Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Single’s Inferno’ On Netflix, A Korean Reality Dating Series Where The Young And Hot Pair Up On A Deserted Island (2024)

Shows that throw hot singles together in a tropical environment are all over streaming and linear TV, so it seems inevitable that the style would make its way to East Asia. ButSingle’s Inferno, a Korean dating series, has a little twist. The tropical environment where the singles try to hook up is “hellish” (but not really), and people have to pair up if they want to escape to “Paradise.”

SINGLE’S INFERNO: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A shot of the seemingly “hellish” environment on the “Inferno” island. “Here are two islands,” says a voice over.

The Gist: In the new reality dating seriesSingle’s Inferno, nine singles — 5 men, 4 women — are sent to an island nicknamed “Inferno”, where the temperature is 35 degrees Celsius, the accommodations are a step up from camping (more on this later), bathrooms are squatters, and the singles have to cook and draw water on their own. They’re there for nine days, all trying to find someone to date long-term. The contestants can’t tell each other how old they are or what they do for a living.

At the end of each day, each contestant receives “postcards” in a mailbox; if they choose to pair up with one of the senders (if they get a postcard), the couple is sent to a luxury resort on an island nicknamed “Paradise.” There, the daters can open up about their ages and professions, and they get a romantically-charged night in a luxury suite, before going back to “Inferno”.

In the first episode, the nine singles, all of whom are young and seem to list working out as one of their biggest hobbies, enter and awkwardly sit on a couch on the beach. Everyone is checking each other out, and the show’s four observers (Lee Da-hee, Kyu-hyun Cho, Jin Kyeong Hong, Jung Han-hae) sit in a bar-like studio and try to figure out who likes whom.

They break off in threes to explore the island to see where everything is in relation to each other. Then later, they go to the “cafeteria” to make dinner. There, some people sit back and others participate and work hard. From there, the postcards are dropped. Who will get to escape the inferno after the first night?

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Love Island orBachelor In Paradise, crossed with some low-gradeSurvivor–esque “roughing it.”

Our Take: In reality, the only thing rough about the “Inferno” island is that it’s hot and there’s no air conditioning. It’s not like they have to create shelters for themselves — both the men’s and women’s tents look more like a “glamping” set up than anything else. The cafeteria looks like a farm-to-table restaurant and has all the tools needed to make a decent meal from the food provided.

So these young millennials or old zoomers, most who are used to a life full of eating out and/or delivery, just think that the island is a rough place, especially if they’re given the carrot of spending a night at a luxury resort. That aspect is what makesSingle’s Inferno a little bit different than other dating shows. Will people connect just to get a break from the Inferno island, or will there be actual feelings there?

But the complicated setup doesn’t distract from the fact that this is generally a show where viewers can gawk at the handsome men with eight-packs and the pretty women sunning themselves in bikinis. It may be a bit more chaste than similar reality shows here and in places like Europe and South America, but what’s entertaining is the same: Hot people hooking up, even if here “hooking up” is just some light snogging.

Let’s hope the producers pick up the pace in future episodes. The intros to all nine contestants dragged out for what seemed like forever, and the interactions of the groups of three got short shrift. The producers also went to the observers a lot, which was a sign of not a lot of dramatic movement on the first day. But it’ll be interested if things will pick up as the relationships get established.

Sex and Skin: Lots of abs and rippling muscles. Not sure if there will be any sex.

Parting Shot: The last two female contestants approach their mailboxes. One has three cards in it, meaning the other one has none (one other woman got two, one got none). Who will it be?

Sleeper Star: None.

Most Pilot-y Line: We get how the first meeting can be awkward, but repeatedly showing silence as the next person walks onto the set just made that whole segment interminable.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Despite the intriguing premise, Single’s Inferno isn’t nearly as interesting as other dating reality shows.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

StreamSingle's Inferno On Netflix