A Recap of I-Land Episode 8: The BTS Test & First Elimination

August 24, 2020

Episode 8 broadcast live on August 21st, 11 PM KST.

Throughout the episode, you can see how the trainees struggled and worked hard for their first test in Part 2 of I-Land. Not only do the I-Landers have to worry about being within the top 7 to debut for the final lineup, but they have to avoid the permanent elimination at all costs. While trying to fight on your own or with the team, this episode showed how every single one of those trainees was pushed to the limit on whether they could shine more in their performances or fall flat.

We are reminded at the beginning of episode 8 of the teams for the BTS Test with songs ‘I Need You,’ ‘Fake Love,’ and ‘DNA.’

With Taki winning the individual dance battle in the last episode, he was able to pick out his members first. He chose strong contenders, Heeseung, Sunghoon, and Sunoo. While Taki could choose his teammates first, it gave K and Jungwon the advantage of choosing their desired song.

In the end, K’s teammates are Jay, Niki, and Hanbin for the song ‘DNA,’ Jungwon’s teammates are Jake, Geonu, and Daniel for the song ‘I Need U,’ and Taki’s team ended up with the vocally challenging song, ‘Fake Love.’

With the teams decided, the boys go ahead and begin their practice for the songs. Each unit put in their hard work to make the performances their own. However, we see how some of the boys have been put against the pressure with the imminent elimination. It was undeniably heartbreaking to see how these boys were being so tough on themselves.

Geonu voiced his worries about being eliminated. He quoted how his confidence had dwindled after being eliminated at the end of Part 1, sending him to Ground after being on I-Land through most of the episodes. He mentioned that the elimination put him in a “state of chaos.” However, he wanted to prove himself after being able to pass on to Part 2 and show the Producers how much he has grown.

Daniel noted how he knew he was far less prepared than the other competitors. With the BTS Test’s results in the hands of the producers. Daniel felt that if he didn’t work hard enough, then he would be significantly penalized with it by the end. He voiced his passion to work even harder to show good results.

In this test, Taki is thrown into the leader position for the first time, and throughout the episode, it is apparent how much pressure he must be feeling. Taki had been making multiple mistakes through his practices; either he couldn’t find his position in the choreography, couldn’t hit the high note in ‘Fake Love,’ or sped up the beat in his dance. Taki must have felt overwhelmed and burdened to lead the team.

There was some unquestionable tension in the air within the’ DNA’ team.

While the ‘DNA’ unit monitored their practices, Leader K noticed something off within their choreography and picked how Niki ad-libbed a part into the routine. It was something that was meant to make him stand out more above the rest, and K knew he had to hound down on Niki to get his answer.

As viewers, we could see the boy’s desperation to make himself shine more for the fans. The difficulty of Part 2 has been notched up a level, and Niki couldn’t help but worry about being eliminated for good from the competition. He wanted to survive, and that’s all he could hope for by adding his ad-libs to get some attention.

However, he quoted the test as more of an individual match that made him clash with Leader K. K pointed out the ad-lib and voiced his disappointment on how this came to be without being told about it initially. Throughout the episode, we continuously see the two butt heads while being on different wavelengths for the test.

Son Sung Deuk, the choreographer for the BTS songs, came in for the midpoint evaluations. As all the units performed their songs for the producers, it was clear how to let down they were by all of them. Sung Deuk gave harsh criticism for the teams, as none had reached their expectations. It was disheartening to see Taki break down into tears after getting the harshest comments from the producer.

After the segment, we see each team have some heart-to-heart talks together. First, Sunoo and Jake bring up how they came to be trainees. They’ve talked about how they have been inspired to go into the trainee life after seeing idols on television performing.

Fast forward, and the day had come for the I-Landers to perform in front of the producers. Along with this part, we get more behind the scenes for each unit.

Starting with the ‘DNA’ team, it showed a part of their practice with Son Sung Deuk watching for mistakes. Niki went ahead and added his ad-lib again, which Sung Deuk had caught immediately, and brought up how he shouldn’t do it as he was being too obvious for attention in the choreo.

It led to the team practicing more afterward. However, it only made the tension between K and Niki grow while they continued to butt heads with their thoughts on the competition. The leader voiced his exhaustion against the whole thing, shooting harsh words at Niki for being stubborn during their practices. They’re both frustrated at each other.

Fortunately, with the help of Hanbin, Niki and K were able to reconcile over the fact they only wanted the best for their team. With the much-needed talk, their bond grew stronger and they were able to get past their obstacle.

Here’s the full version of ‘DNA.’

For the scoring system for this test, each person will be graded individually to the max of 100, so the team’s overall score can be the highest of 400. ‘DNA’ team were able to showcase high-energy charisma and vast improvements with their outstanding performance.

The team’s overall score was 287, which secured first place in the unit ranking for now.

The second unit to perform was ‘I Need U.’

From the get-go, the team was obviously nervous about performing. During their midpoint evaluations, the team has gotten a lot of criticism about portraying the wrong emotions while performing the song. It’s meant to show a lot of sorrow and emotion. Even during their last rehearsal before their stage, the group doesn’t seem to have gotten the emotion right.

Here’s the full version of ‘I Need U.’

While the boys did show a lot of improvement in their singing and dancing since Part 1 of the show, they, unfortunately, seemed to have fallen short with their performance. The producers gave negative feedback for the group. Geonu noted how he felt he missed a lot of his parts of the song and wasn’t able to show his best self.

Overall, ‘I Need U’ team got second place with a team score of 275.

Lastly, ‘Fake Love’ team are up to perform.

In their behind-the-scene footage, we see the four with complicated feelings over their song. The producers came in to give them individual help with their performance. Taki had been going a beat ahead of the song for his dance. Sung Deuk gave him the comment that as leader, he should know the rhythm of the song the best.

Taki has been carrying the weight of a leader’s responsibility on his own.

Much to everyone’s delight, Heeseung swoops in to help lead the team alongside Taki. With Heeseung’s experience as a leader, he was able to guide the group and help them improve in their performance.

Here’s the full version of ‘Fake Love.’

The group successfully showed how they were able to overcome their shortcoming with this performance. Bang Sihyuk even noted how this was the best performance he had ever seen throughout I-Land.

While Heeseung, Sunoo, and Sunghoon got some high praise from the producers, Taki got the worst feedback from the bunch.

In the end, the team has gotten the highest score with 306, which meant that everyone from ‘I Need U’ team will be exempt from elimination.

The imminent elimination has come. All 12 of the trainees will have their scores, determined by the producers, announced.

Here is the new ranking based on the producers’ scores:

Heeseung
Jungwon
Sunghoon
K
Sunoo
Jay
Jake
Niki
Hanbin
Daniel
Geonu
Taki

The ranking showed the great advantage it is to have the highest unit score. While Taki did get the lowest rank, he was exempt from elimination. Taki showed his

Due to this, it meant that whoever was in the next place up would have to be eliminated, which unfortunately became Geonu’s fate. The scoring between every trainee had been close, some even differing only by one point. It’s a sad goodbye since we knew how much Geonu had worked hard to show a better version of himself in this part.

The I-Landers get to have their last farewells with Geonu while sharing words of hope and encouragement for the future.

Geonu quoted how this won’t be the end for him. While his journey on I-Land is over, this is only the beginning for him. After that, he will return with a much better image of himself for the fans.

As episode 8 wrapped up, it revealed the current global votes for the remaining 11 I-Landers: