, CEO Yang will cast his vote, and we’ll be doing the gold and silver card thing again.

We’re going to hold off on the rest of the elimination battles right now and do the challenger battles.  First up is the challenging team of Byong Gon and Seung Hun.  They’re battling the Treasure 6 team of Yeon Gue and Yoon Bin.  None of these trainees will end up in Treasure.  This will be a zero-stakes battle for Treasure fans.

We have a flashback to rehearsals, but I’ve already stated I’m not recapping these unless something important happens.  Nothing important happens.  Back to the battle.  The song is “Woo Ah” by Crush, and our Treasure 6 team is going first.  Showtime!

They’re really good.  Yeon Gue has a sweet, high voice and can hit a lovely falsetto.  Yoon Bin is a swaggering, confident rapper with a voice that steams up my computer screen with sex appeal.  I can easily see what they’re in the Top 6.  They’re going to be hard to beat.

Now for our challengers, Byoung Gon and Xeung Hun.  The song is “I’m Not Sorry” by Dean.

I love this song.  I immediately put it on my K-pop playlist.  And Byoung Gon and Seung Hun bring the power and attitude to these lyrics from the POV of a celebrity enjoying the perks of fame while leaving his woman at home alone and not having any guilty pangs about it.  The fact that the lyrics are so bluntly unapologetic is a whole hook by itself.  It takes a strong personality to pull off a song like this, and both our challengers show it onstage.

The vote could go either way.  I’d vote for Byoung Gon and Seung Hun simply because I like the song better, but I’ll have no complaints if Yeon Gue and Yoon Bin take it.  Both teams deserve the win.

The Treasure 6 team picks the gold card.  It belongs to the online voters, and they picked the challengers, Byoung Gon and Seung Hun.  After everything we’ve seen Seung Hun go through in previous episodes, I’m happy to see him get this.

CEO Yang speaks up.  He singles out Yeon Gue for praise, and after everything this kid went through in the previous episode alone, I’m REALLY happy to see him get this.  The CEO’s vote would have gone to the Treasure 6 team.  Again, I get it.  This was an exciting, evenly-matched battle.

Next up:  Challengers Doyoung and Do Hwan.  They’re going big by challenging Yedam and Keita.  We get a flashback.  I skip the flashback.  Although I will include a flashback screenshot of the building where the battles are taking place because I love the entrance design.  I hope someone won an award for that.

Also, Doyoung takes a pretty nasty fall during rehearsals, but thankfully he recovers quickly.  Back to the present.  The Challenging Team will go first, performing “Freedom” by iKON.

I love the arrogance and mischief they bring to this performance.  It’s great energy.  Let’s see if the Treasure 6 Team, Yedam and Keita, can top that.  They’re performing “Really” by BlackPink.

They’re good.  They give a flawless performance, but it just doesn’t match the energy of the challengers.  Yedam and Keita perform with the laid-back vibe of a team that believes they’ve already won, and with Yedam’s unspoken status of Favorite Son, they’re probably right.  It’s disheartening.  I predict they’ll win, even though I don’t think they should.

Let’s see if I’m right.  Yedam and Keita pick the silver card, which turns out to be CEO Yang’s card.  He wants to see the online voters’ choice first.  They chose Yedam and Keita.  Now for the CEO’s choice.  Do I even need to say it?  He chooses Yedam and Keita.  He says he really didn’t like the challengers’ performance, but I’m taking everything he says with a grain of salt because I know his bias.  This just makes me a little sad.

Doyoung’s spirit is unbroken.  He says he plans to face Yedam in a future battle and beat him.  I fist-pump in response.  Atta boy, Doyoung. 

And interestingly, several other trainees, including Hyun Suk, tell us in confessionals they believe the challengers deserved to win instead.  Then Yoshi says something VERY interesting in his confessional:  “Despite knowing they’d lose, they did their best without regret.”  Is he saying what I think he’s saying, or is he just saying that Yedam is too talented to beat?  I know what I choose to believe.

Okay.  Time for the final challenge battle.  The Treasure 6 Team is Junkyu and Mashiho, both future Treasure members.  The challengers are their future bandmates Jeongwoo and Haruto.  This is the Main Event.  I have my popcorn and root beer.  Let’s do this!

I was going to skip the flashback, but I’m glad I didn’t.  Mashiho attempts a backflip that goes wrong in the stage rehearsal, and he lands on his knees.  He insists he’s okay, but Junkyu is worried, and so am I.  You don’t need acrobatics for an amazing performance.  The show’s producers try to convince Mashiho not to do the flip, but he just asks for better shoes to help him with a steadier landing.  This is the No Mercy slingshot move all over again.

Mashiho gets his sneakers and tries again.  This time, he doesn’t even get airborne and almost lands flat on his back.  This is clearly scaring Junkyu.

Right away, a dance coach steps in and puts the kibosh on the whole backflip idea.  Mashiho starts to cry, and I realize how much pressure these two are under.  Jeungwoo and Haruto are good enough to steal their spots in the Top 6.  Mashiho and Junkyu are scared.  They thought they had an acrobatic stage trick that would give them the “wow” factor to put them over the top, but now they can’t use it.  They have to use ordinary dance steps instead, and they’re worried it won’t be enough. 

This is getting really intense.  Mashiho insists he was able to do the backflip in practice.  Yes, he was, but from the footage I saw, it was kind of clumsy and not as spectacular as they seem to think it was.  Thankfully, that’s exactly what a producer tells him. 

“Can we win without the backflip?” Mashiho asks between sobs.  God, this poor kid.  

This isn’t just a dance contest.  His dream and entire future are on the line.  No wonder he’s blinded to the potential injury.  I can hear the despair in his voice, and my heart is breaking. 

Now we cut back to the present.  It’s time for the Treasure 6 Team’s performance.  The song is “Fun” by Pitbull.  I’m holding my breath.

I’m glad they don’t do the backflip.  They don’t need it.  The energy of the song has me dancing in my seat.  It’s a wild and fun performance.  And no one wound up in the hospital.

Time for Haruto and Jeongwoo to respond.  They want their Treasure 6 spots back.  Their song is “Oh Yeah” by GD and TOP.  Let’s go.

I love this.  They are having so much fun up there, and I love the contrast of Haruto’s low voice and Jeongwoo’s high one.  I love the humor they bring to the choreo.  I like this performance better of the two, but just like with the first battle, I’ll understand if it goes either way.

Time for the vote.  Mashiho and Junkyu choose the gold card.  They’re hoping for the CEO’s vote, because they feel the audience vote will go to the challengers.  The gold card turns out to be the audience vote.  I’m VERY curious to see how this goes.

The audience votes for Haruto and Jeongwoo.  I love all four guys, but I’m happy about this outcome.  I just hope Mashiho doesn’t blame himself, thinking they lost because they didn’t do the backflip.  Haruto and Jeongwoo just had the better performance.  And while CEO Yang has his criticisms of Haruto and Jeongwoo’s vocals, he also voted for them.  I feel vindicated. 

Haruto and Jeongwoo reclaim their seats with Treasure 6.  Meanwhile, backstage, we see Junkyu comforting Mashiho.  I knew it.  Mashiho is blaming himself.  He keeps talking about the backflip, not realizing it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Back onstage, the announcer reminds us we still have the rest of the elimination battles to do.  We only have a few minutes left in this episode, but we have enough time for at least one of these battles.

The team that takes the stage is Taiwanese trainee Jyun Hao and our own Treasure guy, the Shining Solo chef, Jihoon.  After this show, Jyun Hao will go on to debut with another group, so I feel guilt-free in being happy that Jihoon will win.

The song is “Ko Ko Bop” by EXO.  Let’s do this.

Jyun Hao is good, but Jihoon is clearly better.  Jihoon’s dance break is so wild and frenzied, I can’t get a clear screenshot.  His voice is also more steady and strong.  Plus, he looks more intense up there.  Like he wants it more.

There are no gold or silver cards for the elimination battles.  CEO Yang makes the decisions after consulting with YG producers and coaches.  The decision is close, by one vote.  Of course, the survivor is Jihoon.

Just like Yoshi, Jihoon can only grieve right now about his friend being eliminated.  The episode ends with the two hugging goodbye in front of the elevator.

I really liked this episode.  We’re finally getting back to the elements I love about survival shows:  great performances, insight into the pressure of being a trainee, and artistic competition.  No gimmicks or emotional torture of the trainees.  I wish the whole series could be like this, but I’ll take what I can get from it.

Coming up, we’ll see the rest of the elimination battles.  It should be exciting.  See you next episode!

Episode 8:  Now I’m taking this personally.

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