'Single's Inferno' gets viewers worked up, in anger, during season three

People often watch dating reality shows to feel the romance and make their hearts flutter, but viewers of the third season of Netflix’s “Single’s Inferno” were left mostly just infuriated.

Professional basketball player Lee Gwan-hee, one of the single men and women appearing on the third season of ″Single's Inferno,″ in a scene in the first episode [NETFLIX]

Can a dating show be called successful if it angers people more than it fills them with romance? Apparently so, if it's been viewed for over 71 million hours cumulatively by people around the world within just four weeks.

People often watch dating reality shows to feel the romance and make their hearts flutter, but viewers of the third season of Netflix’s “Single’s Inferno” were left mostly just infuriated. This was because of the season's "villain" — one particular individual, a professional basketball player named Lee Gwan-hee.

The first few episodes of the third season of "Single's Inferno" was released on Dec. 12 last year and again became the talk of the town for the blunt honesty of the men and women appearing in the show, with reviews both applauding — and berating — the program participants' outspokenness and unabashed behavior.

Main poster for the third season of ″Single's Inferno″ [NETFLIX]

In “Single’s Inferno,” a group of singletons gather on a deserted island called the Inferno and mingle and flirt with each other before pairing up and escaping to a luxury hotel called Paradise. The first two seasons of the show saw global success, with the first season of the show becoming the first Korean reality show to make Netflix's Top 10 list for non-English TV shows. In total, seasons one and two racked up 79 million hours viewed, according to aggregator FlixPatrol.

All eyes were on whether the third season would continue the success of the “Single’s Inferno” series, and it proved to do so, with 71 million hours viewed so far just on its own. The season's 11 episodes were released in chunks from Dec. 12 to Jan. 7.

Viewers' responses have mainly been centered on Lee. His completely unrestricted and pompous behavior, at times making borderline rude comments to others in the show, and shameless flirting with multiple women simultaneously heated up discussions on social media and online forums.

Co-producers Kim Jae-won, left, and Kim Jung-hyun [NETFLIX]

“I have never seen anyone like Lee on a dating reality show, and I think he’s perfect for the format,” co-producer Kim Jae-won said during an interview with reporters at a cafe in Jung District, central Seoul, on Thursday. Kim also produced the previous two seasons of “Single’s Inferno.” “I have made a fair share of dating reality shows, but Lee is the first person I’ve seen who has that level of confidence and is so sure of himself. He’s definitely a unique character, someone any producer would want on their show.”

Lee’s abrasiveness and uninhibited manner led to other men and women in the third season of “Single’s Inferno” showing more honest sides of themselves, and this was what ended up differentiating the third season from the previous ones, Kim said.

“Whether they liked Lee or not, he had a leader’s quality about him, and his attitude affected the others very much,” Kim said. “Everyone became more honest with themselves. Instead of trying to put on a show with the aim of appearing a certain way for potential viewers, the singletons let their raw selves be displayed, and I think that’s what made this season such a success.”

A scene from the third season of ″Single's Inferno″ [NETFLIX]

The relationships in the third season of “Single’s Inferno” have been referred to as a “realistic romance” and “love-hate romance” by viewers, and those were just the responses the producers had hoped for, according to co-producer Kim Jung-hyun, who newly joined for the third season.

“We thought that we couldn’t just repeat the atmosphere and tone of the previous seasons,” Kim Jung-hyun said. “Seasons one and two were of course entertaining and successful, but simply following them would bore viewers. We edited the footage with that in mind — to differentiate this season from the ones before by highlighting the realistic and love-hate qualities of the relationships.”

Another distinct element of season three was the commentary from the hosts of the show — model Hong Jin-kyung, actor Lee Da-hee, Kyuhyun of boy band Super Junior, rapper Hanhae and television personality Dex, the last of whom appeared himself on the second season of “Single’s Inferno” using his real name Kim Jin-young. The hosts often expressed their disbelief — most often directed at Lee Gwan-hee — and did not shy away from criticizing the participants' words and actions.

“It was a strategic decision to have the hosts be so openly critical about the people appearing on the show,” Kim Jae-won said. “We thought that if the hosts tried to protect them and commented to justify or soften the actions and words of those like Lee, viewers would respond to that negatively and criticize us even more. On the flip side, if the hosts themselves were pointing out the flaws of the men and women on Inferno, viewers would accept that.”

A scene from the third season of ″Single's Inferno″ [NETFLIX]

A lot of effort was put into producing the third season to be different the previous seasons and other dating reality shows by scrapping the clichés and tropes commonly found in the genre — namely the first date night where all the men and women gather to cook dinner together.

“Cooking dinner together for the first meeting and first episode has become a kind of rule in dating reality shows, and we wanted to get rid of that in order to avoid being repetitive,” Kim Jae-won said. “I guess that kind of setting would allow for a slower pace and perhaps a more natural environment where people can flirt, but we wanted to change the setting so that never-seen-before moments could take place.”

A fourth season of “Single’s Inferno” is still under discussion, but if it does happen, it would likely again change drastically from the third season, the co-producers said.

“There are so many dating reality shows out there these days, but I think that ‘Single’s Inferno’ has made a mark on the genre, and it could continue for many more seasons if we keep on striving to differentiate it and attempt new themes and tones,” Kim Jung-hyun said. “What the next season would look like would be decided if and once it’s greenlit. At the moment, we are just so thankful for all the love this third season has received.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]