5 things about In The Soop: Friendcation

Korean reality show In The Soop: Friendcation is a spin-off version of BTS In The Soop. It stars BTS’ V, Park Seo-joon, Peakboy, Choi Woo-shik, and Park Hyung-sik, who are real-life friends in the entertainment industry.

The five of them embark on a four-day friendcation to Goseong, a county in Gangwon province. The series will show how they spend their time as they become their true selves together. It will be a travel record of five friends who mean more than family.

The first episode is recently released and here’s what you need to know about this story of friendship. There may be spoilers in this review.

1. It is available for streaming on Disney+.

Disney+ has been introducing Korean dramas on its platform, such as Kiss Sixth Sense (2022) and Snowdrop (2021). They also have Korean variety shows like Men On A Mission (2017) and Outrun By Running Man (2021).

It seems they may be trying to capture more audience by introducing Korean reality shows, starting with In The Soop: Friendcation. Perhaps we will see more Korean reality and variety shows on Disney+ in time to come.

Watch The Soop: Friendcation here

2. There are four episodes in total.

As the series documents a four-day-three-night trip, there will only be four episodes in total. With new episodes dropping every Friday, the series will end in about a month’s time.

The first episode is filled with amusing and entertaining moments, with a snowy, frozen landscape as the background. Despite the seemingly cold weather, cosy and warm vibes emanate throughout the first episode. A month feels like a long wait for us to catch all the heartwarming happenings that have taken place during this friendcation.

3. V, Park Seo-joon and Peakboy take up most of the screen time in the first episode.

Due to the artistes’ schedules, only V, Park Seo-joon and Peakboy can arrive earlier at the resort. The other two — Choi Woo-shik and Park Hyung-sik — will come later. As a result, V, Park Seo-joon and Peakboy occupy most of the first episode.

But things are already getting fun with just the three of them. Starting with a long drive, the trio go on to do grocery shopping, cook a hearty dinner, and play games like flicking stones. I can only imagine how much excitement (or havoc) there will be when all five gather together.

4. Park Seo-joon is like the mother of the group.

The series describes Park Seo-joon as the emotional anchor “dad”; Peakboy as the wild "youngest daughter”; Choi Woo-shik as the trustworthy “eldest son”; Park Hyung-sik as the kind “mom”; and V as the cute “youngest sibling”.

However, when Park Seo-joon enters the kitchen and starts whipping out dishes, he shows the homebody side of him that we don’t usually see in his dramas. How often do you see someone, probably other than your mum, who is concerned with the kitchen appliances and the kind of seasonings available at the resort anyway?

Choi Woo-shik describes Park Hyung-sik as “a bit gentler than the dad”. While Park Seo-joon (the supposed dad) is already very much like the mother of the group, we can only tell who is the real mum after Park Hyung-sik makes his appearance in the next episode.

5. Their behaviours and interactions may not be fully authentic.

At the beginning, Choi Woo-shik said, “Let’s only show people how well we get along on this show. Let’s just be mindful of that for the camera. Let’s get along.” Peakboy later asked, “So do we just act like we’re hanging out?” But luckily, Park Seo-joon replied, “Not acting. We are hanging out.”

With these conversations, you can’t help but feel that the artistes may still exercise caution during their friendcation. As the cameras will follow them around, there is a nagging feeling that their behaviours and interactions may not be fully authentic. For instance, in a scene where Peakboy wants to use profanity, he holds himself back as he knows he’s being filmed.

But profanities aside, I think the audience would prefer to see more of what they are truly like when the camera’s not rolling. Then again, this is only the first episode. Perhaps, when they settle down and feel more relaxed, they will start to reveal their deepest thoughts in the subsequent episodes.