BOSS RIIZE, Episode 12 (Finale): The Politics of BOSSing

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(Written October 4, 2024)

Welcome to the finale!  Time to find out who the BIG BOSS will be and then send these poor guys home so they can repair their damaged friendships.  Let’s do this.

We’re up to the Math category.  Already, my anxiety is kicking in.  But these are internal clock questions.  Without using a timer, they have to stand up when they feel it’s been 49 seconds.  You’d think it would be easy to just count it, but once they start, the crew starts yelling questions to distract them, like “What time did Eun Seok wake up today?”

Oooooh, this is MEAN.  For round two, the duration is 61 seconds.  After four rounds of this, So Hee is in the lead, having won a total of seven ballots so far.

Finally, the Research category.  A group of people in white raincoats walk a quick circle around the boys and then leave.  The boys are puzzled, but I’ve played this game before.  As soon as the people leave, the crew asks the band members questions about the people who just blew past them.  The first one:  Which one wasn’t a crew member?

Wow, this is awkward.  Even though the show claims to have a timeline of only two days, I know they had to have been filming longer than that, and the guys feel bad about not being able to remember everyone.  I am cringing.  

Only Won Bin and Shotaro get it right.  It’s Number Seven.  He’s the owner of the café.  Wrong guesses from the other band members include the show’s head writer and the guy who’s been driving them around for two days in the SUV.  I’m dying.

The crew members and café owner then run back around with words written on their palms.  The guys squint to read the words as the people run past.  Afterward, the crew asks the band what song the words were from.  Oh, no.  It’s another RIIZE song they won’t be able to identify, isn’t it?

The guys start jotting down the words and phrases they remember seeing.  Then they start arguing over which song it could be.  I know which song it could be.   I know this because I know the song.  The reason I know the song even though I don’t read Korean is because ONE OF THE PHRASES WAS WRITTEN IN ENGLISH.

Most of the band members get this question right, but Anton and Shotaro guess the wrong RIIZE song.  They are mercilessly mocked by the others, most of whom weren’t able to guess their own song on the Haunted Mission, so maybe those others should just zip it.

Okay, final tally.  Current neurotic BOSS Won Bin has nine ballots.  So Hee, eight.  Eun Seok, six.  Sung Chan, six.  Anton, six.  Shotaro, four.

But just having the ballots isn’t enough.  This time, the crew will vote as well.  And since most of the band didn’t recognize most of the crew, there might be some serious payback.

The boys do get to campaign first, appealing to ten crew members they didn’t recognize thirty minutes ago.  Eun Seok is up first.  His approach is bribery.  He promises to give amazing gifts to the crew if they will vote for him.  “Tell me whatever products you want,” says our shameless panderer.  “Using my own money, I will buy and give out a limited quantity of gifts.”  “What kind of gifts?” a crew member asks.  “Anything under 100,000 won,” he responds.  Woah.  So he’s potentially about to shell out $750 USD for those ten votes.  Then he walks it back to under 50,000 won.

Won Bin thanks everyone for their hard work over what has allegedly been two long days of filming.  He offers to buy them all coffee right now.  Only the café owner applauds, which makes me laugh.  The other crew members seem to be holding out for Eun Seok’s bribe.

Anton appeals to their emotions.  He reminds them of how he ran into the ocean on Day One.  He tells them he’s worked so hard, but unfortunately, things have not turned out well for him.  He’s never been the BOSS.  He had to harvest snails for his vegan breakfast.  It’s been a lot.  He’s trying to get the sympathy vote.

Now for So Hee.  He thanks the crew.  He reminds them of how the band bought ice cream for the crew the day before.  (“I paid for that!” Eun Seok protests.  “Yeah, but it was my idea!” argues So Hee.)

Sung Chan and Shotaro fight to speak next.  They finally play Rock Paper Scissor for it.  Shotaro loses on the third round.  He needs to stop playing this game.  

Sung Chan tells the crew he knows how tired they must be, so he sings and dances for them.  Granted, it’s impressive choreography, but it’s not a 50,000 won bribe.  He does get what sounds like the loudest applause yet.

Finally, Shotaro.  Won Bin is already taking off the laurel and preparing to lose.

Shotaro looks to the future.  He promises he’ll cook for all of them in Season Two.  Wait, we’re getting a Season TWO?  And isn’t Shotaro one of the band members who can’t cook?  (reading my own recaps)  Yes.  Yes he is.

He also offers to do aegyo for them right now.  What follows is best left in the past. 

We shall never speak of this again.

Won Bin’s sign reads “I have no hope.”

The crew lines up to vote.  Then our bandmates bring all their awarded ballots into the booth and cast their votes.  I think they can only vote for one person per ballot now.  Once the voting is done, the crew announces they will count the ballots out loud in front of everyone.

The votes are piling up for Eun Seok.  Did his bribe really work?  Not exactly.  In a flashback, we learn that Eun Seok promised Shotaro he’d treat him well if Shotaro cast his four ballots for him.  And after every lie, every betrayal, after EVERYTHING, Shotaro agreed.

Back to the present.  The other bandmates can’t believe Shotaro fell for it again.  Even Shotaro knows he messed up.

But then Anton gets six votes.  Turns out those are his own.  The crews’ votes start piling up for other members.  Suddenly, Won Bin, Eun Seok, and Sung Chan are all tied at ten votes, and there are a few left to count.

When all the votes are counted, the BIG BOSS is…. Sung Chan!

As the winner, Sung Chan’s grand prize is a Korean Beef Set.  At least fifty percent fat, from the looks of it.  Won Bin also hands him the laurel and stamp and all the other BOSS doodads.

The crew says the money left in the budget will be saved for next season.  Okay, really?  I can’t find anything online about a Season Two, not even from those on Reddit who claim to be insiders.  But the crew seems to think this will be a thing, as Sung Chan also gets to decide where they’re going next time.

It looks like the end of the episode, but suddenly we get the successful coup music.  Wait, what?

Yes, the crew announces that one of the band members has staged a successful coup.  It’s Eun Seok, isn’t it?  It has to be Eun Seok.

Nope.  It was Sung Chan.  Before the voting, he asked for and completed a mission coup, not imagining he was going to win.  The mission was to take a selfie with the other band members.

And since idols are always taking selfies and posing for pictures, no one suspected a thing.  This is a really funny ending, and I don’t care if it’s scripted.

This means that Sung Chan is no longer the BIG BOSS, since he overthrew himself.  He gets to keep the beef set, though.  All five thousand calories of it.

The epilogue is B Roll footage, which is fun to watch, and then the series officially ends.

So this was a cool little show.  I can’t really see myself recapping a Season Two unless Seunghan comes back.  In the meantime, thanks to the viewers who commented, even if you were rooting for the WRONG band member. 

As for the rest of you, I’ll see you all over in the I-Land recaps, currently in progress.

BOSS RIIZE update – Welcome back, Seunghan!

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BOSS RIIZE, Episode 11: The Madness of King Won Bin

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(Written October 4, 2024)

We are BACK, baby!  And since I’ve been caught up in Enhypen World with the I-Land recaps, let me get caught up on what we’ve covered in this series.

• So Hee has been the best BOSS so far.
  
  
• Anton can swim.
  
  
• Eun Seok is not to be trusted.
  
  
• There’s a LOT of Korean mukbang on this show.
  
  
• Car cams are fun.
  
  
• Three out of six RIIZE members can’t identify their own song “Siren” when it’s been slowed down.  (Two members never even made it that far and got disqualified.)
  
  
• Snails and eggs are vegan now.
  
  
• Won Bin is the current BOSS.  Anton is the only one who hasn’t been the BOSS.

Let’s do this.

Our band seems to be done with swimming and have hopped into the SUV to get lunch.  Won Bin is suspicious of everything his bandmates say, wondering if they’re trying to stage a coup.  Shotaro suggests a Word Relay, and Won Bin suggests he stuff a sock in it.  “It’s obviously a mission coup,” says the wise So Hee, half asleep in the back row of seats.

The others start suggesting games just to watch Won Bin have a nervous breakdown.  Eun Seok, who is the sole worker under Won Bin’s regime, is really enjoying this. 

We arrive at a cute little restaurant.  Must be mukbang time.  We get close-ups of boiled duck and side dishes.  Everything is shot like food porn.  The text on the screen even describes the food in vaguely sexual terms:  “Fleshy meat and sticky rice that look so tender.”  I need an adult.

Once they are seated, the crew tells them they need to check the budget first.  Apparently there was a “water sports experience fee” of 50,000 won.  The snacks they had at the creek also cost them.  That, plus the current meal, takes 250,000 won out of the budget.  They only have 50,000 won left.  Win Bin is not a financially savvy BOSS.

Now for a long segment of everyone eating.  We zoom in on them as they chew, swallow, and savor.  It’s kind of fascinating how good they are with chopsticks.  I’m a little clumsy using wooden chopsticks for sushi, but I’m useless with chopsticks for all other meals.  These guys can even use them to assemble lettuce wraps.  

But Won Bin is having trouble enjoying his food because he’s waiting to hear the music signifying a successful coup.  He looks around for the voting booth.  He’s too stressed out to enjoy his own regime.  The others are still suggesting games and laughing at his twitchy responses.  If the mission coup is to drive Won Bin insane, it’s working.  Won Bin even thinks Eun Seok is trying to pull out his hair, so now he’s sitting with his back pressed against a support pole.

Suddenly, the crew tells them the BOSS has correctly guessed a mission coup, so the coup failed.  Yes, Eun Seok was trying to pull several strands of Won Bin’s hair.  

You’re right, Melissa, but it’s also an unfair thing for Won Bin.  The point of a coup is to try to trick the BOSS into saying or doing something, not just attack him by pulling at his hair.

Won Bin says now that they’re done eating, they’re going to drive away and leave Eun Seok behind.  

Why are the viewer comments on Eun Seok’s side?  I don’t get it.  Did he make alliances with the viewers, too?

They all leave the restaurant and arrive at the beach.  This place is gorgeous.  They stop at a café to get dessert and wind up ordering Hajodae Coffee, which is a specialty brand, like ordering Starbucks.  It’s not cheap.  They also get croissants and cookies because Won Bin appears to be worse with money than I am.

They sit outside the café and talk about other trips they’d like to take, like Won Bin’s hometown of Ulsan, or New York City during Christmas.  Now I’m paranoid because I’m wondering if this is part of a coup.  Then Shotaro playfully tries to kiss Won Bin on the cheek, and Won Bin demands to know if it’s a coup.  We’re all losing our minds.

Or maybe not.  We get a quick flashback to the restaurant after lunch, when both Shotaro and Eun Seok request and receive mission coups.  Shotaro does indeed have to try to snuggle with Won Bin.  Since Won Bin called it immediately, the coup failed.

Eun Seok’s second mission was to get the BOSS stamp on his hand, but Won Bin is at the point where he’s not letting anyone touch him.  He threatens to punish anyone who gets into his personal space.  Eun Seok gives up on his mission.

Everyone starts teasing Anton about being the only one who hasn’t been BOSS yet.  But the teasing stops when the crew tells them this is the last day of the trip, so they will have an election to choose the final BIG BOSS. I really think Won Bin should be removed from power before he goes insane and locks himself in the café bathroom, screaming for everyone to leave him alone.

The crew prepares for the 2024 BIG BOSS test.  They will be tested in the Korean language (especially challenging for Anton and Shotaro), Sensibility (Won Bin is losing his), Math, and Research, whatever that is.  For every question they answer correctly, they get a ballot.  As the current BOSS, Won Bin gets to assign each band member to a subject.  Or a chair.  The translations are not very clear.

They go through the questions, and I don’t understand most of them because you have to understand Korean and the culture to get most of it.  We do get one cool question under the “Sensibility” topic:

Q:  What is one before you eat but two after you eat?
A:  Wooden chopsticks.

The episode ends here, halfway through the test.  Sung Chan has won two ballots.  Anton, Won Bin, and So Hee each have one.  Eun Seok and Shotaro have none.

For our final episode, I want banished member Seunghan to return and become the final BOSS.  Come on, SM Entertainment.  Imagine the ratings.

Fingers crossed for the last episode.

Episode 12 (Finale):  The Politics of BOSSing

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BOSS RIIZE, Episode 10: The semi-vengeful, kinda-mean-but-not-really Rule of BOSS 5

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(Written September 28, 2024)

We are back.  Tensions are high.  Snails are cooking.  For breakfast.  Grab some Pepto-Bismol and let’s power through this.

The first words we hear are from Won Bin:  “I’m dreaming of a coup.”  THAT’S how you kick off an episode. 

Everyone arrives at the barbecue area for breakfast.  BOSS Sung Chan commands, “Bring the food now.”  Chef Anton announces the meal of bibimbap and snail soup.  He and Shotaro start prepping the ingredients while Eun Seok gripes, “So all you’ve done so far is catch the snails?”  Is he always like this?  Even when he’s not on this show?

Anton and Shotaro figure out how to cook the recipes they’ve pulled up on their phones.  They’re having such a hard time of it, the BOSS has to help.  Eun Seok actually helps peel potatoes.  “You should have just made scrambled eggs, not this,” he grumbles.  Wait, scrambled eggs were an option?  We can see a dozen eggs sitting on the table with the other ingredients.  What the hell, you guys?

“Today’s breakfast is vegan,” says Anton, who is currently preparing a meal with snails in it.  “Good idea.  We had a lot of meat yesterday,” Sung Chan says without a trace of sarcasm, while I bang my forehead on my desk.

Anton has to pull out his phone again to look up how to chop a zucchini.  Eun Seok gives up and starts making the bibimbap himself.  The others start frying eggs for this vegan meal.

Time for more Korean mukbang.  Everyone enjoys a huge breakfast, even though it must be late afternoon by now.  We don’t get an extended eating scene this time because the drums and dramatic music start playing.  Someone has successfully pulled off a coup!  The crew announces another election will be held.  Sung Chan has only been the BOSS for about 12 hours, and he spent most of that time sleeping. 

We find out the culprit was Shotaro.  Before breakfast, he went straight to the crew and said he wanted a Mission Coup.  I can’t believe it wasn’t Won Bin.  Shotaro’s mission was to make the BOSS say the title of a drama or film at least three times.

We get flashbacks showing the awkward conversations Shotaro had to start to get this to happen, and the fact that Sung Chan never catches on tells me he deserves to be overthrown.  Eun Seok doesn’t catch on either, although he does ask if the Mission Coup is making the BOSS prep the ingredients.

The voting booth is set up next to the table.  Eun Seok’s eyes are darting around the table, wondering if he can set up an instant alliance.  Dude, I’ll be shocked if anyone trusts you again.  But he still tries.  He tells So Hee that he’ll be exempt from being a worker in exchange for his vote.  So Hee knows better than to commit.

We zoom in on Anton and Won Bin, neither of whom has been BOSS yet.  No time for them to negotiate.  Voting is starting.  Won Bin says he’s desperate for revenge against Eun Seok.  Then dude, why didn’t you stage the coup?  What an embarrassing bias you turned out to be.  So Hee even tells him, “If you don’t get it this time, just give up.”  Not only should So Hee be the BOSS again, he should be Leader of the group.  Won Bin says he doesn’t care as long as Eun Seok doesn’t get it.  There’s some serious bad blood here.

The crew announces the winner, who got six votes.  Everyone voted for him.  It’s … Won Bin.  I don’t know how, especially since Shotaro staged the coup in the first place, but fine.  It should be fun to watch him take his revenge.  He signs his letter and gets the budget, which now totals 300,000 won ($229 USD) because Sung Chan didn’t have time to spend any money.

“Yesterday’s sorrow will be released today,” says Won Bin.  He immediately turns to the job of selecting the workers.  Eun Seok can’t even look him in the eye.  But according to the crew, Eun Seok did vote for him.  He had to know this would happen.  His motives make no sense.  I’m guessing the crew rigged this election because everyone in the group has to be BOSS at least once.

Won Bin decrees that Eun Seok will be the only worker.  WOW.  I kind of like this petty look on Won Bin.  Eun Seok’s first task is to clean up breakfast by himself.  The others leave while Eun Seok makes plans to be the next BOSS.  I can’t believe they all just left him there with the camera crew.  All he has to do now is ask the crew for a coup assignment.

We flash forward to the whole band going to the creek to hang out.  Won Bin gets a chair, umbrella, and coolers of snacks.  Everyone else has to sit on the rocks, except for Eun Seok, whom Won Bin orders to stand. 

Won Bin opens one of the coolers and is excited to see patbingsu, which is a red bean paste on shaved ice.  Korean people must be the healthiest people on Earth.  While several of the band members put the ingredients together, Anton grabs a raft and plays in the creek, which looks way more fun. 

Back on shore, Won Bin is being very generous with the food, even sharing with Eun Seok.  These guys just had a huge breakfast, and now they’re eating fruit and donuts and bean paste.  I don’t know where they’re putting it.

They go swimming right after eating a metric ton of food.  Out of revenge, Won Bin has Shotaro flip Eun Seok’s innertube and push him into the water.  They’re all having fun swimming, and I’m just waiting for the Jaws theme music, because I know SOMEONE must be attempting a coup.  But no, this is where they end the episode.  With everyone happily playing and splashing in the water.

I predict the next episode will begin with the attack of a vegan snail army, who will have foolishly joined an alliance with Eun Seok.  Grab your parsley garlic butter and join me there.

Episode 11:  The Madness of King Won Bin

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BOSS RIIZE, Episode 5: The RIIZE Village Rebellion

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(Written September 20, 2024)

Ladies and gentlemen, my recapping job has never been more important.

History is written by the winners, which means years from now, when Eun Seok seizes power as the President of South Korea, and hastily-written history books singing his praises are mandated reading in all schools, only my recaps will stand in rebuke to the new leader.

My recaps alone will tell the truth about Eun Seok’s betrayals, lies, and cruelty.  He will send his military forces to destroy me, but they shall fail, because if DoorDash and Amazon delivery drivers can’t find my apartment in this confusingly-numbered complex, his soldiers won’t stand a chance.  I will prevail.

Read on, determined rebels, for even more testimony about the ruthless Eun Seok and the many attempts to bring him down after the Great Ballot War of 2024.  Do not lose faith.  We shall succeed.  Fighting!

We left off with Eun Seok’s defeated subjects (and Shotaro) receiving mission coup assignments.  We find out right off in this episode that each one was given their assignment in private.  None of them know that they have all been given assignments.  This was a good idea on the part of the showrunners.  If any band member fails and is tortured for information, he won’t know anything.  

As our boyband leaves the arboretum, they offer Eun Seok a small electric fan, some water, a shoulder massage, anything to keep his suspicions at bay. 

Sung Chan asks if they can get ice cream.  Eun Seok announces he will buy ice cream for the one who picks out the traitor.  Everyone puts on their best innocent face.  Then they try throwing suspicion on each other.

Eun Seok winds up buying ice cream for everyone, and they tell him how generous he is.  He has to know they’re up to something.  When he tears the wrapper off his ice cream, he stops their chatter by saying, “Just a moment.  Trash.”  So Hee foolishly points to a trash can.  Eun Seok just eats his ice cream and stares at him.  So Hee realizes his error and says, “I’m so good at throwing out trash!”  He jumps up and throws away the offending wrapper.

Hoping to get back on the BOSS’ good side, So Hee then asks if they should buy ice cream for the production crew.  Eun Seok stares at him again but then agrees.  He makes Anton hand out the treats to the crew. 

The band gets back in the big SUV and goofs around for the cameras again.  They are fascinated by the car cams.  I can’t believe they’ve never seen them before. 

Eventually, they all get drowsy and start falling asleep in their seats.  Eun Seok enjoys the luxury of his neck pillow.  But Shotaro’s eyes open a bit as he scans the car.  We’re reminded that is mission coup is to play Word Relay.  I hope he succeeds so I can find out what that is.

Shotaro speaks up and suggests they all play a game to pass the time.  “Do we need more footage?” asks Won Bin, who clearly still thinks there’s someone editing this show.  They agree to play one round.  But they’re tired, and they can’t seem to keep a round going.  Sung Chan dozes off when it’s his turn.  If this game doesn’t succeed, it’s going to look too suspicious if Shotaro tries this same game again later.  He finally gives up.  His mission coup has failed. 

Now So Hee starts singing to himself.  We don’t know what his assignment is.  Maybe he’s going to try it now.  The others recognize that he’s singing an R&B version of their song “Siren” and start singing along.  Even Sung Chan wakes up to join in.  When the song ends, everyone dozes off again.  I guess that wasn’t it, or if it was, it failed.  I’m going to be suspicious of everything they do for the rest of this episode.

The SUV finally reaches its destination.  They are staying in a couple of big houses with a pool area connecting them.  The band dubs it RIIZE Village.  The show has rented out the entire village for these six guys.  It’s nice, but I’m already missing the house from Shining SOLO.

We get the full tour.  The pool is heated.  There’s a café right next to it.  There’s also a game room with Pac-Man and Metal Slug.  The houses look comfy inside.

Eun Seok says the workers should sleep outside.  He’s really starting to freak me out.  He also says he needs his own room and the others should crowd into the second bedroom.  He does pretend to be interested in their opinions on the matter, I’m guessing to appease them before they snap and throw him off the balcony.  However, he finally puts his foot down and tells them he stand by his original decision of making them all share one room while he takes the other.

Okay, guys.  At least four of you have mission coups you haven’t tried yet.  Now would be a great time to give any of them a shot.  But no.  Eun Seok looks at his silent bandmates and quietly asks, “Where’s the applause?”  And instead of shoving him into the pool and commandeering the SUV back to Seoul to audition for a replacement member, they all applaud.  “What a stellar decision!” says Won Bin, who officially USED to be my bias.

Eun Seok finally agrees to share his room with one more person and wants everyone to compete for the spot.  In front of everyone, Anton warns, “Guys, if you win, you have to share a room with Eun Seok!”

If this village had a dungeon, Anton would be in it right now.

The others fall all over themselves proclaiming how much they would love to be Eun Seok’s roommate.  The game they are playing is called 369, which I had to look up.  It’s a clapping game.  A player starts counting from one.  If a number contains 3, 6, or 9, the player has to clap.  This game is very popular in Korea.

They start playing, and it moves so quickly that it’s hard to keep up, which I guess I the point of the game.  Anton is the first to lose.

So Hee wins the game and is now Eun Seok’s roommate.  As the band member who declared Eun Seok his mortal enemy in the last episode, So Hee is now in the best position to smother the BOSS in his sleep.  Or carry out a mission coup.  Whichever is easier.

Suddenly, a drumbeat and dramatic music startles them all.  It’s the coup music!  Someone has successfully pulled off a coup!

Everyone is cheering.  Eun Seok has been betrayed!  He’s the only one not laughing.  He looks genuinely pissed off.  In a confessional, he says, “I had better find the traitor.”  I’m pretty sure he won’t have to do anything.  If this coup is anything like the last one, the traitor will proudly claim credit.

Won Bin announces that he was the traitor.  His mission was to get a compliment from Eun Seok.  Back at the arboretum, when Won Bin was massaging Eun Seok’s shoulders, he got complimented twice, which is VERY out of character for this mean, icy BOSS who only speaks in insults.  But this BOSS let his guard down.  While massaging him, Won Bin asked how the massage was, and Eun Seok twice said, “Not bad.”  That’s what passes for a compliment from him.  It counts.

We get a great flashback moment after the successful coup when everyone is getting ice cream.  Won Bin loudly compliments the BOSS.  Then he turns around and mutters into his clip-on mic, “The BOSS is an idiot.”  Okay, Won Bin is my bias again.

But now we get another twist – So Hee also successfully pulled off a mission coup!  Turns out that when he was singing “Siren,” back in the car, his mission was to get the BOSS to sing along.  Everyone in the car sang along, so that’s another win for the rebels.

And there’s yet one more.  Anton reveals that his mission was to sit in the back of the SUV and get out first at the destination.  Grabbing a seat in the back was easy.  Getting out first took some planning.  As they approached the village, he jumped up first, literally shoved So Hee out of the way, and managed to barge his way first out the door.  That’s three successful coups!

Now for the failed attempts.  Sung Chan reveals his assignment of having the BOSS call him by his full name.  He was so awkward about it, Eun Seok immediately knew what he was doing and shut it down.  And we already saw Shotaro’s failure to get the Word Relay game going.  But three successful coups are more than enough.  When Eun Seok realizes that the room assignments will have to be chosen again, no one is gloating more than his mortal enemy, So Hee.

I’m still not fully convinced that Eun Seok’s reign is over.  Both he and Shotaro have those extra ballots.  But then yet ANOTHER betrayal is revealed.  Shotaro kept fourteen ballots and only gave Eun Seok six.

It’s time to vote.  Shotaro will vote first, since he has a lot of ballots to fill out.  Eun Seok goes next, and he tells us he’s voting for himself and Shotaro.  I think he still believes he can control Shotaro, and I also think he might be right.  He’s not giving up so easily.

Waiting outside the voting booth, Eun Seok orders Anton to fetch him some snacks, saying he’s still officially the BOSS.  Anton tells him to get bent.  (I’m loosely paraphrasing here.)  Eun Seok tells him, “If I’m ever the king again, you will be a worker again.”   Anton scampers off to the voting booth to make sure this doesn’t happen.

And the episode ends here.

We all know that no matter what happens in that voting booth, Eun Seok’s reign will never truly end, right?  He’s had a taste of power.  He will never let it go.  This is just a minor setback. 

Stay vigilant, future subjects of President Eun Seok.  The warning signs were all there.  

Episode 6:  The Great Bankruptcy Feast

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BOSS RIIZE, Episode 4: The Great Ballot War

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(Written September 18, 2024)

I’ll be honest.  When I watched the first episode of this series, I thought I’d made a mistake.  It felt awkward and more like an excuse for the boys to look pretty in scenic backgrounds.  Never did I think I’d eagerly start the fourth episode wanting to see if an evil ruler would be overthrown in the Arboretum of Destiny.  We’ve seen scheming, betrayal, cruelty, and some really pretty trees.  Now let’s see if RIIZE can end the reign of The Stone Ruler, Eun Seok.

Our ruler gets his 30-second head start to look for the suitcase of ballots.  He searches the outer perimeter of the park.  Once his head start expires, the others spring into action. 

Shotaro catches up with Eun Seok, who proposes an alliance.  They agree that if they find the suitcase together and get it back to base camp, they will split the ballots, ten each.  I have a bad feeling about this, which isn’t helped when Shotaro tries covering his bases by saying, “No backstabbing, okay?”  Eun Seok, whose backstabbing arm is already warmed up from all the practice he’s had today, smiles at him and agrees.  The two split up to cover more ground faster. 

The others have also split up.  Won Bin seems to be the only one with a strategy.  He’s looking for the spots where the crew has set up cameras. 

Won Bin finds a cluster of cameras set up and checks which way they’re pointing.  But he’s so obsessed with the cameras, he walks right past the hidden suitcase.

Everyone is getting tired.  No one is even close to finding the ballots.  So the crew gives them snapshots of the hiding place.  Won Bin doesn’t recognize the spot as one of the places he breezed past earlier.  Why exactly did I make this guy my bias in this group?

Finally, So Hee finds it.  He grabs the small silver suitcase and starts running like hell back to base camp.  Eun Seok, who sees him running with the suitcase, gives chase so he can steal it before So Hee can make it back.  Other bandmates see the commotion and overtake the two of them. The Great Ballot War has officially begun.  The crew can hardly keep everyone in frame as they fight for the suitcase.  Sung Chan breaks the lock in the struggle but manages to grab the suitcase and takes off running with the camera crew in hot pursuit.

The only one not involved in the chase is Anton, who is enjoying the woods so much, he no longer cares about the ballots.  He hops across a stone bridge and watches the flowing water of the creek, serene and oblivious to the madness on the other side of the park.  He has become our conscientious objector. 

Won Bin and Eun Seok catch up with Sung Chan.  His only way out is to form an alliance with them, to which they both agree.

So Hee and Shotaro make it to base camp, waiting to attack when the others return.  Shotaro confesses he’s already in an alliance with Eun Seok.  So Hee tells him to break it.  He actually tells Shotaro, “Backstab him.”   So Hee is clearly battle-scarred at this point and has lost his mind.

The final battle erupts at base camp when the others arrive with the suitcase.  Anton is still off somewhere, being blissed out.  But then, a twist!  While the other four bandmates are shoving each other out of the way, Anton shows up, comes across Sung Chan with the suitcase, and decides, screw serenity.  Now he’s running after Sung Chan. 

The two of them finally make it to base camp and the rest of the band.  All six of them are fighting to get their hands on the suitcase before the timer runs out.  Sung Chan throws it to Eun Seok, who passes it back to him.  I guess they’re still in their triple alliance with Won Bin.  Another pass is intercepted by So Hee.

So Hee opens the suitcase, and in another twist, the suitcase is empty.  Where are the ballots?  They fell on the ground while the suitcase was being tossed back and forth.  And now, time’s up.

The crew sees that no one had the ballots on them when time was called, so they’ll award the ballots to the last person who had them.  The winners turn out to be Shotaro and Eun Seok.  Shotaro had grabbed them off the ground, and true to his alliance, stuffed half of them into Eun Seok’s back pocket.

All other alliances were broken, because Eun Seok is a snake.  But at least Shotaro has half the ballots now.  There is hope for the kingdom.  Except that his alliance is with Eun Seok.  So all is still lost, I guess?  War is hell.

We get confessionals with the other band members.  Won Bin is disappointed.  Sung Chan says he never should have trusted Eun Seok.  Anton is just tired.  A crew member asks Anton who would be the workers if he were the next BOSS, and he simply says, “Everyone.” 

So Hee wearily looks at the camera and says, “The ballots and the BOSS title.  Eun Seok stole everything from me.  In this reality show, I think Eun Seok and I are mortal enemies.”

Eun Seok is smiling in his confessional.  “It’s a pity,” he says.  “There’s nothing you can do about how life works out.  Games like these are battles of the brain.”

Eun Seok says he now plans to make Shotaro the BOSS.  He knows he can control Shotaro and make sure money is added to the budget by switching to a new BOSS.  He can also make sure Shotaro won’t make him a worker.  I get a sense of dread when they cut to Shotaro counting his ballots and cheerfully telling the camera, “I’ll be the BOSS!”  No, honey.  You’ll be the puppet.

We end the episode with some hope for the defeated and betrayed bandmates.  The four of them are given mission coup cards.  Sung Chan’s assignment is to get the BOSS to call him by his full name, including surname. 

Surprisingly, Shotaro gets one as well, even though he already has a plan with Eun Seok to be elected next.  His assignment is to successfully play Word Relay.  I have no idea what that is.

We are not told what the assignments are for Won Bin,  So Hee, and Anton.  All we know is that when we return for the next episode, everyone will be gunning for Eun Seok.  Even Shotaro. 

I predict that Eun Seok is doomed.  See you at the execution.


Episode 5:  The RIIZE Village Rebellion

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