#under nineteen

MBC Under Nineteen (언더나인틴) Practice

📜 DESCRIPTION

Under Nineteen (Korean: 언더나인틴) is a South Korean reality competition survival show produced by MBC for trainees under the age of 19 years old. They were put into specialized 3 groups: vocal, rap and performance. Only 9 out of the 57 contestants would have the spot to be in the new kpop idol group 1THE9.

Aired: November 3, 2018 - February 9, 2019. Aired On: Saturday Duration: 90 min. and 120 min. (finale).

Junseo was the TOP9 and he was announced as the last member of 1THE9. They debuted on April 13, 2019.

🎙️JUNSEO PERFORMANCES

Ep. 1

Ep.4

Ep. 8

Ep.10

Ep.12

Ep.14

📺 EPISODES

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!

We’ve got some conflict coming up between the other teams getting ready to battle.  Also, Kai from EXO is stopping by, hopefully to ask why literal children are performing “Growl.”  Welcome to Episode Eleven!

First, let’s resolve the cliffhanger.  The votes from the Mirotic vs. Fake Love battle are in, and of course, Fake Love wins, 373-289.  I hate it for the Mirotic team, but that’s what happens when you go up against a BTS team, no matter how good you are.  I’ll leave it at that before ARMY blows up my car.

Bain is so sad in a confessional, and I just wish I could show him his future and tell him that other than his unnecessary appearance on Build Up, he’s going to be just fine.  Same with Wumuti, who looks completely discouraged. 

We have to keep going.  Our audience is excited for Round Two so they can vote for the wrong team again.  (Sorry, I’ll stop.)  Next up is Team Be Mine vs. Team Fiction. 

Of course, we’re starting with a flashback.  Team Be Mine is rehearsing.  This is the team with my Wild Idol favorite, Lee Jae Eok, who has not been getting a lot of screen time.

The vocals for this team are not a problem, but since not everyone on the team is fluent in Korean, learning the choreo is a bit tricky.  It looks like this show is not providing translators.  The shows I’ve been recapping usually don’t, which is frustrating when they make a big deal out of being inclusive to people from other countries. 

The ones who should not be having a problem with the choreo is Team Fiction.  We switch over to their rehearsal.  As I mentioned last time, this song has the most inane choreography I’ve ever seen.  I’m not sure it has enough movement to qualify as choreography.  Or even actual movement.  Every time I watch the video, I want to check the band members for a pulse. 

We switch back and forth between the two rehearsals, seeing the usual Flashback Formula problems.  Teams struggling to stay in sync.  Coaches criticizing how things are going.  We know the drill.

Our coaches, visibly thrilled with progress so far

Team Be Mine is having a very hard time with the choreo, since none of them are dancers.  I check my notes, and only two of these six teammates are from the performance team.  You’d think the rest of them would have picked up some dancing skills by now, but the setup of this show has never made much sense.

It also doesn’t help that two of the teammates, Kim Youngseok and Jung Taekhyun, both fourteen and the youngest on the team, start goofing off.  Soon all of them start getting punchy and rebellious from exhaustion.  Some members just walk out.  Team leader Kim Shihyun finally hits his limit and scolds them like a parent.  “I’m doing my best with my jaw clenched,” he snaps at them. 

He tells them they’re blowing their chance, but I think he’s overworking them.  They aren’t going to retain anything if they can’t rest.  These survival shows keep trying to convince us that nonstop practicing for hours and all through the night is a good thing.  It’s not.  It’s actually counterproductive to learning. 

Back to Team Fiction.  A coach walks in and demands to know why they aren’t practicing the choreo, and I can’t help laughing because they ARE practicing.  That’s how low-energy the steps are.  The coach thought they were just tired and shuffling around.

The trainees protest that they WERE practicing, and the coach says, “I don’t buy it.  Your faces are dry right now.”  Dude, even the original group couldn’t work up a sweat doing these steps.  Have you SEEN the music video?

They do a run-through for the coach, and the subtitles tell us, “A big portion of the dance involves standing up.”  Yes, we know.  We’re told the trainees are dancing like they lack energy, and I know I keep harping on this, but they’re dancing with the same energy as the original group in the music video.  I just can’t. 

The coach scolds the trainees, and this goes on for a while.  Thankfully, we cut to three days before D-Day.  Team Fiction is rehearsing, but Choi Sumin is missing.  They practice shuffling around without him.

Hours go by.  Night falls.  The group is still practicing and waiting for Sumin to show up.  Finally, he walks in and sits with them, not saying a word.

The others just stare at him.  He tells them he’s injured his right knee, and it’s very swollen.  He says he can’t participate in the mission.

His teammates are stunned.  I’m getting the impression this is the first they’re hearing of his injury.  (He wasn’t limping when he entered the room, and he doesn’t seem too upset about it.)  We’re now two days from D-Day, and the team has to re-do the entire song.  They offer a solution:  Sumin can skip the dancing and just come onstage to do his rap parts and then leave the stage.  He agrees, and they start rehearsing again.

I don’t know why, but I’m not buying this.  Something feels off.  Put a pin in this for now. 

We cut to their next evaluation.  The team explains to the dance coach what has happened.  I don’t speak Korean, but I agree 100% with the look on her face.

The first thing she asks is why this is happening again.  Wait a minute.  (checks notes)  She’s right.  This has happened before.  Back in Episode Seven, Sumin was on the “Her” rap team and dealing with a foot injury, so when he did the final performance, he did very little dancing and focused on his rap part.  They won their battle, but the rap team came in last in the mission, losing five team members in the eliminations.

I check the rest of my notes on Choi Sumin.  He entered the show bragging and arrogant, and the judges were hyping him up like he was the Korean version of Kendrick Lamar.  His ranking mission performance wasn’t very impressive, and he still got the top ranked spot.  On Judgement Day, he bombed and lost almost all his solo parts, and he still wound up ranking first on the rap team.  His low-energy and mistake-filled performances never matched his high rankings, and he always had a smirky attitude about it.  What exactly is going on with him?  Is he a nepo baby? 

The dance coach demands to know if the rest of the team is okay with this.  Her tone of voice clearly states that she, for one, is not.

The rest of the team doesn’t answer, so she asks Sumin directly.  And he looks her right in the eye and LIES TO HER.  He says that he told the team yesterday that he still wanted to be a part of the performance.  He’s making it sound like the rest of the team is pushing him out. 

That little shit.

He knows this is all being filmed, right?  As the rest of the team stares at him in shock, he tells the coach, “I think I can handle it.  That’s why I told them that I could do it.”

At first, I’m guessing that Sumin is the oldest one on the team, and that’s the reason the others aren’t contradicting him.  But no.  Teammate Ji Jinseok is two years older than him.  Why isn’t he speaking up?

The coach clearly isn’t buying this but decides to call his bluff.  Sumin is back in the performance, and the team now has to redo the entire thing AGAIN to accommodate him.  At this point, I went online and did some research on what is really happening here, and wow.  Keep that pin in it.  We will get to it.  For now, I want to see how this unfolds.

The dance coach leaves.  The studio is filled with awkward silence.  Then team leader Shin Chanbin, who’s a year younger than Sumin, speaks up.  “I think this situation is complete nonsense,” he says. 

He reminds Sumin that yesterday he was telling them he couldn’t do the performance at all.  He accuses him of lying to the instructor.  He is PISSED.

“There’s a reason, if you want to hear it,” Sumin responds, and his tone is petulant.  I’ve heard this kind of whining before, and I know exactly what he’s about to say.  He has to find a way to make it someone else’s fault.  Sure enough, he says, “You should have asked me yesterday, not now.” 

Chanbin is now shouting in anger, calling Sumin on his BS and demanding an apology.  “Stop making excuses!” he yells in frustration.  Sumin keeps making weaselly excuses, and Chanbin shuts him down, saying he doesn’t want to hear it.  He orders Sumin to keep his word and start practicing as hard as the rest of them.  Instead, Sumin storms out of the room.  (He’s still not limping.)

We cut to the dress rehearsal.  Team Fiction is up first, beginning with Sumin’s rap.  True to form, he forgets some of the lyrics.  He also doesn’t know any of the dance steps, despite this being the easiest routine in the history of choreography.  The others are unable to cover for him.  He doesn’t know any of this.

When their rehearsal ends, Sumin shrugs off his mistakes, and I can feel his team’s seething anger through my computer screen.  The coaches ask what is going on with this team.  No one responds. 

Backstage, Sumin’s teammates ignore him while he practices the rap parts and keeps forgetting the lyrics.  Chanbin stares straight ahead, biting his lips so hard, his mouth disappears.  Then he starts biting his finger hard enough to leave teeth marks.

When Sumin tries to get Sungho to re-do a part with him, the others walk away.  I don’t blame them.  They are fighting for a chance to debut, and their own teammate is sabotaging them. 

Flashback over.  Round Two of the Shuffle Mission begins, and Team Fiction is up first.  Ready or not, it’s showtime.

Right away, Sumin messes up his rap.  His knee appears to be just fine, though.  The team makes it through the performance, but they do not look happy.  Afterwards, they go backstage, not speaking to each other.  Sumin tells us in a confessional that he messed up the lyrics because he was focusing too hard on the dance.  That is not an excuse.

Team Be Mine is next.  Lee Jae Eok is on this team.  They take the stage and get into formation.

This was the team that had trouble with the choreo and was breaking down from exhaustion during rehearsals.  They also appear to be completely done with each other.  They rarely smile or even look happy to be up there.  They perform well but with no enthusiasm. 

The audience votes, seemingly oblivious to the problems right in front of them, or they don’t care.  They’re just screaming the names of the boys they like.  I’ve never seen an audience like this on any of the shows I’ve recapped.  Other audiences notice mistakes.  We can see them react.  Maybe this audience is being heavily edited to try to mask what’s happening onstage.  It’s really strange.

In the end, team Be Mine wins, 335-303.  I feel bad for Team Fiction, but Sumin needs to leave this show.  He’s dragged this team down and damaged their chances of debuting.  Again, I know what’s going to happen with him, so keep the pin in this for now.  According to what I’ve found online, he’ll be dealt with in the next episode.

We do get a really touching moment.  Min, our trainee from Thailand on the winning team, is so happy, he cries while his team hugs him.  Not only has he been working so hard on the performance, he’s been struggling with the language barrier, and his efforts have paid off.  This is the team camaraderie I wish I’d seen from them onstage.  Also Lee Jae Eok gets a win here, so it’s not all bad.

Let’s shake this off and get to the songs I really want to hear.  Round Three is Team Sherlock vs. Team Growl.  I’m trying really hard to put aside my discomfort over these very young trainees performing these beast idol songs.

Flashback time.  We watch Team Sherlock rehearsing.  They have a real chip on their shoulders because everyone else sees them as the easy team to beat.  The trainees on this team are mostly from the bottom ranks because the voters who organized the teams put all the top-ranked trainees together, and these are the leftovers.  However, this situation is giving them the motivation to work hard to win this thing. 

Cut to Team Growl’s rehearsal.  They’re excited and ready to stomp Team Sherlock into the ground.  Our team maknae, Suren, already knows the choreo and starts teaching the others.

Back to Team Sherlock.  They are completely out of sync.  This is not easy choreo.  It doesn’t help that American teammate Christian barely speaks Korean.  But we do get a really cool scene in which Christian and Oh Dahan communicate in a made-up language while mapping out the choreo on paper.

We then get a detour showing some of the trainees, including Wumuti, performing at the 2018 MBC Entertainment Awards.  This segment goes on for a while, and it’s interesting, but I’m ready to go back to the final battle round until suddenly, we get a special guest.  It’s Kai from EXO!

He’s here to cheer on our guys before their special MBC performance in front of the K-pop bigwigs.  As it happens, all seven members of Team Growl are here.  I’m glad to see Kai, and I love EXO, but this feels a bit unfair.  Team Sherlock is the group that really needs help and could use a visit from someone in SHINee.  Team Growl is doing fine.  They don’t need the extra advantage. 

Kai asks Team Growl to show them their progress, and they perform the song for him.  Kai is impressed and gives them a quick dance lesson.  He also reminds them to find the happiness in what they do.  He seems like a really nice guy.  Having written that, I have to nervously check online to see if he’s been involved in any horrible scandals, but thankfully no.  He gets criticism for dating and has faced some backlash for not boycotting Starbucks, but no actual crimes.  That’s a relief. 

Now Kai brings out a present for our trainees.  It’s corporate sponsorship!  Oh, Kai, you shouldn’t have!

He puts out a tray of Subway sandwiches and drinks.  It’s mukbang time, right before our trainees go out onstage in front of major corporate people to sing and dance!  They try to work into casual conversation how much they’re enjoying the different sandwiches and how it helps them to fuel up.  These poor guys are going to be belching their way through the performance.

Finally, we’re back to Round Three of the Shuffle Mission.  With all the focus on Team Growl, I’m pretty sure they’re going to win this, even though we get some manufactured drama about Kim Jungwoo having a sore throat.  It just feels like Team Sherlock is being set up to lose this.  It’s like the show has given up on them.

We get a glimmer of hope during the dress rehearsal.  Team Sherlock goes first, and I like that they’ve changed the opening whisper from “SHINee’s back” to “Nineteen’s back.”  The few seconds we get to see are pretty amazing.  There’s hope here.  Could we possibly get an underdog win? 

Let’s find out.  We cut to the final performance.  Nineteen’s back.  Let’s go.

Aaand five seconds in, Kim Youngwon loses his microphone.  He grabs it and has to hold it in his hand.

Okay.  Let’s assess.

It’s not bad.  It’s clumsy in places and wildly fun in others.  They clearly feel the spirit of the song.  Youngwon even manages to get his mic pack into his pocket about halfway through so his hands are free.  The vocals waver and falter in some places and roar in others.

These trainees are clearly not ready to debut, and I’ll be surprised if any of them win this show, but I did enjoy this performance.  Show maknae Lee Yeechan is the most promising in this group, but every protective instinct in me doesn’t want him to debut yet.  He’s too young. 

Team Sherlock leaves the stage, and Youngwon is beating himself up for the mic accident.  Honestly, I give a team points for being able to recover quickly from accidents that inevitably happen, and he did great.  He kept his cool and held on to the mic until he could discreetly slip it into his pocket.  He has nothing to be ashamed of. 

Now for Team Growl and Jungwoo’s (eye roll) sore throat.  Let’s do this.

It’s jarring to hear kids’ voices singing these mature lyrics, but other than that, it’s perfect.  The vocals, choreo, and expression are all perfect.  It’s not going to be fun to see them beat the lowest-ranked trainees, but then, this show was never set up fairly to begin with.

After the performance, Jungwoo cries backstage because he thinks his sore throat ruined everything.  I know the producers told him to do this, so I can’t be pissed off at him.  I’m pissed off at the producers for trying to manufacture drama in an already unfairly balanced battle.  We know this team is going to win.  Just have them sit and wait for the votes to be counted. 

The votes come in, and they rub salt right into the wound.  It’s a total landslide.  Team Growl wins, 454-174.  It’s an embarrassing loss for Team Sherlock, who never stood a chance in this battle.

Both teams hug it out, and the Shuffle Mission that had so much promise whimpers to an end.

All the teams gather onstage.  The next mission is announced.  It will be a Collaboration Mission with the coaches of this show.  We’ll get more details later.  The episode ends.

We have a LOT coming up as we enter the home stretch of this series.  In the three episodes left, we’ll have more rankings and eliminations.  We’ll also see what actions the show will take against Choi Sumin, and we’ll lose other trainees as well, for reasons other than the rankings.  And of course, we’ll have the live broadcast finale, with a runtime that will probably make the Lord of the Rings movies look like a TikTok video.  Bring your boxcutters, because we’ll have a lot to unpack.  See you then!

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.

We are back for the episode that aired after the Christmas break in 2018.  We’re going to see some holiday festivity as well as the new rankings that will eliminate nine trainees.  Getting kicked off a survival show is an interesting way to start the new year.  Here we go with Episode Nine!

Our boys decorate a Christmas tree in the training center.  They take pictures and write messages to their fans.  The stage is decorated for the holidays as well.

The set design on this show is usually very bright and loud, so I’m happy to see this simple, pretty setup.  We have three guest emcees:  Shindong and Leeteuk from Super Junior and Yerin from GFRIEND. 

So it looks like the first half of this episode will consist of a holiday party with the trainees before giving nine of them the boot.

Okay, that was fun.  Now on to the new rankings.  The vocal team is safe, so they’ll just be learning their new rankings.  Of note:

Lee Jae Eok, my Wild Idol fave, drops from 9th to 16th place.  If the vocal team weren’t in first place, he’d be eliminated. 

Jung Jinsung, our stunning visual, drops from first place to fourth, which is still a good showing.

Yoon Taekyung, who started this series ranked at the very bottom, has been moving up in the rankings and is now Number One for the vocal team.

Lee Jae Eok, Jung Jinsung, and Yoon Taekyung

Now for the performance team.  This is going to hurt the most.  I don’t want anyone eliminated from this team.  They were robbed, and now they will lose four trainees.

Here we go.

Suren falls hard.  He ranked fourth last time and now drops to twelfth place.  I have no idea why.  He did a great job in the last battle with a memorable vocal part.

Christian from Vegas moves up from 18th to 11th place.

Oh Dahan leaps from 17th to 9th place.

Bain stays in eighth place.  I love this kid.

Wumuti stays in first place for the performance team.  I love this kid, too.

Suren, Christian, Oh Dahan, Bain, and Wumuti

And now for our four eliminated trainees.

Jung Wonbeom.  He’s been at the bottom of the rankings all this time, so it’s not a surprise.

Kim Kangmin.  He hasn’t really stood out much or ranked very high.

Koseuke.  Our Japanese trainee is headed over to Asia Super Young after this.

Jung Wonbeom, Eddie, Koseuke, and Kim Kangmin

Eddie.  This one really hurts.  I knew he wouldn’t make it, but I’m happy to report that he’s still active in the industry.  He’s the founder and leader of an American-based K-pop co-ed project group called Lalary.  They debuted after a very successful Kickstarter project that went above its goal of $6500.  Keep being you, Eddie.

Eddie and Lalary

Now for our rap group.  They will be losing five trainees.  That means only nine of them will survive. 

Lee Yechan, our show maknae, drops from third to seventh place.  Losing the team leader position has cost him, but he’s still hanging in there.

Yoo Yongha, whose voice I fell in love with in the first episode, has jumped from 11th to 6th place.

Kim Sungho jumps to first place from fourth.  He has had a rough time on this show, first suffering an injury, then losing almost his entire solo part on Judgement Day, and then trying and failing to steal Lee Yechan’s part.  He’s clawed his way up to the Number One podium.

Lee Yechan, Yoo Yongha, and Kim Sungho

Now for our five eliminated trainees.

Jang Rui.  Our loud, swaggering bull in a china shop will next appear on Wild Idol and SCOOL.

Jung Hyunjun.  Our gospel rapper from the Ukraine.  He will presumably go from here back to Korea University to finish getting his business admin degree.

Kim Yejun.  He’ll go on to do two more survival shows and will debut with URSA MAJOR.

Ku Hanseo.  He’ll go from here to the survival show Universe League.

Nam Dohyon.  This thirteen year-old is about to have a VERY wild journey.  He will go on to win Produce X 101 and debut, but the group will be disbanded due to the Mnet vote manipulation scandal.  Then he’ll join another group and successfully sue them to get out of his contract.  He currently goes by the name Toni Rei, has been in several groups, and made his solo debut in September 2024.

Well, that was an emotional roller coaster of an episode.  With only nine members left on the rap team, I can’t wait to see how they hold their own against vocal and performance.

The votes and rankings are now re-set again.  Next time, we’ll be doing something called a Shuffle Mission.  See you then!