going seventeen | grrreuk kak kak TTT
premise:
seventeen's 5th ttt (MT SVT Reality) in pocheon
comments:
obviously they haven't done a ttt since this one because of enlistments (it would def feel weird to start doing ttts without a single member, and now that a little less than half the group is gone, even moreso) but i think if seventeen's going to do another ttt there needs to be a bigger change than they did here for ttt5 otherwise i think it's best to move onto other concepts. as the longest running recurring concept for going seventeen (going back to 2018, before the gose theme song!) and the one with the most installments aside from don't lie, it's certainly beloved, and, after the staff really pulled back and gave seventeen more space, it cemented itself as one of the great concepts that stuck following hyperrealism version.
but why has it stuck around for so long?
i'm going a bit out of order having seen all the ttt's but rewatching practically backwards, but every time they've done a TTT they introduced something new. the first ttt was a standard retreat for seventeen. the second ttt introduced camping. the third ttt removed the cameramen to give a more natural feel and make seventeen behave less for the cameras (even if that's not entirely true) -- and, with this, became the most popular episode of going seventeen 2020, even moreso than any of the episodes spawned from the main draw of going seventeen 2020: monthly seventeen. the fourth ttt took it to the extreme and gave seventeen a waterpark. and grrreuk kak kak ttt? ... feels like a reversion back to the 3rd.
so i get why they did it. if it's a concept that was so loved by the fans, why not do it again? but it just feels redundant to rehash it. you can't catch lightning in a bottle twice. what was fun about ttt3 was that it was unexpected and fresh to see members behaving this way in complete freedom. unfortunately ttt5 just feels a bit watered down compared to the others. no new idea, members not really as engaged with the activities at the location, shorter drinking games, etc etc. idk if the members were tired or what but the energy in this one was just different ;; the funniest moments come from seeing the members with a helmet riding an electric scooter (BTW this is only vernon, seungkwan, hoshi, and dokyeom) and seeing them in the pool (only seungkwan and dokyeom, and maybe hoshi but he didn't really get in it). but i think if team going wants to run ttt again, they can't just do the same formula and expect it to perform as well as ttt3 did. they gotta get creative!
ranking:
concept: 5; ttt is, by itself, a very barebones and unscripted concept, which, yes, allows for more room for 'natural' behavior of the members, but feels a bit low-effort running it for the fifth time without throwing in anything new.
chemistry: 6; it's just seventeen hanging out with each other, but it's the same as if i were to watch any other vlog or seventeen video. but i'm not trying to do that -- i'm watching going seventeen!
enjoyment: 6.5; it's still a TTT, so it's still fun! but you can't expect fans to be satisfied with just that anymore.
overall - 5.8/10