'Better Late Than Single' Season 2 Episodes 5-6 Recap And Review: I Can Never Respect A Man Like Hyuk-Joon 

Okay, I know my headline might come off as an attack, but that isn’t my intention. This is a personal thought; there will be people who have the exact opposite perspective, but I want to warn you before you go any further, as this is entirely based on my opinions. With that out of the way, these two episodes were certainly more entertaining than the first 4. I just found this year’s lot not as endearing on the first go. However, some of the cast have really grown on me over these last two episodes. I think the three-way dates were designed with the goal of manufacturing the perfect amount of drama a show like this requires. There have been some terrible decisions made ever since, but I guess that’s next week’s headache. The trajectory of Better Late Than Single has changed drastically in these two episodes. I especially enjoyed how the guys and girls have started hanging out in their own time and becoming actual friends. The dynamics certainly help in boosting them as individuals, too. Being an “eternal” single is one thing; admitting it on national television is an entirely different ball game. However, everyone’s goal should be to make sure nobody has any reason to react “oh, this is why they’re single,” at least that’s how I’d have seen it. But these two episodes have me wondering if being popular amongst the least popular people you know could get to your head. Anyway, with that said, let’s get into the recap of season 2, episodes 5 and 6.

I hate to see it happening, but I think my girl Hyun-Seo is going to be going home alone. This is because she decides to trust Hyuk-Joon and believes his talk about faith and whatnot, just because they ended up on 4 dates accidentally. She’s clearly a person who’s almost always calm and collected, and she’s looking at a lot of factors before deciding to take any steps. If she chooses to play hard to get, it’s not because she wants you to do the work; she simply wants to make sure she’s not moving too fast.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what she’s learnt in these last two episodes, no? That she fell too fast. You might think I’m coming on too harsh about Hyuk-Joon, but boy, the way he takes things forward after last week’s 10-minute speed dating rounds, you can tell everything’s already gotten to his head. Hyun-Seo has been waiting for him to turn things around. She brought his tumbler to breakfast in front of everyone. She tried to make things clear with him every chance she got, but it seems nothing’s really working, and to be honest, I’m kinda glad. When they have a private chat at the beginning of episode 6, Hyun-Seo makes it very clear that she genuinely likes him back, and she wants him to be cold to the other girls so that they don’t all fall for him, and he absolutely devours the attention. However, his choices near the end of the episode seem completely bizarre based on these things. Additionally, it makes him look like an attention-hungry person, even though he might not be. 

I didn’t pay much attention to Jin-Woo in the first 4 episodes. I know he was a game changer and all that, but I think only after they started talking about how strong he was, winning over everyone in arm wrestling, did I even notice him. Just because he was the centre of attention at the time. But to be honest, he seems like a caring man who has a lot to think about. On his three-way date, Jin-Woo kind of realizes that Su-Ji isn’t really interested in him, but more importantly, he’s kind of started developing feelings for Jeong-Eun after she showed some interest in him. He tells her that he’s been thinking about whether he would rather choose the person who likes him most or go with his own gut, and claims he’ll have fewer regrets if he goes with the latter. This is fair enough, but I still think he’s talking about Su-Ji in this moment? Am I the only one who thought that? But maybe I misread the situation. Anyway, Jin-Woo’s been quite popular himself, so it’s interesting to see how quiet and reserved he actually is. However, I think he’s internalising his thoughts and really processing the situation before taking any rash decisions just because he’s popular. He’s still deciding based on his own idea of what’s going on, which I appreciate. He seems to be a promising young man on the show right now, but let’s see how things turn out later. 

Su-Ji is the most popular among the girls for many reasons. Not only is she pretty, but she’s also got a loud, extroverted personality. It’s almost a “not like other girls” situation that has kind of made her the top choice for all the men who are more effeminate in nature by default, so I guess in a way it’s yin and yang. This is not to say that they’re all “girly” and Su-Ji is a tomboy. It’s just a balance I’m noticing based on what I’ve seen so far. Su-Ji and Hyuk-Joon are equally popular, but I’ll tell you why she’s way more level-headed than him. For one, when all the boys sit down to discuss their dates in one room, and they make a decision among themselves for who Su-Ji will choose, essentially giving up without any real reason, Su-Ji gets kinda mad, and decides to do her own thing at the end of episode 6, and I thought about this for a second. It could’ve seemed arrogant or mean, but in hindsight, I realized I felt the same way as she did when I questioned why the boys decided themselves that she’s choosing Jung-Yun. They even said he’d won her, like she was a prize to win. This is a competition, though, not a charity. Or whatever other game the boys were playing when they collectively gave up. And no, don’t get me wrong, if it had happened naturally, it would’ve been fine, but it was quite abrupt in my opinion. So I’m actually not that shocked by Su-Ji’s decision at the end of the episode; I just wish she had a better choice because, let’s be real, this man is not it. 

Ultimately, Hyuk-Joon appears to be the villain to me this season, because he’s going around tooting his own horn and trying to look superior to everyone. Yes, he might be older than most people on the show, but that should be a reason to look mature rather than act like the most immature guy on the show. This holds true for him right from the start. Let’s be real, he’s got the looks, so why would he be an eternal single? Especially in a country like Korea, where lookism is so prevalent. The dimples are cute, sure, but that doesn’t make you better than everyone else. Hyuk-Joon started off as popular purely because of his looks; there is no other reason. But he was the one who was determined to choose Hyun-Seo over everyone else, making her believe she was the only one he had eyes for. However, when something seemed slightly different, i.e. all the girls started looking at him and giving him attention, he let it get to his head, completely disregarding Hyun-Seo’s feelings. Without so much as discussing it with her, really, he expected her to admit that she was obsessed with him, and then chose to talk to Han-Ju more on the 3-way date, making it clear to her that he’s not going to do what she asked, i.e be mean to everyone else, though it was a comment that really got him on his high horse. 

I think Hyun-Seo is a realistic person, and just because someone doesn’t share your hobbies doesn’t mean you’re definitely not meant to be. Hyun-Seo is definitely the kind of person who will go out of her way to do something for you if she genuinely likes you. That’s what’s happened here. He made her like him before pulling the rug from under her feet. I also don’t like how the panellists get mad at all the other guys for doing nothing wrong, really, but won’t bat an eye at what Hyuk-Joon gets up too. This also brings me to the fact that nobody chose Jae-Seo for the three-way date. Jae-Seo, in my opinion, was simply given a physical makeover, and the panellists expected that that would make all the difference for him. But the truth is, all he really needed was some pointers on how to behave in social situations, especially those related to the romantic. Here’s a man who has spent most of his life sat in front of a computer. I never once felt the need to judge him the way the panellists had been doing until they saw him cry. I love these stars, but they don’t seem to know how real people work, and they try to say things to be funny, but it doesn’t necessarily pan out. 

Jae-Seo messes up again despite crying, and nobody can defend him because, in the hope of being relatable, he tells Seo-Yeon that he knows she’s not going on any other dates. This is just tone-deaf on his part, but that’s how socially awkward this man is. Hence the “eternal” single status. In the meantime, I thought there was progress between Tae-Hoon and Soo-Hyun after the blueberry smoothie that she thoroughly enjoyed. This is the kind of cute stuff I watched this show for. Why is it turning out to be dramatic like “Single’s Inferno?” I thought Jung-Yun was a really sweet guy at the start, but I think his fickle nature has me forgetting about him now when there are other things to focus on. 

At the end of episode 6, the two most popular singles get to choose someone of the opposite sex to spend the night with in the Sparks House. You’d imagine this is an easy enough task and would almost be a boring cliffhanger, but think again. Su-Ji chooses Hyuk-Joon after they had a tiny conversation about how overwhelmed they were at being the most popular. But Hyuk-Joon, on the other hand, shows no sign of logic by picking Jeong-Eun out of the blue. This is clearly hurtful to Hyun-Seo, who didn’t expect a curveball like this. Han-Ju would’ve at least made sense, considering he was already developing feelings for her and their conversation was going somewhere; they had similar hobbies, but this, on the other hand, clearly feels like a mistake. Plus, it’s announced to everyone, which makes it worse for Hyun-Seo, who everyone knows is kinda obsessed with Hyuk-Joon at this point. I’m hoping she reverses the “oppa” card next week. What did you think of this turn of events? Do you think Su-Ji will end up with Hyuk-Joon in the end? Let us know in the comments down below.