going seventeen | red ball, blue ball
premise:
seventeen are given a prisoner's dilemma style game with real money as a prize for the winner! however, whether or not they get to walk home with any money is dependent on their desire to win and their trust in one another ...
comments:
i'm super pleased with how going seventeen has been going this year simply because of how many complaints i had from last season ... now this one is a real nail-biter!
we kick the episode off with the members who tend to get less screentime specifically highlighted and put front-and-center. joshua "did nothing" last episode in no rules (literally seventeen's words, not mine), jun is naturally super quiet, and vernon is notoriously not built for the variety show format, so of course they're the ones that the other members prompt to introduce and host the first part of the game. and i really appreciated that! it was really sweet and makes up for the problem i keep stating of certain concepts just not being enough to highlight certain members.
for as much as i complain that certain games aren't able to balance showing off individual personalities with team dynamics, i think this episode really disproved my belief and showed me that an episode can pull off both. moving from an individual game to a unit game to a full group game, essentially a monetary trust fall, is genius, especially as you get to watch certain members backstab each other, with those same decisions coming back to haunt them in the end, and, for others, friendship prevailing. a real highlight is seeing vernon, minghao, and jun teaming up -- arguably the members with the LEAST AMOUNT OF SCREENTIME -- and not only being able to acknowledge that (and make a whole-hearted attempt at gaining more screentime, especially as their shared-quiet-energies synergize together to make the ultimate lack of screentime), but also become memorable by just how similarly the three of them think alike certainly made for a highlight of the episode. the sly introduction of the staff of the green ball to further emphasize the lack of trust, every-man-for-himself, or, alternatively, brotherly bond between the svt members? genius. just such a fun episode and concept -- and i honestly think it's done so well here that they shouldn't bring it back, no matter how fun it would be to watch seungcheol, jeonghan, wonwoo, hoshi, and woozi participate in this game. i think they knocked it out of the park first try.
ranking:
concept: 8; simple game, but sometimes simple is best.
chemistry: 10; thank you simple game
enjoyment: 9; nothing but bangers this year so far!
overall - 9/10