going seventeen | don't lie ii
premise:
the same as the first don't lie, with the addition of the broker, a citizen who receives hints on where the treasure is located, but must team up with a citizen or a mafia member to receive the prize.
comments:
we've finally made it to the episode i had stapled onto the top of my list from the very beginning of me deciding to rate every going seventeen episode. does it hold up? HELL YES.
let's talk changes. it was clear after the first don't lie that team going realized, especially with how large the spaces they have been reserving for don't lie, the scavenger hunt was slightly imbalanced -- though shrinking the space could quickly tip the scale and make the scavenger hunt way too easy. they made the broker for this exact reason, and i think it works surprisingly well despite the broker not even being the one to receive the treasure, as he (spoilers: jeonghan) ends up giving hints to the citizens he trusts most anyway. they also made the mini-games for to get more scavenger hunt time shorter, making the episode flow much faster (so the games feel less like an interruption), as well as adding some really fun, on-theme moments, with the absurd lies and the lie detector ("we will now begin the random check" scenes still hold up as hilarious). because of the nature of how the treasure actually got discovered, i can't say much on the addition of the handcuffs, though they do work well in quickly lifting suspicion off of mafias.
now for the actual episode, it's amazing. it's so good. i would argue every single member gets their small time to shine in this episode. it's just so memorable and endlessly entertaining. there are so moments that i still love all these years later despite them being reminders of moments i had loved before (dino's voice as he goes, "TMI," minghao spending two sessions trying to get handcuffs unstuck, the reveal that joshua isn't purposefully quiet because he's the mafia but because he's just tired ("i didn't mean to make it obvious,")). there are moments i remember clear as day and still find enjoyable! hoshi's mad rant and argument about mingyu being the mafia is such a clever callback to the last iteration of don't lie while just being so insane and unhinged that it's simply unforgettable -- the crazy loopy images flashing on screen, the moment where he does the worm, and the gags with putting text on mingyu's eyes are so good! i remember every line from this moment and yet i still find myself laughing out loud despite this being the episode of gose i've probably seen the most. plus, jun finding the treasure is set up so well and hidden from the audience until the very end in a way that is just so satisfying to watch again and again -- especially since you can still catch jun finding the treasure and see seungcheol using the chair the treasure was on before the reveal!! it's such a great work of editing.
speaking of editing, while there are some hilariously elevated moments ("he really did use an emoji" and the moment where someone doesn't notice minghao trying to get the handcuff?? plus everything involved with the hoshi mingyu confrontation) this truly is a masterclass of it. aside from jun's moment, there's another scene of foreshadowing without misleading the audience -- when dino and mingyu are outed as mafias, you see them receiving the role. when wonwoo confesses he's the doctor and when jeonghan reveals he's the broker, you see them receiving their roles. when dokyeom claims he's the police, you don't see him receiving his role ... because he isn't. but you don't see his agreement with woozi until he confesses he isn't the police, woozi is--and you don't see the confirmation that it's woozi until that moment either. it's a moment i completely forgot about and i was so dumbstruck and surprised by that reveal that i just have to give the editor props for setting it up that way!
speaking of things i completely forgot -- the last mafia! i remember mingyu being the mafia because of hoshi gate. i remember dino being the mafia because of "what do you mean you saw me?! you were looking the other direction!" i didn't remember the third. i vaguely remembered joshua wasn't, and then jun was the one who found the treasure, but then it was revealed woozi was the police, and so when jeonghan says, "everyone here has someone to vouch for them as a citizen. you don't!" it hit me just like i was seeing this episode for the first time, especially due to vernon's "eyes of truth" character. it's amazing!! hoshi was right!! this episode was truly legendary. it's an episode that had me hooked from the very beginning and to the very end despite this being like my 20th time seeing it.
there's that moment at the end where hoshi goes, "i hope this episode gets a million views," and dokyeom replies, "two million!" ... don't lie ii became the second favorite episode of 2020 as voted by carats, with episode 1 sitting at 15 million views and episode 2 sitting at 11 million. :)
ranking:
do i even have to say it?
concept: 10!
chemistry: 10!
enjoyment: 10!!!! STILL MY FAVORITE ALL THIS TIME LATER!!
overall - 10/10 ⭐
P.S. as part of the 2020 carat awards where team gose asked carats/cubics to vote for their favorite episode of going seventeen 2020, of course i had voted for this one :-)