Infinite Challenge 388 – Speed Racer #6 Final Race / Emergency Crisis Response Headquarters
Aired: 7/19/2014
Overview
The racing project concludes with the actual event, and Park Myung Soo comes under fire in the MuDo emergency crisis center.
Staff Scores
Planning and Direction: 6
Very similar to last week’s episode in style and content, which makes sense as they were likely shot and edited simultaneously. Plenty of good racing footage mixed in with reaction or conversation shots, and well edited to heighten the tension as much as possible. The Crisis HQ segment was very basic, but fine.
Postproduction: 7
Again, similarly good to last week’s episode, lots of helpful graphics and useful captions, and unobtrusive background music for the most part.
Music featured:
None
Cast Scores
Yoo Jae Suk : 7
Again, Jae Suk did not really actively do much per se, but nevertheless contributed the bulk of the emotional content for the project’s conclusion. While other members seemed to be taking things relatively well, the internal and external pressures surrounding the show for the duration of this project seemed to sincerely affect Jae Suk, which indicates just how much he actually does care about it.
Park Myung Soo: 4
Almost could have gotten an even lower score, as he was a non-factor during the racing segment. However, having the final segment dedicated to him helped out a bit, even though he didn’t do anything too special there either.
Jung Jun Ha: 4
Although he was one of the key characters going in, Jun Ha really did not leave much of an impact on the final episode. He took his misfortune rather well, which is good for him but doesn’t make for great viewing. However, his performance was possibly hampered by the fact that he seemed to be on emotional damage control for the other members for much of the episode.
Jung Hyung Don: 4
Not bad, but had a limited role and seemed a bit withdrawn once things went sour for the team.
Ha Ha: 6
HaHa was good again this week, showing good reactions from the peanut gallery and doing a good job at conveying his emotions about the race. While in many ways HaHa is very much a variety ‘kiddy’, he seems to have a real knack for performing under pressure and some natural leadership skills, so his result was extra unfortunate.
No Hong Chul: 6
Similar to HaHa, Hong Chul did a very good job at conveying his mixed emotions about the race, particularly early on when his participation was questionable. Also, he made more of an effort to think aloud while actually racing, which really helped to bring the viewer into his mindset during the heat of the action.
Guests
None, other than the usual racing arc people.
Episode MVP: Yoo Jae Suk
Almost identical to last week’s episode where Jae Suk’s emotional reactions were the core of the show, but it was doubly so this week. It seemed as if he more than anyone else really felt like this could be the long-term project where they might actually do well, so to see everyone fail to complete the race really affected him, especially considering all of the troubles the show had endured during this project. He was good during the Myung Soo interrogation as well, leading the kangaroo court with aplomb.
Final Score: 7
Another tightly edited, action-packed episode with plenty of drama, although somewhat limited in narrative scope by just how quickly everyone was knocked out of the race. The Crisis HQ segment and punishment was just time-filler and seemed a bit disjointed when compared with the seriousness of the racing finale, but the episode mostly delivered – even if it didn’t manage to reach the heights of previous long-term project conclusions.
