going seventeen | going rangers
premise:
a continuation of caratland 2023 (? if this is misinfo correct me lol), seventeen decide who, out of two teams, will become the true going rangers (a parody of the power rangers)
comments:
aka the 'second hand embarrassment' episode ... (i mean this endearingly)
honestly i'll give props to svt for taking what seemed like a pretty straightforward premise for an episode despite the concept following up on bizarre caratland lore. what initially seemed like your typical team vs. team episode quickly became one of the most iconic because of the 'try not to laugh' rule that they implemented and there are SO many moments in this episode that come completely out of left field because of course it's going to take a lot for seventeen to make each other laugh ... and we fans have to watch it unfold. from seungkwan and jun's beautiful to the rangers robots to joshua's never-ending love shot to wonwoo's spider to dk's belly fat to hoshi's parents' appearance -- the sheer amount of iconic moments i just listed speak for themselves.
outside of the try not to laughs there's so many moments even outside it that truly make the cut for hall-of-fame gose moments. we got seungkwan faking a timeout, joshua and seungkwan's high note battle, vernon and mingyu softlaunching the hide and seek episode, jeonghan jeonghan-ing, an entire chase happening in the background of rocket line's rock paper scissors, and dokyeom running through a fountain. not to mention one of my favorite running gags, wonwoo's grandiose dreams! and while the more introverted members naturally do end up fading into the background a bit, i really appreciate that everyone still has their moment to shine throughout both episodes -- there's gotta be at least ONE moment of awful, awful second-hand embarrassment from every member (again, i mean this in them most affectionate way possible).
spoilers i love how the final lineup wraps up the episode with the core of seventeen: showing that seventeen, at the end of the day, are a group of brothers who care about each other. the final lineup basically being comprised of everyone who isn't in the performance team because they have practice afterwards? SO CUTE! and jihoon's fakeout with the reveal that he already inserted the diamond is a hilarious moment in and of itself. (woozi assuming the role as this all-powerful scientist is just a golden concept as well).
ranking:
concept: 9; it's simple enough to give the members room to express themselves, structured with enough stakes to keep them motivated, but weird enough to be memorable
chemistry: 10; are we kidding like this episode was MADE to show off each member interacting with one another
enjoyment: 10; legendary episode no notes
overall - 9.6/10