ROOMMATE Episode 10

Episode Title: Youth Doesn't Come Again

It's time for dinner duty. Sung Woo declares a cooking contest using the octopus from Se Ho's parents. The teams are divided as "We Want To Be Octopus Tentacles" (Bom/Se Ho/Kang Joon) versus "Hong Gil Dong and the Two Workers" (Soo Hyun/Ga Yeon/Min Woo). Sora and Sung Woo are the judges. Each team are discussing what dish to make.

Once downstairs, Sung Woo gives the teams one hour to complete their dish. When both teams figure out they are both making pasta dishes, Sung Woo is laughing in the background since he knew this beforehand. Ga Yeon is the ace of the team since she has worked at an Italian restaurant before. On the other hand, Bom's team is struggling from the get-go. Se Ho tries making a sauce from the chicken broth from earlier, but this turns out to be a fail. Kang Joon and Se Ho try cooking the octopus to start, which turns out well. Se Ho adds white wine as said in the recipe he looked up prior. The problem is he added too much. Bom tries it and says it tastes like black pepper. To solve their problem, Kang Joon suggests adding some soft tofu stew sauce. They add it and wait, but the dish ends up being too salty. They add water and wait it out. The other team is breezing through the challenge. Bom's team tastes it again, but now it is missing something. Bom eyes the Parmesan that Min Woo is holding. This did not escape the judges' attention as they laugh at Bom's actions. She adds the Parmesan and the dish turns bitter. While Kang Joon is distracted, Bom and Se Ho add tomato sauce to the dish. Kang Joon is surprised, but after tasting it, he says the dish is actually good. This brings up the morale of the team. With only 10 minutes left, Soo Hyun's team decides to make a dessert. Sung Woo becomes sentimental as he expresses how much he likes seeing his roommates working hard in the kitchen.

The clock strikes 9 and the teams assemble at the dinner table. Dong Wook arrives just in time to be a judge. Sung Woo lays out the judges' criteria: use of the main ingredient, name of the dish, emphasis, and presentation. Min Woo introduces their dishes as Mr. Octo-Monster and Miss Carpacio Octopus. The two are on a date. Mr. Octo-Monster is oily while Miss Carpacio Octopus is fresh. Kang Joon describes their dish as a fusion of Korea and Italy. They make a show of it with Bom singing one of her songs in Korean and Se Ho singing a song in Italian. To show their unity. Se Ho and Bom hug, which was amusing since they were off sync. The judges sample both dishes before giving their assessment. Sung Woo gives a detailed assessment and ends up choosing Soo Hyun's dish. Sora starts off by praising the presentation of Bom's dish, but ultimately chooses Soo Hyun's. During Sung Woo's and Sora's judgments, Dong Wook was busy eating. When it was his turn to vote, he describes Bom's dish as typical and Soo Hyun's as too oily. He ends up voting for Bom's team. After their fun, the losing team cleans up the kitchen. Although they lost, Bom expresses that she would want to be teamed with Se Ho and Kang Joon again.

It's a new day at the share house. The roommates are gathered in the living room where Dong Wook announces he invited a guest over for dinner. The only hint he gives is the guest is an actor who is the epitome of tough and sexy. He sets out to the market with Kang Joon, Sora and Ga Yeon for ingredients for spicy seafood soup.

The remaining roommates are planning to wash the winter blankets. After gathering the blankets, Sung Woo starts removing the covers from the blankets. Soo Hyun didn't have any idea that the outside was just a cover. She discovers one blanket didn't have a cover. While adding the detergent, Soo Hyun kept asking Se Ho if the amount was enough. Min Woo chirps in that she needs to add one more cup. Sung Woo discovers that there is actually a cover on the blanket that Soo Hyun deemed as not having one. The guys start giving her a hard and jokingly tell her she needs marriage lessons. Soo Hyun argues that she knows how to use a washing machine and doesn't hand-wash her laundry because she doesn't have any outdoor space to do so. Once they start hand washing their blanket covers, their playful side shows. They pretend to shoot commercials and skits. Nana joins in on the fun. After they are done with the hand washing part, there is a scene where Se Ho and Min Woo take off their shirts to wash off. To finish up their task, they start hanging up the covers to dry.

Preparations for their guest commence. The kitchen is busy. The roommates make signs and blow up balloons. They even made a makeshift red carpet by taping pieces of red paper leading up to their door. Se Ho and Nana are practicing a performance. Just then, the door bell rings. All of the roommates assemble by the door. Dong Wook goes to greet his guest, veteran actor, Lee Deok Hwa. When Deok Hwa enters, the roommates throw confetti and break into a song. Deok Hwao is presented with a bouquet and Poong Poong. He shakes hands with each member as they introduce themselves. Dong Wook gives a tour of the house.

Dong Wook, Soo Hyun, and Deok Hwa are in the living room talking while the others are in the kitchen. Bom joins them after being startled by Dong Wook. Deok Hwa takes a selfie with Bom and Soo Hyun. Bom is going to send the picture to her manager, who is a fan of Deok Hwa. Deok Hwa says he knows her CEO and asks if she is from SM. Taken aback, Bom corrects him, saying she is from YG. Deok Hwa plays it cool and says they'll probably end up friends. Nana and the rest gather in the living room before dinner. Se Ho took it upon himself to prepare a brief history of Deok Hwa. He reports a list of important dates and program names which Deok Hwa participated in. Dong Wook asks if Deok Hwa bought a house warming gift. Deok Hwa explains he asked others what to buy until his friend told him he needed to bring an envelope. He reaches into his jacket pocket and presents to the roommates an envelope (of money). Everyone is gracious for the generous gift.

The roommates sit down for dinner. Deok Hwa tastes the spicy seafood stew first. It gets his approval and he asks everyone to eat except for Dong Wook. As they are eating, Dong Wook takes a bite of the rice and starts laughing. Nana laughs along. In the flashback scene, we see Nana was the one responsible for making the rice. All of the roommates join in on the laughter. Dong Wook comments that the rice is delicious. Deok Hwa takes a bite too. He says that anyone that doesn't have strong teeth will surely break their teeth.

After eating, Deok Hwa shares a story from his past. Before he had his big break, he was always working and was happy to get roles with only a few lines. He explains that he didn't get much sleep because he took any job that pays. One day, a drama writer called him. She asks if he really wanted to be an actor and commented on his hair. She asked what kind of role can he get with his hairstyle and said he was better off with a wig. So he bought a wig and met with her. She gave him a role, but told him to work hard and clean himself up. That's what he did and this role in particular became his breakout role. He advises the roommates to grab an opportunity when it comes and to be prepared. He uses a sword analogy to make a point - have your sword ready so when the time comes you can deliver the blow. A rusty sword won't work when the time comes.

The crew gathers in the backyard. Se Ho shows off his impersonation of Deok Hwa. It turns out being more on the comedic side as the roommates try holding in their laughs. Deok Hwa gives him a tip on pronunciation and shows him hows it done, which turns out to be comedic as well. Se Ho brings up a scene from Hotel King where Deok Hwa is beating Dong Wook with a cane. They act out this scene with Bom casted as Lee Da Hae's character. Deok Hwa is hilariously hitting Dong Wook with the cane when Bom enters the scene. She is glaring instead of looking hurt/sad. They try it again, but Bom's facial expressions were hilarious. She was unsure of how she looked and went from hiding her laughter to glaring to smiling. Next, Se Ho brings commercials Deok Hwa has starred in. Deok Hwa reenacts one and the roommates give it a try. First is Kang Joon. He chooses Soo Hyun as his partner. Deok Hwa jokes that the actress needs to be voluptuous, which catches Soo Hyun off guard. She tries to act sexy, but ends up cracking. Kang Joon gets praised for his performance. Chanyeol gives it a try and also earns praise. Se Ho has also prepared a performance. He asks Deok Hwa to introduce them. Sora and Deok Hwa play the part of MC and introduce Nana. Nana starts dancing and Se Ho joins her. In her interview, Nana says she felt more confident when Se Ho joined her. The producers ask if she meant she gained strength from Se Ho, which she agrees to.

After the group disassembles inside, the guys gather to talk. Deok Hwa advises the guys to not get overexcited about success. He recounts a motorcycle accident that changed him life. He was out for 3 years. The girl he was dating would always come visit and care for him. This girl became his wife. Prior, he was set on living alone, but after the accident, his perspective changed. He says he has nothing to his name, all goes to his wife. For him, this is happiness. Se Ho asks Deok Hwa about an article he saw where he scored Dong Wook 95 points out of 100. Deok Hwa explains that this score wasn't just as an actor, but as a person. Dong Wook is considerate no matter how tired he is. He always suggest they film others' scenes first. Deok Hwa explains the score was objective, although he doesn't know if Dong Wook has flaws or not, he deducted points just in case. To Deok Hwa, 95 is a perfect score. He gives advice to the younger roommates - actors never succeed on acting alone, they have to have everything. Back to the accident, Deok Hwa strongly believes that he wouldn't be who he is today if it didn't occur. He advises them that life is worth it so live passionately.

After getting an autograph from Chanyeol for his daughter, Deok Hwa shows the roommates how he has been autographing since 1977. He always writes "youth never comes again." To commemorate his visit, the roommates ask for an autograph and hand print. Now upstairs, Deok Hwa enters Se Ho and Dong Wook's room, declaring he is too drunk. Dong Wook finds this amusing, comparing it to a drunk uncle at Christmas time. Deok Hwa lies in Se Ho's bed and starts talking on and on. He says he is in trouble and thinks he got too drunk and made a mistake. He tells Dong Wook to do what he told him to do. Before they leave the room, Deok Hwa reminds them to wake him in 2 hours and to tell the kids he loves them.

The ambush interview turns into "Roommate Nightly News." The segment has more structure with Dong Wook as the host. The first guest is Se Ho. Dong Wook asks if there has been any changes since starting the show. Se Ho brings up his nickname "Great Se Ho." Dong Wook asks if he feels that he is great. Se Ho tries to get around the question, but ultimately admits it. Before asking the next question, Dong Wook starts laughing - it's about Se Ho's love line with Nana. Se Ho explains you never know people. Dong Wook tries to end the interview, but Se Ho calls him out. Dong Wook hands him a mic and asks Se Ho to sing his favorite song instead, which Se Ho complies.

The next guest is Kang Joon - is he an idiot or genius entertainer. Before answering, Kang Joon grabs the mic and asks if he has to hold it. Dong Wook explains that it is for singing later. Kang Joon answers that he isn't faking, he is just seeing, feeling, saying and doing. Dong Wook asks if he knows what WHO stands for. Kang Joon says it means who are you. Dong Wook explains that it means something. Kang Joon asks if its an acronym. He correctly says what WHO stands for, which surprises Dong Wook.

Se Ho is upstairs interviewing the final guest, Ga Yeon. Dong Wook yells that he can't hear them from the kitchen. Se Ho gives him a call and they continue the interview. Dong Wook asks if Se Ho thinks Ga Yeon looks pretty. Se Ho compliments her, saying even without makeup she can captivate the guys. They take the interview downstairs. Dong Wook mentions that she is going to be a professional MMA fighter in August. He asks how she feels about people who don't consider her a professional fighter because she hasn't debuted yet. Ga Yeon explains that she was bothered at first, but it became her motivation. She hopes to prove herself to everyone. In their interviews, the roommates left encouraging messages for Ga Yeon.

Thoughts:
Another good episode. I like this balance of seriousness and fun. The cooking competition was entertaining. Lee Deok Hwa was great. He knew how to have fun and gave out great advice. His drunk scene was hilarious. The Roommate Nightly News segment was fresh. In contrast to the ambush interviews, it gave insight on some of the members' current and upcoming events.