For more than five years, the Korean reality dating show Single’s Inferno has held viewers in thrall. Each season, the show, which debuted on Netflix in December 2021, leaves a dozen or so attractive single Koreans stranded on a deserted island with few resources. Their only way out is by making love connections that will grant them a momentary reprieve in the form of an overnight date at a luxurious hotel called “Paradise.”
Single’s Inferno Season 5, the most recent installment, has been heralded as a return to form of sorts for a show that has maintained its popularity but has sometimes struggled to create as many romantic connections as producers and viewers would hope for. Some previous tweaks to the general format, including allowing contestants to go on back-to-back “Paradise” dates with the same person, have allowed deeper connections to grow. However, other tweaks, such as the introduction of two “Inferno” camps rather than just one in Season 3, hindered romantic progress.
Heading into Season 5, after a Season 4 in which the romantic life of contestant Lee Si-an took up much of the narrative space, producer Kim Jae-won was looking to find “a really nice balance” between novelty and a proven format that would allow for a diversity of connection and character moments. “For Season 5, we didn’t want to go for drastic changes in format,” says Kim. “[We wanted to] make sure it feels natural, and then we can show more of the charms of the characters.”
Single’s Inferno Season 5 has racked up more than 45 million hours watched in its third week on Netflix’s Top Ten Non-English Shows. With the finale airing on Feb. 10., let’s break down where things stand with this season’s contestants and their love connections.
Choi Mina Sue becomes the season’s breakout character
Season 5 launched with a bang in January, immediately sending the most popular female contestant and the most popular male contestant to “Paradise” with dates of…
