Bubbles

I also think Li Yun Rui was a great addition to the team!

My 3 favorite episodes are 10: Who stole the fish?, 9: Beach Goes On/The Duos, and 8: Missing Strokes/The Word Game

Episodes 8, 9, and 10 were by far the best episodes of the season in terms of editing, suspense, games, and cast chemistry. Episode 10 "Who Stole the Fish" hit it out of the park when it came to the games. So many hilarious moments! No one made it out totally unscathed. lol

I almost don't want to watch the last few episodes because I feel like they're going to return to having the same scripted winner (as the first 7 episodes did) and go back to cutting out 3/4ths of the casts' screentime. I don't particularly care which member wins, but I am tired of being able to look at a team at the beginning and know the outcome without watching. It's not very entertaining overall.

Agreed! This episode was very well balanced. In fact, even with all the guests, it was probably the best in terms of screentime of this season, and it gave back the old feeling of the show that has been missing. The show's always better when they include those moments of bantering and just laughing over silly things instead of saving them all for behind the scenes. You can tell that everyone was really having a great time filming even with the acupuncture/mud pit/name tag ripping combo. lol

Love to see the cast back, but this season has the same problem as last season. If the same person always gets to win (or their team if a team event), then what's the point of even having any games?

Agreed. Episode 2 was quite scripted in that regard, but I can understand to an extent when the member is only on for a few episodes out of the season. I was fine with just dealing with that because he does work so hard, and they've really backed off on how often it's scripted in his favor. However, when right after that, they began scripting for another member and stayed with one member instead of at least alternating, it drove me nuts.

Agreed! He's a really great cast member, and he adds a lot to the show. I don't get why people are complaining at all. It would be so boring without a cheeky person who tries (and usually fails) to find a loophole in the games.

No. Bai Lu had a good amount of screentime (mainly thanks to the play-fighting she and FCC do), but only 1 person won 8 out of 12 episodes and it was a bit too obvious how it was set up that way.
I've watched all versions of Running since they originally aired, so maybe it sticks out to me too much because I've seen other countries do it as well for certain seasons. However, I can't stand when it's blatantly obvious that they scripted the results of the game for drama.

Bai Lu and FCC pairing was the most fun! They play fight like my brother and I do, so I think it's really fun to watch.
Sha Yi has a fantastic personality for variety, and he can pair really well with any individual or team. I'm so happy that he was added to the cast. Same for Zhou Shen too has been a wonderful addition for the past few seasons. I was sad not to see more of him this season, but I am happy it was for such a prestigious reason.

The one downside is that I am very tired of how scripted in one particular member's favor it is. It went way overboard this season in one person's case. This person does not always need to magically win or always have the advantage. What's the point of even playing the games when that memberwill always be given the upperhand in the end just so their fans won't whine? I hope in the future the writers will take care to make the games even or to at least not make it so obvious that they're letting someone win 90% of the time.