Single‘s Inferno TV Show Review (Spoiler Free): Discussion-Worthy
One of the hottest shows to kick off 2022 was a Korean reality TV dating show on Netflix called Single’s Inferno. I had a blast watching this show, and even more of a blast getting to discuss it with my friends.
On Single’s Inferno, 4 women and 5 men go on a small island with somewhat limited resources and have to live together for 9 days. Within those 9 days, there are opportunities to escape the island to go to “Paradise.” If they’re able to match with a date, the pair can live in a presidential suite in a fancy hotel for a single night. Ultimately, contestants spend their time on the island getting to know one other to potentially form romantic relationships.
Single’s Inferno takes some of the best attributes of Terrace House and spices it up with interesting games to make the stakes higher and the entire situation more dramatic. What makes shows like Single’s Inferno and Terrace House so refreshing is how tame and realistic the dating feels. Sure, everyone in Single’s Inferno is objectively very attractive, so it’s not that realistic. But it’s really nice to see people getting along and treating each other with respect. The jealousy, crushes, and misunderstandings feel relatable. It becomes very easy for viewers to develop nuanced and strong opinions about each person.
There are multiple events and games within this show that raises the stakes of each situation. It forces the contestants to mingle with different people and explore different pairings, which makes it all the more unpredictable for us to guess who likes who. That anticipation and the surprise factor of this show made it a really addictive watch for me.
My favorite contestant on the show was Song Ji-a. In terms of first impressions, she can definitely come off as self-absorbed and pretentious. But I have to admit that she grew on me because I found her one-liners hilarious. She’s gorgeous and confident - killer combo factors that helped make her a really popular contestant on the island.
Single’s Inferno has the drama and excitement of a reality TV show while also being grounded in human emotion and natural relationship-building. It’s hard to feel truly satisfied with a dating show, because you develop such strong biases towards certain people that sometimes the “final” pairings just don’t feel right. However, looking at this series as a whole and how much I looked forward to watching it, I have to say that this is one of the best reality TV shows I’ve watched in a long time. It certainly filled the empty hole that Terrace House left in my heart. Would highly recommend to everyone!