Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

After SBS sold the rights to China, they have a hand in co-producing the Chinese version of Running Man, Run Brother (aka Hurry Up, Brother!), with television broadcast channel, Zhejiang Television. The first episode aired on October 10th. I feel the need to state this clearly because reading the unpleasant comments on youtube was not fun. Let’s practice being kind and understanding before throwing out careless and hurtful words, shall we?

Meet the main members of Run, Brother below.

 photo ACT1.jpg

 photo ACT2.jpg

 photo ACT3.jpg

 photo ACT4.jpg

Another thing I’d like to address: These chosen cast members are not comedians or TV hosts. I don’t expect them to create humor out of thin air like what we see in Running Man, which is led by the national MC (and a genius, I might add) Yoo Jae Suk, who can make a lump of coal interesting. They cater to Chinese audience and as long as they’re having fun and the ratings are doing well, I think they are satisfied. We need not be harsh.

Run, Brother Episode 1 RECAP:

The cast gathers around for a drink before lifting the veil and discovering the missing treasure, a white snake jade. Drama fans will recognize this legend for we have many TV versions to watch. To help them find the treasure, the guests for this episodes are actress Ma Su (The Bride with White Hair) and young actor, Shawn Dou (Under the Hawthorn Tree.) Nine people are split into three teams and the missions begin tomorrow morning!

 photo RM1-1.jpg

 photo RM1-2.jpg

Next morning the members arrive at a massive park and they gasp at the scene before their eyes. Hundreds of middle-aged women lightly dancing in the middle of the park. When the music stops, the women pull out small pieces of….acupressure mat and assemble them into a running trail with obstacles here and there.

 photo RM1-5.jpg
 photo RM1-4.jpg photo RM1-6.jpg

First mission: Finish running the acupressure mat within 90 seconds.

Red team challenges first. Oh gosh, despite his advantage of being young and relatively athletic, Shawn is clumsy, he falls over the second human hurdle and stands there, waiting for permission to go on. Then he hurries off to tackle jump rope just to find the rope still untangled. Lol. The yellow team laughs and Deng Chao jokes, “I’m the one who tied the knot.”

 photo RM1-7.jpg

 photo RM1-8.jpg

Bao Qiang loses patience and starts bowing on the floor to rush the youth. The female actresses are much more understanding towards the handsome lad and encourage him from the sideline. Once the baton is handed to Bao Qiang, he flits off in a second to crawl through the rings and jumps like a rabbit over the poles. For those who don’t know, he studied at a Shaolin Temple when he was younger and does know Martial Arts.

 photo RM1-10.jpg

He hands the baton to tiny Wong Cho Lam, whose face becomes a horrifying mask when a chubby woman blocks his path wearing a shirt that says, “Carry me.” Everyone watches in absolute hysterical laughter.

 photo RM1-11.jpg

Upon reaching the last obstacle, Wong Cho Lam jumps up without thinking about the height of the dangling candy and misses the bar completely. Lol. He tries again and again while the cast, the production crews, and the bystanders just roll on their stomach.

 photo RM1-12.jpg
 photo RM1-13.jpg photo RM1-14.jpg

When time’s up, Cho Lam bellows, “Can’t you lower the bar?”

PD: “But the height is the same for everyone.”

Cho Lam: “But my height is different from everyone!” LOL!

 photo RM1-15.jpg

Determined to grab the bar, Cho Lam has a practice round in which everyone watches with bated breath for him to reach his dream – the bar. He does and it’s cute how Shawn comes under and carries Cho Lam away on his shoulders. Aww.

 photo RM1-17.jpg

 photo RM1-18.jpg

 photo RM1-19.jpg

Yellow team challenges next and Deng Chao is a much faster runner than Shawn, though he slows down towards the last leg and Ma Su fares pretty well when she slides under the rings.

 photo RM1-20.jpg

 photo RM1-22.jpg

The muscle of the group, Jerry’s jaw drops when it’s his turn to finish and another lady interrupts his path wearing the same shirt, “Please carry me!” Though he struggles a bit, it’s fairly easy for him to reach the bar and bite the snack off. Their time = 128 seconds. Fail.

 photo RM1-23.jpg

Blue team begins the run with Ryan. The whole time he’s running, Angelababy cheers loudly by the sideline, “Jia You! Jia You! Jia You!” When it’s her turn, she proves to be more speedy than the rest when moving beneath the rings.

 photo RM1-25.jpg

 photo RM1-26.jpg

Last member of the blue team is Michael. He’s the sleazy-looking male lead in that adorable-looking Cdrama I wrote about, Love is Back. Like the previous contenders, he screams in agony when carrying the lady. Unfortunately, they clock in 98 seconds. Fail.

 photo RM1-27.jpg

Before the second trial begins, Angelababy (can I just call her Angela from now on? Calling her baby like the cast is weird!) asks Michael to hop on her and she carries him for a short distance, “Even I walk faster than you!” heh.

 photo RM1-29.jpg

Second time for yellow team and they score 86 seconds. Pass! Red Team follows suit and Cho Lam correctly guesses the amount of time they used! 72 seconds! Blue Team is last and receives no hints at all to cracking the 4-digit passcode.

 photo RM1-30.jpg
 photo RM1-31.jpg photo RM1-32.jpg

Next mission, using a huge blue drape to cover the punishment act (flying chair) and beautiful waitresses to distract the members, of course they will fail to remember the order in which the food plates were placed down. I love that they don’t understand the correlation between the food and the flying chairs and we get a footage from Running Man with Kim Hubby’s rapping pose in the air. Lol.

 photo RM1-33.jpg

 photo RM1-34.jpg

Deng Chao: “Do you expect us to eat and jump [in the pool]?” 😛

When the PD clarifies that it’s only 1.6 meters deep. Wong Cho Lam is exasperated, “ONLY 1.6m? I’m not even 1.6 meters tall!” Cutie dimple-faced Bao Qiang puts an arm over Cho Lam’s shoulder and claims, “Don’t worry, you’re not short! We will be brothers forever!”

 photo RM1-36.jpg

 photo RM1-37.jpg

Members’ reaction to the mission card:

 photo RM1-38.jpg

 photo RM1-39.jpg

 photo RM1-40.jpg

Ma Su gets it wrong, of course. Bye Bye to Deng Chao and Jerry.

 photo RM1-43.jpg

 photo RM1-42.jpg

Red Team’s turn, Shawn is the food-picker, while Wong Cho Lam strikes a pose in the back to look cool while flying. You look like a dork! When they go flying, Yellow Team looks the happiest. LOL

 photo RM1-46.jpg

 photo RM1-47.jpg

 photo RM1-48.jpg

Blue Team. Angela wants to cry and Ryan is the second chair sitter while Michael puts on a sleazy display when he bites the roll of food. This man! XD The boys offer their hand to support her trembling nerves but she refuses to touch them (why would she, she has Huang Xiao Ming to calm her nerves later!)

 photo RM1-49.jpg

 photo RM1-51.jpg

 photo RM1-54.jpg

The second time, Mr. PD changes the rule. Once they pick up the wrong food, the members will go flying immediately. This helps the other teams guess the correct order faster.

When it’s the Red Team’s turn, Michael interferes and suggests the order for them. “If it’s wrong, I’ll jump in the pool 100 times!” Of he’s wrong, so the male members from three teams pull him back and watch him jump into the pool.

 photo RM1-56.jpg

Blue Team re-challenges and Angela places food on her roll at rapid speed. Ryan’s face cracks me up. He goes flying solo since he’s the only one in the chair but Michael jumps in manually.

 photo RM1-57.jpg

Having watched the other team fail repeatedly, the smart yellow team has an idea of the order and they do win first place again. Too happy to care, they jump in the water to celebrate, and the only one left on the platform is Angela, smiling and declaring, “I win.”

 photo RM1-58.jpg

 photo RM1-59.jpg

haha. During the drive to the next location, Bao Qiang complains to his team, “What kind of game is this, using beautiful waitresses to distract us!?” Wong Cho Lam: “But I remember the name of the waitress.” Lol.

Next game is held in the center of a beautiful lake. The members gawk and Angela cries out, “I just took a shower and we’re going into the water again!”

 photo RM1-61.jpg

But dang, it is gorgeous. I don’t think I can focus on the mission in such scenery. Ah~

 photo RM1-67.jpg

Snapping back to reality, the members take off and the fastest team gets to decide which item to use in place of ping pong rackets.

Bao Qing and Jerry are the fastest but somehow Bao Qiang misses his foot and ends up straight in the lake! I gasp out loud but thankfully, the ever gentleman Deng Chao immediately climbs to the edge to fish him out with Ma Su and Shawn beside him.

 photo RM1-63.jpg

 photo RM1-64.jpg

 photo RM1-66.jpg

Winner of Ping Pong on West Lake goes to blue team, thanks to Ryan’s magnificent skills.

 photo RM1-70.jpg
 photo RM1-71.jpg photo RM1-76.jpg

Last mission, finding the passcode in cases that are scattered throughout the Chinese Arts Academy building. There’s a catch of course, there are more fake cases than real ones.

But the real threat of this mission? A muscular man wearing a bell on his shoe looms over the players without their knowledge. Please welcome Sparta! Kim Jong Kook! Here to eliminate the members before they find the passcode and retrieve the treasure.

 photo RM1-85.jpg

Deng Chao finds so many cases but his face says it all: FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! 😛 Followed by Ryan and Wong Cho Lam.

 photo RM1-78.jpg

 photo RM1-79.jpg

 photo RM1-80.jpg

Angela finds one up in the window and has to act cute to get her VJ for help.

 photo RM1-81.jpg

Deng Chao and Bao Qiang crack up when they find out each other’s countless cases are all blank. Lol.

 photo RM1-82.jpg

 photo RM1-83.jpg

First person to meet Sparta without being found is Deng Chao. He has done his homework and recognizes Kim Jong Kook instantly.

 photo RM1-86.jpg

Upon hearing the bell sounds, Bao Qiang hops into an open window space and it’s hilarious how he has three people filming him! And each of them has to climb up too.

 photo RM1-84.jpg

First person to experience Sparta’s immense strength is Ryan. Lol@ the two exchanging hellos (Ni Hao! Ni Hao!) while Sparta already rips half of Ryan’s shirt. After all is said and none, Ryan says in English, “It’s okay.” Sparta: “Sorry man, please don’t hate me. Jail is really comfortable man.”He sounds sexy in English. But I do prefer his soft, gentle, korean-speaking tone. Ryan: “Don’t meet me anymore. Find someone else.” haha!

 photo RM1-87.jpg

 photo RM1-88.jpg

Naive youth, Shawn, approaches the suspicious corner like this. Gosh. He’s so silly! The cameramen are standing right there dummy, they can’t be filming the wall right?! Run the other way! There’s no cookie here, hon!

 photo RM1-90.jpg

Trapped against a wall, Shawn finally sees who it is. “Oh my god. Jong Kook Ge!” Jong Kook: “Did you know that I’m here?” Shawn: “I didn’t know you were here, it was a surprise!” Kookie: “Oh really? See you later!” All in English. Aw. They are so cute hugging each other again and again.

 photo RM1-91.jpg

LOL! The difference in reaction. Ma Su needs help to reach up to another suitcase but the cameramen don’t budge. She meets Sparta a few minutes later and he’s surprised too, whispering “Oh….a female…” We know what’s gonna happen right? 😛

 photo RM1-92.jpg

The same thing that always happens of course! No matter where he is, Sparta’s weakness is women. Awkward moment. He doesn’t know what to do and looks at the crew for advice. Deng Chao follows the commotion and tries to help but Sparta is rooted next to Ma Su. hahah XD So funny. He says sorry and rips off her nametag while she screams, “Run away!! Run away!! The bell person is on the first floor.”

 photo RM1-94.jpg

 photo RM1-95.jpg

Bao Qiang is the most adorable man in his thirties. He becomes a baby when faced with muscular Sparta. They shake hands and he just smiles showing those cute dimples and wrinkles. 😀 Then he tries to sneak past Jong Kook and gets eliminated….gently. I think Jong Kook likes him too. He has that likable factor down 100%!

 photo RM1-99.jpg

 photo RM1-98.jpg

Yellow team finds 3 of 4 numbers to crack the code. Wandering in the hallway is Ryan! What? Turns out Michael hurt himself during the Ping Pong game and his nametag is given to Ryan, so he has two lives too spare. I love how it’s just his luck to bump into Sparta again and they exchange a few sentences in English to clarify what happened. The whole time Jong Kook has his hand gripped on Ryan’s shirt. Ryan: “No, no, take it easy man!” Then he comes up with a plan. A round of rock-paper-scissor and if he wins, he gets a 3-seconds lead  to escape. Too bad he picks rock and gets turned against the wall and ousted within a flash.

 photo RM1-101.jpg

 photo RM1-102.jpg

Next to visit jail is Wong Cho Lam. He keeps asking questions about Korea and Sparta looks to be on his last strand of patience. How he manages to look so pitiful during elimination is difficult to pull off. Sparta basically flips and rolls him backwards cause he’s like a frog, hopping and scrawling on his back. Gotta give props to him for putting up a decent fight despite his small frame!

 photo RM1-104.jpg

When Sparta loses his patience, he jerks Cho Lam’s body up in the air and rips off the nametag. He wants to leave but Cho Lam’s frozen body makes him feel guilty so he comes back to make sure he’s okay. Aww. <3

 photo RM1-105.jpg

Deng Chao reunites with fellow team member, Jerry, and reveals to him that the last clue (number) is under Jong Kook’s nametag, so they need to team up and eliminate the powerful opponent. Confidently, they go around the academy screaming for Kim Jong Kook!

 photo RM1-106.jpg

Sparta hides and launches at them for a surprise attack but good reflexes save the men from immediate death. Jong Kook to Jerry, “You work out?” Jerry: “Yea.”

 photo RM1-107.jpg

 photo RM1-108.jpg

While Deng Chao acts more like a monkey, Jerry is the forceful and direct one in attacking Sparta and tearing his shirt. hehe. Sparta’s embarrassed smile as he glances towards the crew. The game begins again after he’s changed into a red shirt.

 photo RM1-110.jpg

In a second, he grabs onto Jerry’s back but Deng Chao is arm’s length away and Jerry is now sprawled on the ground so Kookie rips Deng Chao’s nametag first. Within that second, Jerry hops up and rips Kookie’s name tag. Intense fight. Kookie is definitely the stronger and smarter player but his moment of distraction gave Jerry the opportunity to attack. Excited to win over such a strong opponent, Jerry rips his own shirt.

 photo RM1-114.jpg

 photo RM1-115.jpg

 photo RM1-119.jpg

I like the cast, especially Wang Bao Qiang and his likable persona, that can only enhance his value in a variety show. Then there’s Deng Chao, who I have seen before in dramas but do not follow enough to recognize him. He’s indeed the main player, very caring and a gentleman (I find it sweet he opened doors for Ma Su whenever they got into a car.) If you recall, we first met Ryan Zheng as the male lead in Love At Second Sight with Rainie Yang and we weren’t really receptive to his older-than-age appearance. It’s a good thing that he has charisma in motion and I’ve grown to like him. (He’s gonna romance Zhao Li Ying next, and approval is in order. Lol.) Michael Chen didn’t really do anything this episode and I noticed that he liked to lie down a lot. Wong Cho Lam, a script-writer, a tv host, and a funnyman, put his best foot forward in this episode and I’m proud of him. Angelababy made a good decision to join this show because I usually see her as a walking barbie doll devoid of emotion. She’s bubbly and upfront here and that’s a good sign. Last member and looks to be the strongest one, Jerry Lee. I haven’t warmed up to him yet, he played pretty rough and can be pretty competitive without being mindful of his strength.

 photo RM1-121.jpg

  1. 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

    ya, those comments are plain rude and mean. i thought i was mean but i wouldn’t go as far as insulting the people of a nation over a variety show. i thought running man fans were better than this!!

    shawn is so clumsy here….lol. wasn’t he filming that bicycle movie you wrote about months before? i need to have siwon and eddie on here STATS.

    is it weird for me to call Wang Bao Qiang cute? he’s so much more older. LOL! sparta’s abs look so much bigger and glossy in today’s episode. i was surprised at his english!!! 😀

    thanks for the recap. i know it takes a longgggggggggggg time to write it. no one cares but i do! props!

    • 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

      Agreed. Eddie needs to come on. Hes much more athletic than Shawn and I want to see his tv personality!

      Ryan should invite Zhao Li Ying and her Chen Xiao. 😀

      • 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

        LOL!!! you changed your avie to MY MAN!! HOW COULD YOU!!! I called him first. 😀

        YES! bring chen xiao, zhao li ying, and all the hot boys. lol

        how come no one is in the comment section?!! they all hate this version or what? i agree that the cast isn’t as funny as the korean version but they are actors, not full-fleshed tv hosts. YJS is a genius!! 🙂

      • 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

        Frea, you need to get into the game first to call dibs. LOL! Ahem, about time you start up a gravatar… frea!

        I’m tuckered out. My nieces and nephews owe me candy. LOL! Or else, I’m gonna go all Jimmy Kimmel on them this year. Mwahaha!!

        I need to watch this first before starting a snark.

        • 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

          what game!!! i call dibs!! dibs are dibs!! lol.

  2. 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

    Thank-you for the recap!! You deserve more love honestly. I have tried a hand at recaping an it took forever for a show thats only half an hour.

    I was surprised at the bashing too. If you have to drag whole nation to prove something, then its invalid in my book.

    I do wonder why they chose all actors for a.variety show though. Is there no famous mcs or comedians in China?

  3. 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

    Wong Cho Lam is the only comedian there

  4. 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

    They should’ve include more athletic/sporty and cute actors from CN/TW/HK such as Eddie, Bosco, Yuan Hong etc

  5. 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

    Sorry Frea! I might not have been there when you claimed him. But I didn’t CLAIM him. I merely want to BE HIM. FASTEST WOMAN ALIVE! 😛

    Angel, I was actually surprised they didn’t invite more comedians to join the show. Wong Cho Lam is hardly the type to create humor out of the thin air. He is witty though but it hasn’t shown yet. I don’t follow Chinese Varieties mainly because there is no subtitles, so I’m not sure about popular comedians.

    Lassie, they are definitely weaker in terms giving each person a role to play. And yes, beside the handsome guest Shawn, the others are more mature and less appropriate to be placed in the pretty boy category. Lol.

    I’m sure the pretty boys will come on as guests soon, since we have Lin Gen Xin in the upcoming rounds.

  6. 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

    I started to watch this while I was in china last week, I thought I was pretty funny. I didn’t watch the Korean version so I guess I didn’t have anythi

  7. 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

    My phone needs to stop deciding when I am done writing

  8. 12 thoughts on “Run, Brother: Episode 1 “Having fun.”

    Wong Cho Lam is not a comedian but he has done lots of comedic shows. Most of the tv shows that he is in are comedies. I am not familiar with all the other members but wong cho lam would definitely make the show interesting and funny. Angelababy is a model turned actress. I feel that she is on the delicate side with an image to keep. I don’t think she can be as fierce as ji hyo and go all out like ji hyo does. Hope this show can be as interesting as the korean version.

Comments are closed.