Netflix being Netflix, with its desire to replace as much of the existing TV and movies status quo as it can, its Korean-language content doesn’t just include a few prestige titles here and there like Crash Landing on You and Extraordinary Attorney Woo. The streaming giant also has a hand in producing lighter — some would say low-brow — fare, like its reality dating competition series Single’s Inferno, which saw the final episodes of its second season debut on Wednesday.
Moreover, the show is addictive enough for a number of reasons that its dramatic finale has now pushed the 10-episode series into Netflix’s US Top 10 (it’s the #10 show in the US, as of this writing).
Single’s Inferno season 2 wraps on Netflix
If you’ve been following along this season and you’re not caught up yet, don’t worry — we won’t spoil the outcome of the Season 2 finale here. Suffice it to say though: It was a bit dramatic and had me on the edge of my seat all the way to the end. And one girl’s choice of a guy to leave Single’s Inferno with completely shocked me — as well as the judges, two of whom shed literal happy tears over it.
About the show: Netflix is, of course, chock-a-block with dating and dating-adjacent series ranging from Too Hot to Handle to Love is Blind, and while Single’s Inferno nominally falls into that same category it’s also like no American dating show you’ve ever seen. There wasn’t a single kiss over the course of this whole season, for example, and until the finale — barring one fleeting moment of a couple locking fingers in the “paradise” hotel pool — I don’t recall seeing any hand-holding either.
The way it works: Basically, Netflix brings together a group of attractive and ambitious singles, and they live and get to know each other on a secluded island. The show refers to that island as “inferno,” even though that’s kind of a misnomer as it nevertheless offers gorgeous vistas. The singles who hit it off together hook up — no, not like that — and are whisked away for one night’s stay in a lavish hotel (and no, literally nothing that you’re imagining happens there).
The opposite of everything people hate about The Bachelor
Throughout the show, a panel that includes Korean celebrities like Lee Da-hee provides a running commentary. And that panel is one of the many things I enjoy about the show, as the commentary is never mean-spirited — the members, for example, swoon when they see couples fall in love.
Should you watch Single’s Inferno?
Let’s put it this way: I’m in my 40s and in no way, shape, or form close to what I imagine the Single’s Inferno target demographic to be. But if you already enjoy Korean content on Netflix, I can all but assure you that you’ll easily get caught up in this show, too. Even if, like me, you were (metaphorically) screaming in vain every time these short-sighted boys in Season 2 overlooked contestant Park Se-jeong, who clearly looks like a K-pop star, and took someone else to “paradise” instead.
