going seventeen | digging clams & making bets
premise:
as a spiritual successor to planting rice and making bets, seventeen dig clams in a mudflat, with each member playing a game every 10 minutes to decide whether or not they get to leave
comments:
i actually really enjoyed this episode, which surprised me quite a lot because i don't remember liking planting rice and making bets as much (then again, i watched that at least 4 years ago and remember being very tired when i did -- i do need to rewatch that episode for the purpose of this ranking lol). however, i think that can be chalked up to the actual games they decided to play this time around! from what i recall, the 'making bets' part was because the games in planting rice were just that - and extremely random. however, the members do seem to have a little more control over whether or not they get to leave the mudflat here, despite the act of digging clams seeming a bit less laborious than the rice planting (the main prize here seems to just be being able to wash up, haha). and that subtle change makes for more satisfying moments, like joshua covered head to toe in mud, with mud even overflowing into his overalls, because he was so determined to get out of the mud, and dino faceplanting into the mud with his pot toppling over him in a moment so ridiculous you can even hear the staff laughing! and the cameramen having trouble in the mud as well (WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA) brought me back to how they'd get involved in going rangers. all-in-all just a fun and relaxing, simple episode. i complaint i had about last year's gose episodes is that they were too high concept to capture the dynamics between the members, and i'm glad to see the going team dial back their approaches and bring the episodes to a more simple form. it truly is working -- the chemistry here is so fun, with the mukbang/backseating/final showdowns being so refreshing and comforting in the midst of watching our members slowly depart for their mandatory public service. :')
ranking:
concept: 8; old and simple concept, fun games, nothing phenomenal though
chemistry: 8.5; no 'team' dynamics since there's nothing to really figure out, but some of the best parts reminded me of the 'lotte world opening' of let's go seventeen - one of my favorite gose episodes as a whole
enjoyment: 8! can't go wrong!
overall - 8.2/10