Solo Hell (2021)

Dating show with k-drama plot quality.

The show was weirdly addicting, even though it was far softer compared to western dating shows. The focus on the feelings and not just sexual attraction made the stakes higher, even though I knew it’s all over the top behavior. They knew each other for 8 days, how much in love can they truly be?

The aspect that was for me as interesting as the show itself was the audience reaction. The double standards we had were strong, and it has been just hilarious to watch. JiA playing all the guys? Queen. Jin Taek showing interest in someone else, because he was not sure about the feelings for his first pick? Trash. So Yeon being true to her feelings and saying what she wants to say: honest and caring. Se Hoon being true to his feelings and saying what he wants to say: egoistic and selfish. And the same story happened with a lot of male and female contestants.

Truth is, the female contestants are not unproblematic queens that deserve better. They were all just normal people, who barely knew each other and had no obligation to stay loyal to anyone just because they picked them once. They guys were not trash, there were no red flags, we are all just hypersensitive about the most basic and normal behavior.

As entertaining as the show was, I had few complaints. First, it was way too short. I would say adding at least 2 more episodes would be better. Keep the 8 days format, but getting 2 episodes per day would be ideal. It would make it easier to understand the relations between contestants and understand their choices. I feel like sometimes we just missed the context, because it was never shown on screen.

Another thing was adding new contestants so late. If they decided to stir the pot, they should have added them after the first date - long term it would create more tension that they wanted, and not last minute cheap “twists”. Not to mention the idiocy of casting Cha Hyun Seung, when he knew few contestants, which goes against everything these shows are about (and the “not knowing each other's age and profession).

Overall, I had a lot of fun. My favorite person was An Ye Wow - the only one who took the show for what it was: a little bit of fun adventure. Everyone was so serious, as if they were about to get married the moment the program ended, while she was just having fun meeting new people and enjoying herself. The best chemistry for me was between Hyun Joong, So Yeon and Se Hoon - these three were such an underrated comedic trio who radiated best friends vibe, I wish we could just watch them chilling and joking around a bit more. Best thing was: I did not really feel bad for anyone. Picking extremely good looking, popular, successful people makes me take their love hardships less seriously. “Oh no, this hot dude in his mid 20’ just got rejected for the first time in his life, what a tragedy”.

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