YG Treasure Box, Episode 10 (Finale): What. The. Hell.

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(Written March 13, 2025)

Welcome back to the finale of the most frustrating and exhausting show I have ever recapped, and we haven’t even begun to discuss what happens to the final group.  K-pop is a crazy business, but Treasure has really been through the wringer.  This finale is 90 minutes, so we’ve got a lot to cover.  Let’s do this.

We have another auditorium packed with 600 excited fans, our largest audience yet.  I swear, our ice castle stage keeps getting bigger.

The fans are waving their signs and shrieking with excitement.  A single spotlight shines on our announcer.  He tells us our final group will have seven members (no. it. fucking. won’t.)  and we’re going to find out who they are tonight.  (no we fucking won’t.  more on that later.)  Our 600 fans are going to be voting, and now it’s time for the voting rules. 

Out of a total of 1,000 points, CEO Yang will have 50%.  The pre-show online votes will take up 20%, and the live audience will have 30%.  I have so many questions, but since they involve math, I won’t understand the answers.  Let’s just get started!

We open with a performance by all … thirteen finalists.  We ended the last episode with eleven.  Why are there now thirteen?  They’re going to perform the signal song.  The announcer gives no explanation for the new number, but it looks like we’re getting a flashback.

The Dumb and Dumber Team is out clothes shopping.  We’re told new clothes add to their charm.  I would argue so do the two new members.  Who are they and when do we get to see them?

Now we go to the training center, where the eleven finalists are gathered, just sitting on the floor and waiting.  A YG producer walks in and tells them the final mission will be a genre competition – rap, vocal, and dance.  The finalists who come in first in each genre will be in the final debut group.

Now we’re finally getting the news.  It won’t be eleven trainees who compete.  We get a flashback within a flashback, and let’s just cut to the chase.  Our ever-decisive CEO has decided to bring back two trainees who were cut.  I hope they stopped those two before they flew all the way home and had to fly back.  I’d be PISSED.

First to walk through the door is Seung Hun.  You have got to be kidding me.  Everyone cheers and hugs him and yeah okay either Yoshi or Jaehyuk had better be walking through that door next. 

We won’t get to find out until the Signal Song performance who the second addition is because this show clearly hates us.

As the song begins, our finalists step into the spotlight, one by one.  But it’s only the first five, and not the new one.  Finally, he comes out.  It’s Jaehyuk.  He’s finally catching a break.  And as the thirteen trainees dance onstage, we finally see Yoshi.  In the audience.  Sitting with the other eliminated trainees.  I feel so sad seeing him there.  And why are the eliminated trainees wearing military uniforms?

Now the audience votes for their favorite trainees from the Signal Song performance.  As they vote, the CEO launches into a little speech about how initially he thought seven members would be too many, and okay just shut up.  Let’s move this along so we can fix this final group you’re throwing together.

I can already see why this episode is so long.  They are REALLY dragging out the vote reveal.  Junkyu comes in first place, but that’s only the online and audience member vote, so we don’t know who CEO Yang chose.  Everyone carries on like he’s already been chosen to debut, and then the announcer clears the stage.  It’s time for the performances by genre.  First up are the rappers.

We get a flashback in which we see the finalists choose their genre groups.  This also drags on, and I’m starting to think this episode could easily be cut down to thirty minutes.  But I’ve learned from doing these recaps that almost all finales are like this.

This is every bit as exciting as it looks.

After several loooong minutes, we finally get our teams.  Treasure members are highlighted.

Seriously, this takes forever, and I started fast-forwarding.  Some of us have other shows to recap.  Let’s pick up the pace.  Also, you’ll notice we have ten highlighted names, and only seven will be in the final group.  Welcome to the chaos that will be Treasure!

The rap team starts rehearsing.  Their song is “Hit Me” by MOBB.  We suddenly see that the audience at the finale is  is also watching all these recaps on giant screens.  If I were in the audience, no matter how much I love these trainees, I’d be desperately searching my voting device for a fast-forward button during these flashbacks.  Even the parents look bored.

Wake up, everyone!  Flashback is over, time for the rap performance!

I love this.  It’s wild and fun, and our boys are having the time of their lives up there.  The cameras can barely keep up with them.  I don’t know how anyone could choose a favorite.  All four absolutely kill it.

Our Style King Hyun Suk wins the online vote.  We still don’t have the CEO’s input, but I’m just happy seeing Hyun Suk happy.  Haruto wins the audience vote, which now puts him at the top.  But we won’t get CEO Yang’s votes yet, so I’m not sure why we’re doing this.

Now we get a surprisingly undignified moment, even for this show.  Each rapper has to tell the CEO why they deserve his vote.  This can’t possibly serve any purpose other than to inflate CEO Yang’s ego.  I really, REALLY do not like him.

Thankfully, the groveling is kept short.  The boys use humor, and I’m wondering if the CEO is actually using this as an opportunity to show charm.  Okay, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.  The rappers bow and leave the stage.

Next up:  Dance.  We get a flashback to rehearsals.  This is the largest group, with six people, so there’s more competition.  They want to throw in as many new techniques as they can, and – oh no.  Mashiho wants to try the backflip again.

Instead of launching from a standing position, he wants to run and leap over a kneeling finalist and flip in the air.  The fact that he’ll make the final group is how I know he’s not going to be killed doing this.

Doyoung practices a back somersault.  They’re all practicing gymnastic moves, and I’m wondering if this is going to look more like a circus act than a dance mission.  They’re starting to get injuries during rehearsals.  Please, someone stop them.

No one stops them.  It’s showtime.  I can’t look.

Wow.  It’s amazing.  It’s not just gymnastics.  It’s intense interpretive dance.  The song ends with a series of gunshots, and one by one, they fall as if dead.  My jaw is on the floor.  These finalists have seriously stepped up their game.

CEO Yang says he didn’t know YG was capable of producing a performance like that, which is one of the highest compliments I’ve heard on any of these shows.  The audience and online votes come in.  For now, Mashihi is in the lead.

Finally, the vocal performance.  We only have three finalists in this group:  Yedam, Jeongwoo, and Junkyu.  All future treasure members.  But I’m pretty sure Favorite Son Yedam is going to win this category.  It’s pretty much a done deal.  I love Yedam and am a fan of his work, but I really would like to see someone do better than him for once.

They choose the song “Last Dance” by BigBang, a group I’ve been learning more about ever since I saw T.O.P on Season 2 of Squid Game.  This is a beautiful song.  Jeongwoo feels outclassed by the way Yedam and Junkyu sing it so beautifully.  Now I’m pulling for Jeongwoo to win.

We may be headed in that direction if the Flashback Formula is working.  At the midpoint eval, the vocal coach praises Yedam and Junkyu but tells Jeongwoo he still needs work.  He does say that Jeongwoo has improved a lot from being on this show.  I’m hoping he’s improved enough to win the vocal category.  Let’s find out.

I’m definitely adding this song to my playlist.  It moved me to tears, and I didn’t even understand the words because the lyrics weren’t translated.  I’m not the only one.  When the song ends, all three vocalists are fighting back tears.

The online and audience votes are counted.  The one currently in first place is … wow, it’s Junkyu.  It’s not the final vote, but still.  It’s nice to see someone else get recognized.  Well done, Junkyu.

We now get a montage of all the trainees from the very beginning when they first started with YG.  We see the bad times and the good times and it’s very heartwarming and can we please get on with the show?  No, wait – we get video messages from the eliminated trainees.  Hello, Asahi.  Hang in there!

Finally, it’s time to choose the debut group.  Let’s do this.  We see our finalists on the stage.

Are those also military uniforms?  Why are they dressed like that?  Whatever the reason, we’re going to have the top three from the vocal, rap, and dance categories.  As for the remaining four spots, they will be chosen by the highest number of votes.  And, I’m sure, CEO Yang’s thumb on the scale.

First we get the winner from the rap group.  Our first member of Treasure will be:  Haruto!  He is overwhelmed.  We see his family, including his little sister, laughing and crying.

Now for the vocal group.  There’s no way it won’t be Yedam.

It’s Yedam.

Now for the dance group.  The winner is our Treasure maknae Junghwan.  He was definitely not expecting to win.

This next part is frustrating and confusing.  They say they will announce the rankings from the audience and online votes for the remaining four members, but CEO Yang hasn’t weighed in yet.  So for right now, Junkyu is ranked Number One and Hyun Suk is Number Four, but it’s not the final vote, so I don’t know why they’re telling us this.  Junkyu is asked to say a few words.  What is he supposed to say?  All he can say is, “I want to debut,” and the announcer thanks him for his honesty. 

I really, really hate this series.

Junkyu is finally announced as the fourth debut member.  He sinks to his knees.  This finale has put him through hell.

Okay.  Let’s find out the rest of the group!

CEO Yang picks up a mic.  I’m ready for this.

He says that these four will be the only final members to be announced tonight.  The remaining three will be announced over the next several days on VLIVE.

What.  The absolute.  Fuck?

The family members of the finalists have come all this way.  We’ve sat through this finale and all its endless flashbacks.  The fans have invested over ten hours of their lives on this series.  And you’re not going to finish naming the group members?

Even the announcer looks pissed.  I keep waiting for CEO Yang to say, “Nah, I’m just kidding.”  But no.  The show actually ends here.

I am FURIOUS.  This has been the most undecisive, poorly-structured survival show I have ever seen.  I never want to stop punching everyone at YG Entertainment in the face.

Honestly, once I cool down, I realize this is kind of appropriate.  Treasure’s debut and lineup changes will be a total mess, so it makes sense the finale would kick off the process with the worst ending to a finale possible.

Join me for the wrap-up essay, coming up next.  These kids deserved so much better.

Have fun in jail, Mr. Yang.

Let’s talk about YG Treasure Box.

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YG Treasure Box, Episode 5: Things get kind of dark.

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(Written March 7, 2025)

Welcome back to this bewildering show.  Jeongwoo has been kicked out of Treasure 7.  It appears more carnage is on the way.  Let’s get to it.

Time to find out who the next challenger will be.  BlackPink appears again on the screen of the Ice Castle Stage and announces it will be … Choi Hyun Suk!  Our future Treasure Style King!  I guess the aegyo thing he did at the talent show really won BlackPink over.

Hyun Suk strolls out onto the stage, ready for battle.  (please don’t pick Haruto please don’t pick Haruto) He tells the announcer his specialty is rap and dance.  (please don’t pick Haruto)  He picks Junghwan.  DAMMIT.  I didn’t mean for him to battle another Treasure guy!  Ha Yoon Bin was RIGHT THERE (still looking as confused as ever, I might add).  I should have been more specific.

Junghwan’s reaction

 

So now Hyun Suk and Junghwan will have a dance battle.  The rest of the trainees backstage are betting on Hyun Suk over the underdog Junghwan.  I love both Treasure guys, but I’m pulling for Hyun Suk, the only guy I’ve ever seen wear a vintage cardigan over a skater/punk outfit and totally make it work.  He was born to be seen.

We get a brief flashback in which Hyun Suk introduces himself as a 3-year trainee.  We see clips of his audition for YG and his practice sessions over the years.  He gets assigned to Team A and earns the respect of his fellow trainees.  He then hits a series of poor reviews and bad feedback, including not making it onto the Treasure 7 Team.  After this flashback, it’s going to be a total bummer if he loses this battle.

Speaking of which, it’s showtime.  The song is “Lie” by BTS.

They’re both spellbinding.  It’s a passionate performance, and they’re both amazing.  I can’t choose a winner.  They finish to cheers and enthusiastic applause, but the general consensus among the trainees is that Hyun Suk performed better. 

The audience “votes” (don’t get me started on that again), and now it’s time for Junghwan to choose the gold or silver card.  He chooses the silver card, which once again turns out to be CEO Yang’s card.

Our CEO picks up the mic, and then he surprises me.  Before he gives his opinion, he wants to see the results of the audience vote.  The gold card flips to show that the audience voted for Hyun Suk.  So if the CEO’s vote is different, then Junghwan picked the right card.  This is no way to put a K-pop group together, but we’re only fifteen minutes into this episode, so I’ll refrain from launching into that rant again.

The announcer tells us the audience vote is “meaningless,” which I’m sure makes the employees feel great.  He asks CEO Yang for his vote, and the CEO chooses Junghwan.  The audience and the trainees backstage do not look happy.  I can’t argue with CEO Yang because I thought both trainees were great, but after seeing that flashback of Hyun Suk, only to see him lose again, I’m gutted.

Just as I’m hoping Hyun Suk is able to find some consolation in the fact that the audience was on his side, we see him breaking down in tears in a confessional afterwards.  “I want to do better, but I can’t,” he says, and I just want to give him all the hugs.  God, what these trainees go through.

Okay, now for the next heartbreak.  BlackPink appears on the screens again to choose the next challenger.   It’s future CIX member Kim Seung Hun.  Our Treasure 7 vocalists are extremely nervous, because he’s one of the best singers in the group.

Seung Hun takes the stage.  He challenges Junkyu.  I now have an entire kennel of dogs in this fight.  Come on, Junkyu!

The song will be “Beautiful” by Crush.  When we see Seung Hun in a practice room, looking at how Junkyu has arranged the song, and he sees that Junkyu has given himself 20 lines, while the challenger only gets 12 lines.  Atta boy, Junkyu!  If this show is gonna use gimmicks, then you fight back dirty!

But wait.  We go back to the battle stage, and Seung Hun is changing his mind.  What?  We just saw flashbacks of him rehearsing “Beautiful.”  This show has the worst use of flashbacks I have seen on any of the shows I’ve recapped.

Okay, so now Seung Hun chooses to battle Mashiho.  

We’re getting another flashb – NO.  NO MORE FLASHBACKS.  I am not getting invested in another flashback just to come back and find out that Seung Hun has changed his mind again and wants to challenge the announcer to a yodeling battle.  Let’s keep moving forward.

Here we go.  Seung Hun vs. Mashiho.  The song is “D” by Dean.  The stage looks incredible.  Let’s goooo!

I love this.  I love the song, the set design, the singing.  I love all of it.  They both deserve to win.  The stage crew deserves a raise and all the awards.  This performance is sheer K-pop heaven.  Put them both in Treasure.  I don’t care.  They both deserve it.

The audience is enchanted.  The trainees backstage can’t pick a clear winner.  Honestly, if I had to vote, I’d just flip a coin.

The voting ends, and Mashiho has to choose the silver or gold card.  Again, just flip a coin.  He chooses the gold card.  Given the odds, since CEO Yang has been the silver card the past two times, he could be the gold card now.  But Mashiho’s betting on that.  He wants to put his fate in the hands of the CEO.

He’s right.  The gold card is the CEO card.  CEO Yang cuts right to the chase.  He chooses Mashiho.  It’s another punch to the gut for Seung Hun.  The CEO says that Seung Hun overdid his performance.  But we see that the audience vote went for Seung Hun, so the CEO can go pound sand. 

I feel so sad when Seung Hun cries onstage and says he just wanted to be acknowledged by CEO Yang.

This is a gut punch.  I realize that all of the trainees have been saying the same thing all through this series – they just want one word of approval from CEO Yang.  It’s like a group of boys trying desperately to win approval from their father.  They don’t care what the audience thinks.  They just want to be acknowledged by the father figure who really seems to enjoy being in this position of power.  I feel incredibly sad, especially since a lot of these kids are living away from their actual parents.  Especially the trainees from other countries.

Why does the business of K-pop have to suck so much?

Seung Hun is still crying onstage.  The announcer puts his arm around him, but the only one Seung Hun wants reassurance from is the CEO, who is sitting RIGHT THERE in front of the stage.  The trainees backstage are fighting back tears because they know exactly how he feels.  But CEO Yang says nothing.  Not one single word, at least not on camera.  Still crying, Seung Hun turns around and leaves the stage.

When I started recapping this series, one of Treasure’s fans on Tumblr, aplateoflasagna, wrote in my comments section that the reason CEO Yang went to prison is because he was threatening a witness to prevent that person from going to the police with evidence that a member of iKON had done drugs.  So even when CEO Yang does do the fatherly thing of trying to protect one of his kids, he goes about it all wrong.

Okay.  I have to shake this off, or I won’t be able to finish this episode.

Two more battle left.  And the next challenger is … Yoshi!  

We’re moving forward pretty quickly now.  Yoshi chooses to battle Ha Yoon Bin the Perpetually Confused.  That oughta wake him up.  But now I’m the one who’s confused because we are RACING through this.  We get just a few seconds of a performance that looks and sounds fun, but then we cut to CEO Yang making his decision.  I only get to hear Yoshi rap for a couple of seconds.  Then we learn that Ha Yoon Bin wins the battle.  We’re done.  The whole segment took ten seconds.  My head is spinning.

Yoshi’s performance.  Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.

 

Yoshi is now sobbing backstage while the other trainees try to comfort him, and he doesn’t even know yet that he’s pretty much been edited out of the show.  What the hell is happening?  Why didn’t we get to see this?

Now the fifth challenger is about to be announced.  But first, the show wants to jump to a flashback of three days before this competition.  What?  No.  It’s just one of the trainees rehearsing.  I don’t care.  I fast-forward through it.  This is really frustrating. 

The next challenger is Wang Jyun Hao, the Taiwanese trainee.  He chooses to battle Bang Yedam.  We’re doing to get to hear them do the Justin Bieber song “Love Yourself.”

We get another flashback, but I skip through it because I don’t care.  This is valuable time we could have spent watching Yoshi’s performance. 

We return to the battle.  Yedam vs. Jyun Hao.  We get yet another flashback.  Nothing important happens in it.  Back to the battle!

They both bring attitude to this, and for the most part, they both sound like native English speakers.  They pour their expression into the great lines like “My mama don’t like you, and she likes everyone.”  Man, this is a great song.

In fact, I think that’s the problem here.  Instead of focusing on the performances, all I can focus on is what a great song this is.  It’s so specific and personal, it’s easy to believe Bieber wrote it himself (which he didn’t).  I think Yedam made a mistake when he chose a song that has the potential to overshadow the singer. 

Everyone does the voting thing.  Yedam chooses the gold card.  It’s CEO Yang’s card.  It’s been the CEO’s card every single time.  The CEO chooses Yedam. 

Looking at this series so far, I feel like Yedam is the favorite son, and the father figure is pushing him through to the end.  Yedam definitely has the talent and deserves the success, but after everything I’ve seen this episode, I see parental favoritism at work here, and I know it must be affecting the other trainees.  Those of us with siblings know that our parents must have a favorite, and we pretty much know which one it is, but our parents are supposed to deny it.  CEO Yang isn’t denying anything, and he’s not denying it in front of all the other trainees.

With that, our battles are over.  The sixteen trainees backstage who didn’t get to challenge are frustrated.  They’ve lost another chance to be really seen.  They even envy the challengers who failed.  I wonder when Yoshi will find out that his challenge didn’t even get seen.

But apparently the challenges will continue.  The announcer tells us there’s still a chance to beat the two Treasure 7 members who weren’t challenged – Haruto and Junkyu.

Haruto and Junkyu, who thought they were getting off scot-free.

 

And the episode ends.

Honestly, I’m amazed anyone puts themselves through the K-pop trainee program, but it’s not like we Americans don’t have the same mentality.  We also chase fame and buy lottery tickets, even though the odds of success are slim to none.  It’s just that after seeing this episode, I can’t help thinking of the psychological damage –

No.  No no no.  Frosting time.

I seriously want to buy a can of frosting right now and eat it by scooping it right out of the can with my fingers.

What a strange, ugly business K-pop is.  See you for more of it next episode.

Episode 6:  Now things get kind of awful.

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YG Treasure Box, Episode 3: NOW we’re off and running!

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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 3^rd-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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