going seventeen | mystery mystery
premise:
seventeen play various chance-based games eating traditional korean food to celebrate the new year, including using a random utensil to eat japchae, eating jeon with a random ingredient mixed in, eating a meal under a certain decibel level, and drinking sikye that may or may not include salt or vinegar.
comments:
im ngl this is SUCHHHH a trippy episode to watch so many years later. it feels so old nowadays which is so weird to me because not only was mystery mystery the turning point for going seventeen in my head, where they adopted this new format of going seventeen (which, as i've stated, was something i clearly remembered as originating as a vlog series since i'm a fossil carat), but this new format is also what drew me back into ulting seventeen again after about a 2 year lag. so seeing this episode and having it feel ancient rather than new and refreshing is just kinda crazy.
but you can tell that the new going seventeen format was definitely new here -- it truly feels barebones. they have four different games rolled into one under the little "food roulette" theme and they kinda just threw everything at the wall to see what stuck. however, getting to the ending where the "mister lee mister lee" theme was teased, with spoilers dokyeom's choices being the luckiest ones everytime due to this being HIS monthly seventeen episode (even if the plan backfired) really stuck out and is sort of a teaser to how going seventeen kinda goes above typical kpop variety shows in my mind -- the production here just goes above and beyond to make the show entertaining even after the surface level "here's the kpop group you like in a wacky situation." the plot twist here is pretty harmless and really heartwarming, and i think this being the first episode of going seventeen AND having that element really set a great precedent for the webseries to come.
speaking of that mister lee mister lee reveal, the editing here is still great despite it feeling pretty lowkey compared to episodes to come. don't get me wrong - the production here is actually kinda crazy for the first episode of monthly seventeen (the JEON BEING COOKED ON THE SPOT DEPENDING ON WHICH INGREDIENT THEY GOT?? and the SHEER AMOUNT OF SIKHYES??). but you compare this to an episode like don't lie ii that came out in the same year and is much more embellished with sound effects and music, and it just seems pretty simple in comparison. even still, the editing is phenomenal in how much it elevates the visual comedy and the narrative of the episode. i've spoken about how don't lie ii is the standard for creating narratives within episodes, but i like the sweet little montage of the mister lee mister lee reveal falling apart, like with dokyeom panicking realizing that he forgot which sikhye was which, his genuine surprise at getting a bad ingredient for the jeon, and his accidental slip of the tongue for the mister lee mister lee pun were just hilarious. even still, sprinkled throughout the episode are these adorable little quirks, like the 마늘 flying out of seungkwan's mouth at dokyeom's request, the "hey josh" subtitle whenever dokyeom would silently signal to joshua, or the subtitles communicating minghao's thoughts in his head during the decibel challenge. they're so sweet and full of personality!! it's certainly the simple things like these that i miss about going seventeen's editing (the most recent example i can actually remember is probably the my grandiose dreams callback in going rangers, but i'm unreliable since i've been hopping around years while ranking each of these episodes.
all in all a pretty good first swing at this new concept, and i do hope dokyeom gets that season 2 he's been begging for in white zone!
ranking:
concept: 8.5; not bad! it gets old after a while and after seeing every member repeat the same short game, but i feel like the reveal at the end actually elevated it a lot.
chemistry: 7; it's cute, but i wouldn't say it shows off chemistry very much.
enjoyment: 8; i don't think i ever watched this episode to the very end before. i wish i had!
overall - 7.8/10