going seventeen | mousebusters
premise:
seventeen play an elaborate game of hide and seek/tag where the 96z (jun, hoshi, wonwoo, and woozi) are 'mice' that the rest of the group must catch. each mouse has a special ability!
comments:
this one actually has a special spot in my heart because it's one of the first going seventeen episodes i really remember watching when i was first getting back into seventeen - i remember watching all three episodes back to back in my home living room because you couldn't go out due to covid. i also remember this episode feeling like it took forever because it's three episodes long (i really thought it was just the concept that made it feel long, i didn't realize it's an extra part lol). anyway, it's probably because we can go outside now, but this episode doesn't feel as long for me.
it does feel particularly one-note though compared to other episodes including chases (i'm pretty sure it's the first one they did, not counting 'the tag' since the members aren't the ones doing the chasing in that episode). likely because of lockdown, the set they chose to do this game in is HUGE, so no wonder they had to eventually start revealing the mice's locations. however, i do like the moments of chasing that give us an opportunity to see how each member, especially the 96z, function. wonwoo is strategic and we get more gratuitous english. woozi prefers to hide out and remain on the low, away from direct conflict. hoshi is really frickin good at hiding and his downfall actually comes from the desire for screen time -- hoshi hiding out for 3 episodes straight just to get caught the second he leaves the episode (by running into the mousebusters' snack break no less?!) is certainly a highlight. a second highlight, of course, is jun's childishness as he plays this game, from "it was a lie!" to his maniacal laughing when he uses his jailbreak ability (giving even wonwoo second-hand embarrassment) to his immaturity in laying on his stomach so no one can color his belly -- i loved it! this is actually one of the best episodes for a jun fan -- he definitely feels in his element here.
but the silly thing is that aside from the few moments of jun having fun, i think my favorite part of this episode is actually the situations outside of the main mousebusting game. the elaborate intro for the mousebusters themselves, the ppt to introduce each of the mice (and minghao complaining he can't even see the ppt anyway because of the glare on the tv...), the making of the nicknames (i SERIOUSLY cannot choose a favorite one. i love each members' reactions, especially the foreshadowing of dokyeom's ("mr. bindaddeok"), the smash cut to dokyeom and vernon dancing as they decide mingyu's ("mr. balloon"), the recurring theme song from vernon's "mr. chew" nickname), and especially the ending to decide the spoilers punishment as they decide 1 member will be hit 4 times instead of each of the losing members getting hit once. the HARDEST i laughed in this episode is during the orange/grape game and the swiftness of AGAIN SPOILERS hoshi not even taking a SECOND to smash dokyeom's face with flour as he is declared the ultimate loser. EVEN THE WAY EACH OF THE 96Z THROW FLOUR IN DOKYEOM'S FACE IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THEIR PERSONALITIES!! I #LOVED IT
ranking:
concept: 6; dude it's like straight in the middle for me. the actual concept they wanted for this episode was kinda azz but everything AROUND it is golden.
chemistry: 8.5; especially for the 96z, but i think everyone gets a pretty good chance to show off their personality in this episode, and kinda their interactions with each other. also i lied my favorite part of this episode is when mingyu misses and throws water directly into seungcheol's face
enjoyment: 7.5; and i remember it being a bit of a 7.5 straight C grade when i first saw this episode, too
overall - 7.3/10