Tuesday, November 29, 2016

508 - Tears of the Polar Bear #1




Aired on: 26-11-2016
Guests: Yang Se-Hyung
AGB Nielsen Korea Rating (nationwide): 14.0%
- down 0.9% from last week
- 4.6% higher than the nearest variety competition (1.5% drop from last week)

Episode at a glance (minor spoilers):
The episode starts with a summary of the year's event, highlighting that visiting of the polar bears was the only challenge not yet completed. Two PDs who produced documentaries about the north and south poles were brought in to give them an understanding on polar bears, weather, etc.

Myung-soo was chosen to accompany Jung-ha for the trip. They first flew to Winnipeg, Canada where they visited the Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre which housed 7 polar bears.

Then then flew to Churchill and sat on a buggy to see if they can encounter a polar bear in the wild.

My Review (minor spoilers):
I really like how Infinite Challenge follow through on everything that they say, even if it sounds ridiculous at first, and then proceed with delivering subtle messages. Through the this polar bear special, we as viewers got to know how global warming is screwing with the ecosystem. We also got to know more about polar bears in general.

There are plenty of funny moments in the episode to ensure that viewers are not just loaded with information. Heck, even the 2 PDs and buggy guide were funny!

Backstory, Reference, Inside Jokes:
1) This special is made because of the "Letters of Fortune" special in Ep 464. In a gist, the members had to write letters earlier in the year and send to a mail that only posts out a year later. Jae-suk wrote a letter to Jun-ha saying that he enjoyed watching him interact with Polar Bears in 2016. 

2) Jae-suk wrote that because it became a running gag that Jun-ha had affinity with animals. In 2015, he was sent to Africa (Ep 430/431) to take care of elephants. His interaction with the elephant named "doto" was very well-received. He wrote a song with a line about doto and even became ambassador of Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation. He then visited "doto" again that was shown in Ep 441 and 445.

3) Myung-soo accompanies Jun-ha on both the trips to meet elephant and polar bears.

4) With the completion of this challenge, they have finally concluded the challenges that were mentioned in Ep 464. They were:
- Jae-suk to dance with Exo (Ep. 498)
- Myung-soo went back to "nature" and sat under a rainfall (Ep. 503)
- Jun-ha became a slave of Myung-soo (Ep. 503)
- Jun-ha rode one of the world's scariest roller coaster (Ep. 493)
- Jun-ha auditioned for Show Me The Money 5. (Ep. 472)












Entertainment Rating: 4.5/5
Meaningful Rating: 4/5 
Educational Rating: 5/5

Episode Rating: 8.5/10 
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2 comments:

  1. It must have taken a lot of time to look up all the past episode references. I love reading your posts because it gives me another perspective to think about. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your kind words! Your blog is informative as well!

    ReplyDelete