going seventeen | liar liar
premise:
seventeen play a quiz show with a special twist: if they are able to lie to the members and convince them they get questions correctly (when they got them wrong), they gain points as if they got the question corect.
comments:
so i previously complained about going millionaire's quiz show where, although i really enjoyed the concept, it really struggled in divvying up screen time for each member and felt solely focused on each member in the hot seat. i am really surprised to see an episode that tackled this specific problem -- and even moreso, that this episode came before going millionaire; of course, i am talking about liar liar.
while the questions asked in this episode aren't really about seventeen (and likely one of the reasons why going millionaire was probably made), each one is tailored around each member in a way that's done really well. joshua getting away with back-to-back lying (even though i agree with dino in that his atm explanation was BS) allowed room for doubt since his questions were based on the fact that he's still more fluent in english than korean, keeping the tension up on both his side and on the side of every other member trying to determine whether or not he's lying. meanwhile, this format also allows for incredibly funny moments, like minghao's question being about the going seventeen theme song.
the format of the game, however, is extremely confusing and i don't blame soonyoung, seokmin, or minghao for each getting some part of the rules wrong at some point. my rule of thumb is to just go along with the rules because i'll get them eventually. on one hand, this is a pretty well structured game since, (spoilers) even those who got their question wrong immediately, like soonyoung and jeonghan, could still rise in the ranks by specifically being able to sus out wwhether or not someone is lying, and people who were really good at answering their trivia, like vernon and wonwoo, can fall pretty quickly if they aren't good at lying. it's a pretty fun format! as a nitpick, though, i straight up don't understand in any situation why you would lie and say you were wrong when you get the question correct. yeah, you could take away a single star from each of the opponents you fool, but the risk is just too high imo. again, nitpick.
ultimately though, with a game like this, the quieter members were able to shine a lot more when they’re in the hot-seat, which i really appreciated even if the one who really stood out for me (as a completely biased shushushu) was joshua. the members who are much more outgoing in other episodes seem to be more impulsive and thus are less helpful/skilled in games like this that require you to be more contemplative… but that’s where members like vernon, wonwoo, minghao really shine - ESPECIALLY vernon who was especially talkative this episode (while i’ve noticed he was very disengaged in the episodes i watched recently — grrreuk kak kak ttt and going rangers), so i’m glad he really shines here. (making me happy specifically bec he’s my 4th favorite member). however it even reveals more about the other members, for example, that hoshi and dk are way too trusting of other people. it's just a very well-thought-out episode.
ending my comments off i love seeing the return of mc jihoon! jihoon host is something ive shown love for before with lets go seventeen but im glad to see him doing it again here, especially since it's a much more serious setting than the others he has hosted. he's lots of fun ("... according to the image he has built in seventeen") and it’s much more funny when he cracks.
p.s. WHY THEY USING GOODNOTES FOR THE HOTSEAT?? DID THEY NOT HAVE THE BUDGET TO HIRE SOMEONE TO MAKE A MOCKUP ON FIGMA its a nitpick thing but this choice hurt my soul like it looks SO BAD
ranking:
concept: 8; pretty entertaining, and i love that, despite the questions not being seventeen specific, they are instead fitted to each member, which still recenters the episode around said members.
chemistry: 7; while not directly showcasing interactions between members (though we do see some working together, even if they weren't supposedd to ㅋㅋ), this episode focuses on giving all members time to answer questions, and, as such, reveals to us a lot about each member!
enjoyment: 8; 헐LL!! i was on the edge of my seat, but damn almost an hour for part 1 just to get through all 11 participants ;;
overall - 7.6/10