As always the show opens with a series of images teasing what's to come played over the theme song. This week features Woncheol leaning on Ollie and R, Lucy and Hwajin huddled together with their heads bent close, and Lai nearly kicking Seonwoo in the head. The title scrawls across the images and then the scene cuts away to the stage, where the contestants are waiting on the results from the previous episode. The two MCs walk onto the stage and immediately all eighteen contestants are focused on them.

Leeteuk grins warmly. "Alright everyone, we know you're excited to hear who won the immunity this round, but first we want to briefly touch on what you'll be doing this week before we split up into groups. Taeyeon?"

The soloist smiles at him before holding up her mic. "This week will have our very first challenge round, which means after the performances we'll have our first elimination. Some of you will of course have immunity and be unable to be cut, but we wanted to remind everyone that if your partner is cut, you are also off the show. So you're not just trying to do well for yourself - another person is counting on you as well." She nods to Leeteuk who steps up again, grinning despite the grim reminder the contestants have just been given.

"But enough of that, we'll go into details in a moment. For now, let's see who our second lucky pair is to win immunity!" He opens the envelope he's been holding, blinks, and then laughs. "Well what are the chances of that? Once again it was close, but the Run team won! And of all five members, Kurozu managed to get the highest rank!" He laughs. "Congratulations again to you two. Looks like you're the only ones with immunity this week!"

Alexis looks stunned in her interview. "I didn't think that could happen? I mean, why didn't the immunity go to the second place person or something?"

The two MCs explain in their own interview. "We honestly didn't expect this. With nine pairs, what are the chances the same two people win both immunity rounds?" Leeteuk smiles with genuine surprise. "But the rules are the rules. It will certainly make the first elimination round more interesting!"

Back on the stage, the two MCs have divided the contestants by gender and the boys exit to a different area while Taeyeon gestures for the girls to take seats in the audience.

"Okay, so the challenge rounds are really pretty straight forward." She begins with a smile. "Each one has a set concept and I've already picked out the songs you'll be using for each."

The scene shifts to where Leeteuk is debriefing the men on their own challenge. "You're in charge of dividing lines and practicing, but you will be provided with a choreographer since each challenge round performance will use an original song." He informs them with a grin. "I'll be providing said songs for the first three rounds, though the fourth one will be completely up to whoever is left."

Several of the boys shift uncomfortably at the choice of phrasing, most notably Seonwoo.

"I've been trying to not think about the first elimination honestly." He admits quietly in an interview. "I don't want anyone to get cut. We only just met each other and now someone will have to leave."

The scene returns again to the men as Leeteuk pulls out what appears to be sheet music.

"This week's concept is dark and powerful. The song I picked has a lot of rap in it, but I'm confident you boys can figure it out." Leeteuk grins and hands out the music. "Performance at the end of the week as always, but the choreographer will be here early on Tuesday so you'll want the line distribution finished by then. And you'll probably want your parts memorized as well." He adds.

Eunjae frowns as he looks over the papers in front of him.

"There's really no vocal parts in it at all." He says in an interview, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as he often does. "And most of us are singers."

Several of the other boys seem a bit hesitant about the song as well, but Jo steps up to the plate.

"Okay, I think I see a way to split the rapping into either four or five parts. Ollie, R, obviously you two are doing the heavy lifting on this one. Kurozu you sounded pretty good in that last performance, could you take a section?"

Kurozu nods silently and Jo grins.

"Awesome. I can take one as well and..." He frowns and looks at the five remaining contestants. "Can any of you rap?" He questions.

Woncheol's hand flies up. "I learned some stuff from Ollie last week! I didn't get it perfect but just give me something small and I can do it!"

Jo frowns and Ollie scowls, but the band member ultimately nods. "Okay then, we'll split the rest..." He trails off and frowns as he looks over the sheet again. "Wait, we might need a sixth rapper..."

"I have a pretty low voice." Jaeno pipes up hopefully. "I could do a sing-y rap type thing?"

Jo looks over the music again. "Yeah, that could work. Let's get started on a rough distribution and go through it a few times."

"No one even questioned him taking charge." R sounds almost awed in his interview. "Even Ollie just nodded and went along. Jo is really amazing." He frowns down at his lap, clearly bothered by something but not saying any more.

Meanwhile the girls are also working on line distributions, though it's much less smooth going than the boys' was.

Both Lucy and Hwajin once again are trying to take control, with Ryuwon nearby looking extremely irritated. Diamond for her part looks like she's given up and is seated with U.Jin and Sujin, going over vocal techniques.

"Taeyeon says there's still going to be a vote between our and the guys' performance, and if want to win that we should be putting our best power vocals on the killer parts." Hwajin says irritably.

Lucy glares back. "But one of us is getting eliminated regardless! We shouldn't give all the lines to two people-"

"Three." Hwajin interrupts. "One of whom is you, which you'd know if you'd let me finish. Have less of a problem now?" She adds smugly at Lucy's surprised expression. "Just hear me out. If we can work together and make a better product than the guys that reflects well on all of us, not just the ones singing the most."

"Hwajin has a way of making really good points in ways that make you want to punch her." Ryuwon observes wryly in her interview. "It's that much worse that she's usually right."

Back in the practice room Hwajin and Lucy are consulting the song when Sujin walks over to them.

"Hey, you two got time? I have a proposition."

"I've been thinking about this since that first performance." Sujin says tensely in her interview. "I did mess up. I didn't mean to, but I did. When I heard how the challenge rounds are going to work things just kind of seem to align perfectly. So I figured why not?"

Hwajin and Lucy both look a bit testy at having been interrupted. "What is it Sujin?" Lucy asks.

Sujin stands a bit straighter. "I'd like to offer that I receive the fewest lines in the song, so you can give more parts to the singers. However," She adds quickly, "I'm going to choreograph the song. I'm a dancer first and foremost, and this way everyone gets to show off their strong suits." She looks at the two young women defiantly as they exchange a glance.

After a long moment of silence, Lucy looks back up at Sujin. "Deal."

Sujin nods and returns to Diamond and U.Jin, who have been joined by Saerom and Jiae as well. Alexis for her part is now sitting with Ryuwon, watching Hwajin and Lucy work on line distribution.

"Can I help?" She pipes up after a moment. Ryuwon looks like she already knows the answer, and thus is surprised when Hwajin nods.

"You'll know better than us how to split the rap bits." The singer observes, and Alexis happily bounces over.

Lucy looks up at Ryuwon. "Did you want to help as well?" She offers with a smile. "I know we can be a little demanding but this is tougher with nine people to juggle."

Ryuwon hesitates, and then steps over to bring the organization group up to four.

"What do you guys have so far?" She asks, and is promptly passed a sheet with the current distribution on it by Hwajin.

"Check the vocal distribution so far. Sujin said she's fine with only the bridge." Hwajin instructs. "We think we got everyone else balanced."

Ryuwon blinks, opens as if to protest, and then sighs and relents, looking over the distribution. Almost immediately she frowns.

"Why does U.Jin only have one line?"

Lucy and Hwajin exchange a glance, and then Lucy scoots around so she's next to Ryuwon. "Does she?"

Ryuwon raises an eyebrow and then shrugs.

"After watching them fighting for most of last week it is super weird how well they're getting on all of a sudden. I don't trust it, but I'm not going to complain while it lasts either." Ryuwon notes in a quick cut away to her interview.

"Lucy and I have come to an understanding. We both like being in charge, so we're dividing that job as evenly as we can." Hwajin explains diplomatically. "After all, our approach last week clearly didn't work - the other team won."

Back in the practice room the four line distributors are debating how to rework their distributions to give U.Jin more lines.

"We could cut some of Diamond and Ryuwon's parts..." Lucy suggests uncertainly.

Hwajin shakes her head. "No, they might have a lot but that's due to their voices fitting the song perfectly. U.Jin is too smooth with her vocals to properly cover anything we gave them." She says firmly.

"We could give Jiae or Saerom's singing parts to her." Alexis offers, but she's frowning in a way that says she doesn't much like the idea.

Ryuwon hums thoughtfully. "That might be the best course of action we have." She agrees.

The group remains in a contemplative silence for several moments before Hwajin suddenly clears . "Actually, I'd be okay just swapping parts with her. I know it will smooth out the chorus but I was thinking on it and I think the contrast might actually be good for the song. And we don't have to lock anything down right now since Sujin is choreographing - we can change this if it doesn't make sense and she can edit the dance as we go along." She nods with some finality. "And I can admit I'm a terrible dancer. The more time I can spend practicing the better." She adds with a sly grin, and with that the others seem to accept her offer.

They nail down a few more details before the officially bring the rest of the girls in and explain their choices.

"It's interesting how different the dynamics between the men and the women are." Taeyeon observes in the MCs' interview. "Jo easily took up a leadership mantle while the women had to figure out the best way to work together."

Leeteuk chuckles. "Honestly I'm not surprised. We have quite a few contestants on the show who feel very strongly about their opinions, and all of them seem to be women."

Taeyeon smiles as well. "We'll have to wait and see which approach is going to turn out a better product!"

The show returns to show the men have begun work with their choreographer, and it doesn't seem to be going very well. The choreographer has repeatedly stopped the group and had them go over sections multiple times in the few minutes he'd been shown so far.

Several of the men seem rather frustrated as well, but there's one who stands out as being the only one looking guilty.

"I'm an awful dancer." Lai sighs in his interview. "And this dance is hard! My group mostly does ballad stuff so I'm really out of my element with all this." He sighs again.

"Being in a band really doesn't lend itself to much in the way of dancing." Jo grins sheepishly in his own interview. "And we didn't really dance in our performance last week either - at least, not in any way that's even close to how intense this dance is."

In the practice room, the choreographer has called for a full stop and has ushered Jo and Lai over to work with them one on one, leaving the other seven to their own devices.

Seonwoo grabs Eunjae by the arm and tugs him over to one corner, grinning brightly.

"We should work on our parts! They're small but super important after all!" He grins up at the older and taller man, who nods uncertainly.

Seonwoo immediately launches into vocal exercises, and Eunjae, with a small grin, joins him half way through the second run.

Meanwhile Woncheol has draped himself over both Ollie and R and is pleading with both of them to help him with his rap.

"I close out the song! I gotta be good!" He wheedles as Ollie finally manages to duck out from underneath his arm and put some space between them. Woncheol makes up for his sudden imbalance by fully hanging off of R, who stumbles slightly but doesn't complain.

"You shouldn't have volunteered if you couldn't do it." Ollie points out, and Woncheol stares at him with wide puppy dog eyes.

"I came so far last week with your help. I know I can get it if you keep helping this week! Plus R is here and he can help too!" The dancer points out. R looks rather like he'd prefer to not be included in the conversation, but now Ollie is looking at him and he settles for shrugging awkwardly.

Ollie sighs. "Fine, but R better pull his weight. We'll go in the hallway, less distractions out there." He leads the group out, not noticing when Woncheol grabs Kurozu by the wrist to pull him along with the group.

"For all his bluster Ollie's actually really nice. I think he just likes to think everything he does is his own idea." Woncheol giggles in his interview. "He'll grow out of it one day. I know lots of people like that!"

R seems less sure. "He's very... loud. Confident." He corrects immediately, so quickly that 'loud' and 'confident' end up a bit squished together. "I'm... a bit envious I think..."

"I don't know why I went. It was pointless, I could have been practicing the dance instead." Kurozu sighs in his own interview. "Woncheol has a strong grip for a lanky thing like him."

In the practice room, Seonwoo and Eunjae seem to be having a good time as they practice their lines and critique one another's execution. Or at least, Eunjae critiques Seonwoo, who happily practices over and over again.

"Eunjae-hyung is amazing! I mean, I've always thought of myself as a great singer but next to him?" Seonwoo shakes his head in amazement. "I really hope our next song he gets to sing more! You haven't seen anything yet from him!"

Eunjae looks embarrassed in his own interview. "Seonwoo said that? Ah, that's really nice of him. He's really good too, he's improving very quickly." He says, his ears reddening slightly.

The two working on their dance aren't nearly as successful.

The choreographer looks frustrated as he walks Jo and Lai through the dance once again. "Just follow on the beats. No Lai, left foot steps there, and make it higher or you're going to kick Seonwoo in the head." He sighs. "Back up, do it again."

Lai stares apologetically at his feet, not smiling for the first time that the cameras have shown him. "Sorry." He mumbles, and Jo pats his shoulder encouragingly.

The two once again run the section of the dance, and though he stumbles Lai remembers to step with his left. The choreographer nods.

"Better. We're running out of time so we'll move on."

"We spent a lot of time on the first section so I'm feeling good about that part." Lai says in his interview. "But we sort of rushed the rest and I'm really worried I'm going to screw it up and hurt someone."

The boys all reconvene in the practice room to attempt the full choreography, and while it's rather messy and Lai does nearly kick Seonwoo in the head, they manage to get through it.

The choreographer nods. "Alright then, I'm off. You all keep practicing and good luck at the performance this weekend."

"You're leaving?" Jo frowns. "It's only been a day though."

The man shrugs apologetically. "That's as long as I'm being paid for I'm afraid. You'll have to work with each other to solidify this."

Jo nods in understanding and waves the contestants in as the choreographer packs up and leaves. "Alright then, Woncheol I know you still need to work on your rap so you and R go do that. Kurozu, Eunjae, from what I can tell you two are the next best dancers so could you work with the rest of us on the dance?"

Ollie looks ready to argue, and then he looks over at Woncheol and shrugs.

"At least I don't have to keep trying to teach the kid. Even though I think I'm one of the best dancers as well." He observes in his interview. "Eunjae and Kurozu aren't that bad any way, and it's less for me to worry about. I'm going to focus on making my parts perfect if Jo doesn't want me helping with the full product."

In the women's practice room, Sujin is arguing with a woman who must be the girls' choreographer.

"Look, you can watch and give pointers but I've already put together a dance and we've already started working on it." Sujin says testily. "I've got one line and a shared bridge section, this is my contribution and I'd appreciate you letting me contribute."

The woman looks rather confused. "I'm being paid to be here, I'd feel bad not doing anything." She responds awkwardly.

Sujin nods in understanding. "I get it, I do, so why don't you watch what we have and then you can work with Hwajin-unnie because she dances like she's covered in quick drying cement."

Hwajin, who's close enough to hear the conversation, laughs. "She's not wrong. There's a reason I took line cuts, gives me more time to focus on the dance." She calls over cheerfully.

The choreographer sighs. "Alright, I guess that works." She clearly still isn't thrilled, but she steps back as Sujin herds the female contestants into their starting spots, which is really just a line.

"Okay, um, actually could you hit the music? Then I don't have to run back into place." Sujin smiles at the choreographer, who sighs but complies.

"The dance isn't bad considering Sujin isn't a professional." Diamond acknowledges in her interview. "It's nothing spectacular, but I like it."

"I'm honestly kind of glad Sujin made the offer. I don't want to know how much harder learning this would be if a professional choreographer had put it together." Hwajin grins during her own interview, somewhat self-deprecatingly. "I'm the first to say my dancing leaves a lot to be desired but this hasnt' been impossible."

Back in the practice room Diamond, Ryuwon, Lucy, and U.Jin are all running their lines while jogging in place while the choreographer works with Alexis, Hwajin, and Sujin on the dance. Saerom and Jiae are both sitting near the wall, seeming to be doing some vocal exercises while stretching.

Saerom for her part looks a bit disheartened. "I just don't know if I can sing this section well enough. Maybe we should just give it to Hwajin." The girl frets quietly. "She already sings the part right beforehand, it wouldn't be that hard to change the dance there."

Jiae shifts her position into a forward split so she can pat Saerom on the head. "Don't stress so much, you sound great. And I think any changes to Hwajin's parts would be inadvisable considering how slowly she's learning." The other rapper observes with no small amount of amusement.

Saerom bites her lip lightly but nods in acknowledgement. "Well what about you? Aren't you nervous? I just don't want to mess up and get Ollie eliminated."

Jiae looks thoughtful. "Honestly? Between us I'm really only thinking about myself in all this. What will make me look good? Because Seonwoo has such a huge fanbase already compared to the rest of us, in our pair I'm the one who would mess up and take us both down. But if I think like that I just end up super stressed out." As she speaks she looks more and more concerned. "So basically I'm trying to not think about it because holy heck pressure, you know?" She finishes with a tense smile.

Saerom looks apologetic for having brought it up.

"I stress super easily so I was kind of trying to not overthink any of this because that's just going to lead to me screwing up." Jiae admits in her interview. "But when Saerom asked... I dunno. I'm absolutely terrified now." She laughs, but it's incredibly strained.

Meanwhile the four singers have stopped jogging and are going over the dance instead, and conducting a conversation that has clearly been ongoing for some time.

"I just feel bad about how many lines I have. Lucy, are you sure you don't want any of them?" U.Jin offers hesitantly as the two girls step past each other.

Lucy sighs. "Yes U.Jin, I'm sure. I helped make the distribution, remember? I'm fine with my lines, and if we cut yours down any they'd end up making the song sound off. If we're going with clear and smooth on your sections we need to commit to it." It's clear from her tone this isn't the first time she's said as much, but she remains patient.

U.Jin flushes and looks at her feet. "Sorry, I just feel like I shouldn't have so many lines."

"We gave most of the lines to people who ranked lower last time, if you didn't notice. Your parts used to belong to Hwajin." Ryuwon observes. "Don't feel bad about it, okay? Everyone signed off on the distribution."

Diamond looks over curiously as Ryuwon speaks. "If you distributed based on rank, why did Jiae get so many lines?" She asks.

"She's the only one of our three rappers with experience rapping heavier songs like this." Lucy responds immediately. "And we did question Alexis if she wanted more lines but she kept saying she has immunity and didn't want to take away from anyone. Hence Saerom and Jiae getting more."

Diamond nods thoughtfully. "Well I'm not about to complain." She grins, and the other three chuckle as well.

Finally the focus turns to the only girl having trouble with the dance. Hwajin doesn't seem too concerned with the stiffness of her execution, instead focusing on just getting the moves right.

Sujin and the choreographer are a little less okay with that.

"Hwajin, if you can't get that part smoother you're going to stick out like a sore thumb." Sujin points out, brow furrowed as she watches Hwajin drop to the floor in a quick movement.

Hwajin shrugs as best she can from the ground. "I'm doing my best but I've always been a robotic dancer. I have a nickname for it and everything."

The choreographer sighs and glances at the clock. "Well my time is up so you'll have to work out details on your own I'm afraid." She says. "Good luck girls."

Sujin and Alexis nod in thanks, and Hwajin grins and shoots her a thumbs up.

"No worries, we've got this in the bag."

The show skips over the remaining days of practice and returns from break to show a full auditorium of fans waiting to watch the first elimination performances for the show.

The two MCs enter the stage to applause, and both wave until it quiets down.

Leeteuk steps forward first. "Hello and welcome to the first challenge round for Media Play! Today our contestants will be showing you their very best in hopes they won't be the first ones sent home!"

Taeyeon nods. "For this and all future elimination rounds the contestants will put together original songs based around a concept and you will determine who did the best! This week our concept was dark and powerful! Now without further ado, please welcome the ladies!"

The MCs quickly exit the stage and the girls take up their line as the stage lights dim.

Diamond - Short Black Jacket; U-Jin - Silver Jacket; Alexis - Shoulderless Silver Top; Hwajin - All Black; Ryuwon -  1st Singer; Lucy - Gold Jacket; Jiae - Short Hair; Saerom - Diamond Patterned Top; Sujin - Silver Cropped Tank Top

The girls hold their final pose for a moment as the audience cheers and a few shout for their favorite contestants.

The scene then cuts away to their individual interviews.

"I really hope I did well enough with my rapping and singing. Everyone helped me out and worked so hard on this." Saerom says in her interview, staring at her lap. But after a moment, she glances up with a small smile. "But it was fun."

Diamond is smiling as well. "I'd say that went pretty well." She observes warmly. "Ryuwon handled her half of the adlibs quite well - everyone handled their parts well really."

"Diamond sounded great on her high note." Ryuwon returns the compliment in her own interview. "And loathe as I am to Hwajin's ego, I do think the blend of vocal styles in the chorus will work in our favor."

U.Jin is smiling, but with a bit less certainty than the two before her. "I think I did well, but I really hope my softer singing didn't ruin it. Everyone has worked so hard for the performance." She worries quietly.

Alexis is much more optimistic. "That was so much fun! Jiae did a one-handed cartwheel! Hwajin kept up with the dancing! Diamond sounded amazing on her high note! That was so much fun!" She's practically vibrating in her seat, beaming through her enthusiastic exclamations.

Jiae is also shaking in her interview, though it maybe more due to nerves based on her expression. "Holy heck I didn't know I'd have a hand-held microphone. I had to do a one-handed cartwheel. Did I mess it up? I didn't kick anyone at least..."

Lucy is a bit tense as well. "I think next time we should check the mic situation before the performance, but Jiae recovered really well. I admit, I'm a little jealous." She laughs lightly. "But I think we all did well!"

Sujin looks proud. "We nailed it. Hwajin was a little stiff, but I think the dance looked great, if I do say so myself. And I have to admit I was worried about Jiae but she nailed that cartwheel even with the mic. I knew she was the right person to mirror me on that."

Hwajin is smirking in her own interview. "I knew giving U.Jin those lines would pay off. The contrast sounded great. Good luck following that class act boys." She challenges with a sly grin.

The scene cuts back to the stage, where the guys have taken up their opening formation.

Eunjae - Crop Top Over Another Shirt; R - Yellow Shirt, Black Jacket; Jo - Skull Sweater; Jaeno - Orange; Woncheol - Red+Yellow Sleeves; Kurozu - Beanie; Lai - Fishnet Shirt; Seonwoo - Green Jacket; Ollie - Black Hoodie

The audience again is given some time to cheer before the scene cuts away to the mens' interviews.

Lai is absolutely beaming. "I kept up! Jo and I kept working on the dance and I did it!"

Ollie is shown next, and he's shaking his head with a grin. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Woncheol surprised me. I mean, he's not a great rapper and you better believe I'm making him sing next time, but whatever R did in their lessons worked. He wasn't completely terrible."

"I told you Ollie was nice!" Woncheol laughs in his own interview. "He did super well too, obviously. I'm really glad I got my part well! It's all thanks to Ollie and R!"

R, for once, is smiling in his interview with no hint of any underlying stress or worry. "I'm really glad Woncheol did well. He really worked hard." He says softly.

"The guys really pulled through on this! We had a tough job with only two real rappers and five rap parts, but Woncheol and Kurozu both did great, and Lai learned the dance in time." Jo sounds like a proud parent in his own interview. "I like to think I did well too, of course." He adds with a wink.

Kurozu is the least animated of the group. "It went well. But we aren't exactly trying to defeat the girls here. Someone is going home regardless." He observes. "That said, I think whoever does leave can be proud of going out on a high note. For all the obstacles we had, it went well."

"I'm happy with it for sure!" Jaeno says enthusiastically. "And I'm kind of glad to learn that I'm not the worst dancer among the guys." He adds with a laugh."

Eunjae looks thoughtful in his interview. "I hope that next time we can have more singing. I think it's wrong to say that powerful means rap. But it was a fun song."

Surprisingly, Seonwoo isn't fully smiling in his interview.

"It went super well!" He says quickly, grinning slightly. "But now someone has to leave. I don't think I'm ready for that."