#1the9

Shin Yechan

It hits him in the middle of something ordinary like watching you talk with your hands when you’re excited. He stops listening to the words completely.

Later, he’s annoyed at himself because why does his chest feel weird just because you smiled?

He realizes it fully when he starts looking for you in every room before he even knows why.

Kim Taewoo

It’s gradual, soft, and a little terrifying for him.

He notices he always walks you on the safer side of the street. That he remembers your schedule better than his own. That he starts thinking in “us” without meaning to.

And one day it clicks: love isn’t loud for him it’s responsibility, care, and quiet devotion that never stopped growing.

Lee Seunghwan

He realizes it when he catches himself smiling at his phone like an idiot after your message.

At first he tries to deny it. “I’m just in a good mood.”

But then he rereads your texts for the third time and suddenly it’s obvious: he’s gone. Completely.

Kim Junseo

He doesn’t realize it gently. He realizes it when he gets jealous, properly jealous, and hates himself for it.

Because why does it matter who you’re talking to? Why does it feel like a punch to the chest?

The answer comes when he sees you laugh with someone else and instead of anger, he just feels scared of losing you.

Yoo Yongha

He realizes it mid-teasing.

He says something playful, expecting your usual reaction, but instead you smile in a way that’s softer than normal.

And it breaks him a little. Because suddenly it’s not funny anymore it’s you.

And he starts imagining you in every future scenario without permission.

Jung Jinsung

It sneaks up on him in silence.

He realizes he trusts you with things he’s never told anyone else. Not because he decided to but because it felt natural with you.

And one night it hits him: he doesn’t just like you. He depends on your presence like breathing.

Park Sungwon

He notices it in the smallest habits. How he mirrors your expressions. How your opinions start influencing his choices.

Love for him feels like alignment like you slowly became part of his internal world without knocking.

Jeon Doyum

He realizes it when you’re not around and everything feels slightly off.

He tries to distract himself, jokes around, scrolls his phone but nothing fills the space you leave.

~ Hello Everyone ~

This master list contains the links to the blog post for the kpop groups whose names start with 0 - 9 (ie: start with a number rather than a letter). To find the ultimate master list for this series, click here.

1Team

1the9

1TYM

1Verse

2AM

2Eyes

2NB

2NE1

2PM

2Yoon

3YE

4L

4Men

4Minute

4Ten

5surprise

8Eight

8Turn

14U

15&

015B

24Hours

24K / 24K+

82Major

100%

Rating: 4/5 Why: Amazing songs! The vibes were fantastic! Why were they only given a year though?! They have so much talent and didn't get to showcase just how talented they were! Favorite Song(s): Blah, Domino, Dream in the Sky, & Gravity

They reminded me so much of Stray Kids mixed with Got7 and BTS. Immaculate vibes; I loved every single song and found myself listening to a few of them on repeat. I am super sad that they weren't given a longer contract because they were incredible! I would have been a mega fan of theirs if they were still active, there is no doubt in my mind about that. Their songs made a lovely addition to my playlist and I'm glad I gave them a chance.

Next Up: 1TYM

That’s pretty insane imo. I kinda don’t want him to debut. I kinda just want him to go back to wEi, but he’s very popular, so him making it all the way through doesn’t seem unlikely.

Welcome to the live broadcast finale!

It’s really happening.  This long, overstuffed, strange, weirdly set up survival show will ironically result in a short-lived group that will barely get off the ground.  K-pop can be so cruel.  But for now, as always, let’s enjoy the pink and purple frosting and ignore the charred pastry underneath.  Let’s do this!

We start with the wistful nostalgic flashbacks and final interviews and skip skip skip.  I’m here for the party.

We see the audience, mostly  unmasked, and I feel a pang when I remember this was in February 2019.  COVID will hit in a few months, not only delaying the debut of 1THE9 but forcing several other shows I’ve recapped to play to empty auditoriums.  It feels scary watching this now.  I want to go back in time and say something to them, but I have no idea what I’d say.  Maybe, “Enjoy this while you can.  You’re about to be quarantined for a long time.”

The viewing audience is given the voting instructions, and I’m fast-forwarding to the good stuff.  Finally, we’re there.  Our nineteen finalists are performing “We Are Young.”

Wait, there are only eighteen contestants there instead of nineteen.  Wumuti isn’t there. 

I did some Redditing, and apparently, he ghosted the show.  He just stopped showing up and didn’t respond when MBC tried to reach him.  A week before the finale, he finally told them he wasn’t coming back.  It sounds like he was having a bad experience, so I’m just glad he’s doing much better now with his group XLOV.

Back to our show.  We see the final stage where our nine winning trainees will sit, and it reminds me of the Boys Planet finale.

Our eliminated trainees are here as well.  Usually I find that cruel, but now I’m scanning the group for Jay Chang and Lee Jae Eok.  I don’t see them, but the camera is panning quickly.  I don’t see Eddie or Christian either.  Usually they let the former contestants speak, but here they’re just kind of shoved over on the side and used as background. 

Now we get the announcement about Wumuti.  They just say he left due to personal reasons.  He was the third-ranked trainee going into the finale.  I wonder what was going on with him.

The hosts go over the voting instructions again, and now it’s finally time to reveal the name of the debut group.  The name was chosen by the viewing audience.

The name is displayed, and the host pronounces it “Wonder Nine,” with no explanation of why it’s spelled that way.  The audience appears confused, but I’ve been recapping these shows for over a year and have just learned to roll with it.  I’m just glad there’s no punctuation in it.

Now for the final mission.  We get a flashback.  The trainees will be split into two groups, and each will be given a song to perform at the finale.  These are original songs written for the show, called “Shoot the Stars,” which sounds like a threat, and “Like Magic.”

We see our boys record and perform the songs.  I’ve seen enough of these finales to know that they’re mostly filler to give the audience time to vote.  And of course, after the performances, the coaches talk about how much all the trainees have improved.  That fills a LOT of time.

After both teams perform their songs, the voting ends, and we’re only halfway through the show.  We get a hallway of messages the fans have written, and it’s really sweet.

We get another pre-taped segment where the trainees talk about how wonderful and supportive their families are.  Then they learn that their families have recorded messages for them.  LOTS of crying in this segment.

Okay, now that everyone’s a tearful mess, we go back to the live broadcast.  It’s time for the final rankings and announcement of the winners. 

Before we do this, we already know that 1THE9 is not going to have much of a career.  They will release some songs, but thanks to COVID, they will disband after a frustrating year.  So for each winner, as well as those eliminated, I’ll be giving more details on their careers after this show.

The winners are:

Lee Seunghwan.  No surprise here.  He’s been a top-ranked fan favorite.  After 1THE9, he was a contestant on Boys Planet.  He goes by Onlee now and made his solo debut in September 2023.

Park Sungwon.  Another top-ranking favorite.  After 1THE9, he’ll briefly join Ciipher and wind up making his solo debut in December 2023 under the name Won.

Yoo Yongha.  I totally called that one.  After 1THE9, he will join the group WEi.

Lee Seunghwan, Park Sungwon, and Yoo Yongha

Jung Taekhyeon.    Our former child actor finally debuts as a K-pop idol.  Fortunately, after this, he’ll be able to go right back to acting.  He’s done six K-dramas since 2019, mostly in supporting roles, but he’s still working.

Shin Yechan.  Our handsome, English-fluent guitarist.  I called this one, too.  He’s currently a singer and actor under IPQ and a member of the group OMEGA X.

Kim Taewoo.  Our boy who bombed on Episode One and left the stage in tears!  Good for him!  He currently goes by Louis and joined and left two other groups after this.  He’s doing his military service now and will be discharged in June 2026.

Jung Taekhyeon, Shin Yechan, and Kim Taewoo

Jeon Doyeom.  Our gymnastic dancer.  He’s ranked in first place for the last two rankings, so this is no surprise.  He currently goes by the name DY and is a member of Just B with our very own Bain.

Jung Jinsung.  Our visual stunner.  After this, he’ll briefly join a trainee group called PlayM BOYS.  Sadly, after that, he left the industry.  He’s currently doing his military service.

Kim Junseo.  This is a bit of a surprise, as he’s been low in the rankings lately.  After this, he will join WEi, along with fellow 1THE9er Yoo Yongha.  He’ll be that group’s maknae.  He’s also scheduled to be on Boys Planet 2.

Jeon Doyeom, Jung Jinsung, and Kim Junseo

Okay, now for the eliminated trainees.

Bae Hyeonjun.  Currently a trainee and actor under MAJOR9.  He was in the 2021 K-drama Fly, Again.

Kim Shihyun.  After this, he’ll be in WE IN THE ZONE with former TAN member Jooan.  That group disbanded in 2021.  I don’t know what he’s doing now, but I don’t think he left the industry.

Kim Youngwon.  He debuted as a solo artist in July 2019.  In July 2021, he started a human rights awareness program called Project Spotlight, and it looks like he’s a student at Handong Global University.

Lee Jongwon.  Another former child actor.  He seems to have disappeared from the industry.  I can’t find anything on him.

Lee Sangmin.  He will also join Mirae in 2021 and stay with them until they disband in 2024.  He now goes by the name Khael.

Lee Yechan.  Our show maknae is currently the maknae of the group xikers.  He’s nineteen years old now.

Lee Yechan then and now

Park Shiyoung currently goes by Park Si Young and was also in Mirae until they disbanded last year. 

Suren is scheduled to be on Boys Planet 2.  He currently goes by Xue Su Ren.

And finally,

Bain.  He’s a member of Just B.  Earlier this year, he became the first male K-pop idol to come out as gay.  He made the announcement onstage at a Just B concert in Los Angeles.  I will always keep an eye on his career and wish him all the love and happiness in the world.

As for me, I’m taking a break. 

A little over a year ago, after I became a K-pop and Monsta X fan, I thought it would be fun to watch No Mercy and write recaps.  What started as a fun project turned into a 16-month obsession.  I have now recapped thirteen shows and written an essay on fanchants that people seem to like.  I was going to recap Boys Planet 2 until I saw the monstrosity that show is turning out to be, so no.  I’m done for now.

I will always love K-pop, and I’m sure I’ll be writing more about it at some point.  But for now, I need to get away from the computer and spent some time outside.  Come back to Earth for a  while.  Enjoy some silence.

We’ve got a lot of ground to cover in these last two episodes.  Eliminations, at least one more trainee dropout, a live finale, and the winning group with the short-lived career.  Let’s do this.  Welcome to the penultimate episode!

The good news is that our host, Kim So-hyun, is back.  She’s starting us off with the final round of rankings.  But first, she has bad news.  This is where the show finally learned that Bang Junhyuk wasn’t coming back, so she announces that here.  She also confirms that Ji Jinseok isn’t coming back.  The other trainees are very sad about this.  I know Jinseok made a lot of friends on this show.

Now for the rankings.  As always, I’ll just give the highlights. 

Kim Taewoo, who left the stage in tears in Episode One, continues to rise.  He ranks in sixth place, up from twelfth in the last episode.

Shin Yechan, our handsome, English-fluent guitarist, ranks in fifth place.  Seriously dude, go back to the dark hair.  The blond is taking away your edge.

Yoo Yongha, with the voice I love, jumps from eighth to fourth place.  He’s one of my picks to win this thing.

Wumuti jumps to third place!  I’m surprised at this because I know he won’t make the final group, but I’m not surprised because he’s amazing and deserves this.  I love the look on his face.  He clearly wasn’t expecting this either.

Kim Taewoo, Shin Yechan, Yoo Yongha, and Wumuti

First and second places stay the same.  Gymnastic dancer Jeon Doyeom is first, and visual stunner Jung Jinsung is second.  The two are close friends and just want to debut together.

Jeon Doyeom and Jung Jinsung

Park Sungwon, who will briefly join Ciipher after this show, ranks in 10th place.

Thirteen year-old Suren has a meteoric rise.  He ranked 23rd last time, and I thought he’d be eliminated now.  But no, he jumps to 13th place.

Show maknae Lee Yechan takes 15th place.  Again, I love this kid, but please don’t let him debut just yet.

Bain makes it to 16th place and is going to the finale!  I’m so glad I’ll see him and Wumuti through to the very end, especially since my other two reasons for watching this show, Jay Chang and Lee Jae Eok, are already eliminated.

Park Sungwon, Suren, Lee Yechan, and Bain

Now for those eliminated.

Yoon Taekyung currently goes by Doha and is a member of n.SSign.  No, I don’t know how to pronounce it.

Kim Sungho now goes by the name Rose and is a solo hip-hop artist.

Jeon Chanbin debuted as a solo artist in May 2022.  He was actually supposed to debut with Mirae at some point, but that didn’t work out.

I couldn’t find anything on Kang Junhyuck.

Yoon Taekyung (Doha of n.SSign), Kim Sungho (Rose), and Jeon Chanbin

With the eliminations over, we now cut to two of our special emcees from the Christmas party episode, Shindong of Super Junior and Yerin from GFriend.  They will be hosting a special segment called “The Trainee.”

It’s looking like the rest of this episode will be filler. 

Our nineteen finalists enter, and yes, this will be a little segment where we get to know our trainees better.  I scan through this.  We see clips of their audition videos and watch a hidden camera prank played on the trainees, and this goes on for a looooong time.

I would have been fine with a three-hour finale if they’d just tacked the live broadcast onto this episode after the eliminations.  I’m going to wrap this up.  See you over at the finale!

Welcome back to this bummer of a show!  We’re about to have new rankings, and I just want to say in advance to every eliminated trainee:  You dodged a major bullet.  Let’s set some boys free.  Time for Episode Twelve!

We’re starting right off with new rankings.  We only have 25 spots available, so we’re about to cut down this group significantly.  But first, our host Kim So-hyun has an announcement.

She says, “Choi Sumin from Team Rap has violated many rules as a trainee.  He won’t be joining us anymore.”

Everyone (except Sumin’s Team Fiction) looks stunned.  One candidate mutters, “So it finally happened.”  Here’s where my online research last episode comes in handy.  All the articles I found about his removal only state that he broke the rules, but they don’t say anything specific.  According to Redditors who have been to Korea, defamation laws there prohibit insulting or publicly humiliating someone, so everyone treads lightly.  I called Sumin a little shit in my last recap.  If I were a Korean citizen, I could be in jail right now.

Our host sternly reminds the trainees to follow the rules of the program.  Sumin didn’t seem to be into the whole K-pop thing, but he did debut as a solo rapper under the name EDdMin.  I have no idea how to pronounce that, and we need to move on.

Time for the rankings, and everyone is being ranked in one group now, the way it should have been done in the first place.  Fourteen trainees will be eliminated.  And because this is a survival show, we’re going to start with 19th place because why the hell not.  I won’t list all the rankings, just some highlights.

Bain is still with us, ranking in 14th place.  I know he won’t win the show, but after seeing him devastated at losing the Shuttle Mission, it’s great to see him happy again.

Kim Taewoo is in 12th place, and I’m bringing him up because in the Episode One rankings, he gave a terrible performance and left the stage in tears.  He’s been fighting his way back the entire show and doing impressively well.

Wumuti is still with us, too!  He ranks in 11th place.  I’m wondering if he and Bain will make it all the way to the finale.

Bain, Kim Taewoo,  and Wumuti

Ji Jinseok ranks in 9th place.  Early in this show, he lost every lead spot on Judgement Day after ranking first on the vocal team.  He’s also been climbing his way back up.  I’m happy to see him still here.

Yoo Yongha ranks in 8th place.  He’s the trainee whose voice I fell in love with in Episode One, and we’ve barely heard from him since.  I hope he gets more screen time.

Bang Junhyuk ranks in 5th place, and the only reason I bring it up is because he’s not appearing in this episode due to personal reasons.  That’s the only explanation they give.  I do some digging, and we will not be seeing him again.  He’s currently the maknae of the group MCND and is scheduled to be on Boys Planet 2.

Shin Yechan, our handsome, English-fluent guitarist, is ranked in 3rd place.  I think he’s going to win the show.  I hope he gets rid of the blond hair before the finale.  It doesn’t really suit him.

Ji Jinseok, Yoo Yongha, and Shin Yechan

Jeon Doyeom ranks first, and visual stunner Jung Jinsung ranks second. 

Kim Youngwon, who beat himself up for dropping the mic in the Sherlock performance, stays in the game, ranking in 20th place.

Lee Yechan, our twelve year-old show maknae, ranks in 22nd place.  Quite the drop in ranking, but this scrappy, baby-faced rapper is still with us.

Jeon Doyeom, Jung Jinsung, Kim Youngwon, and Lee Yechan

Okay.  Now for the eliminated trainees.

Christian.  Our Filipino-American Vegas-born artist currently goes by C13 and is in a group called VXON.

Kim Jungwoo now goes by Vahn and is a member of NINE.i. 

Kim Keon now goes by K (not the same K from the I-Land) and is in the group DAYCHILD.

Christian (C13 of VXON), Kim Jungwoo (Vahn of NINE.i.), Kim Keon (K of DAYCHILD)

Kim Youngseok debuted as a soloist in June 2024 after doing two more survival shows.

Lee Jae Eok, my Wild Idol favorite, is now a producer with Cielogroove and goes by Billenniumbaby, but I’ll always know him as The Cadet.

Lim Hyeongbin will go on to be the bassist and keyboardist for Bandage and then leave the group due to creative differences.

Min from Thailand will go on to do Boys Planet and is currently a member of A:SIDE, going by the name Minlee.

Song Jaewon currently goes by Hwarang and is a former member of Tempest and Mirae, two really good K-pop groups.  He had to leave Tempest after the media found out that he had gone out clubbing, which tarnished his image.

Lee Jae Eok (Billenniumbaby), Min (Minlee of A:SIDE), and Song Jaewon (Hwarang)

I couldn’t find anything on Lee Dongjun, Lim Yunseo, Oh Dahan, Shan Chanbin, or Son Jinha.  Park Jino went on to do more survival shows, but I don’t think he ever debuted.

Okay.  That was a lot, but we still have a mission to get to.  Technically, we’re down to 24 because fifth-ranked Bang Junhyuk isn’t coming back.  I’m guessing they don’t know at this point he wasn’t returning, or they could have bumped everyone up a spot.

We learn that after this next mission, six more trainees will be eliminated before the finale. Nineteen finalists will participate in the final show.

We start the Collaboration Mission, and we will going at warp speed.  We open on D-Day, with fans lined up and excited.

Leeteuk of Super Junior is our special emcee.  Kim So-hyun isn’t here.  He apologizes for her absence but doesn’t explain why she’s gone.  Okay, it’s getting worrisome that people keep vanishing on this show, but proceed. 

What we learn next makes me put my head down on my desk for a full minute.  They’re splitting the groups back up into rap, vocal, and performance teams.  Just when we had put that whole setup behind us.  I do not understand this show.  It made no sense to split the teams up like this in the very beginning, and it makes even less sense now.  All teams will be singing, rapping, and dancing, right?  And the same will be expected of the final group, right?  Then what are we even doing here?

Now our host tells us that fifth-ranked Bang Junhyuk is officially gone from the show due to personal reasons.  Not only that, but ninth-ranked Ji Jinseok has left as well, due to health issues.  At this rate, we won’t need to do a finale.  These trainees are dropping like flies, so just wait until we only have nine left and then debut them.

(BTW, Ji Jinseok will go on to do another survival show and then make his solo debut in June 2019.)

Ji Jinseok as a solo artist

On to the mission.  The rap team is up first.  Show maknae Lee Yechan is on this team.  We get the flashback of the team rehearsing, and the coach explains that the song they’re doing is great because it not only has great rap parts, it also has vocal parts and choreography.

You know, because it’s a K-pop song.

This show’s premise is just so fucking stupid.

They rehearse the song, practice their swag, and bring out a birthday cake for one of the coaches.

Now to D-Day.  Our rap team is ready to perform their rap, vocal, and choreography song.

It’s a wild performance, whipping the crowd into a frenzy and looking like a concert.

Next up is the vocal team.  When we start the flashback, Ji Jinseok is with them, but he’s standing against the wall and not participating.  He’s not looking well.  He’s been getting medical attention but not getting any better, so he tells the team he has to drop out.

We return to the D-Day performance with our smaller vocal team, and they sing a beautiful R&B ballad written by Crush.

They do a great job.  This show is really rushing these performances along, moving the team off the stage quickly so we can do the last song.  This is the performance team, which includes Bain and Wumuti.

All three teams gather onstage afterwards, and the episode just ends.  We have one last episode until the finale, which I just found out will be only two hours long.  Thank the K-pop gods.  I do need to give the show credit for that one thing.

Full steam ahead.  See you next episode!

Exciting things will happen in this episode!  The Shuffle Mission will include some classic K-pop songs by BTS, EXO, and SHINee, among others.  And speaking of BTS, J-Hope is finally stopping by.  Let’s do this.  Welcome to Episode Ten!

We’re back at the training center.  Our host announces the Shuffle Mission.  We are finally going to mix the three groups instead of having them compete against each other.  FINALLY, we’re doing away with this dumb premise.  The trainees will be split up into six teams, and each team will perform a classic K-pop song. 

The six songs are:

“Fake Love” by BTS.  One of my favorite BTS songs.  A passionately angry song with difficult, ballet-inspired choreography.

“Growl” by EXO.  Survival shows pick this one all the time because it’s so much fun.  I love a good beast idol song.

“Sherlock” by SHINee.  One of the best K-pop songs ever written.  This is not my opinion – it’s fact.  I’m pretty sure South Korea’s Constitution states this clearly somewhere.

“Be Mine” by Infinite.  A fun dance/pop/disco song with sensual lyrics.

“Fiction” by BEAST.  Another survival show staple.  It’s an okay song with terrible choreography.  It’s great for people who can’t dance because you can’t really call it dancing.  You basically shuffle your feet with your hands in your pockets.  I’m not joking.  Here it is in the video.  If you can stand in one place without falling down, you can do this dance.

And finally, “Mirotic” by TVXQ.  I love how many beast idol songs are on this list.  Nothing too sweet and sugary.  I’m going to enjoy this mission.

Our trainees don’t get to pick their own teams.  The online voters have already done that.  Wow.  We’re giving a lot of power to the same people who ROBBED the performance team in the last mission, and no, I’m still NOT over it already.

Announcing the teams takes a while.  Lee Jae Eok is on Team Be Mine.  Christian and show maknae Lee Yechan are on Team Sherlock.  Wumuti and Bain are on Team Mirotic, but I would have loved to see them try “Sherlock” instead.  They both have the vocal power to pull that off.

We’ll be doing team battles again.  The trainees on the winning teams will get an extra 10,000 votes each.  Eliminations will be done by overall rankings instead of team rankings.  The bottom fifteen trainees will be eliminated, leaving us with twenty-five when this mission is over.

Rehearsal time.  We start with Team Mirotic.  They sit in the practice room and chat, getting to know each other.  Come on, guys, let’s move this along.  We have a celebrity guest to meet.  You do NOT want to piss off the BTS ARMY by keeping them waiting.

Now over to Team Fiction.  They’re all awkwardly quiet.  They have to pick a leader, but they all appear to be painfully shy introverts who can’t start a conversation.  I guess the camera crew gets tired of this, because we cut over to Team Be Mine, who are much better at this and already assigning parts.

Over to Team Sherlock.  They watch a live performance video of the song, and I get all tingly with excitement.  They’re worried that they aren’t sexy enough to pull off this song.  On one hand, they do have a point, because the lyrics are a little intense, and we have a twelve year-old on this team.  What were the voters thinking?

“I’m so curious, yeah!”

On the other hand, what I hear in this song is the explosion of joyful excitement from the music and the vocal power.  If this team can focus on that, they’ll be fine.  I hope.  (checking the English translation of the lyrics) Um, well, we have lines that translate to “from your shaky breathing, I don’t miss a thing” and “this long night explodes like fireworks, baby.”   Yeah, someone from child welfare needs to intervene.

Over to Team Growl.  Now THIS is a sexy concept song.  They also young people on this team, including thirteen year-old Suren.  This is going to be an uncomfortable watch, isn’t it?

“I'm growling, growling, growling!”

Let’s pretend we’re not seeing this and run over to Team Fake Love.  Everyone else is scared of this team, calling them the Avenger team, since they have the top-ranked trainees.  They love their song assignment and can’t wait to get started.  As they work on the choreo, the door suddenly opens, and we have the moment BTS fans have been waiting for.  J-Hope has arrived!

The show plays us some BTS video clips, as if we really need to be told who this guy is.  As I write this, all the members have completed their military service, and my Instagram and Twitter feeds have been clogged with hysterical fan posts demanding to know when the comeback will start.

J-Hope brings them a huge bag of snacks, and our star-struck team explains the new mission to him.  They’re concerned with the difficulty of the choreo, and J-Hope says it’s still challenging for BTS to do live.  He asks to see what they’ve got so far.

They’re very nervous, but they do the choreo, and J-Hope is impressed.  He compliments them on their energy and how quickly they’ve learned it, and our team almost melts into the floor.

Whether or not these trainees get to debut, they’ll be able to say they did the Fake Love choreo with J-Hope, who says he will monitor and support them throughout the mission.  This is really sweet.  I hope BTS has an amazing comeback. 

Next up, our trainees spin a roulette wheel to determine the team matchups:

Be Mine vs. Fiction Mirotic vs. Fake Love Growl vs. Sherlock

Now we jump ahead to D-Day.  I’m excited for this.  A new stage has been built.  The fans are here.  Let’s goooooo!

We’re starting with Mirotic vs. Fake Love.  As much as I love the BTS song, I have to pull for Wumuti and Bain on the Mirotic team. 

And of course, we get pulled into a flashback of the Mirotic team rehearsing.  I skim through it, and one interesting thing happens.  They have some amazing singers on this team who were originally on the rap and performance teams.  The former vocal team members are amazed and ask them how they didn’t wind up on the vocal team.  Excellent question!  It’s because this show forced everyone into categories that didn’t make sense!  Thanks for asking!

Back to D-Day.  Mirotic is up first.

This is smoking hot.  It’s one of the sexiest performances I’ve seen on all the shows I’ve recapped.  Bain is the standout.  He looks like a K-pop god on that stage.  All of them hit those high notes beautifully, especially Wumuti.  I just love this.

Next up is Team Fake Love.  We see them warming up backstage, but thankfully we don’t get another flashback, since we spent so much time with them meeting J-Hope.  Let’s do this.

They’re really good.  Their dancing is impressive.  They just don’t have the vocal power of the Mirotic team.  The girls are losing their minds, and it’s a BTS song, so the BTS team will probably win.  But overall, Mirotic was better.

Both teams take the stage, and the audience votes with those little mini-calculator things.  We end on a cliffhanger.  The voters are going to let me down again next episode, aren’t them?

(sigh) See you then.