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be-netz · 2 years

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— NOW PLAYING: NEXT GEN EPISODE 3

the show opens with a recap of the previous episode with RHEE JIAN smiling to the camera as she announces today’s mission: “we want to test how you work together in a team,” she says as the camera pans over the group of contestants hanging onto her every word. “our judges have split you into six groups based on what they feel your strongest skill is with two teams of the same skill going head to head.” one by one, each team is introduced to the audience. dance team a, the captions read, as images of hwang bada, moon jinyoung, and lee noel line up side by side, properly labeled. the screen changes after a few seconds to introduce their rivals, dance team b; yeom sarang, park steven, moon saea, and matthew luong’s images lined up side by side like the team before them. this repeats for the singing team and rapping team until all groups have been refreshed in the public’s mind.

“this evaluation will be our first elimination round,” the background music changes suddenly as jian announces the more serious part of the episode. “the winning team of each battle will be safe from elimination while the losing team will risk sending some of their members home,” the camera zooms in on the faces of some of the contestants who haven’t been fairing as well in the competition so far; noel, stevie, and wonjae in particular are singled out for being in the lowest ranks as of last episode.

“good luck to all of our contestants! remember, we’re looking at you to be the next generation of kpop. show us that you can shine!” jian’s smile lights up the screen one more time before the NEXT GEN logo and title card takes over, a triumphant arrangement of my turn growing louder in volume as if in celebration of the first battle and elimination round of the competition.

the first teams to perform are the vocal units. quick clips are shown of each team preparing for their turn on stage; the camera zooms in on haein’s hand gripping her microphone tight, an exaggerated soundbite of her sighing heard, renyi’s anxious scowl as he waits backstage, seojun fiddling with his in-ear mic with equally sweaty, nervous hands, and joomi taking a long breath as he and his team approach the stage.

earlier that week… the scene changes abruptly to the practice rooms and the contestants, now in regular training gear and none of the stage outfits briefly shown before.

SINGING TEAM A is the first focus and scenes of the team learning their song, their lines, and practicing together play out over the screen. the quartet seem to get along well and the atmosphere generally seems good among the teammates. it’s clear that CHO HANEUL has taken on a leadership role among the team.

“how does your mind come up with the harmonies?” SATO KOU asks during rehearsal together as they review the arrangement of the song. “i honestly couldn’t even think of that. i could learn so much from you.” haneul, ever so humble, simply laughs off the compliment.

kou isn’t the only one who acknowledges haneul’s skill and expertise. LEE SEOJUN is shown in the interview room, a fond smile on his face as he talks about his friend. “i don’t think i would have gotten better without him,” he says, “thank you, hannie,”

haneul’s own interview is shown a moment later, the man in question shooting a finger heart at the camera. “i’m really happy with how everything turned out with this team,” his voice is heard over scenes of the contestants working together, rehearsing, and practicing their song until it is perfection.

the preparations aren’t entirely without hiccups, though. JUNG JOOMI is stopped by haneul with a proposition: “i think you should take my high note,” haneul says. joomi doesn’t seem excited at first; if anything, he looks uncomfortable and unsure of the change. “i’ve been thinking about it and i think your vocal color will be better for the song than mine,” haneul continues to explain.

a scene plays of all four contestants in the practice room, each one trying the high note one by one. of course, the editors make sure to put joomi and haneul’s attempts back to back. they both hit it, joomi perhaps a little surprised by his own attempt and his voice setting a slightly different tone compared to haneul’s. it’s true; joomi sounds good. with some convincing from haneul, joomi eventually agrees to do it.

“i was really afraid of weighing them down,” joomi speaks to the cameras in the interview room, “but they kinda didn’t let me do that. they helped me a lot.”

will joomi be able to handle the high note? the captions build some suspense as the scene shifts to performance day. three judges sit behind an elevated desk in front of the stage, hands clasped in front of them as they eagerly anticipate the first performance of the day. the shot of joomi’s long breath is seen again, then a shot of kou doing the same as they find their places on stage. only haneul doesn’t look nervous, at least in comparison to the rest of his team.

it’s clear that the experience and ability among singing team a paid off. their performance goes off without a hitch, each member successfully hitting their high notes, holding their own in the harmonies, and even looking like they enjoy the stage as they sing for the judges before them. perhaps it’s a bit mesmerizing to watch four young men who so clearly were born to perform own the stage.

there’s quiet as the judges collect their thoughts and prepare to give their evaluations on the performance.

YOON JIHUN is the first to speak, picking up his microphone and starting with congratulations, “this was a fantastic performance,” he says. the man who has kept compliments rather sparse throughout this competition now openly praises the group before him. “this is exactly what we were hoping to see through these teamwork evaluations. it’s clear that you’re all capable singers but no one contestant outshown another, nor did anyone lag behind. you all complimented and balanced each other very well and for that, i applaud you.”

“joomi,” SEO RAN picks up her microphone next, smiling to the boys, “it’s only been a short time but you continue to improve with every performance. it’s been amazing to see you come into your own over these weeks and we’re excited to see how you continue to develop. kou, on the other hand,” she hesitates, choosing her words carefully. “as jihun said, everyone did well with this performance. it’s not that you did bad, kou. but in comparison to the rest of your team, your progress seems a bit… stale. i was hoping to see a new side of you this round or to be surprised somehow and i didn’t get that.”

“haneul, seojun, i want to be sure to congratulate both of you on your performance as well,” YUNA takes over, smiling kindly to the other boys. “i know from personal experience that sometimes working with your best friend can create… conflict that you never imagined would happen. i’m glad to see that not only are you two able to work together well professionally, but your personal relationship doesn’t seem to have suffered at all for it. keep ahold of that; it’s rare to find lifelong friends.”

“as soon as i got on the stage, i gave it my all,” seojun says in the interview room, “i took everything i learned within this short amount of time and made sure that i brought it out there.”

“they were good,” ran says again to her fellow judges, who nod their agreement. it’s clear that singing team b has a hard act to follow.

the scene changes to SINGING TEAM B’s practice room, the trio of singers working together to learn the song and perfect the harmonies and high notes that come with it. OH HAEIN becomes a particular target of the camera as she seems to struggle with the song. she’s working with ZHOU RENYI who can’t hide his expression when poor haein’s voice warbles in ways it probably shouldn’t for this song. “you’re flat,” he tells her in english, though subtitles are available for anyone who may not understand.

haein’s clearly flustered by this, hiding her face in her lyric sheet as she can’t help but laugh in embarrassment. is she laughing or crying? the captions question and suddenly it’s unclear just what is going on behind the paper she shields her face with.

she’s practicing again with PARK DOHYUN at a later time, still trying to hit her harmonies on-pitch when singing with the boys. again, it seems to be a struggle. dohyun is kind about it though. “i'm still having a little trouble with getting the rap part smooth,” he offers as if to help the girl feel less alone. instead, the scene changes to all the times dohyun has practiced that part, specifically how many times he hasn’t completed it successfully. things are not looking good for team b.

“i'm not gonna come out and say i'm feeling overly confident,” ren says in his interview room. a clip of haein’s flat vocals plays again as the team rehearses again and again. “it's one thing if i go home, but i wouldn't want to take anyone with me.”

haein appears in the interview room next. “ren was really fair with the line distribution and honest with feedback, and dohyun was literally always there whenever i needed help. i think us working well together during preparation was a sign that we would sound well together on stage…” the scene changes as her voice trails off, whatever thought she was about to say next left incomplete as the group stands on stage in front of the judges.

the music starts. the three contestants begin their performance.

all goes well at first; the harmonies that gave haein so much trouble seem to go off without a hitch and ren and dohyun’s voices are stable throughout. however, part way through the performance, there’s a random fluke; haein’s voice cracks. of course the production team picks up on the mistake, freezing everything and stopping all of the music to draw attention to the little error.

“her voice cracked,” ren’s voice sounds as the camera zooms in close on haein’s face, looking for her reaction to her own mistake. she keeps singing, though; powering through until they reach the end of the performance.

before the judges have a chance to give their feedback, the scene changes to haein in the interview room. a tear runs down her face which she wipes away quickly and tries to hide, forcing a smile onto her face. "i'm just really sorry to my team members, more than anything,” she says.

the judges’ faces range from disappointed, to concerned, to somewhat bored looking. it’s yuna who speaks first this time. “before we talk about anything else, i do want to say that you all did a great job preparing for this performance. we check in with the coaches working with you fairly regularly and it was great to hear that both vocal teams were so supportive of their groups and got along so well. it gives us all a lot of hope for the future trainees of our companies,”

“that said,” she continues, “it was not a perfect performance. it’s disappointing since i was enjoying everything until… well, haein, you know,” of course the mistake didn’t slip past the professionals. yuna smies sympathetically. “i do applaud you for continuing to sing despite the crack. it can be very difficult to move on when something like that rattles you.”

“i’m sure you know that we can’t only applaud your recovery, though,” jihun, as sharp as ever, cuts in next. “it was your responsibility to rehearse this song, learn it inside and out, and protect your voice from injury that would cause such a mistake to happen. every issue is preventable with enough practice. i’m sorry to say that it wasn’t the case for you today, haein.”

ran frowns at her fellow judge, apparently not happy with the harshness of his words. “i think we should take a moment to appreciate renyi and dohyun as well. you both did a fantastic job,” she looks the boys in the eyes, her words genuine, “both in your performances and in supporting your teammate. ren, i feel like we got to see a more emotional side of you than we’ve been able to see so far and i’d love to see this continue to grow.”

one more clip of haein crying in the interview room is shown, sad music playing over her single tear, before the scene once again changes. both teams now stand on the stage, jian standing between them with a cue card in her hand. “i have the results of the battle here,” she explains to both teams. “the winning team will be immune from elimination. unfortunately, one member of the losing team will be removed from the competition and sent home.”

both teams are lit up in bright white spotlights, intense music playing behind them as jian opens the card to see the judges’ verdict. “i’m happy to congratulate the winning team,” she begins to announce and the cameras zoom in on the faces of each team, one by one, as the results are delayed as long as possible.

“TEAM A,” she finally announces and the lights change, team b doused in red light and team a remaining in bright white. time is given for cheers and congratulations among the winning teammates before they’re asked to leave the stage. an elimination must be made from team b.

again, closeups of each teammate’s face are shown as judgment day is upon them. no one ever wants to be eliminated in a competition.

“i want to tell you all again that i truly enjoyed your performance,” yuna speaks to the losing team, one hand on her chest to express her sincerity. “however, team a was more technically correct and put on a stronger overall performance.”

“today’s first elimination,” jihun speaks slowly and the cameras pan across the faces of team b again, building suspense, “i’m sorry to announce… is OH HAEIN.”

“haein, i’m really sorry that your journey had to be cut short like this. you’re a very talented young woman and we so enjoyed watching your growth in the short time we had to know you,” ran speaks to the eliminated contestant, “i hope that our paths will cross again someday.”

time is given for haein to say goodbye to her teammates and friends, tears are shed, and a sad song plays in the background as she leaves the stage.

soon enough, the time for tears is over and the next battle will be between the rap groups. flashes of each team are shown waiting backstage for their turns on stage with team a approaching the stage. again, they start with RAP TEAM A. “i hope i didn’t let the judges or my teammates down,” RYU EUNKYUNG’s voice is heard over a zoomed in shot of her strained smile to nayoung.

the scene changes quickly enough to rap team a’s practice sessions. the three girls are going over their line distributions, apparently carefully combing over the line distribution that LEE NAYOUNG had written out herself. things seem to be going well from the distance that the camera initially captures them at and MIN HYEJIN is heard agreeing with nayoung’s decisions, but as it zooms in, some sort of strange expression crosses eunkyung’s face.

“nayoung… do you really think so low of me? most of my part would be censored like this. do you want me to disappear that badly?” the room seems to go silent save for tension so thick it’s nearly audible. the camera immediately flashes to nayoung’s face, trying to determine just what she might be thinking in response to eunkyung’s accusation. poor hyejin is left to mediate between the two girls as the tension escalates suddenly all at once.

“i do think you have less experience than hyejin and i,” nayoung appears to choose her words carefully, “but i don’t want you to disappear. i thought the line distribution was fair, but if you have any suggestions,” she slides a piece of paper over to the girl who has challenged her. but for as diplomatic as nayoung seems to be trying to be, eunkyung just can’t seem to accept that.

“seriously…the only way to change anything would be to take lines away from hyejin-ssi, and i’m not gonna do that,” as if the tension wasn’t already thick enough to cut with a sharp knife, eunkyung doesn’t stop there. her next challenge is direct, no longer a reflection on nayoung’s line distribution but on the other woman’s character itself. “to be honest, nayoung, there’s been something that’s been bothering me. do you think you’re better than everyone here?”

“honestly, there was a bit of trouble in the beginning,” hyejin’s interview takes over the screen. the girl lets out a long sigh. just what happened that wasn’t aired on television?

the three girls are shown standing on stage. it’s unclear if there was ever any resolution to the fight that they were having in the practice room and suddenly that tense smile that eunkyung sends nayoung, one that’s so different from the bright, reassuring expression she gives to hyejin, holds new meaning. can this team accomplish their mission? or will they fail to become a cohesive unit for the teamwork evaluation?

the music begins and there’s no time left to find out.

things seem to be going smoothly at first. the girls have a strong aura, each of them minding their expressions and playing the no fucks left to give type of character that the original song demanded of them. but trouble hits, as if nayoung had predicted it, during one of eunkyung’s parts. wardrobe and set meet in an unfortunate tangle that force her to drag her chair across the stage. it works, maybe, but it’s in the brief fumbles that it becomes clear that it was not meant to do that originally. the girl later ditches her belt entirely, but not before nearly missing her entrance a second time. of course, the judges’ sharp eyes detect everything.

but apparently the issue with the lines was settled and the rest of the performance goes off without any further problems. the three stand in their finishing poses, the camera capturing each of their faces before it comes time for the judges to give their verdict.

“i did my best," eunkyung is heard saying in her usual, easygoing tone.

“we had some trouble,” nayoung is heard in the next moment.

“congratulations,” ran speaks to the girls first, a smile that betrays none of her true thoughts on her face. “we know that there were some issues early on in your practices, but we were glad to see you were able to put aside your differences and come to a solution that everyone could agree to. and the final performance was very good. you all have amazing presence on stage and i personally couldn’t be happier that we had the chance to see this team perform together.”

“ran is right,” yuna speaks next, “problems happen. disagreements occur even in the closest knit teams. but what matters is that you were able to overcome them for the sake of the performance. that said, there’s a time and place to call out things you don’t agree with,” does she seem to be speaking directly to eunkyung? yuna keeps it unclear. “you need to ask yourself ‘is this really going to help my team?’ and if it’s not, let it go.”

jihun picks up his microphone, a laugh on his lips as he speaks, “ran and yuna are too kind. but i want to be honest with all of you,” his expression changes abruptly, suddenly very serious. “nayoung, you were the best in this performance. i could nitpick about your breath control or flow, but in comparison to the others, it’s very minor. i think i was most disappointed by hyejin. i had hoped that by focusing on a team to support we would be able to better see you shine. instead, i think you just disappeared into the background even more. i feel like we haven’t really seen min hyejin on stage yet, just someone who looks like her doing as she’s told.” he sighs, and then fixes his sights on eunkyung. “eunkyung, you know there was an issue with your wardrobe and a prop. these things can happen despite the best efforts of the staff. still, it was a shame to see it affect your performance. you’re very confident on stage but confidence can only carry you so far.”

the girls are dismissed from the stage for the time being and it is rap team b’s turn to perform.

a couple of days into their rehearsals, it’s noticed that jinae is missing. a staff member informs the remaining members of the team that she had to withdraw from the competition and they would continue as a group of three.

especially compared to the last team, the boys in RAP TEAM B seem to have much better teamwork right off the bat. the three are seen practicing together, rehearsing their lines, and supporting one another through the various sessions.

“in the past, i didn’t think of myself as particularly good at teamwork,” SEO JUNHO tells the cameras as he’s sat in the interview room, “but, being an idol means you have to work as a team, so i knew it was something i’d have to get better at,”

MOON CAMERON sits next to his teammate during a break, handing him a bottle of water as he does. “how are you feeling about it so far?” junho asks of the older contestant.

“so far so good, actually,” cameron responds optimistically.

and the team does seem to be fairing well. scenes of cameron helping GEUN WONJAE in practice, of chatting with junho, and junho laughing with wonjae play across the screen. “cam has experience with being an idol, so he sort of helped me see what was and wasn’t my responsibility, and help me feel less burdened. wonjae was great at helping me remind myself to rest,” junho’s voice is heard over the clips of the happy teammates.

but it’s not all fun and games; performance day is now upon them and the trio stands before the judges, glancing at each other and exchanging smiles as they take their places and prepare to try to impress the judges.

zoo is just as powerful as witch, but there’s something more upbeat and almost playful to this song. the three young men seem to capture the essence of it well; cam with his maturity and experience, junho with his passion and dedication, and wonjae simply enjoying the stage he stands on. the performance, however fun it is to watch, is not entirely without errors. cameron makes a mistake, putting himself in the wrong position and seemingly hiding behind wonjae when he should be able to be seen. it’s small in the grand scheme of things and is barely even caught by the cameras.

when the performance comes to a close and the ending fairies wrapped, the judges get the chance to speak to the team. this time, jihun is the first to pick up his microphone. “it was clear that you all had fantastic teamwork together,” he gives the trio a compliment first, though the ‘but’ is hanging in the air based on his tone alone. it comes soon enough. “i can’t help but feel a little disappointed, though. i feel like this performance was missing something. you all clearly got along much better than team a, but i feel like team a put on the better show.”

“i disagree,” ran pipes up at the first opportunity. “i really enjoyed your performance. it was fun, it was energetic, and i could tell that you all genuinely love to be on stage. team a has great presence, but your performance was just as memorable as theirs. there were some issues. cameron, i saw you go to the wrong position, but overall it was fun. junho, you just keep improving every time we see you. keep up the good work.”

wonjae is notably left out of ran’s praise; perhaps she’s just too nice to say something. but yuna picks up where ran left off, first congratulating the contestants on a good performance before fixing her attention on wonjae. “you completely disappeared in this performance,” she frowns, nearly scolding him as she gives her feedback. “we need to see you take a more engaged role if you’re going to continue in this competition. you can’t get by just coasting with talented teammates.”

with the second rap performance now completed, team a is called back to the stage to stand side by side with team b, jian in the center again with a folded card in her hand. this is a battle after all and the winner has to be announced. “the judges told me that rap team was the hardest to decide on so far,” she informs the two groups of contestants, “you were both very evenly matched in terms of talent and execution of your performances. let’s see who the judges decided would be the winner,”

jian unfolds her card, brows raising in surprise as she sees the team written down there. “do i have the right card?” she questions, though it is confirmed that only one of those cards existed in the first place. “alright, in that case, the winner of the rap teamwork battle is…”

the cameras zoom into each contestant’s facial expressions one more time, watching as the young men and women become nervous on whose team will be called.

“TEAM B!” jian announces as the lights above team a turn red while team b is given the chance to celebrate their victory. all team b members are safe and after a few minutes of cheers and hugs, they’re escorted off stage. “team a, one of you will be going home today.”

the judges take over again, a sour look on jihun’s face as he addresses the girls on stage in front of him. “as jian said, both teams were very closely matched. what it came down to was the very thing we were grading all of you on this round; teamwork. and your teamwork skills are also what decided who would be eliminated.”

“RYU EUNKYUNG,” ran speaks, a frown on her face as she’s clearly unhappy with this choice, “you’re a natural performer and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing you on stage. however, instigating arguments with your teammates is not a quality we want to see in our trainees. for that reason, you’ve been eliminated.”

“we hope that with a little time and maturity, we’ll be able to see a better version of you on stage again someday,” yuna adds with a sympathetic frown.

the girls are given time to comfort and say good bye to eunkyung on stage before the entire group leaves. the cameras focus in on the judges. ran sighs heavily. “it’s too bad,” she murmurs, “i liked her. she had a lot of potential.”

“but she picked the wrong mission to start an argument in,” jihun pointed out. he seems to want to say more, but refrains.

the sad music ends and it is time to move onto the final teams; the dancers. “this was a very competitive group,” jian announces to the audience behind the cameras, “there are a lot of talented dancers in this competition and…” though she’s reading from a script, she pretends that there’s something she’s having trouble finding the words for, “contestants who can only dance. our judges had a hard time picking the members to create these teams. we should be in for a couple of amazing performances.”

previews of each team’s performance play briefly over the screen before the scene abruptly shifts to the practice rooms and DANCE TEAM A’s rehearsals. the camera focuses on LEE NOEL in particular, watching as he puts his all into learning the routine. “lee noel, do you even want to be here?” the audio clip of jihun’s critique from the last episode plays over the scene.

MOON JINYOUNG is the first to confront noel in this team. the pair meet, just the two of them, and as noel expresses his excitement to be working in a team with the other young man, jinyoung seems to be unimpressed. “"this is really serious for some of us, noel,” he’s heard saying, “it's the best chance we've got to make it,”

noel is seen in the interview room looking more serious than he had in the previous episode. “i really...really want to prove myself, that i'm worthy of being here, and that i can and have improved.” clips of him practicing alone late at night are played on the screen. he clearly worked much harder for this mission than he had previously. but would it be enough? the captions and narration are sure to remind the audience that noel hasn’t placed above the bottom two ranks so far and that the judges had been particularly hard on him. can he catch up to jinyoung and the other contestants?

some concern is shown over HWANG BADA as well. she’s shown struggling in practice, missing movements and maybe even getting frustrated with her own performance. but she doesn’t stop working hard. in face, she also goes to jinyoung for help. “do you think you could demonstrate the dance for me? but like, really slowly?” she requests of the more experienced dancer, who seems to have taken on a sort of leadership role in this group. he’s quick to agree to help and the camera shows as he and bada run through the routine slowly, step by step, until she becomes more confident with the performance.

“jinyoung is an amazing dancer, but noel and i struggled a lot with the choreography,” bada’s interview is shown next, the girl being honest with her praise and feedback, “it was a team effort through and through, always helping each other out. we had a common goal; to put on our best performance.”

all three teammates are shown in their stage attire, waiting backstage for their cue to stand before the judges. jinyoung looks nervous. he wrings his hands, he takes a deep breath. and when they’re getting ready to perform, he sends both bada and noel a smile to encourage them despite his nerves.

“i fully believe that we can win, i've improved greatly and so have my teammates,” noel’s voice is heard over a shot of the trio bowing to the judges in greeting and preparing for their performance to start.

finesse starts playing and the three dancers all hit their opening moves with poise and confidence. bada and noel may not be the most confident or experienced dancers yet, but neither is outshown by jinyoung and his experience. he seems to be minding his movements to blend in with the others, or maybe he’s just tired from all their long practices. but he’s sure to shoot a finger heart to the judges; seo ran and yuna are seen smiling in response though jihun remains stony-faced as he observes the performance.

the camera catches bada’s expression during the dance break. she seems focused, though it’s not a very attractive look on her face. the judges scribble a note down in front of them.

finally, the performance comes to a close, and three breathless dancers hold their ending poses for a few seconds for the cameras before relaxing and standing in a line for their evaluations.

“lee noel,” jihun speaks to the participant that he had such a problem with before. the other two judges look at him nervously, the camera zooms in on the contestant’s face for his reaction. just what is jihun going to say this time? “good job,” the man actually gives a small smile. “you might have felt that i was mean and unfair to you last time. i just wanted you to understand how serious this competition was for the people around you and to respect their efforts by improving your own. i’m happy to see you took that critique to heart. we saw a much better version of you on stage today. congratulations.”

yuna and ran smile more easily knowing that jihun is not going to give another verbal beat down to the young performers in front of them. “bada,” ran picks up her microphone next, “it’s an absolute pleasure to see you grow more and more throughout these missions. we understand that you’re not as experienced as some of your teammates, but you don’t let that stop you from doing your best. that said, it’s also my job to tell you where you can continue to improve. your expressions weren’t always very good during this performance. the choreography is bright, so we would’ve liked to see a smile on your face more. it helps to engage the audience too. good work overall,” she congratulates the young woman.

“jinyoung,” yuna gives the remaining contestant feedback directly, “i think you’ve danced better in previous performances. but actually, i don’t think that’s a bad thing. being able to work in a team sometimes means that you can’t shine the brightest and overpower the others. you did well,” she congratulates him. it appears that any mistake he made went unnoticed… for now.

“great job everyone,” ran declares as the team is dismissed from the stage to make way for the next group.

“i keep thinking about my performance, i really did my best,” bada’s interview appears once more, then followed by noel’s. “i feel confident in this,” he says.

team a’s time has come to an end for now and DANCE TEAM B is shown instead, back to the practice rooms where the team runs through their choregraphy over and over again until they get it right. where team a’s “problem child” had been noel, team b has PARK STEVEN. “you need to take this competition more seriously,” bom had said last episode and in case the audience had forgotten, the clip of steven trying to reach his leg behind his head plays on screen again. will this round be any different?

“well, yeah...i mean. i did look...pretty silly,” steven himself admits in his interview, “i think i got what was coming. i’ve been humbled-- hardcore,” he’s seen practicing dedicatedly with MOON SAEA, the pair only taking occasional breaks on their phones before getting back to work.

“thought i’d put in a little extra time,” he tells MATTHEW LUONG as they practice together. it’s obvious that he too took the words of the judges to heart and is putting more time and effort into this week’s performance.

it’s during this practice together that matthew makes a big mistake; as they run through the choreography, by some fluke of balance and timing, matthew loses his footing and falls, landing hard on his shoulder. the world seems to stop and the cameras focus in on the fallen man’s form, the way he’s winded and clearly in pain as he lays on the floor.

“are you okay?” stevie is by matthew’s side in a moment, “can you move?” he asks worriedly. the editing makes it seem as if matthew is unresponsive for several long seconds, though reality is always different than what is shown on television.

“i didn’t hit my head,” matthew finally speaks, and a collective sigh of relief is felt as he’s able to sit up.

“i was embarrassed honestly. and i still am. it was a pretty rookie mistake,” matthew sits in the interview room, sharing the plight of his injury during practice. “it was honestly pretty brutal trying to balance practice time and letting my shoulder fully heal,”

but the team comes together and continues to work alongside one another until the performance is nearly upon them. as their time together comes toward the end, saea brings in a treat for her teammates; pokemon bread. the four eat and chat together, spending one more long day in the practice room before their performance. saea sits next to YEOM SARANG as they indulge in their snacks. “i have every confidence that you’re going to steal the show in ‘salute’. you look amazing doing the choreography! you make me wanna work harder so i can look just as good as you do out there!” sarang gushes to his teammate, nudging her arm.

saea laughs in response and returns with a compliment of her own; “you guys look super cool too,” she insists.

“i know i still have a long way to go; i tried my best to overcome that obstacle for this performance,” sarang tells the cameras in his interview. there’s no time left to prepare; performance day is now upon them.

the lights go up, the music starts, and the four dancers begin their routine. it’s powerful, it’s sexy, and each member seems to suit the style of the choreography well. but the camera focuses on matthew in particular, watching to see how he’s holding up with his shoulder injury. it lingers on every slightest perceived wince or moment of stiffness and ran is captured sending a concerned look to the team that is performing for her to judge.

sarang is also a favorite of the camera. his expressions are exaggerated nearly to the point of being over the top, but each smirk, wink, and lip-bite seems so perfectly timed and executed that it’s impossible to dislike him for it. he’s a star in his own right and he shines brilliantly on stage.

the performance comes to an end and the quartet each have a few seconds to capture their ending fairy moments before lining themselves up for review from the judges.

“first of all,” yuna leans forward in her seat as she picks up her microphone, “how is your shoulder doing, matthew?” genuine concern is painted across her face. surely an idol with a career as long and successful as hers would know the pain of working through injury. “i know that we did not see you at your best today, so it’s difficult to give any judgment. i just hope you’re able to take it easy and let yourself heal. injuries can become more serious if they’re ignored,” she cautions him, surely speaking from personal experience.

“i want to give a shoutout to sarang,” ran speaks next, “i think this concept really suited you well. your moves lacked a bit of power, but you made up for it and then some with your expressions. you’re a natural performer, aren’t you? you have excellent stage presence. saea as well, it’s a joy to watch both of you perform and you do a great job of drawing the audience in.”

“steven,” jihun’s tone is more serious than ran’s had been, “you’ve improved, i’ll give you that. but you’re still not where we’d like you to be at this point in the competition. i’m still not convinced that you’re taking this seriously, even when you have a team relying on you to.” the man is hard to impress and will not change his mind based on the judgements he’s already made.

the interview room takes over the screen, steven sitting in the middle of it. “i tried to make an improvement. i’m not sure if it’s up to standard or expectations, but i’m trying.” he says. the scene changes back to a close-up of steven’s face after jihun gave his critique.

with their critique given, team a is called back to the stage and both teams stand side by side as jian prepares to deliver the final winners and losers of the evening. “you all did a great job,” she assures both teams, smiling to her left and right before she starts opening the cue card with the results in her hands. “as the last performers tonight, you had a lot to live up to. i think you all did just that,”

her brow raises in what appears to be genuine surprise as she reads the team name on the card. “i think this is an upset,” she remarks, “i’m not sure anyone expected these results. but the winner for the dance battle is…”

“TEAM A!”

team b is doused in red light as team a is given the chance to celebrate their victory. no one looks more surprised than jian herself, who apparently had been convinced that the underdog team would be destroyed by the more competent dancers on team b. once the celebrations die down and team a is escorted off the stage, judgment day is upon team b.

“this was a surprisingly close call,” jihun explains to the losing team, “i honestly thought that team a didn’t have a chance in comparison to your team. but their teamwork outshown yours, to be honest. their team had a wide range of skill levels and they still managed to put on a great performance with minimal flaws. your performance was also very good, but there were times where it felt like some of you were outperforming the other members of your team. that’s the reason that we decided to choose team a as the winners.”

“as for eliminations,” yuna takes over, “we’ve decided to send two members of this team home today. MATTHEW LUONG, we have decided that your health is more important than this competition. there will be other opportunities in the future but in order to take advantage of them, you need to be healthy. we’re sending you home, but it’s because we want to see you on stage again soon at your best.”

ran picks up her microphone with a sigh. “as for our other elimination…” the camera passes between saea, steven, and sarang; which of the three will it be? “PARK STEVEN. i’m sorry, but we’re not seeing the improvement from you that we were hoping to see. for that reason, you’ve been eliminated from the competition. i think with a little more time and maturity, you’ll be an amazing performer someday. i do hope we get to see you again soon.”

tears are shed and goodbyes are shared on stage as steven and matthew must take their leave of next gen going forward. “it’s never fun to say goodbye to our friends,” jian shares sympathetically as the stage is cleared. “and we’re sorry to see the eliminated contestants leave today. however, we’re excited for those who remain and to see where they will grow from here.

the updated rankings are revealed to the contestants one by one, counting down from number seventeen all the way up to number one.

“congratulations, LEE NAYOUNG,” jian smiles at the girl as her name and face appears in the number one position. “despite your team losing a member today, you’re currently the first-place contestant. how does it feel? i’m sure it’s bitter-sweet,”

“WONJAE, KOU, BADA; i want to warn you regarding your current ranks. you’ve been hovering near the bottom for a few episodes now and getting by thanks to your teammates or just lucky circumstances. i would be very concerned if i were in your position,” she warns.

“before we wrap up today, we’d like to share the next mission with you. this is our performance evaluation. the teams have been mixed up again, each assigned to one of the three companies,” the teams are revealed on the same screen that previously showed the contestants’ rankings, one group for lime entertainment, one for sr media, and the third for studio delta. “over the next several days, you each will be covering a song from a senior in that company, singing and dancing again. where our center battle evaluated your raw skills, at this point in the competition we want to see what makes you special as a performer and potential future idol. though these songs have been performed countless times by professionals, we want to see how you’re able to make it your own and make you and your teammates shine regardless.”

“each team will be receiving instruction from the same coaching staff that cultivated these groups in their respective companies. make the most of this opportunity; we’re looking forward to what you can show us!”

with that, my turn begins playing in the background and the episode comes to a close.

#BE:NGS1P3 #BE:NGS1

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