As usual the show opens with a montage of clips containing hints of what's to come, played over the opening song. This week teases images of Saerom looking incredibly stressed, R writing lyrics with Hwajin reading over his shoulder, and Lucy strutting arrogantly around a practice room. The show's title scrawls over the looping images and then fades to show the eighteen contestants sitting in one of the practice rooms, waiting for the MCs to arrive with the results of the elimination.

Most of the contestants are looking understandably nervous, notably Saerom and Lucy, both of whom are sitting ramrod straight next to their compliments.

Finally, Leeteuk and Taeyeon enter the room, each holding an envelope. The contestants' focus is automatically drawn to the two SM leaders.

Taeyeon steps forward. "We know you're all nervous to know who's been eliminated, so we'll start with that. It was very close, but unfortunately U.Jin, Jaeno, you have been eliminated."

Jaeno slumps in his seat and U.Jin blinks hard, her lower lip trembling.

Jiae immediately jumps to hug the eliminated female contestant, but she's only given a moment before the two are ushered out by a staff member.

"I... really didn't expect that." Jaeno says flatly in a cut away interview, staring at his feet. "I knew someone had to go but..." He shakes his head.

U.Jin is much more emotional in her final interview, tearing up despite her clear attempts to keep it under control. "I... I think I knew this would happen, I just..." She cuts herself off when she finally can't control her crying.

Back in the practice room there's a clear air of guilty relief among the remaining contestants as Leeteuk tears open his envelope.

"Moving on, this week you'll be fighting for immunity in nest week's elimination! But first, let's find out how the rankings have changed." He smiles brightly and pulls out the score sheet.

"In last place for the boys we have R, followed closely by Lai."

R stares quietly at his feet while Lai just looks happy to not be in last place again.

"In sixth we have Ollie. Fifth is Woncheol, and fourth is Jo."

Ollie grimaces slightly at his lower rank, while Woncheol seems generally unaffected by his drop. Eunjae looks quietly surprised by his own rise in rank.

Leeteuk lets the remaining three fidget for a moment before he grins and continues.

"And our top three contestants: in third place we have Eunjae, Kurozu in second, and Seonwoo in first!"

Seonwoo looks absolutely thrilled, and Eunjae looks stunned. Kurozu is as straight-faced as always but Alexis is beaming in pride enough for both of them.

Before Taeyeon can step forward to announce the female rankings there's a brief cutaway to interviews with the new top three males.

"I'm so excited! I made first!" Seonwoo cheers happily. "Thank you to all my amazing fans!"

"I... wow." Eunjae is still clearly in shock. "I made third?" He blinks owlishly, staring in blank surprise at the air around him.

Kurozu continues his apparent indifference when he discusses his new rank. "Improvement is good. It's not first, but it's good."

Back in the practice room Taeyeon clears and holds up the girls' rankings.

"Alright ladies, you had quite a shakeup in your ranks! In last place we now have Sujin."

The former first place contestant frowns heavily at learning her new placing, while a few of the others look almost amused by the reveal.

Taeyeon ignores it and continues. "In seventh is Lucy, and sixth place is Alexis."

Alexis grins. "Same place as last time! Well, at least I didn't drop." She says amiably. Lucy looks much less pleased with her lowered rank, but she remains silent.

"Fifth place goes to Saerom, and in fourth we have Ryuwon!"

Both girls nod quietly, with no clear indication on their thoughts concerning their rankings, though Ryuwon does give a faint smile.

The remaining three however all look quite eager to hear their new placement.

Taeyeon grins. "And for our top three, from third to first, we have Jiae, Hwajin, and Diamond! Congratulations!"

"Well, it may be a step down, but third is still really good!" Jiae cheers herself with a smile in her interview.

"Second isn't quite first, but I'm not going to complain about top three." Hwajin grins teasingly in her own sit down with the camera.

Diamond meanwhile looks completely blown away, not unlike her partner had in his interview. "I... honestly can't believe I made first. I'm just... I'm so thankful." She looks to the camera with shining eyes and a warm smile. "I'll work hard to make sure I remain deserving of this honor."

The scene once again returns to the practice room as Taeyeon claps her hands to regain everyone's attention.

"Alright everyone, it's time to reveal this week's challenge! Leeteuk, would you like the honors?"

Leeteuk grins at his co-host and happily steps up. "This week you'll be randomly teamed up with another compliment pair, and you'll have to put together a performance of your choosing. With one additional caveat, of course."

Taeyeon elaborates. "In addition to the random pairing, one person in the group will be dedicated as the leader. He or she will not be in the performance, but rather will be in charge of directing it."

"It's an interesting concept, though I'm concerned about the leaders being chosen randomly." Hwajin observes in her interview. "I mean, no offense, but some of these kids haven't really shown any propensity for leading. I'd be fine following Lucy or Ryuwon, but Saerom? I'm pretty sure that girl is the human version of a puppy with it's tail between it's legs. Well meaning, but I don't think she could lead a group with any sort of efficiency."

In the practice room, the compliments have divided so they're sitting together, and Taeyeon goes around the room offering a hat to each pair.

"The randomization process is really quite simple." Taeyeon explains in the MCs' interview segment. "Each pair chooses a slip of paper with a symbol on it, and the pairs with matching symbols are a team for the episode. It can't be rigged."

"The leader selection is similar." Leeteuk adds. "Once the groups are formed, they'll draw from another hat. The person who picks the marked slip of paper will be the leader."

In the practice room the compliment pairs are all searching for their teammates. Ryuwon is pulling Lai around the room, comparing their paper to everyone else's until they find their match with Alexis and Kurozu.

Seonwoo and Jiae split up to check on everyone else and find that they're with Lucy and Jo rather quickly. Woncheol happily tosses an are around Ollie when they find they're group and Sujin smiles over at Saerom. Finally Hwajin pulls R over to Diamond and Eunjae, looking quite pleased with their partners.

The draw for the leader position is sped through, and then slowed down to reveal the leaders and their reactions.

"Ooh, this will be fun!" Seonwoo grins, holding up his marked paper. Sujin and Jo smile as well though Lucy looks a bit concerned.

"Seonwoo seems nice, but he's a little, um, naive?" She says uncertainly in her interview. "I mean, has he ever led anything before?"

"I've never been in charge before! This is going to be exciting!" Seonwoo beams happily in his own interview, confirming Lucy's worries.

The next leader revealed is Hwajin, and she looks quite smug about the development.

"I'd say this was the best possible outcome. Diamond would be a good leader, but she's a bit passive, more about finding balance within a group than driving them forward. Both are needed, but in this case I think my style of leadership is more practical considering our time constraints." Hwajin says in her interview, still grinning.

Alexis holds up her marked paper next, looking both surprised and a bit nervous. Lai offers her a high five, and that seems to reinvigorate her as she accepts the gesture and then beams at her team.

"I've never been a leader before, but Lai and Ryuwon are both super nice!" She says in her interview. "I'm confident that with them and Kurozu we'll do great!"

The final leader is the first to show real concern over being picked. Saerom stares down at the marked paper in her hands, frowning faintly, her brow furrowed with worry.

"I'm the leader of PUZZLE." She admits quietly in her interview. "Of everyone I should be the most comfortable, right? But I'm just scared I'm going to let my team down. I mean, PUZZLE isn't exactly doing well or I wouldn't be here." She stares at the hem of her shirt. "But I guess I'll just have to do my very best."

Back in the practice room the groups are starting to break off, heading out of the practice room until only Aleixs, Kurozu, Ryuwon, and Lai remain. Alexis claps her hands brightly to get her team's attention.

"Okay then! Um, I guess does anyone have any ideas?" She asks hopefully.

Kurozu raises an eyebrow. "Aren't you the leader?" He points out, and she blushes lightly.

"Ah, yeah, but I thought-"

"I have some." Ryuwon interrupts quickly. "I was thinking we could go classic? Pick one of the more popular coed songs and do that."

Lai is immediately on board. "Ooh, ooh, how about My Ear's Candy? That song is so much fun!"

Alexis beams and Kurozu shrugs. "Sure." He agrees, and Alexis immediately sets about pulling up the song on her phone so they can start dividing parts.

"Alexis means well but she's not exactly being a leader." Kurozu explains in his interview. "We don't know if that's going to reflect badly on us that she isn't actually doing her assigned job. She's not in the performance, so I feel like she should be doing more heavy lifting on the prep than she actually is."

The next group shown is Hwajin's, and she's taken full control of the performance.

"Alright, R, how's that rap coming along?" She peers over her partner's shoulder as he writes out lyrics. "Great, looks like you found your rythm! Don't forget to show me when you're done. Diamond, how's Eunjae's pronunciation coming?"

Diamond smiles lightly over at the team leader. "Slowly." She answers honestly. "Are you certain this is the best idea?"

Hwajin nods, unphased. "It doesn't have to be perfect. But you two are the best singers on the show, and we're going to emphasize that." She says firmly. "Let me hear what you have so far."

The scene cuts away before Diamond can start singing, switching over to Seonwoo's team who are gathered around Jo as he tunes a guitar.

Lucy is frowning. "I can play too you know." She points out quietly.

Seonwoo nods. "I know, but it'll be more fun if you and Jiae are both being sassy in the first part of the song! It's charming!"

Lucy still looks a bit down about not getting to play guitar, but she nods nonetheless.

Jiae pats her hand lightly. "And you get to sing more this way, right? I think it's better that way." She says with a smile, and then gets Lucy to grin a bit as well.

"I know I know. I'll show off my guitar skill some other time." She agrees.

Finally the show turns to check in on Saerom, and things aren't looking great for her team.

"Um, I mean you can do a dance if you wanted..." Saerom is mumbling as Sujin and Woncheol begin talking excitedly.

Ollie cuts them both off. "No, you're the leader Saerom, so you make the calls. If you can't direct a dance then we don't do a dance." He says flatly.

"I know what Ollie is saying." Saerom defends him uncertainly in her interview. "But I'm really not..." She trails off and shakes her head. "No, I have to do this. He's right." She sighs. "I just really hope I don't get us eliminated."

The show returns to find Alexis working with Lai on his dancing, while Kurozu and Ryuwon work separately on their own part of the performance.

"Don't tense so much, this dance is about fluidity. Feel the music." Alexis instructs, demonstrating herself as Lai awkwardly attempts to copy her, with very limited success.

Alexis frowns and waves for him to stop. "Okay, no. We need to get rid of the tension first I guess." She decides, stopping the music entirely and walking over to Kurozu and Ryuwon, who look confused by the sudden silence.

"Everyone circle up on the floor! We're going to play some get to know you games." Alexis instructs happily.

Neither Kurozu nor Ryuwon looks particularly pleased by this decision.

"We need to be working on the performance, not team building. If we had more time or were going to be in this configuration longer I'd be less worried, but we don't and we're not." Ryuwon sighs heavily in her interview.

"I admit it's a bit difficult to just let Alexis take the reigns, but she is the assigned leader." Kurozu says somewhat indifferently in his own sit down with the camera. "As long as the final product is good I don't honestly care."

For his part Lai seems thrilled with the group leader's methods. "Alexis has been super understanding about my bad dancing! I was worried because she's such a good dancer, but she's really patient with me." He beams happily.

Alexis meanwhile seems a bit oblivious to her group's general displeasure with her leading style. "I think it's going well! Kurozu and Ryuwon are both really talented and Lai is working hard! I think we'll do well." She says happily in her interview. "I think we have a good shot at getting the immunity!"

Back in the practice room the team is finally back to working on the performance itself. A note onscreen reveals that there are two days left until the performance.

"Okay, so since the dance is still a little stiff, I called in back up!" Alexis claps her hands cheerfully. "Everyone, these are my group mates!"

Four young women enter the practice room and bow in greeting to the three performers, who greet them in return.

"I also called in some of your friends Kurozu." Alexis continues cheerfully. "I got their numbers when we worked with them a couple weeks ago!"

The male backup dancers from the third episode enter on cue, and Kurozu smiles faintly.

"She may be switching the script super late, but it's a good call. These guys are skilled." He acknowledges in his interview.

Alexis is beaming in hers. "Lai just wasn't getting the dance quickly enough so I called in for help! Everyone is working super hard and Kurozu has been super nice about not dancing as much."

Ryuwon is a little less pleased. "We're changing a lot of the performance with barely any time left. I know we can do it, but I'm worried that the fact we had less time will be obvious next to the other groups." She sighs.

The scene switches to where Saerom is awkwardly watching as Sujin and Woncheol do vocal warmups.

Ollie comes up behind her, frowning. "Shouldn't you be working with them? Or me?" He points out, and she jumps and then flushes.

"I, um, I'm not a great singer and you're a good rapper already I just-"

"Then are you setting up the stage? You're a group leader right? You should know how to do this." Ollie points out flatly, and Saerom looks at her feet.

"Right, I could... yeah, okay. Um, good job?" She adds uncertainly, and Ollie rolls his eyes before walking over to the other compliment pair and telling them they're going to practice the actual song.

Saerom looks miserable and embarrassed in her interview. "Ollie is right, I should be more proactive. I'm just..." She shakes her head and doesn't finish the thought.

"She has no self confidence and our performance is suffering for it." Ollie completes the sentence in his own interview. "Of everyone on this team, she was probably the worst possible choice to be leader. Even Woncheol could have figured something out by now. Even Sujin would at least be actually doing something and not second guessing every decision. We're not getting anything done at this rate."

Sujin is equally uncertain about their leader. "I mean, I'm sure Saerom means well, but she has a really hard time just making decisions. She overthinks everything. And that's not a great trait when we only have a week to make this performance awesome."

Back in the practice room Ollie and Woncheol are nowhere to be seen, leaving Sujin and Saerom sitting by the radio while Saerom fidgets with the iPod they're using for their music.

Sujin clears . "So, I was thinking. You know how Ollie really only has that one part in the song? And he's not really doing anything for the rest of it?"

Saerom looks over at her in confusion, nervousness written plainly on her features. "Um, yes? What about it?"

Sujin shrugs a bit, glancing at the mirror before looking back to Saerom. "I was just thinking... he gets a lot of hate from fans. Like, a lot. Maybe he should only be onstage when he's rapping? That way focus can be on Woncheol - he's the higest ranking of the three of us." She points out.

Saerom blinks owlishly at her teammate. "Oh but, um, wouldn't that be mean to Ollie?"

Sujin shrugs. "It's just a thought I had. You don't have to use it." She says idly. "Oh hey, they're back. Did you guys get me a water bottle?" She stands up to greet the returning Ollie and Woncheol, who are carrying water and snacks. After a moment's hesitation, Saerom gets up to meet them as well.

"I don't know what I should do." The rapper says miserably in her interview. "Sujin makes a good point, but I don't want to upset Ollie either. I wish someone else had been made leader."

In another room, Hwajin is having absolutely no issues with her role as leader. When the show checks in on her group, she has them running vocal exercises, save for R who's reading over a sheet of paper in a corner.

"R and I are extremely lucky to be in a group with Diamond and Eunjae." Hwajin grins in her interview. "I mean, I know I'm a good singer, but Diamond and Eunjae are amazing. With them singing and R writing his own rap, I'm confident we've got this immunity in the bag."

The group does seem quite confident as they work in their practice room - even R and Eunjae are a bit more talkative than usual.

Hwajin grins as R finishes his rap, clapping encouragingly. "That was great! I love the new verse, I think it's officially complete! What do you guys think?" She grins over at Diamond and Eunjae. The latter smiles quietly, nodding, and the former gives R a warm smile.

"I admit, Hwajin is quite good at this." Diamond says in her interview. "Eunjae is talking more than normal, and she seems to be a good influence on R as well. But I admit, there's something a bit disconcerting sometimes. I can't really explain it. Nonetheless, she's doing an excellent job as team leader."

Eunjae shifts uncertainly in his seat. "She's good. She takes charge and knows exactly what she's doing." He offers. "It's good for a challenge like this, right?"

"Hwajin is scary." R says quietly. "But she's a good partner. She really just wants what's best for me. She's just kind of pushy sometimes."

This is demonstrated when the scene cuts to Hwajin pausing the music and rewinding it. "No, try it again. Eunjae your pronunciation is still really awful, R have some confidence in your rap! It's good, we all said so didn't we? Have a little self-confidence, the lyrics need it. Diamond you're doing perfect, great job, sorry we have to keep doing this same part." She grins easily at the other female, who merely raises an eyebrow.

"If you think it will make our performance better I'm not going to complain." She replies evenly, and Hwajin laughs.

"Fair enough. From the top ladies." Hwajin claps her hands and starts the music.

"Honestly I'm being picky because we have the luxury of being picky." She explains in her interview. "Like I said before, our performance is awesome. I'm just poking at the few tiny loose threads we have since we actually have time to work on them. Devil's in the details and all that." She grins proudly. "I'd love to see the other groups top us when we're so far ahead of the game. Have I mentioned I love this group?"

"I love my group!" Seonwoo cheers happily in his own interview. "We're having so much fun with our song! Jo is great on guitar, and Lucy is doing amazing with selling the first song! And Jiae is really great about singing as well, she has such a nice voice!" He enthusiastically compliments all of his teammates, always with the same beaming smile.

In their practice room, which is shown in the next shot, the fourth group really does appear to be having fun with their performance.

Even Lucy, the one reluctant one earlier in the episode, is grinning as Jo freestyles something on his guitar and Jiae makes up a rap to go along with it.

Seonwoo bursts through the door a moment later, laden down with bottles of water and what appear to be fast food take out bags. "Lunch has arrived!" He announces cheerily, and all three of his group mates cheer.

"Seonwoo is a sweet kid." Jo grins in his interview. "He's not exactly leader material - the performance has really been more of a group effort - but he's a great cheerleader for us!" He laughs.

"Seonwoo is great!" Jiae is only too happy to praise her partner and team leader. "He's been super supportive all week, we've been getting a lot done!"

Lucy is smiling faintly in her own interview. "I admit I was uncertain about Seonwoo. Part of that kind of came from how popular his group already is, I admit that." She looks down for a moment before returning her gaze to the camera. "But he's a nice guy, and he really does want us to do well. I can appreciate that kind of dedication."

The group is back to working on their performance when the show returns to their practice room, or at least, it appears they are. Lucy is strutting sassily in circles around a trio of chairs while Jo and Jiae are attempting to look scandalized but really look more amused.

Seonwoo isn't attempting to hide his own giggling at all. "You look fabulous Lucy!" He praises happily.

Jo finally gives in to his grin. "Jiae and I need work though. I see you grinning over there." He teases the other girl, who laughs and shakes her head.

"I can't help it! This whole first part is ridiculous!" She defends lightly.

Seonwoo claps. "That's the whole point! It's going to be a fun performance! Bright and fun! Okay, we should try with some music now. Lucy, you think you're good in those heels now?"

Lucy nods cheerfully. "I've definitely got it! And I don't have to walk all that far anyway, I was mostly having fun." She admits, and Seonwoo beams.

"That's the point!" He reminds them all happily. "Okay, everyone ready? Then let's do this!"

"I'm feeling good about our chances." Lucy smiles in her interview. "It's going to be fun, and memorable, and of course we sound great as well. Good luck to everyone else - you're going to need it!" She laughs and makes a fighting sign towards the camera before the show cuts away to a commercial break.

As always, the third part of the show returns to the stage, where the two MCs prepare to introduce the week's performances.

"Hello everyone and welcome back to Media Play! Last week we wished two of our contestants goodbye, and next week we'll do the same, but this week the remaining contestants are hoping to wow you and earn themselves immunity!" Leeteuk jumps right in, beaming bright as ever. "This week we had a special challenge for our groups, and for four particular contestants! Through pure luck, our pairs were paired, and one of the four was chosen to be the leader for this week's performances!"

Taeyeon steps up. "Each leader will introduce his or her team and their performance, and you decide who you think did the best! Both pairs in the winning group will gain immunity for next week's elimination episode!"

The MCs waste no further time waving the first group in and stepping offstage.

Alexis bounds up excitedly, smiling and waving at the audience. "Hello everyone! We're going to be performing My Ear's Candy! Kurozu, Ryuwon, and Lai have all worked super hard, so we hope you'll enjoy it!" She waves on her group, but as she exits only Ryuwon enters, accompanied by a group of backup dancers.

Kurozu - 1st Male, Ryuwon - Female, Lai - 2nd Male

The group holds their final pose for a long moment before the scene cuts to where Alexis is grinning excitedly in her interview.

"I think they did great! We only added in Kurozu's backup dancer friends and my group mates to help with the dancing at the last minute, but I think it turned out really well." She nods proudly. "Next time Lai will learn the dance though!" She adds teasingly.

The next leader to walk on is Saerom. She seems less nervous than she had earlier in the episode, smiling cutely and waving at the crowd.

"Hello everyone! I was the leader for our team, with Ollie, Sujin, and Woncheol! It's been so hot and terrible this summer, we want to cool you down with a sweet spring song!" She smiles and curtsies, then hurries off the stage as Sujin and Woncheol carry on a park bench and take their seats.

Ollie - Rapper, Sujin - Female Singer, Woncheol - Pink Jacket

The camera cuts away from the two on the bench smiling out at the audience to Saerom's interview, where her confidence has dropped once again.

"I ended up taking Sujin's advice. She was right, Ollie looked weird just standing there while they looked adorable. I just hope he's not mad at me. I think the performance went well though? So it was probably the right call..." She trails off and looks beyond the camera, a hopeful expression in her eyes.

The next group up is Hwajin's, and she takes the stage with a proud sweep of her hands and a flash of a smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen, forget anything you think you know about beautiful voices. Tonight you'll be hearing a performance that will be your new standard for what amazing vocalists sound like! You'll have new appreciation for the brilliance of self-written raps! And you'll feel the bittersweet taste of an impossible love! Presenting, Diamond, Eunjae, and R, this is Love the Way You Lie." She bows proudly, and then makes way for her team to set up their stands.

R - Rapper, Diamond - Female Singer, Eunjae - Male Singer

Diamond and Eunjae both look over at R with surprise, as he resolutely refuses to make eye contact.

Hwajin looks a bit stunned in her own interview, but she's clearly happy. "We did not practice R joining that final harmony. He just jumped in! And it was small, yeah, but I didn't even know he could sing - and completely unrehearsed like that." She smiles. "I'm proud of him for taking that chance. I don't think he would have four weeks ago." She clears and grins. "But what did I tell you? Our performance is the one to beat. We absolutely slayed that stage."

Seonwoo doesn't look nervous about following the performance though, happily bounding onstage and waving to everyone excitedly.

"Hi everyone! I got to be leader for this challenge, and our team has got a bunch of fun stuff planned for tonight! Introducing, Jiae, Jo, and the every fabulous Lucy!" He makes jazz hands as he exits the stage, and the camera catches several audience members waving signs with his name and F1RSTCLASS written on them.

Jo, Lucy, and Jiae hurry on with stools that they set up in a line. Jiae takes a seat on the far end, and Jo takes a moment to tune up his guitar. He then gives a thumbs up and Lucy takes her place standing to the left of the stools.

Jiae - Dress, Lucy - Pink Top, Jo - Guitar

Jo retrieves his guitar with a grin as the audience applauds. Jiae smiles and bows while Lucy strikes several sassy poses before all three start gigging.

"They did amazing! I'm so glad we got to go last, I think it's good to end on a fun note." Seonwoo cheers happily in his interview.

Back onstage the MCs have returned, and Taeyeon steps forward.

"Well I think our contestants have given us quite the difficult decision here tonight! But no matter who wins, I think we can safely say everyone worked hard and did a great job!"

Leeteuk smiles. "Definitely. But only one team can win the immunity, so get those votes in everyone! Until next time, this has been Media Play!"