Ron Does Stuff

Another week, another episode of The Howling! The boys have been chugging along, performing either songs made for them or doing covers of songs of other artists like Seventeen, which they did in the previous episode.

This week, it’s them performing another artist’s songs once again. In what I suspect is going to be a regular occurrence for reality competition shows that Hybe will be producing, the sixth episode will be The BTS Test. Let’s see how well the boys do!

But before we get to The BTS Test, we need to check up on the &Ring and how many &Balls the boys were able to gather in the previous episode. There’s a lot of anxiety among the boys about whether they collected enough &Balls after this round — their debut is on the line, after all — and yay they’re not at 68 percent!

And then! They get the announcement that they’re going to be taking on The BTS Test, and the boys are excited that they get to perform to BTS songs. Which, really, has got to be old hat for K, Nicholas, EJ, and Taki, because all four of them performed BTS songs during I-Land.

The boys are going to be divided into two teams, with Team A made up of EJ, Harua, Hayate, Jo, Junwon, Nicholas, and Yuma, while Team B is comprised of Fuma, Gaku, Hikaru, K, Maki, Minhyung, Taki, and Yejun. But not only do they get divided into teams, but they also have a surprise mission — master the choreography to “Dope” in one hour.

Team B emerges as the winner in the dance battle, and the benefit they get is a meeting with Tomorrow x Together! Not a bad benefit at all, especially since TXT are doing really well in Japan AND they’re airing this several days before TXT’s latest Japanese comeback!

But the joy of that is short-lived as they get their next mission — make one vocal-centered and one performance-centered stage for the BTS songs assigned to them. Team A is going to take on “Film Out”.

Team B, on the other hand, will take on “Lights”. Both vocal-focused songs!

Meanwhile, the performance-focused song for Team A is “Run”, while the one for Team B is “Black Swan”. And can I say Team B is sorta fucked because “Black Swan” is difficult. Nothing against “Run”, of course, but it’s “Black Swan“.

Understandably, the boys are stressed. The start reviewing the videos back at their dorms — which we get to see for the first time — and Taki speculates that they might get different choreography from the one BTS did. And the “Film Out” team is worried about how high the song is and well, can’t argue with that.

We get to see the boys practicing for their performance, and it does look like they’re getting different choreography than the original! Whether this works in their favor or not is yet to be determined,

But before they perform, the guys head off to the promised meeting with TXT, but Team B gets a video instead because apparently there’s been a change in TXT’s schedule and they’re unable to make it.

But surprise! Tomorrow x Together is actually here, surprising the guys while they’re stuffing their faces. I would have been livid because I am a messy eater and I would have looked messy when the guys walk in.

So TXT sits with them and I completely forgot that some of the boys were actual BigHit trainees until TXT’s Yeonjun points out how EJ has become cooler and that he used to look cute. I don’t know why this amazes me.

And while in my head TXT are still babies, you really see just how much they’ve grown while they interact with the trainees? The confidence in answering the questions, even the comedic banter between Soobin and Beomgyu, I feel like a parent????

The boys have a fun time relaxing with Tomorrow x Together, but soon enough the interim check starts and they’re about to be checked for the two stages that they’ve prepared. If the pattern continues, whoever does well on this interim check is going to be demolished during the actual performance.

Team A is crushed during this interim check. If the pattern continues, they’re up for a redemption arc during the actual performance. BUT THEN, Team B is also demolished during the interim check, so does this mean they’ll both get a redemption arc or is it just going to be one of them?

Before we even get to the main performance, we get another twist. As the guys are checking the &Balls they earned for the interim check, it’s announced that the four confirmed debut group members — K, Nicholas, EJ, and Taki — will not be contributing their &Balls to the &Ring and it’s up to the remaining 11 to fill it up. Failing to do so, as the show has said multiple times, means no one gets to debut.

On the day of the performance, the boys get a little pick-me-up via an encouraging video message from BTS themselves! Some of the boys end up being so emotional about it; Gaku almost cried! Then the show ends, without a performance being shown. Until next episode then!