TW: Spoilers

And, we’re back. Another season of gorgeous singles, insane chemistry, and canned carrots. 

The fifth season of “Single’s Inferno” premiered in late January this year, with much anticipation from viewers. 

For the fifth year in a row, a well-edited, drama-filled reality TV dating show is back to grace our television screens. 

The show follows a group of contestants living on a rugged island they call Inferno, or in other words, hell. The cast is provided opportunities to match up as couples and go to Paradise, a luxurious hotel. Paradise is full of delicious meals and one-on-one pool dates. Sometimes, more appealing activities await the couples as they arrive. 

The purpose of this show is to help contestants find a partner they could see themself with even after they leave Inferno. They get ten days on the island to either find their match or walk away alone. 

Filmed during the hot summertime, the cast was shown going on mini dates, competing in high-stakes challenges, and sharing truths around the bonfire. 

During the broadcast, one cast member in particular caught the attention of many fans, but not quite in a positive way. Mina Sue Choi displayed many instances of indecisiveness and had romantic relations with not just one but multiple guys on the show. 

“The biggest hate and controversy this season [was] about Mina Sue […] because she kept switching back and forth, left and right with multiple guys”, Senior David Goo said. 

Many fans expressed their dislike of people with this kind of personality, and her actions stirred controversy and hate.

Others argue that being indecisive is the whole point of the show; you are meant to explore and go out of your comfort zone in order to find the one you truly love.

Choi ended up being the most polarizing contestant on the show, but in a lot of the public’s opinion, she was the individual who made this season truly interesting and worth watching. 

“I think this season’s plot was way more interesting because Choi Mina Sue brought some major conflicts”, Senior Eugene Cho said. 

If every contestant found their match within the first episode of the show, the rest of the episodes wouldn’t have any more substance, and the story would end almost as soon as it began. 

This year, out of 15 total cast members in the show, five couples matched and walked out of Inferno together. 

Having watched both the fifth season and the fourth, we can’t help but compare the two. 

Last year, the show heavily focused on the story of one individual, but this year, they have balanced out the screentime, and almost all of the contestants seem to have their own story. 

“I feel like this season was much more interesting and chaotic than the last season because of the fun and unpredictable matchings within the cast”, Goo said. 

This season was also incredibly diverse, featuring many international cast members. Lee Sunghun, part of the male cast, is based in New York City. During the season, he spoke English very often with Choi Mina Sue, who was born in Australia and raised in several US states.

Park Heesun, another contestant on the show, was attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh before she was offered to join the show. 

We enjoyed watching the cast occasionally speak English to each other, as it was a language and tone that we could relate to.

This fifth season of “Single’s Inferno” was so compelling that Netflix ended up adding a reunion season, with a few episodes to capture the cast’s opinions and reactions toward the show, as they all came back together around six months after filming.

This had not been done with any of the previous seasons.

Compared to last year’s season, this year was so much better. The convergent storylines and panelist reactions weaved a beautiful 12 episodes that were truly engaging and had us on the edge of our seats the entire time.

Like us, many viewers agree that this season may be the best one yet. 

“I would definitely watch another season. Every season gets more and more interesting”, Goo said. 

With Season six confirmed for next year, we can’t wait to see what is in store for us!